Important Health Care Update

The New York Times Magazine reported Sunday on an important advance in skin care treatment. In case you can’t access the link, here is a brief summary:

1. You’re ugly
2. It’s not your fault
3. It’s in the water
4. Don’t worry, it can be fixed
5. But it’s not gonna be cheap

The culprits are heavy metals in water, claims Dennis Gross, a Manhattan dermatologist and founder of MD Skincare. These metals, found at parts-per-million (one drop per 18 gallons) levels can, in combination with other components of perfectly good drinking water, cause jowls, fine lines, crow’s feet, and acne. In short, if you wash your face in tap water tonight, you could look like Keith Richards when you wake up tomorrow morning.

The article reports that this public health menace has 3 potential solutions:

1. Give your money to Dennis Gross, who will sell you moisturizers containing chelators, which bind to the heavy metals and take them from your face into the environment.
2. Give your money to renowned hairstylist Jonathan Antin, who now sells a shower water purification system. It’s OK to drink your tap water on your mountain bike ride, but whatever you do, don’t use it to wash the mud off afterward.
3. Give your money to French cosmetics company Clarins, which in January rolled out its line of no-rinse cleansing products. Call me skeptical, but I’m thinking that you’ve got to get that stuff off of your skin sooner or later.

Don't expect any of these treatments to be covered by your health care plan, even if you work at MD Skincare, The Bravo Network, or Clarins.

I never thought I'd say this, but I do have something in common with Keith Richards. Neither of us are wasting any of our money on this stuff.