Tips on Using SRCPs for Skin Remodeling

The first generation SRCPs are on the mild side and no special instructions are needed.

The second generation from Skin Biology are designed to be stronger and used with other products such as hydroxy acids and biological healing oils. They also are helpful at improving healing after lasers, dermabrasion, and chemical peels.

1. Start lightly, increase gradually.

As your skin barrier is repaired and rebuilt, your skin becomes more protective and fewer materials, including SRCPs, can penetrate in your skin. For example, many people start CP Serum with as little as 2 drops daily for their entire face, then slowly increase the amount used.

The area around the eyes is especially difficult. This skin is very thin, and color cosmetics and make-up removers often cause severe skin damage over the years.See more on this at CP Night Eyes.

As your skin adjusts to SRCPs, you can move to stronger products if your skin needs a more intensive rebuilding.

Some people start with CP Serum, then later move to Super CP Serum or Trireduction P&R, and finally to Super Cop.

2. Exfoliating Hydroxy Acids (ESA) to loosen older skin and scar/blemish tissue

Skin exfoliating hydroxy acids are often used to increase SRCP effects. Normally one product is used in the morning and the other at night.

The most natural hydroxy acids are lactic acid and salicylic acid. Both of these exist naturally in the skin and on the skin's surface. Lactic acid is generated in energy production and salicylic acid is present in plants foods. Our primate ancestors ate diets of 97% fruits and leaves which are very high in salicylic acid. The acids act to loosen the chemical links between older skin cells and allow their removal. This removal of older skin allows your skin cells to move to the surface and speed skin renewal. Hydroxy acids slowly dissolve skin lesions and scar tissue.

Lactic acid works mainly of the skin's surface while salicylic acid works on deeper skin layers. Salicylic acid also has powerful anti-inflammatory actions plus anti-cancer effects.

Alpha Hydroxy Acids (AHAs) such as lactic acid work more on the skin's upper surface while Beta Hydroxy Acids (BHAs) such as salicylic go deeper into the skin and pores.

The concept of using hydroxy acids or fruit acids is very old. Cleopatra wrote the book "Beautification" in which she described the use of fruit acids, sour wine or sour milk (that all contain hydroxy acids) to renew and beautify the skin. The book was an ancient "best-seller" for 200 years. Today, we use pure forms of such acid,the AHAs (alpha hydroxy acids) and the BHAs (beta hydroxy acids) to speed skin turnover, remove skin lesions, and restore the skin firmness, elasticity, and internal moisture-holding properties.

3. Biological Healing Oils (BHOs) that naturally exist in the skin

Biological healing oils exist naturally in the skin and on the skin's surface in the Acid Mantle. They are the best moisturizers and act by blocking excessive water-loss from the skin. Emu Oil is very much like human skin and had been used by Australian Native Peoples for thousands of years for moisturizing and healing. Oils such as squalane and octyl palmitate exist naturally in the skin and also make excellent moisturizers.

Biological healing oils can also be used to modulate SRCP uptake by the skin. For a stronger uptake, apply the SRCP (like CP Serum), let it dry a little, then follow with a BHO which will push more SRCP into the skin or hair follicle. To reduce SRCP effects, such as with very irritated skin, first apply the BHO, then the SRCP. In this manner, the BHO will reduce the update of the SRCP and produce a milder effect.

To increase SRCP activity, follow with a BHO.

Biological healing oils, such as Emu Oil for Skin or Squalane, can be used over the SRCP products. These oils push more SRCP product into the skin.

To make SRCP products more mild, start with a biological healing oil.

If the biological healing oils, such as squalane and emu oil, are used before the SRCPs, this reduces the SRCP affects because the oils penetrate the skin and form a oil barrier that slows SRCP uptake into your skin. This method is often used around the eyes. Healing oils often can be used before SRCPs on irritated or very sensitive skin, such as after laser burns or deep peels.

For more see Moisturizers.

4. Retinoic Acid and Retinol

Retinoic acid is used for skin remodeling in drug products such as Retin-A and Renova. Retinol is vitamin A and is used in many skin products. There is much confusion over the two compounds that is deliberately fostered by the cosmetic companies.

Confusion over Retin-A and Retinol

These are two very similar and natural compounds. Retinol is naturally converted into Retin-A in the skin. But they have opposite effects on skin oil. Biochemically two very similar compounds having opposite effects is very common. It is like one compound (retinol) is a key that opens a biological lock and increases skin oil production while the other compound (retinoic acid) jams the lock and reduces skin oil production.

The role of retinoic acid in the body appears to be to differentiate the skin's stem cells. While it is used for skin remodeling, this many be more due to its irritating actions that speed cell turnover. Retinoic acid's biochemistry suggests it functions more in the initial stages of skin repair to differentiate stem cells into skin cells and also increases scar production.

Many people use SRCPs and retinoic acid products together and report better skin actions with less irritation.

Using Vitamin A/Retinol

Creams with Retinol (usually as a retinol derivative such as retinyl palmitate) are sold for wrinkle reduction but have only very modest effects. Retinol has been in skin creams for over 60 years and everyone got wrinkles

We have found that, in general, retinol products work very well for people over age 40 with drier skin and seem to increase skin oils. But retinol can cause increased acne in persons from 18 to 30. Paradoxically, clients often tell us that retinol creams can often stop severe chronic cystic acne in some people between 25 and 40. When using retinol creams it is best to start slow and work up to increased amounts of cream.

5. Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid)

Fibroblasts use vitamin C and a copper enzyme called lysyl oxidase to cross-link and tighten collagen. The activity of the system depends on adequate amounts of both copper (II) and vitamin C.

It is very difficult to push effective amounts of vitamin C through the skin. To do this, you must use a solution of 10% vitamin C that is very acidic (pH=2.5).

It is best to put the copper products on the skin and raise your vitamin C levels with oral supplements of 500 mgs to 1 gram daily since increased vitamin C is easily tolerated by your body. You need about 20 mgs of vitamin C daily to stay alive but studies of the natural diets of other primates suggests that 5 grams per day would be a better dosage for humans.

6. Skin abrasion to remove older skin and blemishes

Various forms of skin abrasion help skin rebuilding. Animals such as cows and horses rub sore areas of their skin on trees or fence posts to speed healing.

Abrasion can be performed with microdermabrasion cloths, dermabrasion machines, abrasive pads such as those to remove calluses, pumice stones, and so on.

Combination Therapies for Greater Skin Remodeling

Combination treatments use skin remodeling products after more vigorous procedures such as laser re-surfacing, dermabrasion, chemical peels, and surgical techniques such as face lifts. The basic idea is that the laser re-surfacing, dermabrasion, or chemical peel removes some of the older or damage skin and the remodeling peptides help rebuild the skin after these procedures.

Many of these methods are actually very old. The basic concept is that, after very damaging skin injuries, the body mounts a strong skin regenerative response that can heal poorly-healing wounds and, if the circumstances are propitious, actually improve skin quality. For thousands of years, physicians used hot irons on unhealing wounds. Although this produced scarring, there would be a sufficient healing response to seal the wound. A variant method to heal wounds was "scarification" whereby a surgeon would cut scars into a poorly-healing wound. This would often induce enough healing to seal the wound although the scars remained.