Anti-Aging LightStim
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free skin care · Sat Sep 18, 2010 4:51 pm

One more thought - it could be that the freckles are old sun damage brought to the surface by the LED treatments - meaning that they will eventually disappear. I think Jasminerosey had a similar thing happen but I don't think she continued with the treatments.

Sat Sep 18, 2010 5:17 pm

I am seeing some spots surface and then go away with a few more weeks of treatment...for me, I am sure it is under the surface and not being caused by the treatments.

free skin care · Sun Sep 19, 2010 1:27 am

Perhaps I did not explain clearly about the "freckles", the word freckles being a description rather than that they were actual freckles. They were mark for mark from each of the little lights contained in the Lightstim head. Exactly the sort of reaction of brown circles had I put bergamot oil on my skin & ventured into the sun. I understand that the Lightstim is not producing UV, but its bright light clearly reacted with the rose oil in the alcohol with which I had cleaned the head of lights. The freckles faded over about 10 days & I did continue use of the Lightstim but made sure I did not wipe it with alcohol mix again, but instead an e-cloth.

Sun Sep 19, 2010 5:17 am

Thank you Cook Kate for the e-cloth tip and for sharing your experience, I am off to order one!

free skin care · Sun Sep 19, 2010 8:35 am

I got the "freckles" on my face too, when I initially started the AALS. They horrified me slightly as I've used sunscreen face and neck for about 20 years (though I then read that most of the sun damage is accumulated from childhood to adulthood, which makes sense). I was worried they wouldn't disappear but they did after a few sessions.

free skin care · Sun Sep 19, 2010 8:59 am

My freckles were not related to NEW USAGE of the Lightstim, I had been using it since March, the freckles came up late in July, the day after I switched from using lavender alcohol to rose alcohol for cleaning the head before each use. I too have spent years with sunblock on, so was as equally horrified.

This was not old sun damage coming to the surface, this was a reaction with a chemical on the Lightstim's surface going onto the surface of my skin. It may be that the Lightstim had nothing to do with it, it may merely have been the conveyancing mechanism for rose alcohol onto my skin. However I am not prepared to try a dab on my skin to see if it reacts without the catalyst of the Lightstim Shock

I just want you all to be wary of products you put on your skin, perhaps mistakenly thinking they will work well with the Lightstim such as the green tea, which many of you have found is a good combo, conversely, from my experience, there are products which will give unwanted results Shock

free skin care · Sun Sep 19, 2010 9:25 am

I suppose it begs the question, which products are safe to clean the AALS with (or any gadget for that matter); and which chemicals have a damaging effect on the skin? I spritz a Neroli Jasmin perfumed spray on kitchen paper (lazily assuming as it has alcohol in it, it'll be fine for cleaning the bulb of my Dermawand and Lightstim). No side-effects that I'm aware of.

Also, most people seem to have ignored it on EDS and other skincare forums, but Steve from Lightstim (earlier in the thread) said that Green Tea serums are useless, and was dreamt up by a company wanting to promote their products. Personally I found going without the Green Tea pre-treatment the Lightstim worked better.

free skin care · Sun Sep 19, 2010 10:21 am

Might green tea, with all its celebrated health benefits, also keep your skin looking younger when applied topically? Some researchers think it could, in a variety of ways.

First, green tea applied topically appears to offer sun damage protection by scavenging free radicals and reducing inflammation (rather than by blocking UV rays). Which means green tea might enhance sun protection when used with titanium and zinc-oxide sun block.

One small study showed that topical green tea provided notable benefits against rosacea. In other studies green tea showed protective action against skin cancer in animals.

The bottom line is that green tea has well-documented antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities, so it’s feasible that topical green tea polyphenols could slow certain signs of aging. More human studies are needed to prove if and how green tea might improve skin’s appearance, but in the meantime, there are some common-sense ways to experiment with topical green tea.

http://planetgreen.discovery.com/fashion-beauty/green-tea-skin-care.html

free skin care · Sun Sep 19, 2010 10:38 am

I'm not saying Green Tea is useless as a topical, just my experience that I found it lessened the effectiveness as a pretreatment with my LED. Whether Steve from Lightstim's opinion is based in truth, I suppose is for other people to discover.

I'd rather stick to drinking it, to be honest!

free skin care · Sun Sep 19, 2010 10:48 am

ljk wrote:

I'm not saying Green Tea is useless as a topical, just my experience that I found it lessened the effectiveness as a pretreatment with my LED. Whether Steve from Lightstim's opinion is based in truth, I suppose is for other people to discover.

I'd rather stick to drinking it, to be honest!

I understand Lou, I think it's also dependant on how the tea is made (no boiling water) and how recently it is made as it degrades quickly!
I wasn't posting to oppose your opinion, just some facts for all to consider when deciding. Smile

free skin care · Wed Sep 22, 2010 6:13 am

HauteLook.com are offering a huge discount on the new model Lightstims today.

And I can't buy one as I'm in London Crying or Very sad

free skin care · Mon Sep 27, 2010 3:05 pm

Just ordered my AALS direct from Lightstim... those guys are so good with a damsel in distress! The HauteLook deal was exceptional but they only ship USA and Canada. Also Lightstim said they may not do the Hautelook sale again which will be a shame for those N. Americans who've missed out.

I'm so excited as I've salivated over this gadget for over a year now. Now must get a 3-minute timer thing......

free skin care · Tue Sep 28, 2010 3:45 pm

ljk wrote:

I'm not saying Green Tea is useless as a topical, just my experience that I found it lessened the effectiveness as a pretreatment with my LED. Whether Steve from Lightstim's opinion is based in truth, I suppose is for other people to discover.

I'd rather stick to drinking it, to be honest!

that's interesting ljk! I've been simply using a spray with the steeped white and green tea combo I make. I was under the impression from initially reading through this thread that the green tea was the most effective to get results...that's really interesting to hear you have better results without it and especially that Steve is saying that also? Could you elaborate-do you using anything at all then?

free skin care · Wed Sep 29, 2010 4:07 am

Pollyanna wrote:

ljk wrote:

I'm not saying Green Tea is useless as a topical, just my experience that I found it lessened the effectiveness as a pretreatment with my LED. Whether Steve from Lightstim's opinion is based in truth, I suppose is for other people to discover.

I'd rather stick to drinking it, to be honest!

that's interesting ljk! I've been simply using a spray with the steeped white and green tea combo I make. I was under the impression from initially reading through this thread that the green tea was the most effective to get results...that's really interesting to hear you have better results without it and especially that Steve is saying that also? Could you elaborate-do you using anything at all then?

Not LJK but...
Can I just steer this in another direction. Correct if I'm wrong (I read it a long time ago) but didn't the green tea issue come about after a study showed LED lights - or was it just one brand? (but not AALS)- could be detrimental without the anti-oxising protection within green tea called epigallocatechin gallate.

I haven't been able to find the original statements and have only come up with this thread http://www.essentialdayspa.com/forum/viewthread.php?tid=35494&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=dan+zhu&start=0
which only seems to suggest the GT extract just speeds up the benefits of LED.

However I'm sure I read it was actually a necessary part of LED treatment, something to do with preventing the skin oxidising or ???
Sorry to be vague, can anyone else recall this in better detail than me? I think it's important to distinguish whether GT application is merely helpful or necessary.

free skin care · Wed Sep 29, 2010 4:18 am

Typically just found it:

Kassy_A wrote:

And just to reiterate what was discussed earlier, don't forget the importance of antioxidants, specifically green tea, when messing around with all that "infrared"

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18449210?dopt=Abstract

Quote:

Infrared radiation-induced matrix metalloproteinase in human skin: implications for protection.

Schroeder P, Lademann J, Darvin ME, Stege H, Marks C, Bruhnke S, Krutmann J.

Cell Biology/Molecular Ageing Research, Institut fuer Umweltmedizinische Forschung, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf gGmbH, Duesseldorf, Germany. peet@gmx.de

Human skin is exposed to infrared radiation (IR) from IRA; 760-1,440 nm) was shown to elicit a retrograde mitochondrial signaling response lnatural and artificial sources. In previous studies, near IR radiation (eading to induction of matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) expression. These studies, however, have exclusively employed cultured human skin fibroblasts ex vivo. Here, we have assessed the in vivo relevance of these observations by exposing healthy human skin in vivo to physiologically relevant doses of IRA. Eighty percent of the tested individuals responded to IRA radiation by upregulating of MMP-1 expression. Specifically, IRA irradiation caused increased expression of MMP-1 in the dermis, but not in the epidermis. Raman spectroscopy revealed that IRA radiation also caused a significant decrease in the antioxidant content of human skin. In vitro studies had previously shown that IRA-induced MMP-1 expression was mediated through an oxidative stress response, which originates from the mitochondrial electron transport chain. We now report that incubation of cultured human dermal fibroblasts or treatment of human skin with specific antioxidants prevented IRA radiation-induced MMP-1 expression in vitro and in vivo. Thus, IRA irradiation most likely promotes premature skin aging and topical application of appropriate antioxidants represents an effective photoprotective strategy.

I am now wondering if the reason why more members aren't posting significant improvements and raves, is because they might be neglecting the antioxidants, and they are actually contributing to photoaging...!

It's from pg 4 of LED light and green tea thread although it's the Warp 10 LED that's in question.

So how does that leave us on how essential is the pre-treatment of GT for AALS front?

free skin care · Wed Sep 29, 2010 6:08 am

This is Miranda wrote:

......Now must get a 3-minute timer thing......

Miranda,

May be it may help you.

http://www.essentialdayspa.com/forum/viewthread.php?p=500637&highlight=timer#500637

free skin care · Wed Sep 29, 2010 4:13 pm

This is Miranda wrote:

Pollyanna wrote:

ljk wrote:

I'm not saying Green Tea is useless as a topical, just my experience that I found it lessened the effectiveness as a pretreatment with my LED. Whether Steve from Lightstim's opinion is based in truth, I suppose is for other people to discover.

I'd rather stick to drinking it, to be honest!

that's interesting ljk! I've been simply using a spray with the steeped white and green tea combo I make. I was under the impression from initially reading through this thread that the green tea was the most effective to get results...that's really interesting to hear you have better results without it and especially that Steve is saying that also? Could you elaborate-do you using anything at all then?

Not LJK but...
Can I just steer this in another direction. Correct if I'm wrong (I read it a long time ago) but didn't the green tea issue come about after a study showed LED lights - or was it just one brand? (but not AALS)- could be detrimental without the anti-oxising protection within green tea called epigallocatechin gallate.

I haven't been able to find the original statements and have only come up with this thread http://www.essentialdayspa.com/forum/viewthread.php?tid=35494&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=dan+zhu&start=0
which only seems to suggest the GT extract just speeds up the benefits of LED.

However I'm sure I read it was actually a necessary part of LED treatment, something to do with preventing the skin oxidising or ???
Sorry to be vague, can anyone else recall this in better detail than me? I think it's important to distinguish whether GT application is merely helpful or necessary.

cheers for digging that up Miranda Smile

I'd like to know the same. Seems really odd that Steve from Lightstim would be against it.. Neutral

free skin care · Tue Oct 05, 2010 3:52 am

Hey! I received my AALS yesterday.

I've been searching around for all the good protocol instructions that I know exist but they're not easy to find.

I'm thinking of starting a thread called Anti-Aging Lightstim Protocol and will put the post below in there.

Quote:

I received my AALS today & couldn’t wait to see if it’d live up to Lightstim’s claims.

My protocol was as follows:

- drink 2 glasses of water (recommended by Kassy)
- cleanse and exfoliate with microfiber cloth (recommended by Kassy)
- wait 15 minutes till my face is dry
- soak non woven pads with green tea and put them on my face for 20 minutes
- wait 20 minutes till the face is dry completely
- apply the light to treated area for 3 minutes; once it is done, then move the light to another area (overlapping the previous treated section, recommended by Kassy)
- finish
- drink 2 glasses of water

After the treatment, I looked to the mirror & WITNESSED that my skin was firm & toned; also, it was very soft, dewy & hydrated (much more moisturized than my Sothy’s hydrating mask).

I did not expect that the LED could make my skin so firm; nevertheless, the firmness was diminishing over time.

During the treatment, the lights were warm but it was comfortable & I believed it was the reason that it made my face rosy by increasing the blood circulation and it was a good thing!

One thing I didn’t see was that my pores were minimized.

I am going to use this device 6 days a week for the first 6 weeks to see it can plump up my cheek (as Kassy said that the effect was cumulative).

After the first treatment, I was not amazed at all; it did not have a WOW effect as what AALS gave me.

I can't find the original Kassy post where Summer got her recommendations or any other helpful posts (admittedly I'm only using the search function rather than trawling through this thread).

I'll hold off starting the thread for the moment in case anyone can guide me to one that already exists. Otherwise if anyone will be able to add to it, I and other newbies would be grateful.

free skin care · Tue Oct 05, 2010 6:56 am

There's been so much discussion on what to use, what not to use and if to use anything at all with LED - and everyone has a different opinion - it would make your head spin. Plus, opinions have got quite heated about this in the past.

My own view is to just try everything (within reason that is) but definitely not Retin-A. Sometimes I do a treatment on a bare face, sometimes after having applied serums - I like to mix things up. The Baby Q people recommend Hyaluronic Acid BTW.

But basically, I don't see how you can go wrong if you follow Steve's instructions - if anyone should know, he should.

free skin care · Tue Oct 05, 2010 7:10 am

Keliu wrote:

But basically, I don't see how you can go wrong if you follow Steve's instructions - if anyone should know, he should.

Thanks Keliu - understood.

Where can I find Steve's instructions (strangely my AALS didn't come with any)? I don't seem to be able to find them on the Lightstim site either.

free skin care · Tue Oct 05, 2010 8:26 am

Miranda,

My protocol was a result of collecting advice from Kassy and other users.

free skin care · Tue Oct 05, 2010 11:22 am

This is Miranda wrote:

Hey! I received my AALS yesterday.

I've been searching around for all the good protocol instructions that I know exist but they're not easy to find.

My (updated) protocol for both Omnilux + AALS use (Kassy)

* When things work out well, I use the AALS on Mon + Fri evening, for 3 minutes per spot, and I treat face, neck, chest + hands. I purchased a 2nd AALS device many months ago, and using both together brings my treatment time to 45 minutes in total.

* I am recently trying to fit in one treatment per week (on Wed) with the Omnilux device. I use "red" one week, and "infrared" the following week. It is ridiculously time consuming at 20 minutes per spot, so I only do it on a night I am sitting quietly watching a two hour movie. This lets me cover 6 areas, which for me are two spots on each side of my face, and two neck spots. In all places I hold the unit slightly diagonal, which seems to cover the most area.

* I drink 1 or 2 glasses of water, sometimes with a lemon slice added. (No great wisdom or secret here, I just find it helps the lymph to flow easier, which in turn gets rid of more toxins.)

* Without exception I cleanse, exfoliate gently with a microfiber cloth, and bring blood to the surface with either hot cloths, or a 5 minute steaming over a pot of boiling water.

* Occassionally I do my treatment on bare skin, but the majority of time I apply water based topically applied actives, that encourage collagen + elastin synthesis, and keep the cells healthy and thriving in one way or another. I apply my product of choice to my warm moist steamed skin, allow it to penetrate for half hour or so, and when no remnants remain I proceed with my treatment. (If I've used an ingredient that I feel is a bit occlusive, or if I can still feel it on my skin after half an hour, then I just spritz with a little distilled water, and gently pat with a clean towel.

* When time allows, (which is seldom of late), I enjoy helping my actives penetrate with the use of my Derma Wand for 5 minutes. (I open up a 4 X 4 guaze pad, and place it against each area I'm treating. This allows me to use it at the highest setting, without any tugging/dragging on my skin, and has also cut down on the broken caps I experienced with bare skin contact previously.)

* Now I enjoy my treatment time + relax

* Now it's time for a shower, and in a perfect world I'd fit in my lovely Tanuka massage which will really get rid of the toxins that the LED has started to move along. I love doing this in the shower on my warm, wet skin. It's awesome!

* Now it's time to feed my skin with whatever vitamin du jour I think my skin is craving, and also where I take advantage of pushing those vitamins in with my more occlusive beneficial goodies, of lipids and oils. (Serious feeding time for me is all night long.. Wink

)

It's my perfect at home spa night ... Very Happy

free skin care · Fri Oct 08, 2010 1:48 am

I know it's alittle early to be posting results; I've only used the AALS three times but.....

The first time use I didn't experience any wow or even 'that's mildly interesting' results.

The second time I used Kassy's protocol; after cleansing skin, I dry-brushed to rid of loose, dead skin.
Then I drank my two glasses of water and sprayed some green tea brew (and decided to go with the letting it dry scenario).
Began the treatment with the suggested overlapping; 3 mins on each spot (iPhone have a great timer to help with this).

After treatment (and ignoring the red round bulb marks all over my face - which last ages!), I saw that my skin was plumper.

I repeated the whole protocol the next day (although I'm aware that I should settle down to only 3 treatments per week) and saw the skin plumping effect again.
Didn't do treatment last night but skin still looks fuller.
This is great! It looks as though I've had very subtle and cleverly-done fillers! And skin tone looks as though I'm wearing a sheer foundation.

However one side-effect from this is with the slight plumping therefore filling-up of my skin, my pores look more enlarged. This is the exact same problem I always have the day after dermarolling - the inflamed, swollen skin enlarges my pores.

My first question is has anyone else noticed this with AALS use? I'm hoping this is just a 'beginners' effect and in the long run, the AALS will help close up my pores whilst still keeping the skin plump.

Secondly, obviously the AALS can't have produced extra collagen overnight so is the plumping effect actually inflammation? (Sorry, this question after all I've read seems dumb even to me but I have to ask as I just don't understand how my skin can 'swell' like this). But those bulbs do get hot, and on the bonier parts of my face (cheekbones, forehead), my skin itches from the heat and the bulb marks are quite fierce. Am I supposed to be pressing it right up again my skin?

free skin care · Fri Oct 08, 2010 3:07 am

This is Miranda wrote:

Where can I find Steve's instructions (strangely my AALS didn't come with any)? I don't seem to be able to find them on the Lightstim site either.

Below is the reply I received from Steve at Lightstim in response to my question about using pre-treatment serums.

Thanks for your questions. Stay away from Retin-A or products with Retin-A in them. Other than that, we have not heard of any problems. As far as serums and creams before using your Light: This almost always enhances the benefits and results. The important thing is to make sure that you have worked the product INTO the skin and that there is not moist residue on the surface of the skin. Then, as long as it's dry you can start. Waiting 10 minutes is long enough to insure penetration and dryness in most cases.

As for your enlarged pores and "swelling" - I would imagine that this is just caused by the heat. Maybe your skin is extra sensitive to heat. The device should be placed directly on to the skin. I always get the indentation marks too, but they eventually fade away.

I don't believe the AALS gives any instantaneous results - but used consistently the treatment should improve the texture and even tone of the skin.

free skin care · Sat Oct 09, 2010 1:57 am

Hi Miranda - did you buy your AALS in UK?

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