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.

But those gifts – gold, frankincense and myrrh – have been used in cosmetics and skin care since long before the Magi followed that star to Bethlehem and they can still be found in products today.  Poking around, it did occur to us that the three men, wise as they were, would have had a much easier time of it if they’d had wi-fi and GPS, but that’s another story.

It’s no surprise that gold was and is used in myriad products today, sometimes for color, but also for its effects on the skin. Rumor has it that Cleopatra slept in a gold mask.  It is said to increase blood flow to the areas where applied, “speeding up the cellular processes and activating regeneration,” according to information on the Oro Gold Cosmetics website. It is also said to work at a “deep cellular level … slowing down collagen depletion and the breakdown of elastin.”

Oro Gold is a luxury line, obviously, given the price of gold on the stock market these days.  But it’s also pretty interesting. All of the products in this pretty extensive line are infused with 24-karat gold. It includes everyday facial care, collagen boost series, masks, a men’s line and a “bionic facial expressions” series, which claims to give results similar to treatments like Botox, without the paralysis.  So much for diamonds being a girl’s best friend.

Frankincense and myrrh are in some appealing products, too.  Both are plant resins, most notable for their fragrances and used heavily in incense and as essential oils. But they have other healing properties as well.

Frankincense is a stress-reducer and has been found to encourage the growth of skin cells. It has long been used to heal everything from vomiting and sores to leprosy and gonorrhea.  The South African company Dermaxime uses it in a rejuvenating face wash that’s filled with stuff that helps the skin, including AHAs, BHAs, horse chestnut extract and a dozen or more ingredients like that.

Ren Skin Care and LUSH also use frankincense in products that we’re putting on our wish list.

Myrrh is primarily an effective skin care agent when the essential oil is mixed with a so-called carrier oil. It’s not the main ingredient, but can improve the look and glow of skin, and has soothing and calming effects to ease dry or severely dry skin.

Today, three guys showing up at your door carrying gold, frankincense and myrrh is probably going to seem a little like Ziggy Stardust at Woodstock, but hey, check out their skin. You might want to let them in.

Ain’t it always the way? You start losing the hair on your head and it starts sprouting out of all kinds of other unwanted places. Like your nose and your ears. Not only does it sprout, but it grows. Fast. Like weeds. Or kudzu. And it’s not just one long stray, but it comes in tufts.

And it’s as hard to tame as jungle undergrowth. You can’t just hack through with tweezers or regular trimmers because those protuberant little follicles are amazingly sensitive. As tempting as it sounds to grab a machete or weed whacker, at some point in our lives we are all going to have to reach for a nose hair trimmer.

It’s personal grooming’s embarrassing little secret; one of those products you never admit to using or owning (although it would be much more disgusting to borrow one). But besides your finger, it’s the only thing actually engineered to fit up your nose. And truthfully, it’s a lot easier just to get one and get it done than try to find an alternative tool or watch your head slowly start to look like a fluffy cauliflower.

There are manual and battery-operated versions of the nose hair clippers and all of them also work on the ears (and eye brows, guys, if you’re tired of the Andy Rooney look). Just about any company that makes an electric shaver also makes nose hair clippers. Remington rates high at shopinprivate.com, but Panasonic and Oster are more highly rated at Amazon.com.

They range in price anywhere from $3.95 to $25.95 and up. The fancy models come with vacuums to suck up the trimmings or lights and mirrors so no strays are missed. The wet/dry versions are marketed as more easily cleanable and good for allergy season or “in case you have a cold.” Um, yuck.

Maybe the only thing worse than that image though is wanton wiry bristles bursting out of the orifices in which they once hid.

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’.

Say you want a fuller face.  A surgeon sucks out a little fat via needle and syringe or cannula from your belly or hips, then injects it into your cheeks or lips, smoothing wrinkles and restoring a youthful plumpness.  Since the cells were yours to begin with, there’s no chance of allergic reaction or rejection.  Sounds like stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, doesn’t it?

Still, fat grafting is the lowest rated procedure at RealSelf.com, primarily because of its unpredictability.  Fat is living tissue and has to be kept alive to properly plump its new location.  Fat grafting involves harvesting, processing and re-injecting, and some of the fat cells are going to die during the process. The question is, just what percentage will become useless.  As one plastic surgeon on RealSelf put it, it is highly dependent on technique.  Another variable is that the fat could be reabsorbed into your body, and the so-called experts can’t seem to agree whether the results are permanent.

Additionally, if you want to kick up a little controversy, get a few plastic surgeons together and ask about fat transfer for breast augmentation. In 2007, the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons came out against the procedure for breast enlargement, because there is little or no data that shows it is better or safer than using silicone or saline implants.  Some doctors also argue that if the transferred fat dies, it can leave behind scar tissue or calcifications. It can also hamper cancer screenings, and it remains a hot-button issue..

From people who have had it done, however, especially in their cheeks and hands, fat grafting usually wins high praise.  Some recent studies show that because the fat is rich in mature stem cells, fat grafts to your face and cheeks may improve your complexion.  It is outpatient surgery, requiring a day or two of downtime to allow the harvest sites to heal.    The cost of the procedure varies widely, not only by region and surgeon, but also depending on where you having the injections (lips will be less than butts).

For more information, PlasticSurgery.com is a good resource.

Let’s get the snorts and guffaws over with: Cosmetic tattooing, or micro-pigmentation, does involve someone sticking inked needles into your face. And, in the spirit of full disclosure, this will be a pro-permanent makeup article.  I immediately went home and had it done.  But I am getting ahead of myself.

The process has many names, but it is the same technique that produced pin-up girls on the forearms of WWII veterans, skulls on the biceps of bikers, and little butterflies on the shoulder of your underage daughter – electric needles are used to inject permanent dye into the skin.  Cosmetic tattooing is used to help with reconstructive surgery, simulate facial hair lost through chemotherapy or alopecia, cover scars or, in my case, address laziness.  I like to wake up with makeup.

Micro-pigmentation uses extremely small pigment granules for coloring on the face or other sensitive areas of the body, because it is for esthetic enhancement rather than art.  Estheticians apply permanent eyeliner, lip liner and full lip color, eyebrow enhancement, beauty marks, areola recreation, as well as scar camouflage.  The dyes used for makeup are different than the ones used for a Grateful Dead logo and the procedure is relatively quick and mostly painless. Depending on the size of the area, it takes around 40 minutes to an hour, and two sessions are needed with a couple weeks in between treatments.  There is mild discomfort, but most specialists use a topical anesthetic to numb the skin.  The cost varies – anywhere from $300-$500 for eyebrows, up to $2,000 for areola work and it is likely that the work will fade after a few years, especially if you spend a lot of time in the sun.

The bad news is that while there are lots of different colors and pigments, “none, including the hair dye henna, are actually approved by the FDA for skin injection,” says WebMD.com.  Risks include infections, inadequate sterilization of the needles, allergic reactions, scarring, and bleeding of the dye into surrounding skin.  The American Association of Blood Banks requires a one-year wait between getting a tattoo and donating blood because of the risk of hepatitis or HIV contamination.  Most states now heavily regulate and inspect tattoo parlors, but consumers should be sure to do their research, check references and above all, make sure the environment is clean.

Having said all that, the results can be fabulous (I told you this was a PRO article.) Tattooed eyebrows, when done correctly, are indistinguishable from real ones.  Faded lips have new color and scars disappear.  I have worn thin eyeliner since I was 12 years old, but sight problems were making it more and more difficult to apply well.  Two sessions and two years later I have positively no complaints and awaken, like the women on my trip, suspiciously well made up.  Now if I could just tattoo out the wrinkles…

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.

Stem cells are known to regenerate tissue and repair damage.  The controversial part is that stem cells with the most potential for serious medical treatment are embryonic in nature, and that poses ethical problems.  But now, clinicians are testing the results of using a person’s own fat-derived stem cells in various cosmetic treatments to reconstruct and rebuild lost tissue in less invasive ways. Injecting adult stem cells into the face can make pores become smaller, and make general skin tone fuller brighter and fuller.  Fat grafting, which has always been problematic because of uneven reabsorption issues, becomes less problematic when stem cells are added.  It seems to cause the fat to stay in place longer and even generate new cells. Who knew? Fat could be the gift that keeps on giving!

Plastic surgeons have high hopes for stems cells, too.  The Stem Cell Facelift is a new procedure being tested in the European Union and Japan, where physicians inject the patient’s own stem cells into the wound of the facelift.  Reports claim that with the addition of the cells, healing is quicker and the results of the facelift continue to improve as the new cells keep regenerating.  For breast reconstruction, using fat that has been enhanced with stem cells may replace the need for silicone or saline implants.

Don’t get too excited – the FDA has yet to weigh in on this and much more research has yet to be done in the U.S.  Of course, that hasn’t stopped the cosmetic companies from capitalizing on the concept.   Never mind that real stem cells could never be put into products because they would die immediately.  Several anti-aging creams are targeting stem cells in the skin for repair, using plant stem cells – specifically from apples – as ingredients and producing conditions “around existing stem cells” that would cause them to grow.  You can bet there will be more products, and soon.

The most unusual product we’ve seen is C’ELLE, a $500 system for capturing your own stem cells from menstrual blood and sending them to the company for preservation of up to a year ($99 for each subsequent year.)   Someone isn’t all that keen about this idea, though. “The C’ELLE service is not currently available to New York state residents.”

Do we have something to thank Andrew Cuomo for again?

• MakeMeHeal.com published a fairly extensive review of the Stem Cell Facelift.
• Stem cells basics, including the use of adult cells, can be found on the National Institute for Health website.
• How the fat-derived cells are harvested is no small matter, as this doctor explains.

So not only am I battling the genetic curse of being prematurely gray, there is the DNA-based anamoly of a thick, luxurious mane that grows ridiculously fast.

What that means is a regular color job might last a month, amazing if I can go five weeks and a freakin’ miracle (or disgrace) if I try to stretch it to six.

I thought I needed a fairy godmother to help me keep my hair looking youthful, but my friend Lori says all I really need is a magic wand. She swears by Clairol’s Nice ‘N Easy Root Touchup Kit ($6.99) . You mix your color and brush it on from the scalp out, covering the gray and making your dye job last a little bit longer.

Avon offers an interesting alternative with Advance Techniques ($6) – a root touch-up kit with an applicator that looks like a mascara wand in a mascara-like tube. It only comes in two colors, black or brunette, but hey, even a brown that doesn’t match is less noticeable than the silver halo that rings my head on a monthly basis. The color washes out after each shampoo, which could alternately be considered a blessing or a curse.  Seems like this would be a great way to get those tough spots.

New to the market is Oscar Blandi’s Pronto Colore Root Touch-up & Highlightling Pen ($23). Remember how much fun it was to color with markers? Same principle, but on your head instead of paper … or the walls. The pen allows you to brush away those roots, or draw in those highlights you were thinking about trying. It also washes out with each shampoo, but comes in six shades.

And those are just a few. With a multitude of touch-up choices, it should be easy to eliminate the gray area of just how soon I need a full-blown color job.