Dan's Papers - August 28, 2009

Whether you're like me and you want a skincare product to have multiple uses, or you are someone who has the patience and dedication to apply several different products to specific areas of your face, you must investigate the skincare line by Dr. Denese New York. After trying two of her products, I was so impressed I spoke with her in an exclusive interview.

Hungarian born, Adrienne Denese (pronounced Den-ess) is not only an M.D. who specializes in anti-aging but has become one of the only female scientists in this field. She earned her Ph. D. in Neuroscience and Neuropsychology at 22 in Budapest and then departed for America earning her M.D. at Cornell. In 2003 she created her line to share her research with her patients.

The first product I tried was the SPF 30 Defense Day Cream. This is my kind of sunscreen. It has a matte finish, it's oil free, it's tinted and adjusts to the color of your skin. In one step it was if I had applied a sunscreen and makeup. (It might be worth the $75 price tag if you are able to eliminate a tinted moisturizer to use under or over your sunscreen.) When I applied a broad-spectrum sunscreen I would usually spend five minutes trying to get it to disappear on my face only to discover a white smudge later in the day. Yet Dr. Denese's product is zinc-oxide-based and protects against UVA and UVB rays. I always knew this was critical but never quite understood the difference between the rays. Dr. Denese told me UVA (A for aging) are the aging rays and are present all year long, even if it's raining, and the UVB (B for burning) are most prominant in the summer.

While I knew how damaging the sun was to my skin, I never quite understood it like this. Then I learned another sobering fact. I thought lip wrinkling and shrinking was due to hormone loss and age. Dr. Denese told me that this is somewhat true but that "95% of lip aging is caused by sun exposure." I immediately tried her SPF 20 Lip Veil. It's so easy to use. It comes in a clear tube with its own little brush. It can be used alone or over and under lipstick and it's pocket size so you can keep it with you wherever you go.

I figured if these two products were so great and easy to use, I'd venture a bit further. So I moved on to her Advanced Firming Facial Pads, which exfoliate and firm. I must admit I am a lazy exfoliator. But Dr. Denese told me that "seeing women who did not exfoliate was a turning point in my practice. Without exfoliation you will have dull skin because the skin is not stimulated to bring up fresh young cells." There is no need to think about how much I should use, since the pads are pre-moistened and all I had to do is glide them over my skin for 30 seconds to a minute avoiding my neck and the skin under and above my eye. This I could do, and reasonably at $35.

Dr. Denese says there are two more steps that must be done for radiant, younger skin:

After the skin is exfoliated we must think of rebuilding. For this there is Wrinkle Rx Extreme Pro-Peptide Gel. It's loaded with vitamin C and the gel delivery system penetrates the skin. However, she would sacrifice efficacy if she added a moisturizer to the gel. Thus the last step - something most of us probably do anyway - moisturize (for this you might want to try her HydroShield Ultra Moisturizing Face Serum, $39). To see her complete line, log onto www.drdenese.com/index_flash.cfm.