questions answered
you and your skin
- Do I need to have a consultation in-store before purchasing?
- How do I book an ARK Age Aware Assessment in-store?
- I am just on the borderline between your age categories. Which one should I go for?
- I am new to the ARK Age Aware Skincare range. Where should I start?
- Are the ingredients you use natural?
- I am pregnant. Can I still use your products and have your treatments?
- How do I use the ARK SkinResponse Serums?
- Can I use more than one ARK SkinResponse Serum at a time?
- What is a balanced diet?
- What are antioxidants and why are they so important?
- I am prone to skin sensitivity from time to time. It may be due to the change of the seasons or PMT, for example. How can I use ARK products to manage these temporary changes?
Do I need to have a consultation in-store before purchasing?
We do believe that a free face-to-face consultation with one of our professionally qualified personal skin trainers will be of great benefit to you but it is not absolutely necessary to have a consultation before buying our products. We have an online consultation that will help you to choose the products that you need. However, if you are in any doubt, please e-mail us at help@arkskincare.com or better still, visit us at one of our Ark skincare centres.
How do I book an ARK Age Aware Assessment in-store?
Please call our Shop or one of our Ark skincare centres and we will be happy to make an appointment for you to come in for a face-to-face consultation. The ARK Age Aware Assessment is free of charge.
I am just on the borderline between your age categories. Which one should I go for?
After taking our online ARK Age Aware Assessment, you will be given the product recommendations that we believe are appropriate for your skin type according to your stated age and your lifestyle choices. If you are in any doubt, we recommend that you call one of our Ark skincare centres and we will be happy to make an appointment for you to come in for a one-to-one consultation.
I am new to the ARK Age Aware Skincare range. Where should I start?
Please visit the Principles behind ARK Age Aware Skincare and then go to Your Skin Assessment where you will need to answer some questions before being given your product recommendations.
Are the ingredients you use natural?
A number of the key ingredients used in our products are natural and a large proportion of our ingredients are naturally derived. We have also chosen some man-made ingredients to maximise the safety and efficacy of each product.
I am pregnant. Can I still use your products and have your treatments?
All our products are safe to use in pregnancy. However, we would recommend that you seek the advice of your doctor before using products from the ARK Home Aromatics range. Anyone suffering from perfume sensitivity should be cautious when using our Home Aromatics diffusers. If you are booking in for an ARK treatment, please advise us that you are pregnant and we will recommend the most suitable treatments for you.
How do I use the ARK SkinResponse Serums?
Our Serums have been designed to provide targeted and intensive treatment of your skin concerns and to increase the bio-activity of the ARK moisturisers and masques. We have developed 8 Serums to answer our clientele’s most popular skin concerns:
Fine lines, tightness – hydrating serum
Break outs, congestion, shine – clearing serum
Sensitive, inflamed, capillary damage – de-stress serum
Wrinkles, loss of tone, premature ageing – firming serum
Dull, tired looking – radiance serum
Texture, tone, sagging – phytohormone serum
Environmental damage (e.g. sun damage, pigmentation, inflammation) – antioxidant serum
Inflammation, eczema, rosacea – anti-redness serum
You can apply them directly to your skin after cleansing and before using your prescribed ARK moisturiser or you can mix them to your ARK moisturiser and/or masque in the palm of your hand before applying to your skin. A recommended application is 2 to 3 drops, however you may decide on a bit more or a bit less depending on your skin’s needs. Each bottle is enough to provide you with an intensive treatment programme of 6 to 8 weeks.
We recommend that you book an Age Aware Assessment in-store or go to Your Skin Assessment where you will need to answer some questions before being given your product recommendations including which Serums we recommend you to use.
Can I use more than one ARK SkinResponse Serum at a time?
Yes, you can. The Serums are not only designed to work in conjunction with the other ARK Age Aware Skincare products but with the other Serums too. Added to that, more often than not, there are multiple reasons why you have a skin concern. Sensitivity can be caused by dehydration (hydrating SkinResponse Serum) and inflammation (anti-redness SkinResponse Serum), for example.
Say you want to address very dry skin that is also showing a loss of texture. If you were an age maintain customer, we would recommend that you use the firming SkinResponse Serum during the day and the hydrating SkinResponse Serum at night. Or you could use the hydrating SkinResponse Serum on its own for a few weeks until you feel your hydration levels have increased and then introduce the firming Serum into your routine once a day.
What is a balanced diet?
When we use the term “balanced diet” what we mean is that you avoid having too much of one type of food and not enough of another. For example, do you eat more take-away or microwave meals (packed full of sugar and salt) than home-cooked meals? Do you eat lots of red meat and little chicken or fish (ideally it should be the other way around)? Do you eat many more carbohydrate foods (potatoes, rice, bread) than green vegetables or fruit (don’t forget your “five a day”!)? Do you drink more carbonated drinks or coffee than water (sugar and caffeine attack!)? If you would like more information on this topic, we would recommend that you purchase The Naturopathic Diet by Penny Kendall-Reed.
What are antioxidants and why are they so important?
First of all, it’s important to understand the process of Oxidation (ie what antioxidants are designed to prevent). Oxidation is a chemical reaction central to the ageing process. Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) are atoms or small molecules including peroxides and free radicals that have an unpaired electron. They are subsequently highly reactive and can combine with enzymes, proteins and DNA causing damage and malfunction. In excess they promote inflammation causing immunogenic damage.
External Factors increasing Oxidation are:
Ultraviolet light
Environmental Pollutants e.g. smoke, fumes
Ionizing Radiation e.g. x-rays, radiography
Heat
Internal Factors increasing Oxidation are:
Dehydration
Infection
Stress
Inflammation
Cells have the ability to defend themselves against ROS through enzymes and molecules including Vitamin C, known as the “antioxidants”. One of the important enzymes is superoxide dismutase (SOD), which breaks down inflammatory free radicals into stable components. In addition, SOD lowers the production of inflammatory cytokines (immune system proteins) such as IL-10, and helps regenerate “used” antioxidants in the body. SOD also protects both fat and water-soluble tissue, DNA, mitochondria (cell ‘power houses’) and collagen from inflammation. Production and function of SOD decreases with age resulting in inflamed weakened and wrinkled skin.
As our external and internal environments provide an ever-increasing free radical load and our cells lose their ability to fight, protecting the skin with both external and internal antioxidants becomes an important factor in age defence. At ARK we provide you with antioxidant ingredients in our skincare products as well as in our oral supplements to help you defend your skin and your body against free radicals.
I am prone to skin sensitivity from time to time. It may be due to the change of the seasons or PMT, for example. How can I use ARK products to manage these temporary changes?
Fundamentally we believe that all you need to look after your skin is a great cleanser, moisturiser, exfoliator and mask which are the four core products in our age prepare, age maintain and age repair ranges. However, from time to time, we understand that there will be issues and concerns caused by various factors in the ageing process and external factors (weather, illness, travel, stress, working environment, sleep, hormonal changes to name a few). These need to be addressed and cleared up during an intensive treatment period. That is why we developed our ARK SkinResponse serums. The ARK range of SkinResponse serums do just what they say they do. They respond to the needs of your skin by targeting these concerns for a 6 – 8 week period after which we recommend that you have your skin re-assessed by an ARK personal skin trainer when your skin health programme can be adjusted.
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