Mass market products include those that contain aloe vera and vitamin E like Palmer’s Scar Serum with Cocoa Butter or Mederma, both of which can be purchased at your local drugstore.  Also popular among the homeopathic crowd are brands containing Allium CEPA, or onion extract, which is found to have anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties. Home remedies we have read about run the kitchen gamut.  Wiki-How says to use plain yogurt or lemon on your face to help fade acne scars.  All of the above are solid, uncomplicated approaches to minor problems, but most people are looking for something faster and stronger.

And so, we turn to modern science.  Our research told us that products containing silicones like Dimethicone are effective in the treatment of scars.  Scars on the skin are basically excessive collagen that has formed around the wound, and silicone sheets, gels and other silicone topicals seem to “soften” the collagen, allowing it to flatten and fade, though the interaction is not completely understood.  Silicone sheets are obtained through your doctor, but other clinical-level silicones may be obtained without a prescription like Kelacote Scar Gel, and Xeragel by BioDermis.

We also learned to be careful NOT to use products with the silicones D4 and D5, as these have been flagged by both the Canadian government and the European Union as potentially toxic.  The lesson here is “read the label.”

Other popular brands that use a variety of Vitamin E, good silicones and retinol ingredients are Kinerase Scar Healing Therapy and AmorePacific Enzyme Peel, which is an exfoliant that reduces scars over time.  We have also seen InviCible Scars Advanced Scar Therapy mentioned as a front-runner that can be used for multiple scarring issues.

Serious scarring, particularly acne scars, call for a trip to a dermatologist who might then recommend dermabrasion, laser treatments and even special grafting procedures for what is called “depressed acne” scars.

The good news is that there are multitudes of professional treatments.  From our standpoint, the difficulty would be choosing which one.

I exaggerate of course, but hand rejuvenation is a new specialty among esthetic professionals for good reason.  While the skin of the face and neck may get all the attention in the fight against aging, the condition of our hands are, as my husband pointed out – a dead giveaway.  No matter how fat your butt is, older hands lose their fatty tissue and look bony and wrinkled.   Hands are often the first thing damaged by the sun, which results in freckles and age spots.  Because they are always in water and being wiped off, skin on your hands is often dry and itchy.  Even the veins stick out more as we age.  Remember the hands of the Wicked Witch of the East?

You get my point.  If hands are your issue, you are not alone.

The solutions for regaining youthful hands are many.  Product-wise, Retin-A and glycolic acid can be applied to the hands topically, which cause age spots to fade over time, just like they do on the face.  Chemical peels and microdermabrasion are also prescribed for faster results, but will definitely keep you from doing dishes for a few days while your hands heal.  Retin-A products usually run about $60-$100 a tube; the skin resurfacing procedures cost $200-$500.

Processes like laser skin resurfacing for the hands are very popular in medical spas using Fraxel, Thermage, Refirme or IPL, which can remove spots and broken capillaries.  For larger blood vessels, physicians use the same technique they use for spider veins – sclerotherapy – during which a chemical is injected into the veins that causes them to shrink. Dermatologists are even using injectable fillers to temporarily plump bony hands.  Depending on the services you receive, expect to pay $1,500 to $5,000 for these types of treatments.

If you are VERY serious about your hands, you can also go in for soft tissue augmentation where fat cells are taken from other parts of your body and transplanted to your hands. Hand rejuvenation procedures like those usually take place under outpatient anesthesia and are upwards of $1,500-$5,000 as well.

Doctors can bundle the procedures to save you money, but hands down, cosmetic hand rejuvenation could turn into some serious ‘high fives’.

Good news, my pale friends, I am going give you the low-down on products for your pair of down-lows.

The first question you need to ask yourself is how much coverage you want.  You may giggle at this, but one of the best selling leg cosmetics is made by Joan Rivers, who might have done serious damage to her face, but still sports a nice set of sticks.  The Right to Bare Legs (3 oz. bottle for $29.99), sold heavily on HSN and online, is for serious leg coverage – scars, bruises, veins – even tattoos.  Sally Hansen has a spray-on Airbrush Legs with medium coverage ($14.99 for 4.4 ounces), as does NYCE Spray-on Instant Nylons (5 oz. for $19.99), that honestly looks as though you are wearing nylons (without the snags/runs).  They all come off with soap and water and will definitely cover up any imperfections you might have.

Most of us just want to smooth out our legs and enhance them with a little color for special occasions.  Self-tanning products are great if you planned ahead of time, but if this is a rush job, we have a couple of recommendations.  My new friends at Rouge Cosmetics in Salem, Mass. (where LookinGood recently moved), turned me on to St. Tropez Perfect Legs.  This is a cream self-tanner and bronzer combination.  The bottle has a split applicator that allows you to control the amount of bronzer you want immediately, while smoothing it in with a mild self-tanner.  It doesn’t smell, has a nice brown color and it isn’t terribly expensive at $30.

Here’s another great idea: use mineral makeup.  I grabbed my neighbor Susie the other day and experimented on her legs with several of the above-mentioned products.  She didn’t need a spray-on and wasn’t wild about using more cream, either, but when we lightly brushed on a little Bare Minerals Glow, it smoothed out and lifted just enough color on her legs to give a healthy glow.  She loved it, and walked out the door with my mineral makeup.

So, play that funky music, white girls, we can hike up our skirts, glam up our gams and dance the night away.

At first blush, you might mistake rosacea (roe-ZAY-shuh) for a rosy glow or maybe an odd sunburn.  It’s a red splotch or patch of pimples you think is going to go away, but keeps coming back.

If that’s not vague enough for you, rosacea, which affects an estimated 14 million Americans, can come and go, it’s not clear what causes it and there’s no cure. Oh yeah, skin tone and skin type don’t matter either, although it is most obvious among the fair-skinned.

The National Rosacea Society (NSR) lists the warning signs as: Redness on the cheeks, nose, chin or forehead; small visible blood vessels on the face; bumps or pimples on the face; or watery or irritated eyes.  (For good measure, the American Academy of Dermatology says it can also occur on the ears, chest and back).

To us, that sounds like the side effects of a girls’ night out or the start of allergy season.  However, if those symptoms show up regularly or seem to be caused by exercise, stress, too much sun or wind, temperature swings, spicy foods or drinking,  you might consider talking to a dermatologist or your physician to see if it might be rosacea.

Left untreated, it can become increasingly severe, turning into bumps, spreading to larger areas and even causing the skin to thicken, according to WebMD.com.  It can also cause burning and soreness in the eyelids.

As the number of rosacea sufferers grow, more products are being introduced to address the problem.  Every source that has anything to say about rosacea stresses using sunscreen.  Look for products that are specifically made to reduce redness and even skin tone, like Estee Lauder’s Verite Moisture Relief Cream (1.7 fl oz/ $50); Clinique’s Redness Solutions line (&17.50-$39.50); Bare Escentuals RareMinerals Skin Revival Treatment (.15 oz / $60); or MD Skincare’s Hydra-Pure Redness Soothing Serum ($42.50).

Keep in mind that key ingredients to avoid include astringents (i.e. alcohol, witch hazel) and fragrance.

Other treatments for rosacea are antibiotic creams or pills; Accutane or Retin-A, and in the most severe cases, dermabrasion, cryosurgery (freezing bad skin cells with liquid nitrogen) or laser surgery.

Most people affected are between the ages of 30-50, both male and female, but it can also affect children.  Of course, that makes rosacea just one more thing to worry about as we age, especially without well-defined symptoms.  However, if you find yourself a little too red in the face a little too often, maybe it’s time to talk to a dermatologist.

April is National Rosacea Awareness month.

Who knew? Apparently, the crew I roll with is too flat-chested to have warned me about this. As if worrying about sagging isn’t enough. Does the madness never end?

Well, possibly it does because Kush Support offers a non-surgical solution where no solution has gone before: the décolletage. Their little device offers “sleep support for your breasts.”  It’s basically a boob pillow that comes in three sizes and seven colors.

Inventor Cathinka Chandler developed Kush after learning there was no cream, exercise or device to battle or erase the effects of gravity from the cleavage of busty, side-sleeping women. The pressure of one breast on the other compounds the situation. For just $24.99, she and Kush can fix that.

The somewhat conical, plastic pillow is also marketed to offer comfort after breast augmentation as well as to pregnant women. The company says that the device is able to “offer more natural rest for the breasts,” and allow the user a better night’s sleep. And by judging from the pictures on the website, the seven different colors cleverly allow you to match it to either your skin tone or your lingerie.

It’s good to know that if I ever bust into that C-cup category or beyond, there’s a tool to fight cleavage wrinkles. Of course, what’s keeping me up at night now is the knowledge that I didn’t come up with the idea. Just when I was getting over the Pet Rock.

The Wieden & Kennedy creative campaign has been a wild success, with a series of ads promoting “the perfect man.”  The handsome, buff, naked-from-the-waist-up Mustafa addresses his rapid-fire Barry White dialogue to women: “Hello ladies, how are you?  Fantastic. Does your man look like me? No! Can he smell like me? Yes! Should he use Old Spice Body Wash? I don’t know – do you like the smell of adventure?  Do you want a man who smells like he can bake a gourmet cake in the dream kitchen he built for you with his own hands? Of course you do…” and then it goes on.  Mustafa moves from a beach to a kitchen to the woods where he dives off a waterfall into a hottub that falls away to show him sitting on a motorcycle.  Another commercial has him moving seamlessly from the shower to a boat to sitting on a horse, with costume and prop changes dropping in – all the while telling the ladies that since we can’t have him, we should encourage our men to at least smell like him.

The social media strategy is nothing short of brilliant.  The Old Spice man posts video answers to selected questions on Facebook and answers Twitter messages on YouTube.  One video shows him standing outside the shower, hands on hips, reciting his 140 character response to @wspencer:  “Am typing while running from stampede of scantily-clad female admirers who appeared after trying #oldspice. Is there an antidote?” Another has him apologizing that he can’t answer everyone who writes because “after all, I am just one ridiculously handsome man.”  On Facebook, he has agreed (in theory) to adopting someone and gives advice about facial hair.

This new cult status, however, does not seem to be the reason for an uptick in Old Spice sales.  In fact, year-to-date figures, compared to other men’s personal care products who don’t own ‘the perfect man’ are flat as the arches in my feet.  Advertising Age reports that several men’s products – sibling brand Gillette, Beierdorf’s Nivea,  Dove and Axe, have made the same, if not better gains over the last few months, giving away high-value coupons and through unremarkable advertising. “Consider the four weeks ended June 13, possibly the best month ever for P&G body wash. Old Spice’s sales were up 106% from the prior-year period, jumping 4.8 share points in a category that grew 17.7%. But sales of Gillette body wash, also backed by buy-one-get-one-free coupons and by TV ads (but not Mr. Mustafa), were up a lot more, 277% and 3.9 share points, though it’s by far a smaller brand in the category,“ reports the trade magazine.

Men’s personal care products are on the rise, but whether or not Mustafa is selling more Old Spice is a mystery.  What is not a mystery is that women LOVE him.  The former wide receiver may have had a hard time landing in a permanent football franchise after gigs with the Seattle Seahawks, the Tennessee Titans, Oakland Raiders, Cleveland Browns and finally Barcelona for the NFL Europe, but this guy is a keeper in Hollywood and has put Old Spice back on the shelves.

But watch out – OHDOCTAH has launched a counter-ad for Dove, based on the theory that “ladies don’t like sleeping on bricks…they like more cushion” and therefore will go with a guy built like a Sumo wrestler who uses Dove Body Wash.

This whole advertising campaign is the best entertainment this summer has to offer.

When it came to glorious, tenderizing, exfoliating body scrubs there was no question: Make it  salt.  Aside from St. Ives and their apricots, salt was what you were supposed to use.

Now it seems sugar is edging out its kitchen counterpart as the spa scrub of choice. Bath & Body Works offers 9 different sugar scrubs for the body and five for the lips, compared with only two salt scrubs.

While both are mixed with moisturizing oils and fragrances, and both slough off dead skin, cleansing pores, and making way for new skin cells, they do offer different benefits.

Salts – particularly sea salts and especially Dead Sea salts – contain healing minerals like magnesium, calcium and potassium.  Although it may sound contrary, these salts are especially effective for healing overly dry skin and easing skin ailments such as psoriasis.

Alternately, sugar may add glycolic acid (which is derived from sugar cane) and antioxidants to the skin, as well as draw moisture to the areas where it is applied, because it is a humectant. The sweet scrubs leave skin brighter and glowing.

Just about everybody offers a scrub. The Lush Ocean Salt Scrub is intriguing because the texture of the salt is as fine as sugar. But Lush’s sugar scrubs are hard chunks that you’re supposed to keep out of puddles -  in the shower. Good luck with that.

If you’ve tried salt and sugar and still can’t make up your mind, The Body Shop’s Mango Body Scrub and Bath & Body Works’ Warm Milk and Sugar Body Scrub have both!

None of the scrubs come particularly cheap, but it’s a treat worth having.  In this summer heat, when limbs are more bare than usual, everyone’s skin can benefit from a little extra sloughing.  And the question of salt vs, sugar?  It’s like your margarita – whatever suits your fancy.

Cellulite is inconsistent fat deposits under the skin and it afflicts 80-90 percent of the post-pubescent female population.  With a target demographic that size, it’s no surprise that the market is loaded with creams and supplements that claim to reduce its appearance.

Note the use of the word “appearance” in the description of nearly every cellulite product out there.  The trouble is that you can’t actually get rid of it. You can reduce it, or maybe make your skin look smoother and hide it, but it will keep coming back.

That is probably why there’s no clear cut answer on whether or not these creams really work.  There is no “proven” independent clinical evidence that they do, and yet, as cited in this WebMD video, it’s a billion-dollar business.

In a recent slideshow review at Totalbeauty.com dedicated to cellulite diminishers, the major “con” about the products that deal with rippled skin is the work – having to use a product a couple of times a day for effective results.  Several of the reviewers attribute a lack of effectiveness to not using the product “as directed.”  Many, however, did, and were also happy with the results. It generally takes 2-4 weeks, so if you’re up for the commitment, here are some products to consider.

Bliss fatgirlsleep ($38/6 oz) – a cream that you apply before bed, this won high ratings from users, many of whom didn’t bother using it with its sister product, Fat Girl Slim. Many reviewers said its lavender scent helped them sleep, too.

You may not have heard of Oligo.DX from DS Laboratories ($38.50, 5.1 fl oz), but it’s one of the highest rated products we found, earning top marks at both the Skinstore.com and Dermstore.com and from bloggers everywhere.

At the high end of the spectrum, Murad offers a cellulite solution that includes Firm and Tone Serum, Firm and Tone Dietary Supplement and Body Firming Cream ($214.50/4 week supply).  The pictures on the Murad website show some results over a 12-week period – that’s over $600.  The dietary supplement includes seven (!) pills to take in the morning and six (!!) to take at night, all chock full of vitamins, antioxidants and so on. Of course you can also try the serum ($77/6.75 fl oz) or supplements ($137.50) alone. People who reviewed it also reported smoother skin in general and healthier hair.

Among the mass market products, Nivea offers a serum/supplement combo ($18.99) that involves taking just one pill a day. You can also get Nivea’s Goodbye Cellulite line also includes the gel-cream alone ($12.99/6.7 fl oz), patches that release L-Carnitine into the skin ($12.99/6), and a fast-acting serum ($15.99/2.5 fl oz), which is suggested to be used with the gel-cream.

And Avon still offers an anti-cellulite product: a.m./p.m. Body Lipo 24 ($19.50/6.8 fl. oz. total), but only 9 of 43 users who reviewed it online recommend this product. Maybe it wasn’t just me.

EWG is a terrific organization.  To find the safest and most effective personal care products of any kind, bookmark them at http://www.ewg.org/.

First of all, what exactly are soak-off gels?  Unlike nail gels that add length, soak-off gels look like polish but as each layer is applied (base, two coats of color, top coat), it is dried and hardened under a UV light.  When you’re done, your nails are as dry as the Sahara and as hard as … well, you know.

One of the catches, though, is getting it off again, something you will have to do frequently if you want to change colors.  Soak-off gels are called that for a reason.  Removal, which is tricky to do at home, involves wrapping fingers or toes in pads soaked with acetone or a specially-made remover for anywhere from 15-30 minutes.  We already avoid removers containing acetone, which the Environmental Working Group’s Cosmetics Database gives a 5 on its hazard scale, because of potential health risks, so having to soak our nails in it for that extended amount of time raises a red flag.  It’s also something to keep in mind if you change your nail color often.

Additionally, the soak-off gels also may not be a long-term solution for everyone.  Cracks and chips will likely occur when applied to nails that are dry and flaky to begin with, although one brand, Bio Sculpture, earns praise for helping to strengthen weak nails.

Manis and pedis with soak-off gels are also going to cost you more than the traditional paint job, too, possibly 50 percent more, like the Shellac brand that debuts in salons on May 1.  And having it removed ain’t free, either.  You’ll have to do your own dollar-cost averaging to decide if a manicure that lasts longer is worth paying more for.

Despite the arguments against, we do like the idea of a pedicure that could last a month and look as good as it did on Day 1.

And polish makers are hoping to attract women like Michelle, who don’t really think a mani is worth the cost because it’s smudged before they even get home, or their nails grow exceedingly fast leaving that obvious line of demarcation where color ends and nature begins.  There are ways around that though: Some pros suggest going clear near the cuticle and color toward the tip.  Those that have used the soak-off gels note that OPI’s 40 Axxium gel shades have matching lacquer shades that can be used to cover the grow-out.

With about eight different soak-off gels on the market (Akzentz, Bella Forma, Bio Sculpture Color Gel, CalGel, Dashing Diva Gel Life, IBD, OPI and Shellac – all products purchased from salons) odds are they’re offered at a salon near you.  The bigger question is: Are they worth it?