How To Get A Facial While You Workout?

3 April 2007

How To Get A Facial While You Workout?
Just add effort!

Kiwi GP and mother of three, Dr Rosy Fenwicke believes she has found a solution to the dilemma faced by many working women: how to meet all the demands of their day and still find time to look after themselves.

Her answer comes in a three-step beauty range designed to work on their skin while the user works out either at home or at their gym.

“In other words, in true female multi-tasking style, you’re getting a facial at the same time as keeping fit.”

Called Workout SFS (Skin Fitness Systems), the range developed by Dr Fenwicke is based on scientific principles. It is believed to be a world first in making use of the changes to skin during exercise to improve the skin.

”When exercising, the blood flow to the skin rises to seven litres a minute and all the small blood vessels in the skin dilate. Because you are also sweating, you get greater moisture turnover,” Dr Fenwicke says.

The Workout Gym Facial delays sweating, so the user retains moisture in the extra-cellular matrix between the cells. This helps the absorption of the range’s natural alpha-hydroxy acids (AHAs) and salicylic acid which can help minimise age-related pigment changes by improving exfoliation.

For the range to work most effectively it needs to be used when the skin is at its most receptive – that is, during exercise.

“You have to do a good aerobic workout for it to work most effectively – hence our motto: Just Add Effort.”

Dr Fenwicke, mother of three and a GP based in Wellington, believes one of the keys of good heath and long life is staying fit and active, mentally and physically.

She herself works out around two to three times a week and runs 4-6 kms once a week. She completed her first half marathon last year.

“I was actually at the gym when I conceived Workout. I used to put moisturiser on before exercising. But it felt greasy and would just slide off, so I started thinking about absorption and how to improve the penetration of compounds that help reverse aging”

Dr Fenwicke says the problem with most skin care products is that they “sit” on the skin.

The three-step Workout Gym Facial - cleanser, gym facial and rebalancing cream with SPF30 - overcomes this problem.

The cleanser contains hydrogenated jojoba oil and beads which gently remove old surface skin cells. After the cleansing, the gym facial is massaged into the face until it becomes invisible.

“You will feel a slightly drying effect when it first goes on,” Dr Fenwicke says. “This is because of natural clays in the product that provide a protective mask. It also helps maximise penetration of pro-vitamins A and E during exercise.”

The Pro-vitamin A helps to promote collagen formation and improve bloodflow to re-plump aging, thin skin.

Dr Fenwicke advises users not to wipe off sweat with a towel during a workout, but rather massage the moisture back into the skin.

“Sweat is made up of minerals and 99 percent water so you are not wiping off toxins as some people think, just losing minerals and moisture.”

After the workout the gym facial is rinsed off and the rebalancing mineral cream with spf 30 is applied.

“This protects the skin from ongoing dehydration and the aging effects of the sun after your workout.”

Dr Fenwicke says feedback received from a wide range of active women throughout New Zealand who have trialled the product has been fantastic. She herself has used the range for a year and she says it has really helped her skin to look and feel better.

“I believe Workout could make a real difference in many women’s lives – eventually I hope to take it to the world.”

The Workout Skin Fitness System is available through pharmacies and selected gyms and via the Internet. See www.workoutsfs.com

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