Bee Venom Takes The "Sting" Out of Aging

In the 90's bee venom entered the skin care scene as a natural alternative to the hugely popular Botox trend.  Now, in 2013, bee venom is making a comeback as a key skin care ingredient.

Bee venom fools the skin into thinking it's been stung by the toxin melittin.  This toxin causes the body to direct blood into area which stimulates the production of collagen and elastin, particularly in menopausal skin.

Due to bee venom's anti-bacterial properties, you will soon be able to find it in everything from cleansing and moisturizing products.  Plus, because of its ability to restore and plump, you will also be able to find it in eye creams to deminish dark circles and give you that "bright-eyed and bushy-tailed" look.

As you know, Scandle is dedicated to cruelty-free products.  So, of course, we were concerned that such a product could cause a threat to the bee population.  As it turns out, no bees are actually harmed in the making of these products!  Venom is extracted using a glass surface know as a collector and is place along side the gate of the hive and features a weak electrical current.  The current ever  so gently encourages bees to sting a surface they can't penetrate, meaning their abdomens stay intact and they continue living a bee-autiful life!;)

Source:  "Is Bee Venom the New Skin Care Rage?"  Michelle  Yeomans

Botox for Treating Depression?

Has the changing of the seasons got you feeling a little blue?  No fear...Botox is here!:)  If your spa already offers botox injections, you might be able to add treatment for depression to your list of services.  The increasingly popular wrinkle-reducing muscle relaxant may hamper your ability to to convey emotion but researchers are finding that to be a good thing when battling depression.

For the study, researchers selected 30 participants suffering from major depression and gave half of them 5 injections of Botox between and just above the eyebrows while the other half were given placebo injections in the same places.  During the 16 week study, researchers found patients who were injected with the placebo had a 9 percent reduction in depressive symptoms, while patients injected with Botox had a 47 percent decrease in symptoms.

This  study suggests that facial muscles do not only let others know how you feel, but are also instrumental in regulating your own mood. How? The study's author, M. Axel Wollmer, a psychiatrist from Switzerland's University of Basel, says that facial muscles might not just tell other people how you feel — they might tell your brain how you feel, too. And because Botox relaxes those muscles, it may prevent your face from telling your brain that you're blue.

*Source:  The Week, "Can Botox Treat Depression?"