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#skinthusiast: the podcast
Solo Q&A: Hydration vs Moisture, What To Do When The Skin Is Sensitized, Listening To Your Skin & More
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You can use your red light therapy mask at any time of day, whether the blinds are open or not. The light is directly on your face so you don't have to worry about the light that's around you. You can use it any time of day. Those are the two devices I use religiously, microcurrent and led. And it's just easier to put my microcurrent in the morning also because I get that immediate benefit from the microcurrent where the red light there isn't an immediate benefit that you're getting. It's more long term. So to me, I'm fine using it at night when I'm just going to be going to bed. Hello and welcome to another episode of Hashtag skenthusiasthepodcast. On today's podcast episode, we are covering some of the questions and answers from the last few Instagram story Q&As I've done. If you're new around here, every Sunday on my Instagram stories, I put up a box to get your questions about everything from skin care, hair care, skin science, overall health and wellness, motherhood, life style, anything at all that you want to ask questions on. And I print them out and go through as many as I can on this podcast to get your questions answered. One other little thing that I've been implementing into the interest of these episodes is covering a couple of my favorite products that I've discovered in the last few months. And I find that this is really helpful just to keep you guys up to date on the products that I'm currently using in my routine. And two of them specifically, specifically I think are really helpful for this like kind of fall transition time that we're in for our skin, one of them being the hyaluronic acid serum from pca. So a separate hyaluronic acid serum is not necessary for everyone. But if you're somebody who feels like your skin is dry and dehydrated and no matter how much moisturizer you put on, you feel like you just can't get on top of the problem, then moisturization is probably not your problem. And instead what you're lacking is actually hydration. And these are two completely different things. And it's on often a mistake in skincare when people think that they only need one or the other. I see this all the time. So I really like this serum for anybody who is, like I said, in that boat where they feel like they just can't get like thirst of their skin quenched. And the reason I like this one specifically is cuz it has multiple types of hyaluronic acid, but it also has ceramides. So not only are you getting the hydration, but you're also getting the barrier support of ceramides, which as you guys know is like one of my favorite ulcer ingredients, especially for dry skin types. And the next product that I'm really loving is the Dr. Belle Muir. It's their Stica cream. It is actually an Amazon find, so I found it on Amazon. It's a K beauty product that people were raving about. So I bought it to try for myself and I really like it. It has Centella Asiatica. So it's going to be really nice for those who have dry, sensitive skin. But the reason I specifically like it for this transition time is it's not super heavy. Like it's not a super heavy cream that's going to sit on top of the skin. So for some people it may not be enough. But for people who are like normal to Dr. Dry during this transition time before it gets super cold and dry outside. This is a really nice in between moisturizer, especially if you like to layer. Of course in the morning you're going to layer your sunscreen on top, which often has moisturizing properties in it too. So it's really nice. If you feel like a heavy cream made for dry skin is often too much on your skin, this can be a really nice medium. And again it has that cica, the Centella Asiatica, which is a fantastic ingredient for anybody with sensitive skin. All right, let's get into some of your questions from the last few weeks. I'm just going to go down the line and answer as many as I can get to. So let's go with number one, anything I can do at home to help melasma at home so bad after my second baby. So melasma is a chronic condition. There is no cure. Once you have it, you will have it most likely until menopause. Menopause, it starts to kind of clear up because we don't have as many hormonal influences or we don't have the same hormonal influences at that time. So whether you got it in pregnancy, whether you got it from birth control, really, it doesn't matter what initially brought it on. What matters is how you manage it. Now can you do some things at home? Absolutely. This is especially helpful if you're somebody who's really naive to products that are meant to treat hyperpigmentation. I find that my patients who come in who have melasma who are just brand new to a skincare regimen or brand new to hyperpigmentation regimen, do really well because those skin cells haven't yet been exposed to all of these ingredients out there. It can become more and more diffic if you're someone like me who already uses everything to tackle hyperpigmentation. Things don't work as well, right? Well, that I shouldn't say they don't work as well. It's not. It's not going to get me completely clear because my skin is is used to these ingredients. You do want to take a break from these ingredients. So whenever I use something that is targeting hyperpigmentation, there's actually a certain class of ingredients I look for. I'll use them for three months on, one month off and I'll do this rotation to kind of give my skin cells some time to adapt, but then also give them a break from these ingr that when I go back to them, they work better. So in office, of course our heavy hitter is going to be hydroquinone. At home, there are other options that you can do. Absolutely. One thing that is super important is making sure that you're wearing a tinted sunscreen every single day. I know I sound like a broken record when it comes to tinted sunscreens, but truly your melasma or hyperpigmentation is not going to improve if you're not using one regularly. Second, of course a retinoid in your routine is important because it helps to increase that cellular turnover. Bring that pigment to the surface and help remove it from the surface layer of the sk. And then the third class of ingredients that you want to make sure that you have is ingredients that are meant to specifically target hyperpigmentation. So there's no one product. You really have to use them in conjunction with each other. But there are a lot of really great lightening ingredients on the market. Really great formulas. I will link a few down below, but some of my favorites are the La Roche Posay Melaclear. I love their serum Elastin Illuminate has some great technology. What else? There's so many good ones. The Skin Medica Even and Correct Serum is a great atome option for hyperpigmentation. You just want to pick one and stick with it. I recommend using most of these twice a day if you can. Make sure you're using your sunscreen in the morning and then make sure you're also using your retinoid at night. Next question. Should you avoid retinoids while trying to conceive. So I recommend that you stop your retinoid when you become pregnant. Especially if it's an over the counter strength. There really isn't a super high risk of there being any issues. Right? The, the risk when it comes to topical retinoids is really a theoretical risk of birth defects that we extrapolate from the risk that we know is associated with oral forms of vitamin A like isotretinoin. So topical forms, especially in the strengths that you're going to be getting out, Sephora at derm store, places like that are not going to pose a huge risk. So in my practice I tell my patients, just stop your retinoid when you find out you're pregnant. If you're someone who is wants to be on the more cautious side, you can absolutely stop while trying to conceive. With that being said, that can sometimes be a long process. So if you're someone who is trying to conceive month after month, you don't necessarily have to stop your retinoid. You can still get the benefits of it and just stop when you find out that you're pregnant. Similarly, I tell people if you were using your retinoid and you didn't find out until you know, weeks or months in that you were pregnant, don't panic. It's truly, it's going to be okay, I promise. It's just something that we want to stop out of caution once we know that we are expecting. Next one. What's a good question for cystic acne on the face and body? So cystic acne is tough. It is a more moderate to severe form of acne and sometimes the cleanser isn't enough to do it. Actually most times your cleanser isn't enough to treat cystic acne. However, if you are looking for a cleanser to implement into your already your routine that you already have for cystic acne. My favorite for this type of breakouts is benzoyl peroxide. So I would go with like the, the Panoxyl Creamy Wash. It's really nice. It has the benzoyl peroxide, but it's also in a gentle creamy formulation that can be used on the face and the body. This is one of my favorite ways to keep breakouts at bay. I used it during pregnancy to keep my pregnancy breakouts at bay. Just keep it in my shower, wash my back, wash my face with it. I leave it on for about 60 seconds and then I rinse it off and go on with the rest of my routine. Obviously because it does have Benzoyl peroxide. You want to be super, super careful that you rinse all of it off because it will bleach your towels, it will bleach your sheets. It's just a very unfortunate fact of benzoyl peroxide. Is it better to be in a dark room when you're using your red light therapy or does the daylight not matter? The daylight doesn't matter. You can use your red light therapy mask at any time of day, whether the blinds are open or not. The light is directly on your face. So you don't have to worry about the light that's around you. You can use it any time of day. I just use mine at night just because it's easier to implement into my nighttime routine because I often use my microcurrent in the morning. I actually did a whole episode on the podcast about like my fo morning routine and my full nighttime routine. Those are the two devices I use religiously, microcurrent and led. And it's just easier to put my microcurrent in the morning also because I get that kind of immediate benefit from the microcurrent where the red light. There isn't an immediate benefit that you're getting. It's more long term. So to me, I'm fine using it at night when I'm just going to be going to bed. Oh, this is a great question. It has something to do with hydration, which we just talked about, which is funny. Does a hydration serum substitute a moisturizer? Absolutely not. Not everybody needs a moisturizer, regardless of your skin types. And some of us will also benefit from hydration serum. Not everybody. So moisturization and hydration are two completely different things. Hydration helps to put water into the skin, kind of plump those surface cells. It might help with fine lines and wrinkles their appearance. It's just going to help to really hydrate the skin. While moisturization helps to moisturize, it helps to help those skin cells on the surface lay flatter. It helps keep water into the skin by reducing transepidermal. So you really need, you do need both. Every skin type needs both hydration and moisturization. But for some, for a lot, the hydration properties of your moisturizer themselves will be enough or other serums that you're using. So a lot of other serums and moisturizers have ingredients like hyaluronic acid, like Listerine, that hydrate the skin in addition to the moisturizing ingredients. But then some people will still need an additional hydration serum. Again, based on how your skin is feeling, if it's feeling dry, if it's feeling dehydrated, you will probably benefit from a hydration serum. But no, you don't want it to replace your moisturizer. Moisturizer always. And the way that you would do this in a routine is you would cleanse in the morning and then if you wanted to do vitamin C, you could do that and you do your hydration serum, then you would do your moisturizer and then your sunscreen. That's a lot of steps, which is why I often don't use so many serums at night. Cleanse, you could do your hydration serum and then you could do moisturizer. So in short, it's always going to go on a clean skin before moisturizing and then adding the moisturizer on top of that hydration serum really helps just kind of lock everything in. Again, it's going to help reduce the water from evaporating off the surface of the skin. Next question. Best cleanser for dry acne prone skin so there are a couple of really good options here. When it comes to dry skin in general, you want to look for creamy or milky formulations and this can be a bit tricky when it comes to acids. So for instance, things like salicylic acid are really hard to find in a creamy formulation. It's also not my favorite acid for dry skin, even though I love it. For acne prone skin, it wouldn't be my first choice in this case. I would again go with a gentle benzoyl peroxide cleanser, something like the Penoxyl Creamy. You want to make sure it's a creamy formulation. And I personally like to stay in the 4% range for dry skin because 4% is just as effective as a 10% and it's not going to give you as much irritation as the 10% potentially could. So my answer for this question would probably be something like a 4% benzoyl peroxide creamy wash. Is double shampooing necessary? Absolutely not. If you are someone who doesn't make a lot of oil, doesn't use a lot of products at the scalp, you will be able to get away easily with just shampooing once if you especially if you're using the right shampoo. So like something that is clarifying or not even necessarily a clarifying shampoo, but something that just has the surfactants to actually remove buildup at the scalp. If you are someone who doesn't shampoo frequently, like me, who uses a lot of scalp serums and leave in products like me. You might benefit from shampooing twice. I personally shampoo twice every single time I wash my hair. It just helps my roots to feel even more cleansed. It really removes everything. And again, I don't plan to shampoo again for like five more days. So it's okay that I'm really cleaning the scalp and getting all those oils off. And honestly, my hair just styles better when I do this. You have to kind of play around with double shampooing versus single shampooing, but it's absolutely not a necessity, especially if you're someone who doesn't use a lot of leave in products. Is Paula's Choice B considered it an exfoliate. She said exfoliated, but I think she means exfoliant. Yes, absolutely. Anything with salicylic acid, glycolic acid, any acids really. Those are all exfoliating ingredients. So yes, it doesn't have have to be a scrub abrasive ripping your skin off in order to be considered an exfoliant. People swear by the Paula's Choice bay. I think it's best for oily skin types or in oily areas. In my personal opinion. It wouldn't be my first personal choice for an exfoliant for my skin type, which is dry and sensitive. But if you're somebody who has oily skin or oily areas that you're looking to spot treat the Paula's Choice BHA can be a really good exfoliant for you to pick. This episode is brought to you by. Well, me. Skinthusiast.com is your one stop shop for all things skin, hair and beauty. I have countless blog posts to educate you on all the skin concerns and most common skin questions I receive. We also have a complete Skincare basics guide on our shop page as well as the cutest in my Skin era crewnecks. If you want to support the show, please head over to skinthusiast.com shop and don't forget to rate and review the show wherever you listen to podcasts. What should I do if I'm using tretinoin but still getting blackheads? This is a very complex topic and really the first thing you should do is go back to the person who prescribed you that tretinoin. You should ask them what are the next steps? What can I what else can I do in my routine? If this was my patient coming into my office, what I would do would be to take an inventory of the rest of their routine, make sure that nothing else in the routine could potentially be causing this we might change up cleansers, we might change up moisturizers, we might switch to a salicylic acid based cleanser that can really help to get into the pores, remove dirt and oil. We might look at the formula formulation of tretinoin that you're using. For most people, the tretinoin on the market will be fine. There is a small subgroup of people who may react or get clogged pores to some of the ingredients that are present in some of the formulations. So in that, if I was suspicious of that, I would switch them to something like an altrino, which is a hydrating lotion based tretinoin. I might recommend a peel pad once or twice a week, a toning pad, something with exfoliating ingredients depending on their skin type. So there's a lot of troubleshooting you can do here, but it's going to depend largely on your skin type. So if I had to give a blind answer, the first thing I would recommend would be to look for a gentle salicylic acid cleanser that you might be able to incorporate. Really work it into the skin for 60 seconds, especially in your problem areas that you're having the blackheads before rinsing off and see if that helps to get into the pore, dissolve that dirt and oil and help prevent those blackheads. And of course look at how often you're using the tretinoin. If you're only using a couple nights a week, it might not be enough to prevent the blackheads. Blackheads are a type of acne that is something that a lot of people to understand. So you might not be using it frequently enough. You might not have a high enough concentration. So go back to your provider and see what tweaks can be made to your routine. Another cystic acne question. Cannot get my cystic acne on my cheeks and chin under control. Routine to reset. If this is you, I highly again recommend seeing your dermatology provider. Because it is so hard to answer a question like this just based on a, on a question based on words. You really need to have your skin evaluated. You need an in depth analysis of your skin type, an in depth analysis of what your you're using on your skin, any supplements that you're using, any dietary changes. There are so many things that can aggravate or worsen cystic acne. So understanding those things, are you, are you taking B12 or vitamin B12 or vitamins B6 that you don't need? Are you using whey protein powders for Routine, a retinoid is going to be the first step. So something like an adaptoline, which is available over the counter, or tretinoin, which is available by prescription from your provider, that's going to be really the first step of trying to get that cystic acne under control. But again, a proper evaluation is really necessary so we can understand if there are any underlying factors that can be causing the cystic acne flare. Should LED therapy red or blue be avoided for brown skin prone to hyperpigmentation? So if you are somebody who's prone to hyperpigmentation like I am, I would absolutely avoid blue light because we know that that could potentially worsen hyperpigmentation. For most of us, the red light will be okay, especially if you're using a quality device that doesn't emit heat. We know heat can melasma and hyperpigmentation worse. So if you're someone who either your mask is emitting heat or you're getting really hot underneath the mask just from the contact, like just as if anything were touching your face, if you generate heat and it's getting trapped under there, that could also potentially cause a flare. But the red light itself shouldn't, shouldn't in theory make it worse. In fact, for some people, it may help because it's going to help reduce inflammation. And there is an inflammatory component with a lot of hyperpigmentation. But the short answer is for red light, you have to kind of try to see how it works on your skin. For me, it doesn't make my melasma worse, but I would avoid blue light. How do I feel about the Botter Rich cream? So that's the Augustinus Botter Rich cream. It's relatively expensive. I think it's over 200. I actually just posted a really funny reel saying it's that trending reel where it's like, if, if I won the lottery, I wouldn't tell anyone, but there would be signs. And my sign would be I'd be using the Rich cream because it's like one of my favorites. Actually, in the one I'm in the video, I'm the sensitive skin version, which is also fabulous. But there are very few, very, very few luxury skincare products that I actually would repurchase and have repurchased. And many of the Augustinus Better products are on that list. I think it's a really fantastic brand. Others I, I truly wouldn't spend the money on. There's so many other luxury brands I just think are useless. But that's One that if you're someone who like has the money in your budget and you enjoy spending your money on skincare, absolutely. It's a fantastic product. Can you explain why air drying is bad and how to blow dry without getting heat damage? So there was a study that came out I think in 2017 I'm actually going to be doing a whole blog post on this. So I'll link it if it's out by the time I publish this episode. But there was a study in 2017 that came out that they compared tresses. So basically they took clumps of hair and treated it in different manners, three different heat settings and then air drying them. And they actually found that the group of hair that was air dried actually became more damaged at its core than the groups that were blow dried, especially the lower the heat setting was. So of course as expected, the higher the heat went, the more damage that was seen. But still in the air drying group, there was still more damage than than blow drying seen at the core of the hair. And they presume that it's possible that because the hair is exposed to water so much longer, which weakens the hair and can damage the hair, that's potentially why you're seeing more damage in an air dried group. I personally haven't air dried my hair in years. On occasion I will if I'm just really not feeling it and I have to wash my hair and I don't want to blow dry, but I blow dry my hair with my Dyson airwrap after every single just about shampoo. And I use medium heat. Use a heat protectant. In the study, the best way to reduce the chance of damage when you were blow drying your hair was to use the blow dryer at a distance of 15 cm from your head and use continuous motion. So don't obviously, you know, let the heat sit in one spot at any time. And again, of the three heat settings they used, the lowest had the lowest heat. The medium had the, you know, middle damage and the highest heat saw the most damage. But still the air dried group was the most damage out of all. So really important if you are someone who is looking for tips for damaged hair. I personally really like the continuous air tools. I just feel like they're a lot more effective when it comes to minimizing damage on your hair. And of course most, most, most important is that you're using a heat protectant. I never blow dry my hair without a heat protectant first. Next question. This person says that their azleic acid is causing closed Comedones. So as like it's azelaic acid as an ingredient itself should not cause closed comedones which what's most likely happening is a could be from another product and you're not recognizing that B it could be from the vehicle that the azelaic acid formulation is in. So if this is your, if this is the case I would switch to a different type of azelaic acid serum. So whether you're getting one from the store, switch to a different brand or maybe you're getting the prescription, there's a foam version and there's also other other vehicles that you can use. So if you're using one vehicle of a prescription, ask your provider if there's a different vehicle that they can prescribe at the same percentage so you can get the benefit without the other ingredients that are in that that could potentially be causing your breakouts. Next question. Dermaplaying dermaplaning on dry skin versus with an oil. Is there a right or wrong way or is it just preference? I truly believe it's just preference. I think for years and years I only dermaplane dry skin but in the past six months or so I've actually switched to doing it with an oil. It for me reduces any post dermaplaning breakouts. It reduces that tight dry feeling that I get after dermaplaning. It reduces sensitivity that I used to get a little bit after dermaplaning. So I will always dermaplane regardless of if I have an oil present or not. I think it's just like one of the most beneficial things you can do for the aesthetic of your skin. Right because it's going to gently exfoliate and it's also going to help with with peach fuzz which for me I don't notice my peach fuzz so much when I have a dermaplaned but when I do do it I'm like oh wow. Like my skincare goes on better, my makeup goes on better, things are just like so much smoother. I do it about once a month and I use the bare faced oil underneath my dermaplaning razor. But again this is just preference. But if you haven't yet tried an oil, I highly recommend you do because I think you'll like it better but you just have to play with it and see. Next question. What is my POV on microcurrent? So as I mentioned earlier, I love, love, love incorporating microcurrent into my routine. I've actually recently been using the Foreo the Bear 2 to do my microcurrent in the morning, in my morning routine. Microcurrent's amazing because it does give you an immediate benefit. Not everyone can appreciate it. So not everyone sees a huge difference. For me, I see quite a difference in my skin when I use microcurrent. This is, I'm talking about the immediate difference. But there's also some emerging research that there's some long term benefits, some increased cellular activity from the microcurrent and even nanocurrent technology. So I am personally a huge fan of microcurrent. It's something I incorporate into my routine. It is part of like my holistic anti aging process. I think that there are some things that we do in our skin care that we do because we want an immediate benefit, right? Or at least a short term benefit. So I'm thinking things like hyperpigmentation serums, stronger retinoids. But there are other things we do in our routine that truly were, we are depending on the science involved in whatever the product or device is to carry us long term. So for instance, like my red light mask, my microcurrent again, my retinoids, my vitamin C serum, these are things that I don't expect to see a difference in months or maybe even years. These are things that, these are my long game products. These are my, this is my plan for long term. Like I want to keep my skin looking as healthy and youthful for as long as possible. And these are all part of that plan. Like these are the benefits I'm expecting to reap in a decade, in two decades. So just important to keep in mind like what are your expectations on these things? Because especially with devices, they can be more expensive. So you have to manage your expectations. If you're expecting to see a difference, you know right away with microcurrent, you may. I do, but again I'm using it because I want that long term benefit like trying to push off invasive procedures as long as possible. Favorite budget friendly SPF Right now there are so many good budget friendly SPFs. I'm a huge fan of all of them from Naturium. But the one in the tall orange bottle, like one of my favorite sunscreens. It's so, so glowy. I've also heard really good things about the prequel sunscreens that are available at Target. I haven't personally tried them for something super easy. I love like the, like Acetaphil morning with SPF in it. That's really great. That's like what my husband uses. Those Are probably my favorites. I'm trying to think as far as a budget tinted sunscreen. I haven't yet tried naturium's tinted, so I can't speak to it, But I've heard really good things. I also want to caveat this by saying whenever I'm asked for budget recommendations, inevitably someone's unhappy, because budget means different things to different people. So for some people, a budget product might be under $10, which is very hard to find for a good sunscreen. Might be under 30, it might be under 50, it might be under 80. So budget is a very difficult word to understand just from reading a question box. But this person said that her favorite was eltamd, which was DC'd. So trying to pick some that are, like, in that general price range. Okay, final question. How to treat smile lines. This person says not nasolabial fold folds. So smile lines are nasolabial folds. They're the. The lines that are like the parentheses lines around our mouth. So I'm not sure which lines that they're talking about. So let's just cover kind of the lines that are around the mouth. So the nasolabial folds are the most common. If you look, even babies have those. So people get very fixated on nasal folds. But they're just like a very normal part of our anatomy. Things that you can do filler, but it's not really the best option. It has to be done really well in this area. This used to be like the area that everyone always injected first, but now it's kind of that you inject last. When it comes to injectables, things like microcurrent, if they're mild, can help inducing collagen. So things like retinoids, red light therapy. Again, this is like a very comprehensive approach when it comes to lines on your face of any type. You want to kind of hit it from all angles. Maybe they're. When they say not nasolabial folds, maybe they're talking about the little lines underneath the mouth, but they're not really so evident when you smile. Those are often referred to as the marionette lines. Those sometimes can be caused by the muscles at the bottom of your mouth pulling your face down. So sometimes a little bit of neurotox in that area, like disport or botox can help. It's just a couple of units, and it helps keep those muscles from pulling at that area. Again, inducing collagen production, reinforcing the skin. So things like retinoids, red light therapy, microcurrent can be helpful. But a lot of it is just anatomy, unfortunately. And so some people are just these areas are going to be more noticeable on them than others. I'm someone that they are, but it really doesn't bother me. It's just like, it's just a normal part of my face, especially this person's says she's in. She noticed them when she was in her 20s and she's 30 now. This is like a normal part of your anatomy, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with it. Again, look at babies. Some babies have nasolabial folds. It's just the way sometimes our face is structured and there's nothing wrong with it. If you're taking care of your skin, if you're keeping your skin integrity intact, that's the most important thing. Okay, we got through quite a few questions today. Thank you so much for submitting them. We will do one of these Q and A episodes every single month. Month. So make sure you tune into my Instagram stories every single Sunday, where I'll collect your questions and answer as many as I can on this podcast. So, as always, thank you for listening and I'll talk to you next week. Skusiasts.