There’s a new crop of products, services and treatments that is helping us to stay younger looking longer…and they’re getting less expensive and easier to obtain. Scientific fact or hype? As I go through the most popular, I’ll let you decide!

Want salt on that margarita?

Go ahead and take it! Actually, don’t eat it…as too much salt has been blamed for obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, kankles. Instead, breathe it in…deeply! Salt lounges are popping up all over the U.S. Rejuvenating salt therapy can be thanked for increased immune systems and athletic prowess, a cure for asthma and allergies and an added complexion glow. This white stuff is safe to inhale! Dry-salt therapy grinds warm salt into breathable particles which can be inhaled through masks, under domes or in enclosed rooms. This aerosol salt absorbs the impurities from your body and helps break up mucus which envelops the toxins and can be expelled. With clean lungs comes all of the benefits above. If your body is exposed, skin is exfoliated and can better act as our body’s natural antibacterial defense system. Also touted as a benefit for those with eczema and acne, a natural glow is a great side benefit. So, grandma’s Epsom salt baths were right on target!

Bumpy thighs?

Cellulite is a nasty 9-letter word! A newly cleared treatment by the FDA is Cellfina. A needle-sized blade is inserted about 8mm below the skin’s surface to cut the bands of fiber that cause cellulite’s dimpling effect. Anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour later with minimal pain and an easy recovery and anywhere from $3,00-$6000 dollars lighter, you can keep those nasty puckers away for years! Forget all of the creams, massages and salon devices that promise to get rid of the pesky dimples…this product actually works!

Tired of the two to five step process of applying your makeup? Now you can purchase custom colored drops to put into your moisturizer (which should already contain SPF 30) for a one-step application! Simply put the desired amount of product into your palm and add drops of custom color according to what type of coverage you want! Anything can be obtained from sheer to full coverage. Just mix and apply as usual. If you already love your moisturizing product, leave the makeup powder, foundation, etc. behind! There are 24 shades to choose from in the FX line.

A pacemaker for anti-aging? Well, a pacemaker-like device can actually interrupt the nerve signal that signals hunger, so staying slim and more youthful looking is easier than ever! When we are at our target weight, exercise becomes easier and therefore our entire body benefits. As long as our food intake is of the healthy variety, this new weight-loss gadget will leave us in better shape mentally and physically. There are several new devices on the market in this category…but they do require surgery to implant them. Move over, lap-band!

There are concierge doctors, single-fee dental insurance, free unlimited carwashes with purchase, and now unlimited hair salon visits for one monthly fee. “Memberships” to these salons let you have unlimited blowouts, haircuts, color and washes for under $150. I’m sure there is a one year contract or something like a gym membership (and we all know how THAT goes!) but easier is still the word here! Botox is extra, but for killing the sweat glands in your scalp that can ruin a good blowout in one step or spin class it’s priceless!

Speaking of scalps, how much hair does yours hold? Now lasers don’t just remove hair…they can be a treatment for thinning hair! As a natural hair loss treatment, a laser hair brush sends the cool length or red laser wave to the base of your hair follicles. This increased circulation stimulates and replenishes the hair follicles to let them produce the thickest and shiniest hair that they can. Hair grows longer, faster and thicker. No need for surgery, nasty creams or prescription drugs. It is successful with any ethnicity and works as well in males and females without downsides or counter indications to any type of shampoo, conditioner or prescription meds that one may be taking for other issues. Of course, dead follicles won’t produce hair, but for thinning spots it makes an exceptional female hair loss treatment. The best in laser hair restoration devices uses a curved surface brush-like device that uses rechargeable batteries and requires treatment for 15-20 minutes every other day. It is portable, discreet and inexpensive at around $600 for a one-time fee. Now…get yourself one of those salon “memberships” and look younger and more beautiful while you read up on all of the other new remedies out there!

We are bombarded with “the Latest” as so many different companies compete for our dollar in the race to “stay younger looking”. We are hearing about skin rejuvenation, laser hair restoration, dark spot correctors and cellulite removal. Science is definitely improving…but it is hard to believe that ALL of the products out there actually work.

I recently read about “in home” cell therapy. It is a pill that contains an extraction of the DNA of certain deep water marine life which is touted to restore everything from cartilage to collagen. It is said to remove everything from headaches to wrinkles. Nowhere in the article, however, did I see any form of guarantee. In one ad it even says that one 60 year old woman’s skin improved so much she no longer “needed her regular Botox treatments.” Crazy…I didn’t realize that I might NEED Botox…perhaps I should look closer in the mirror! Wanting to look younger and needing to look younger have become interchangeable verbs in this “don’t grow old” society.

The term “in home” is a new buzzword that means that we no longer have to take the time or the gas money to drive to a clinic or office and none of our friends need to know that we are doing any type of treatment at all! We order on line and just about anything arrives in a few days in a “discreetly wrapped” package. We don’t have to fess up to any kind of treatment…and I’m sure there ARE actually “in home” treatments that work.

One product that has actually been on the market for decades, but finally made it to the “in home” stage is laser hair therapy. An easy to hold, laser hair brush is used as a thinning hair treatment for only 15-20 minutes every other day. It’s red or cool wavelength lasers target the hair follicles just below the scalp and cause increased blood flow to the base of the follicles to stimulate production. Hair grows thicker and shinier from each active follicle.

Now, they do NOT promise that hair will grow from a follicle that is already dead…but they do have a complete money back guarantee that you will see your thinning spots fill in and your overall hair quality will improve! Not too long ago, these treatments were only available in salons and dermatology clinics. Folks who had lost hair due to cancer treatments, patients recovering from hair transplant surgery and men and women with early balding patterns have been success stories. This treatment for thinning hair was costly and time consuming. Now, for a single fee of less than $600 for the best brand (the one with the most actual lasers..35…and a pulsing laser format) you can improve your hair quality and quantity right at home. The Nutreve Personal Hair Therapy Laser also has a curved faceplate that targets more scalp for the treatment time and offers a hands-free stand so you can work at your computer, read or whatever at the same time you are getting the benefits…without having to leave home. Rechargeable batteries keep the running costs down and lets you take it with you when you travel.

All this beats taking a pill or wearing a wig and certainly avoids the costs and downtime of surgery. No needles, drugs or clinic visits are needed and use of the laser hair brush for hair loss is a natural hair loss treatment that actually works…”in home”!