I love your question. Millions of women/men can’t afford to spend $200-300 on skincare every month for the really great stuff. I hear you. Although I gotta say… I sometimes hear patients say they can’t afford a $60 anti-aging cream. And then, in the next breath talk to me about how much they are spending on dinners out, cars, or shoes, etc. For me, I’d spend the money on my skincare products and cook home more in a heartbeat. We are human though and none of us are consistent all the time! Here are the essentials! What skincare products to save on: Cleansers – I love the Eminence and organic c ..read more

Ok… this definitely differs by country. Many Korean women, for example, don’t feel they are taking proper care of their skin unless they have a 14 step program. And I’m only partly joking here. ? Women in India and Asia are often concerned about keeping the eveness of their skin tone and color. Women in the United States and Canada tend to do NOTHING, until quite a bit of damage has been done. European women have it about right, in my opinion, because some basic education about skin starts early with healthy self care! And women/mothers/some fathers, tend to pass the care down through gen ..read more

Ok, I’m loving your creativity on this, and I’m going to ask you to reconsider! The key sentence, for me, in what you wrote is… “I even take it with me when I travel because I’ve noticed going even one day without using the scrubby my skin almost immediately starts returning to it’s previous state.” This tells me something! Which is if what you were seeing was true improvement in the quality, collagen, sun damage, etc, then that wouldn’t go away in a day. I think what you’re seeing is skin irritation and the swelling/puffiness that goes with skin injury! Basically, you’re just constantly irrit ..read more

Oh yeah!  We are all doing the same at our clinic and are seeing a surprising number of patients with mask related problems.  If you really want to try OTC hydrocortisone, please use for no more than 3-7 days once or twice a day.  Remember that cortisones take the red out, so it looks better, but act as fertilizer for yeasts and bacteria and make them worse in the long run. Covid mask related problems: Increased oiliness and acne breakouts Skin yeast over growth Staph (meaning staphlococcus aureus or MRSA, not staph epidermidis),  and other bacterial infections, Irritation ..read more

We’d all love to always be acne free. But…that would probably require a magic wand for all of us.  And we don’t all have Dr. Pimple Popper at our command.  ? Please remember that staph infections and other skin diseases can masquerade as acne, so if you’re getting worse, call your doctor. Five Things to Do When You Spot a New Pimple Don’t Pick and Don’t Squeeze. Let’s be real. The temptation is strong right? But unless that pus is right on the surface, chances are you’ll just traumatize yourself, and push the inflammation deeper into the skin where it may cause scarring, and take lo ..read more

Why do we even get acne here? It’s a host of factors – the number of oil glands, your genetic tendency to acne, picking behavior, prolonged sitting, and clothes that irritate the hair follicles. These four steps will help get rid of most of it.  But if it persists, see your dermatologist; you might have an infection in your hair follicles, or something else. It’s surprising how many diseases can affect skin on your booty. For example, celiac disease (true gluten allergy) sometimes presents with itchy, scabby skin on the rear end. These are all non prescription options, but again, see your ..read more

You made my day!  Sometimes I get that writer’s thing, where the writing just goes out into the universe, and I have no idea where it lands.  It helps to get feedback.  ? Regarding topical use of hyaluronic acid (HAs), it’s usually just listed on the ingredient list as hyaluronic acid.  Molecular weight (MW) is not specified .  From what I can glean from the medical literature, the very low MWs can a be drying because they increase water loss across the barrier layer (epidermis).  They thus are drying. And conversely, the higher MW forms or “resistent” forms of HA ..read more

Hey Rosie –  thank you for writing!  Everyone’s questions help other people too!  Here’s my opinion on the above. Microneedling is NOT so great with active acne. Why?  For two reasons because the needling often aggravates the redness and pus (inflammation) with active acne, and it doesn’t prevent scars.  Also, it really doesn’t treat acne scars very well. With active acne, the microneedling often causes more inflammation because it introduces tiny wounds.  Your skin is already trying to heal the acne, it doesn’t need more to heal. Much better would be to treat the acne itself more vigorously a ..read more

My heart goes out to you on this.  And it sounds like you’ve done an amazing job with a difficult health issue.  Kudos!  I love that you’re eating healthily. We sometimes tell our patients at the clinic that everyone picks something, so it’s really more a matter of degree.  Some people pick just a little……and some people pick a lot more than the average.  This is more like your case.  Many psychologists consider picking to the point of scarring as a form of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), because it IS very hard to stop. You have a lot of company. And…..please consider seeing a psychologi ..read more

No one likes feeling like an oil slick. Myth #1: If you washed your oily skin with a drying cleanser, it would produce more oil. Not true. Oil is mostly hormone controlled and genetic. The good news is because you have oil, you tend to not wrinkle. On the other hand, your pores tend to be wide and texture a problem. Skincare tips: Use a drying cleanser. Those formulated for acne often work well. When you moisturize, don’t ADD oil. A hyaluronic acid based one works well for most oily skin. Use serums (more water based) rather than lotions or creams for any antiaging products. Use mineral powder ..read more