Oxygen bar t'aint gonna help, pushers notwithstanding.
Chicago Tribune | Facing Facts 101
It's time to face the truth about oxygen and what it can do for your complexion: nothing.This won't be welcome news to the scads of spa-goers and celebrities who think oxygen is the new fountain of youth.
Madonna, for one, enjoys oxygen facials, her rep confirmed recently. The singer has reportedly installed oxygen machines in all of her homes, so she can bathe her complexion in the element -- known on periodic tables the world over simply as O.
A tasteless, odorless gas, atomic number 8, oxygen is also the big thing in spas across the country. In Chicago, for instance, one Michigan Avenue oasis offers a $145 “Rejuvenating Oxygen Facial,” which, according to the spa's Web site, is “the application of medical grade oxygen gas and antioxidants through a plastic hose directly onto the skin” that “will begin to nourish immediately.”
But here's the thing: (1) Your face doesn't need more oxygen, and (2) your face cannot use whatever oxygen you may insist on giving it.
some boring advice from Dr. Memar:
About this oxygen fad, Omeed Memar, a dermatologist and clinical associate professor at Northwestern Medical School says, “It's another snake oil.”Then what's an aging beauty to do? “Good skin happens from the inside out,” Memar says. “Eat well, reduce stress, don't smoke, don't sun. Don't harm your skin, but also feed it.”
Feed your skin, as Grace Slick once sang. Or something.
And this concludes the “Reading the Tribune so you don't have to” portion of today's broadcast. Tune in tomorrow as we cull from the Wall Street Journal......ahem.
