Episode 17 - Eyelash Repair & Hair Restoration “Derma Diva” Jan Marini Discusses Her Age Intervention® Line

Eyelash Repair & Hair Restoration "Derma Diva" Jan Marini Discusses Her Age Intervention® Line

Announcer: This program is brought to you by personallifemedia.com.

[Intro Music]

Teri Hausman: I’m Teri Hausman, host of “Beauty Now”, a weekly podcast that brings you the latest in beauty innovation, surgery, lasers, hormones, skin, hair products and more.

Today, we’re going to talk with Jan Marini, president and CEO of Jan Marini Skin Research.

Jan Marini: I will tell you, once you get addicted to having long eyelashes, it’s really hard to turn back. We actually have a personal note from Cher.

Teri: Oh, I love Cher.

Jan: On our website, we have a testimony and a picture of the make-up artist for “Desperate Housewives”. We have people like Paris Hilton, Joss Stone and Naomi Campbell. There’s really quite a list of celebrities on our website that use the product along with a lot of our other products as well. They just put their styling aids right over and then you can blow-dry.

Yes! Blow-dry or not blow-dry. Abuse your hair, that’s what it’s is for – so you can abuse your hair.

Teri: Yeah. Exactly!

Jan: Like we do. Go ahead and yes, when you join, you can then abuse your hair.

First of all, retinol is a non-prescription form of vitamin A. When it comes in contact with an enzyme that everybody has in their skin, it actually converts into retinoic acid and that’s the active ingredient of the prescription Retin-A.

Aging is an inflammatory disorder. I always like to say that we’re just kind of resting to death slowly.

Teri: Oh, no. [laughs] You may not have it. We don’t want aging that’s why we have this show.

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Teri: Welcome, Jan.

Jan: Thank you. It’s great to be here.

Teri: We’re so glad to have you. We have so many questions for you. I think we’re going to start with your lashes – so how can we get those luscious, movie star lashes with your Age Intervention Eyelash Conditioner?

Jan: You know, Teri, one of the primary concerns today is that as we age, our eyelashes thin just like the hair on our head. They’re not as long and luscious as they were when we shorter and we we’re teenagers. Right now, eyelashes are a huge accessory. There’s a big fashion focus on eyelashes. This is a product that can give you the most gorgeous, amazing, lush eyelashes. It’s getting huge media attention – huge attention by celebrities.

It’s simply a gel that comes in a tube that looks like a tube of mascara. There’s an eyeliner brush inside. You brush it across your lash line at night; that’s all you do. You can still wear mascara and all of your favorite eye products. In fact, if you wanted to, you can even wear extensions except I guarantee you – you’re not going to need them.

Teri: That’s so exciting because so many people now that are doing extensions are noticing that their own eyelashes are falling out.

Jan: That’s true. I think, of course, a lot of that has to do with the practitioner and how the extensions are put on. They are very hard on eyelashes and we have a number of very well-known lash extension artists who do a lot of the celebrities. If nothing else, they use this product because it gives such wonderful resilient lashes. The lashes don’t break. They’re able to reach their full potential and they need that great platform for putting on extensions because extensions just look a lot better.

Teri: I think it’s always smart to make your own lashes healthy. At any rate, how do you apply the product and how often do you apply it?

Jan: You just apply it once at night and you just brush it across the lash line. It’s a clear gel. This is so you’re putting on eyeliner.

Teri: So just once at night? That’s all you have to do.

Jan: That’s all.

Teri: That’s pretty good. When do most people begin to see results?

Jan: Well, generally, most people at about four to six weeks and then you really notice a big difference in your eyelashes at about 12 to 16 weeks.

Teri: Is it safe for everyone?

Jan: Yes. It’s like any other product that you put around your eyes. I always say that you can have the best products in the world and there’s going to be somebody somewhere who’s going to have some sensitivity. But we see very little sensitivity. In fact, it’s only about one-tenth of one percent which in dermatology circles is literally considered statistically insignificant. So it’s rare and that might be somebody who – maybe their eyelids itch or it feels like it stings.

Teri: Would that be an allergy?

Jan: Possibly or just a sensitivity, but again it’s really pretty rare.

Teri: So it’s a pretty safe product.

Jan: Yes. We’ve done a lot of safety testing and we’ve done what’s called Repeat Insult Patch Testing which is done by a dermatologist and this is where we actually patch test individuals for sensitivity and allergic reactions. Actually our products test out as zero.

Teri: Oh, that’s good news! What’s the actual life cycle of eyelashes?

Jan: 30 days to six months. That’s one of the reasons why this product is so much fun because the eyelash growth cycle is so fast. We can see results very rapidly. The growth cycle for your hair in your head is six months to seven years.

Teri: Wow! It’s a much slower process. I have to say I just started using it and I already seen an improvement. I have used the lash extensions and I loved the lash extensions, I want to discontinue using it with both. I really do love it.

Jan: I will tell you, once you get addicted to having long eyelashes, it is really hard to turn back.

Teri: It is.

Jan: I will tell you that my eyelashes pretty much touch my eyebrows and they’re my own eyelashes.

Teri: Oh, I’m excited for that!

Jan: And they’re very thick and very lush. I almost like I have little brushes on my eyes.

Teri: And you don’t have any extensions, this is just from your product.

Jan: This is just from my product.

Teri: How does your product compare to some of the other products that are similar on the market?

Jan: Well, this is a product that really does make a difference in terms of the quality of the lash. In many cases, there are products in the market place that coat the eyelash and maybe sort of treat it in a way kind of like a hair conditioner. This is actually a very different technology.

Teri: I think it is a great technology. I actually thought of it eight years ago. I’m so mad that I didn’t follow up on this but I’m sure glad that you did because I think it’s a really needed product out there. So are you able to share with us any of the celebrities who use your products?

Jan: We actually have a personal note from Cher.

Teri: Oh, I love Cher.

Jan: On our website, we have a testimonial and a picture of the make-up artist for “Desperate Housewives”. We have people like Paris Hilton, Joss Stone and Naomi Campbell. There’s really quite a list of celebrities on our website that use the product along with a lot of other products as well.

Teri: Well, let’s talk about some of your other products. I love the Age Intervention Mask. I think it’s a must-have. Let’s talk about your hair conditioner.

Jan: Well, you know, I have to tell you – we developed the hair product and it was sort of a natural progression because people kept saying “My goodness, you have this lash product, do you have anything for the hair?” The impetus for developing this product is that one of the common concerns is thinning hair. You know, Teri, even if we never lose one hair on our head due to aging, the actual diameter of the hair on our head will get thinner. It will get weaker and more fragile. This is why a lot of women say “I don’t have the same body. I don’t have the same density. My hair doesn’t have that fullness and it’s more fragile when we blow dry it and we flat iron it and we use all these various chemical treatments and dyes, highlights and all of that.”

We’ve done studies where they have actually taken pictures of individuals from behind – just their hair – and then had subjects look at the pictures. They could closely identify their age just looking at their hairs or hair gives away our age.

Teri: My husband is a plastic surgeon and he says “Hair is the number one thing that gives away people’s age. So I absolutely agree.

Jan: So we have the number one problem – thinning. That can actually happen with women in particular as early as their twenties, although this is a product that’s fantastic for men as well.

The second issue is that the hair becomes more fragile and actually changes in diameter. So you don’t have that same resiliency. This is a product that the very first time you use it – you notice a difference in the density and the fullness of the hair. As time goes on, it completely reconstructs hair and there is really a noticeable change.

Teri: You just hit on something I want to bring out - This is to reconstruct the hair or help you grow more hair?

Jan: It actually reconstructs the hair. We can’t make the claim for hair growth because that’s considered a drug claim.

Teri: Right.

Jan: …but I will tell you, people who use this product think that their hair grows. [laughs]

Teri: Right. Because it’s becoming stronger so it’s not breaking off.

Jan: Absolutely. It really does reconstruct the hair. One of the comments that we get from users is that only did they notice the difference but the people who do their hair comment on how much more resilient their hair is, how they’re able to do various chemical treatments that maybe they were hesitant to do before, because the hair completely changes in texture and resiliency.

Teri: Tell us how to use this product.

Jan: The great thing about this is you use it right along with your favorite hair products. It doesn’t matter if you use Kerastase, Palma, George, Joico or whatever. As you wash your hair, condition it until dry. Use very, very, sparingly- it’s a spray bottle – spray just a little bit, separate your hair with your hands in the front, spray a little bit right on the front, right at the [xx] area and maybe a little bit on the back of the crown and a little on each side and then a little bit on the lower and the back. Then quickly rub your fingers over your scalp, it’s used very sparingly and that’s all you do – you can put your favorite styling aids right over the top. So people who …

Teri: That was my next question.

Jan: Yeah? Anything you want to use.

Teri: So you just put your styling aids right over and then you can blow dry.

Jan: Yes! Blow dry, or not blow dry.

Teri: Abuse your hair – that’s what it’s for – so you can abuse your hair.

Jan: Yeah. Exactly.

Teri: Like we do.

Jan: Go ahead and yes. When you’re done you can then abuse your hair.

Teri: We just have to abuse ourselves so much. This is why we need all of your products. So how long before you see noticeable differences about your hair looking thicker?

Jan: You really notice something right from the beginning – that’s the comment we had on our case studies. We had women and men, mostly women; they had varying degrees of thinning hair. Thinning to the point where they had white parts and you could see the scalp and that was the comment we got from every single case study initially is that there was a difference right away – in terms of the feel of the hair, the density and the volume.

I have a lot of hair myself. I’m blessed that I have a lot hair but I abuse it. Abuse..

Teri: I have a lot of hair too and I’m using it now too. I just received it and I’m so excited.

Jan: Two things that I’ve noticed: First of all, I have a lot more volume in the crown area. If you have a lot of hair, having big hair is different than having controlled volume.

Teri: [laughs]

Jan: So I have controlled volume. My style holds a lot longer. My hair is naturally curly so I do a lot of abuse – I flat iron it and I notice that it stays straight longer. It holds the style better but if I let it dry naturally and I wear it curly – I have a lot more bounce and a lot more resiliency with the curls and a lot less frizz.

Teri: That’s typically where I see women lose their hair – in the crown area.

Jan: Uhm, that’s right. You don’t realize it until you use something like this and you see how much more volume you get that you don’t have as much because I have so much hair. I just never really noticed that I have less volume on the top and in that crown area; I have a lot more volume.

Teri: Jan, we have to take a short break to thank our sponsors. We’re going to be right back; I still want to hear more about your Anti-Aging Prevention Line.

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Teri: Hi. We’re back and we’re talking with Jan Marini about all her wonderful anti-aging products. We were just talking about her anti-aging conditioner spray. So Jan, we’re going to move on to another product but any parting words you want to say? I’m really impressed with the product.

If people want to get it, they can go to personallifemedia.com and we’re going to link you completely with Jan Marini’s website and also my husband carries it, [email protected]; you can email him, too. We will give you all the different links for that.

Jan: I guess in closing on that product, Teri – what I would say is that for the first time, you really can de-age your hair and rejuvenate your hair. It’s possible today.

Teri: And your lashes? That’s just so important, I think, even I’m trying to teach our younger listeners to keep up on anti-aging products like this. Even if you don’t think you don’t need it, it’s good preventative stuff.

Jan: Absolutely.

Teri: Let’s now move on. I know a lot of listeners are in their 40s, 50s and 60s; they would like to know about your eye cream.

Jan: Age Intervention Eye Cream is one of my favorite products. This is a proprietary retinol peptide complex. We’ve actually put together two ingredients that on their own are very remarkable. When you put them together, it really is a spectacular product. First of all, retinol is a non-prescription form of vitamin A. When it comes in contact with an enzyme that everybody has in their skin, it actually converts into retinoic acid. That’s the active ingredient that’s in prescription Retin-A.

Teri: It’s not harsh like Retin-A as it doesn’t peel you.

Jan: No. You don’t have that typical acclimation period or side effect. I have to tell you, around the eye area, it’s really remarkable. Products with retinoids around the eye area have the ability to address fine lines, re-texturize the skin underneath the eye, helps with puffiness. They can actually cause collagen deposition. What we did is we combined that together with a proprietary unique peptide complex.

Peptides are tiny strings of amino acids – little collagen fragments. You have them in your body. They are designed to have specific functions. They’re like little soldiers. Some peptides have more of a role in collagen production. Some peptides may even have an effect on elastin. These peptides are dramatically anti-aging. We put them together with the retino-peptide complex. This is a product that you see a difference in terms of an almost lifting effect. The eye area looks more contoured. You see a difference very rapidly and then progressively, the eye area just gets smoother and smoother and smoother.

Teri: I know and I have to say I really only like to tell our listeners about products that really, really work. I think this product really, really works. I love it.

Jan: Like I said, it’s one of my favorites.

Teri: It’s one of my favorites, too. You also have a face serum and a face cream. But before we move on to that, can you tell us how many times a day you use the Age Intervention Eye Cream?

Jan: Twice a day, morning and evening.

Teri: Morning and evening. Just a little dab?

Jan: That’s right.

Teri: Because it’s a very small bottle. [laughs] I find myself using it too much, I think.

Jan: I tell people, put it in the eye area and you kind of go out to the corners and you put it across your brow bone. The one thing I do want to mention, Teri, I know you know this. I’m sure the doctor knows this and that is that there are lines that are caused by dynamic muscle movements. Crow’s feet is an example. We can soften those but really the only thing that’s going to get rid of crow’s feet – I don’t care if anybody tells you – is Botox.

Teri: Right. Of course, I’m a big supporter of Botox. [laughs]

Jan: But we can soften those lines and certainly the lines that are underneath the eye, and some of the contour defects – we can actually improve on that a little bit.

Teri: Right.

Jan: In that eye area, you’ll look a lot softer.

Teri: It’s true because I know that around the outer face, you could use Retin-A, too but this product actually can go underneath your eye without really irritating it.

Jan: That’s right.

Teri: It’s amazing.

Jan: Yes.

Teri: That’s really amazing. So let’s move on to the face serum.

Jan: The face serum is really a unique product. There’s a face serum and a face cream. When we talk about aging, there are actually two issues. One is sun exposure. We know that sun exposure probably 90 to 95 percent of what you and I think of [xx] aging is sun exposure. A lot of which happens before the age of ten. The second thing has to do with actually immune function and hormones.

Hormones which begin decline at the age of 25 play a major role in how our skin ages in terms of the elasticity, the moisturization, hyaluronic acid – estrogen is a major factor in having to do with the amount of fat that we have. All these factors – a lot of them has to do in part with hormones. Age intervention actually addresses two different areas.

First of all, number one: We use a very small amount of bio-identical real estradiol, progesterone and pregnenolone and it is not absorbed into the body. It’s a very small amount applied topically in this product. What most people don’t know is that you have more receptor sites for estrogen in your facial skin than anywhere in your entire body.

Teri: Wow.

Jan: And we could actually fool your skin into thinking that you’re producing a fuller complement of hormones without having systemic absorption. We can affect some of those factors like the moisturization and just making the skin look a lot softer and smoother, more hydrated, etc. Secondly, we’re the only company in the world that actually has something called interferon alpha-2b, that’s an immune messenger.

Your body produces that. They also inject it for things like malignant melanoma and hepatitis C, adult leukemia…

Teri: And multiple sclerosis.

Jan: Right.

Teri: since my dad has that, so I know that. We heard about the drug for that.

Jan: Right. It’s one of the few things that if somebody has failed chemotherapy, where they’re no longer receptive to it – that can help to keep somebody in remission longer. It’s not a cure but it revs up your immune system. It augments it.

When we apply very small amounts topically, we can actually enhance the skin’s ability to defend itself, to repair itself, to just act in a much younger manner. This is really quite a breakthrough.

In age intervention, we also use a lot of anti-inflammatories. Aging is an inflammatory disorder. I always like to say that we’re just kind of resting to death slowly.

Teri: Oh, no!

[laughter]

You may not have it. We don’t want aging that’s why we have this show.

Jan: [laughs]

The more anti-inflammatories that you use, really the better your skin is going to look. So we also use things like coenzyme Q10, methysulfanylmethane…

Teri: So all these ingredients are in your facial serum and your facial cream?

Jan: That’s correct- in the serum and in the cream.

Teri: That’s so great. You don’t have to use 10 different products.

Jan: Well, this is a product that really makes a difference in terms of the moisture balance but at the same, it is not just a hydrator. It has a lot of technology that has some very good medical validation.

Teri: What about the vitamin C?

Jan: Vitamin C is another area that I like. First of all, I like what is known as layered technology. Teri, there’s no way that you can put everything in one cream.

Teri: Right.

Jan: That’s a misconception. What you want to do in the skin care system is you want to have three or four things that you put on the skin. Each one of them has some dramatic technology. You just don’t put it on because it feels good but because you’re really doing something for your skin.

Teri: You’re trying to heal it.

Jan: Very much. Very, very much like lipid-soluble C.

Teri: I love C products.

Jan: This is very different now. This is a lipid soluble form of C as opposed to ascorbic acid which is a water-based form. This is a very stable form of vitamin C and there’s a lot of medical studies to support its efficacy. I’ll tell you what’s really exciting about this.

Our vitamin C product has in it what is known as a neurotransmitter factor and this is an interesting technology. This is actually based on research ten years ago on Alzheimer’s disease. Your brain produces a chemical messenger known as acetylcholine. Acetylcholine has many different functions but every cell in your body has receptor sites for it. One of the things that it does is that it causes the nerve to sort of spark – acetylcholine spark into the muscle and it is responsible for what is known as correct anatomical muscle positioning – it keeps our muscles nice and taut.

That’s in our body, in our face – one of the things that happens as we get older – these receptor sites become compromised – is that we notice a difference in our muscle tone. Even if you’re 65 and you exercise like crazy, you’re not going to have the same muscle tone as you did at 20.

Teri: Well, that’s so sad.

Jan: It’s not the whole answer to the aging process but what this product does – it has a precursor to acetylcholine and when you put it over your facial skin, it actually increases – we’re not really sure, the medical studies don’t define whether it has an effect on receptor sites precisely or whether it may spark extra acetylcholine. But it causes what is known as muscle shortening at the neuromuscular junction and the skin actually pulls up.

Teri: For those of us that don’t understand all the medical terminology…

Jan: Looks tight and…

Teri: You’re saying it’s basically has everything rolled into one for anti-aging.

Jan: Yes. This has actually been verified by a study that was done by University of Pennsylvania, done by Dr. Kligman– the doctor who invented retin-A. (Three different physicians on 156 patients, double-blind random placebo as comparison, presented at the American Academy of Dermatology.) This technology as you use it becomes permanent. If you stop, your skin simply ages back.

Teri: How fast? [laughs] How much can you take a break? Not at all, we can never take a break from aging.

Jan: Well, just like anything… It doesn’t replace cosmetic surgery. But if somebody has a face lift and they say “Well, you know…you’re still going to age.” But your eyes are going to look better than you looked before..

Teri: Right. We have to always to keep up. For me, that’s like a patient having liposuction then they go five feet and five takes, and they’re like “It didn’t work.” Because you’re still going to gain weight.

Jan: Right.

Teri: It’s the same concept.

Jan: Right.

Teri: Before we go, I really, really want to ask you about adult acne.

Jan: I have ac…

Teri: I have so many women asking me about that. That’s something that we don’t know very much about.

Jan: That’s an epidemic today among women in their 20s, 30s, 40s and beyond. That’s one of the areas that I love to talk about – acne. I love to talk about rosacea because those are two areas that are really concerns for a lot of ….

Teri: Right: Rosacea, too.

Jan: Number one: Acne tends to be hereditary but the type of acne that adult females generally have is far more stubborn than teenage acne. Sometimes even resist the Accutane, [xx]. There’s a number of factors but we probably don’t have to get into today. Number one, if you’re going to treat acne, you need to introduce something into the follicle that actually works on the retentive material on the follicle. Today, the type of topicalo agents that do this the very best are the same topical agents that I would use on somebody to actually resurface your skin for fine lines and wrinkles and to make it look very bright and polished and air-brushed.

You can kill two bird with one stone, so to speak. I like a technology that consists of a combination of glycolic-salicylic and azelaic acid because that has a wonderful effect of being able to help clear the follicle but at the same time it makes the skin just look very, very refined. It addresses fine lines. It even evens out skin tones. That’s one step.

The second thing is that you also need to address the bacterial issue. P. acne bacteria doesn’t cause acne. It is not infectious and is not catching but this harmless bacteria when it is your follicle, and when the follicle is clogged with it’s retentive matter, the bacteria begins to feed on the oil that’s trapped. The bacteria then excretes a very fatty acid inflammatory by-product – this is what actually causes your follicles to rupture and then you see an acne lesion of one degree or another.

The way that we address that – Number one way, you’re going to think “Well, this is just for teenagers.” But believe it or not, benzoyl peroxide works because benzoyl forces peroxide into the follicle. It releases oxygen and P. acne bacteria can’t live on oxygen. The American Academy of Dermatology has said that this is most effective anti-bacterial agent ever invented. If it works for few months or work for you forever.

Here’s the key: You use at night, right over the top of all your anti-aging products. If you’re on a great skin care management system, you put this over the top. If you do it properly and use the right product, it’s not drying.

Teri: That’s such good advice. I think that is so confusing. I think women that get acne don’t want to put any products on because they’re afraid of getting more acne. That’s really good to know.

Jan: And also, Teri - one last thing that I’m going to give. This is not really a…

Teri: I know we’re going to have to have you back…

Jan: [laughs]

Teri: Because we’re running out of time. But yes, one last thing…

Jan; Well, this is not really a skin care product but I can tell you that 99 percent of the time, we can completely clear up the most stubborn acne imaginable. Believe it or not, with a prescription diuretic called spironolactone. What spironolactone does is it literally sets up like a wall in the follicle so that the enzymes in the follicle don’t come in contact with a little bit of hormone outside the follicle. It creates what is known as dihydrotestosterone which is that horrible acne – it creates that horrible acne that you get around your chin, your jowl line.

Teri: What about the hair line?

Jan: Yeah. It pretty much gets rid of all it. It works for women who don’t respond well to antibiotics, maybe you’ve been on Accutane - this is a miracle worker. It’s done on very low dose. Talk to your physician about it, but it is generally anywhere from about 25 to maybe over 100 milligrams a day, somewhere in that range.

Teri: Jan, thank you so much for being with us today. I’m afraid we’re out of time. I have a million more questions. We’re going to have to have you back.

Jan: Oh…I would love to come back.

Teri: Thank you so much. I’m definitely going to have you back. If you want to have a transcript of today’s show or any of our shows, go to personallifemedia.com.
If you have any questions or comments for me, you can email me [email protected]. Thank you so much for being with us. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

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