We are an ecumenical Carmelite community of consecrated men, women and lay members who live in allegiance to Jesus Christ. The Carmelite Way of Life is composed of a historical tradition of prayer (an active movement of our person to be united with God) and spirituality (the desire of our spirit to be united with God), cultivating an intimate relationship with Jesus through our humanity. Incorporating the Gospel message to “love the Lord your God…and your neighbor as yourself”, we are dedicated to developing community through relationship and fellowship as expressed through the Acts of the Apostles. Fraternal love is the hallmark of a Christian. We manifest this gift in relationship with one another—supported by a humble embrace of accountability and responsibility.

Our prayer life is guided by a daily discipline and monastic tradition of scheduled communal and private prayer (meditation, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and the Divine Office—praying the psalms). The manifestation of a healthy life of prayer is the call to action. Our call is to serve the needs of the poor and marginalized through developing private inner city schools for the poor.

In my last blog, I presented the scientific basis of the Adenosine Skin Technology. We found that Adenosine present in the Easeamine skin care collection increases the production of collagen and elastin by the skin dermal fibroblasts. This renders the skin healthier and more youthful in appearance by reducing fine lines and wrinkles.

The clinical studies undertaken with Adenosine indicate that there is indeed a marked improvement in skin health. To eliminate bias for the clinical studies, they were performed by a third party research facility that had no association with Carmel Laboratories—the supplier of Easeamine. For the clinical studies thirty-nine female subjects twenty-five to fifty years of age were followed for twelve weeks with evaluations performed every four weeks. They applied Easeamine to the face in the morning and evening after gentile washing. While significant improvements in skin health were observed through the study period, at the end of the twelve weeks, a number of specific clinical improvements were documented.

No subject in the study reported any unpleasant reaction to the Easeamine. In fact, Easeamine is believed to be hypoallergenic. Clinical test equipment revealed a 38-48% increase in skin firmness and elasticity and a 38% improvement in skin dryness. The test subjects themselves reported a 40% improvement in fine lines and wrinkles and a 34% improvement in skin firmness. They also reported a 42% improvement in skin tone and importantly a 42% improvement in overall appearance. One of interesting comments made be the third party that carried the studies was that they had never seen, in all their previous clinical studies, such an improvement in skin firmness and elasticity—as they observed with Easeamine.

Overall, the findings from the clinical study clearly indicate that the Adenosine Skin Technology contained in Easeamine, brings about significant improvement in skin appearance by rendering it healthier and reducing fine lines and wrinkles. The scientific basis for the clinical results, as we saw in my last blog, is that Adenosine increases the production of skin collagen and elastin, which would manifest the clinical findings reported herein. In conclusion, Easeamine is unique in the cosmetic market today with both scientific and clinical evidence revealing that it is a skin care line that can produce healthier and more youthful skin in addition to improving appearance.

As a 33 year-old mother of two, I have noticed those faint laugh-lines and more defined features—showing off the fact that I am no longer a spring chicken. I am also wondering why, at my age I’m still getting acne? It’s no secret that I could have easily been the Proactiv® poster child for the past 18 years. Surprisingly enough Proactiv® just didn’t work for me. It irritated my skin even more and caused more breakouts.

Then I discovered Easeamine! Yep, just like a million other women my age, I wanted to look a little younger and diminish those fine lines and wrinkles that were popping up—out of nowhere. During that process I discovered something truly amazing!! After just one week of using the Easeamine regime, not only did my faint laugh lines and wrinkles diminish to the point of being barely noticeable, so did the acne!!

So, I then researched to discover how in-the-world can an anti-aging product possibly treat or prevent acne? What I discovered was amazing and …spot on! You see—I have oily skin—“Sicilian-Italian” type oily skin to be exact. The type of skin that needs a ton of make up and powder all day long to hide that unsightly shiny oil.

Ok, so what does that have to do with the price of tea in China?? Everything! Because my skin is so oily and I use so many products to hide and conceal, that every night when I cleansed away the piled-on make-up, I was also cleansing away the natural oils and acid-mantel that my skin actually needed as a protective barrier!

I discovered typical soaps and facial cleansers are highly alkaline and contain detergents that strip away the essential oils and the natural acid pH your skin needs. Plain and simple…Easeamine does NOT strip away oil or the skin’s natural acid pH.

Oils needed…what? YES…believe it or not your skin has a natural barrier of “good”, preventing and protecting against bacteria that causes acne! HEY who knew? Definitely not me!

While using Easeamine, not only did I end up looking younger (YAY!), but by using it MY WAY:
1. Toner first…cleansing away the dirt and make-up AND leaving that natural barrier of GOOD oil and acid mantel that prevents and protects against acne.
2. Then the cleanser to clean, moisturize, revitalize leaving my skin feeling like silk!
3. Lastly, moisturize…ahh…what a nice feeling to wake up to…
It’s like having a mini face lift at night and waking up to a less wrinkly face AND the best part…acne free too! Truly, it not only treats my skin, but also prevents the acne from developing. Nothing is better in my opinion!
That’s how I Easeamine…How do YOU Easeamine??

Several years ago a book was published with the title, All I Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten. I am going back to Kindergarten to provide a guide to healthy eating for a better and more youthful complexion.

One of the best parts of Kindergarten for me (besides the nap), was the new box of crayons. The colors were red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, black and brown. I loved how they looked in the box, all lined up and brand new. I even remember the smell!

How can a box of crayons help with healthy skin? The goal for a healthy diet is to include vegetables and fruits in each of these eight crayon colors every day. Fruits and vegetables in each of these colors are super-rich in antioxidants, and antioxidants are known to fight against aging. In addition, antioxidants support clear, beautiful, healthy skin.

Here are some examples of the foods in each color group: Red (tomatoes, apples, strawberries); Orange (peaches, sweet potatoes, squash); Yellow (banana, olive oil, corn); Green (spinach, broccoli, kiwi); Blue (blueberries, eggplant, plums); Purple (purple grapes, purple cabbage, beets); Black (blackberries, black beans, black olives); Brown (walnuts, almonds, mushrooms, dark chocolate) . Yes, dark chocolate (in moderation)—not milk chocolate or white chocolate—is rich in antioxidants.

There are many more examples of colorful fruit and vegetables—more than I can list here. Spend some time in the store’s produce and fruit sections, and you will see examples of these eight colors.

The important thing to remember is to Go for the Eight Crayon Colors. Think back to Kindergarten and your original box of crayons for guidance to great looking, healthy, and youthful skin!

In my next blog I will discuss hydration for healthy skin.

The Adenosine Skin Technology present in the Easeamine Skin Care Collection makes use of an important biological function of Adenosine. Adenosine increases the production of skin proteins, such as collagen and elastin, thereby causing the skin to be healthier and more youthful in appearance by reducing fine lines and wrinkles.
One may ask, how was this biological effect of Adenosine actually discovered? Several years ago, my university research laboratory was looking at the effect of aging on human skin fibroblast. These fibroblasts normally reside in the dermis of the skin. The dermis is the layer just beneath the outer most layers known as the epidermis. It is the epidermis that we all see as the top layer of our skin derived from the dermis. In other words, the dermis is largely responsible for the support and maintenance of the epidermis.
Now getting back to the fibroblast in the dermis. These fibroblasts produce collagen and elastin. Collagen is important in holding the skin to together, and the elastin provides stretchiness to the skin thereby limiting deformation. In the laboratory we cultured human skin fibroblasts that were supplied to us by a federal agency. We cultured some fibroblasts with Adenosine in the culturing solutions and some without Adenosine in the culturing solution. When this was done, we found fibroblasts cultured in the presence of Adenosine had a greater production of proteins, such as collagen and elastin.
How did we determine fibroblasts cultured in the presence of Adenosine produced more protein compared to the fibroblasts cultured in the absence of Adenosine? We used tagged amino acids, which are the building blocks of proteins, in the culturing solutions. In those fibroblasts that were cultured in the presence of Adenosine there was an increase in the tagged amino acids taken up and incorporated into the fibroblasts (US Patent 6423327 [B1]). This means that there was an increase in the protein production in the fibroblasts cultured in the presence of Adenosine. This is an important and fundamental aspect of the Adenosine Skin Technology that renders the skin healthier because of the increased collagen and elastin production caused by Adenosine. In my next blog I will consider the clinical findings that revealing how the Adenosine Skin Technology brings about healthier skin.