I read your blog series on rosacea and I have a question. I have been diagnosed with rosacea. I mainly have it on the apples of my checks and my forehead (right in the middle). My problem is that I have an oily t-zone and I have blackheads and other break outs on my chin. I would love to know what products will work. I want something gentle as to not upset my rosacea but I need oil and blackhead control for my chin and nose as well.

I was going to buy the zinc soap along with the Replenix CF cream. Will these control my clogged pores?

Thank you,
Norma

Hello Norma,

This is a great question. To best answer this, I’m going to share with you some general information from my dermatology practice.

First off, you’re not alone. It’s really common to have a combination of oily skin, blackheads, clogged pores and rosacea!  However, treatment can be tricky since  the products that we use to treat blackheads and our first choices to treat oily skin may aggravate rosacea.

When working with my dermatology patients, I begin with a “rosacea cool down” regimen.  This regimen involves doing whatever it takes to quiet down the inflammation that drives the rosacea. During this process, we:

1. Stop all irritating skin care products or procedures.

2. Use soothing products that calm rosacea including:

• Calming Zinc Soap (usually twice a day, but the small potential to dry some skin types may cause us to switch to only once a day,  alternating with Toleriane Cleanser).
• Replenix Power of Three or CF Creams (twice a day).

These key products are included in my Redness Relief Kits.

We use these products on the entire face. Although neither of these products will make blackheads or clogged pores worse, they, unfortunately, don’t treat them either.  However, they are important to the overall strategy for unclogging the pores since they help soothe the rosacea, allowing us to work on the competing pore and oily skin problems.

During the rosacea cool down, if the rosacea is really flaring up, I would also prescribe topical (and possibly oral) medicines until we control the rosacea.  Some of my prescription approaches to rosacea are outlined in my post Prescription Medicine and Cosmetic Procedures to Treat Rosacea  

It’s also important that rosacea-prone skin stay well hydrated if it’s going to heal. For this, I typically recommend a soothing facial moisturizer such as Glycolix Ultra Lite Face Cream, which is perfect for oily skin. 

Sun exposure can also aggravate the inflammation of rosacea, making sunscreen an important part of rosacea skin care.  I always recommend sun protection with mineral zinc oxide sunscreen, such as Citrix Sunscreen.

After the rosacea cool down has worked its magic, we’re ready to tackle clogged pores.  We can now gingerly work the skin with pore-unclogging products.  How we unclog clogged pores and remove blackheads varies according to a person’s skin type and skin tolerance (which mostly means how sensitive it is to friction and oil removing or irritating products).  One of my favorite tricks to unclog clogged pores is using the Clarisonic Sonic Skin Cleansing System.  This well-loved sonic skin-cleansing system usually can be used by most rosacea patients at least on the nose and chin (where clogged pores are the worst).  It also helps the other treatment products, including the Calming Zinc and the Replenix Creams, penetrate skin better.  However, it is important to note that there is no guarantee that the rosacea-prone areas of the cheeks or forehead will react well to sonic cleansing,  which is why it is always something we start slowly and carefully using the lowest settings with the Delicate Brush for extra-sensitive skin.

For the blackheads, prescription tretinoin is my usual first treatment choice when I’m treating rosacea patients.  I can usually coax a person’s rosacea-prone skin into letting me use this great medicine on certain parts of the face.  (It is a prescription, so its application needs to be supervised by an experienced treating physician.)  I start with 0.025% cream on the blackhead-prone facial areas like the nose, chin and possibly between the brows.  Proper application is really important and I’ve shared how I do that in a prior blog post titled How To Correctly Use Retin A for Acne and Anti-aging Skin Care. It’s tricky to use tretinoin if you’re prone to rosacea. However,  it is possible and tretinoin is a great medicine to fight blackheads and to provide anti-aging bonus benefits.

Another option to get rid of blackheads in rosacea-prone skin is benzoyl peroxide, believe it or not!  In fact, some people with rosacea find that benzoyl peroxide helps their rosacea, but others find that it makes their rosacea worse, which makes its use tricky!  Again, this potentially irritating medicine is applied only to the blackhead-prone areas, which are usually the nose, chin and between the brows.  The benzoyl peroxide needs to be formulated in a water-based product without alcohol like my OTB Bacteria Removing Lotion for Sensitive Skin.  Typically, it’s used once or twice a day, but since it can provoke rosacea in some people, it should be started gingerly, and only once the rosacea is quiet. Remember, this is a test and your skin may complain!

Of course rosacea, being a capricious gremlin, will resurface from time to time even if you’re being “nice” to your skin.  Flare-ups always happen when they’re most inconvenient.  When a flare-up occurs, it’s an “all stop” on the products that could rev up the beast, and back to the rosacea cool down regimen.  When the inflammatory phase is once again quiet, then resumption of the blackhead and clogged-pore treatment can be gingerly restarted.

Phew, it sure will be nice when we  have a cure for rosacea. It’s such a cranky skin problem and requires patience, delicate care and stewardship.

Thanks for a great question. This is a combination of skin problems that I see every day in my dermatology practice and that I’m sure tons of readers can relate to your experience.

Warm Regards,

Cynthia Bailey MD, Dermatologist

If you have questions about skin care or skin health please send them to me using the Contact Dr. Bailey button at the top of the page.

Disclaimer: Please realize that availing yourself of the opportunity to submit and receive answers to your questions from Dr. Bailey does not confer a doctor/patient relationship with Dr. Bailey. The information provided by Dr. Bailey is general health information inspired by your question. It should not be a substitute for obtaining medical advice from your physician and is not intended to diagnose or treat any specific medical problem (and is not an extension of the care Dr. Bailey has provided in her office for existing patients of her practice). Never ignore your own doctor’s advice because of something you read here; this information is for general informational purpose only.

Best Products for Rosacea, Oily Skin and Blackheads is a post from: Dr. Bailey's Skin Care Blog

I have learned so much from your blog. Thank you for starting this blog and sharing your knowledge with us. I am 29 years old and still fighting with acne. As my age is getting older I have started to worry about anti aging skin issues too. How can I a set up a regimen both for ‘acne and anti aging’ at the same time? In your last post you set up a skincare routine, can you also do it for acne+anti aging? With your own recommended products?  Is Retin-a one of the elements that should be used in this regimen?  Or would it be benzoyl peroxide with some other ingredients, or would glycolic acid be enough? I will be very glad if you enlighten me Which path should be followed?

Thank you thank you thank you very very much in advance.

I hope you never give up this blog, it’s a real treasure for skin care problems.

Best regards,

Ayse S

Hello Ayse,

My favorite anti-aging and acne treatment combination skin care regimen is based on glycolic acid.  This combination of skin care needs is exactly why I made my Glycolic Acid Kits.  These kits are designed to fit the different skin types and become the key active ingredient to address both skin problems.

Click here to see my Glycolic Acid Facial Skin Care Kits

You then build on top of this regimen to meet your other skin care needs such as 1.  Sun protection (a key anti-aging step), 2.  Additional collagen building products, 3.  Skin hydration as needed.

For sun protection, my SunSavvy Daily Wear Kit has a great oil free products.  There’s Citrix for every day use and Solbar Zinc for those wet and sweaty outdoor activities.

Click here for my SunSavvy Daily Wear Sun Protection Kit

Glycolic acid is a great anti-aging ingredient that helps skin build collagen if you use only products that are strong, professional strength products – like mine!  I’ve written an article explaining the science of how glycolic acid can benefit skin health for anti-aging, wrinkle fighting skin care.  Click here to read it. 

For additional anti-aging, collagen building, anti-wrinkle skin care treatment products (phew!), the best results (in my opinion) come from professional vitamin C products or prescription tretinoin cream (Retin-A).

CRS is the product that I think is the best Vitamin C skin care product made.  It has liposome encapsulated, stable L-ascorbic acid vitamin C in a wonderful base that feels fantastic on the skin.  I usually have patients use it during the day under their sunscreen.  They then use their glycolic acid product at night.

Click here to see CRS

To read about how I combine glycolic acid and tretinoin skin care regimens read my post How Do You Combine Retin A and Glycolic Acid for Anti-Aging Skin Care? In that post you will also find a link to my very specific method for using tretinoin; there are some really helpful tricks for successfully combining this tricky combination.

Whether you chose CRS or tretinoin as your additional collagen boosting skin care ingredient, I recommend adding Replenix CF Cream (or Replenix Power of Three) to your regimen too.  In my dermatology practice,  I have my patients use this ultra-high concentration green tea antioxidant product twice a day after washing their skin, and before applying their other skin care products.  I’ve found that it helps quite any irritation that may develop from either of these combination regimens.  It also has anti-oxidant benefit and the key ingredients in this product (caffeine and green tea antioxidants) have also been shown to reduce skin cancer formation in the lab, which is a fantastic benefit that I love to incorporate.

Click here for Replenix CF Cream

The easiest way to get all the benefits of this skin care regimen is to combine one of my Glycolic Acid Facial Kits and my Antioxidant Kit.  You’ll also get Replenix Scrub this way which is a wonderful exfoliating scrub for that ‘instant gratification’ glow you get from exfoliating twice a week.

Click here for my Anti-Aging Antioxidant Skin Care Kit

If you still need additional skin hydration, chose one of the Glycolix Face Creams to ‘dial in’ the right skin hydration for those drier areas of your facial skin.

Click here to see the Glycolix Face Creams

So there you have it!  Combining the right Glycolic Anti Aging Kit for your skin type with my Antioxidant Kit gives you ‘state of the art’ anti-aging skin care for both your acne and anti-aging skin care needs.

BTW, thank you for your lovely comment about my blog.  Writing it has become a passion for me and, god willing, I’ll do it as long as I’m able.

Cheers,

Cynthia Bailey MD, Dermatologist

If you have questions about skin care or skin health please send them to me using the Contact Dr. Bailey button at the top of the page.

Disclaimer: Please realize that availing yourself of the opportunity to submit and receive answers to your questions from Dr. Bailey does not confer a doctor/patient relationship with Dr. Bailey. The information provided by Dr. Bailey is general health information inspired by your question. It should not be a substitute for obtaining medical advice from your physician and is not intended to diagnose or treat any specific medical problem (and is not an extension of the care Dr. Bailey has provided in her office for existing patients of her practice). Never ignore your own doctor’s advice because of something you read here; this information is for general informational purpose only.

What’s The Best Anti-Aging and Acne Skin Care Product Regimen? is a post from: Dr. Bailey's Skin Care Blog

Right about now that New Year’s Resolution enthusiasm might start falling off.  I’m noticing, for example, that it’s getting easier to find a parking spot at my gym.  My own resolution (to use my power exam tables to always move a patient into a good position for my back before I begin a procedure) didn’t get done 100% of the time yesterday. My nurse gave me a gentle reminder and it helped.  We know what’s good for us, let’s stick it out.  We need to support each other, and I’m hoping this post helps to support you.  I care, and if improving your diet was your 2012 New Years Resolution, hang in there, your skin will reward you.

‘You are what you eat’ and now, more than ever, there’s mounting medical evidence that this is true for your skin.  You probably have at least one skin problem that you’d love to fix – include diet in your treatment plan.  Really???  YES!

We know:

• Acne improves on a fruit & veggie rich diet low on junk, sugars, meats & dairy,
• Psoriasis in now linked to the same diet risk factors as heart disease and diabetes,
• Beauty is rated more highly when a person has beta carotene rich skin (which comes from eating orange and green leafy veggies),
• UV skin damage is lessened when skin is loaded w/ dietary antioxidants,
• Non-melanoma skin cancers thrive when you eat a high fat diet,
  

Dermatologist’s Diet Advice For Healthy Skin

Eat organic and fresh because nutrients start breaking down the minute food is harvested.  Organically grown foods have more to begin with (they ‘are what they eat’ too).  Click here to read Diet Recommendations for Healthy Skin

Eat lots of beta carotene foods because they make you beautiful (and healthy).  My absolute favorite nutritional ingredient for beauty is beta carotene because it functions like a self-tanner, giving your skin a beautiful golden glow.  I always eat a healthy dose of carrots, winter squash or dark green veggies to keep my pale skin naturally ‘bronzed’. Believe it or not it works!  Click here to read Skip The Tan And Eat Your Veggies For Beautiful Skin Color

Eat lots of omega 3 rich foods because they rock for fighting inflammation.  Inflammation is the instigator of all sorts of mischief from psoriasis and acne to heart disease and strokes.  The modern western diet is low in omega 3 and high in it’s evil counterpart Omega 6.  Tip the balance in your body and see how different you look and feel.  Click here to read Age Beautifully, Fight Cancer and Prevent Heart Disease By Adding Flax Seeds To Your Diet

Eat your vitamin D.  Don’t damage your skin with sun exposure in pursuit of this important vitamin.  This is the one vitamin I actually take in capsule form.  Click here to read Are You really Getting Vitamin D From The Sun Or Just Nuking Your DNA?

Eat a diet that has more veggies than anything else to reduce inflammation (including skin inflammation like rosacea, acne, eczema, psoriasis).  We diet geeks believe that a plant based diet loads your body with vital, bioavailable nutrients in exactly the form that your human body is designed to use.  No multivitamin pill can compare!  Click here to read The Alkaline Mediterranean Diet, A Magic Wand For Overall Health And Beauty

Eat naturally fermented, probiotic rich foods every day to keep your digestive track healthy.  I suspect that this little secret is one of the biggest under-appreciated necessities for physical health.  Your digestive track helps you absorb the right nutrients and excrete any harmful toxins in your food (like mercury).  My favorite probiotic food is naturally fermented kefir because it’s loaded with beneficial probiotics. Click here to read Kefir, The Best Probiotic For Healthy Skin.

Eat less refined carbs, dairy and junk food to prevent acne. Yes, we dermatologists finally have diet advice for you if you suffer from acne.  Click here for 4 Diet Changes That Can Help You Improve Your Acne, Dermatologist’s Advice

Eat foods rich in natural spices! Yes, I’ve never posted on the subject of spices and health, but the scientific evidence is mounting. Spices are starting to join the ranks of healthy diet super heroes.  Some of the best are turmeric and cinnamon.  I try to cook with turmeric every week and I add cinnamon to my morning cup of green tea matcha.  I promise to post on spices later this year.

So, let’s stick it out with our New Year’s Resolutions.  We know what’s good for us.  I’ll use my power tables and demonstrate excellent ‘self care’ at work.  If diet was your resolution, hang in there.  You’ll like the results on your skin, I promise you!

Photo: Thanks and Gratitude to TheBittenWord

The Best Diet for Healthy Skin In 2012 is a post from: Dr. Bailey's Skin Care Blog

In the lab we see big differences between dry skin and hydrated skin in both the composition of the chemistry of the skin layers and the way they look structurally when examine under a microscope.  The structural and chemical characteristics of dry skin translates to skin that’s also more vulnerable.

We call this vulnerability of dry skin an impaired barrier function.  For you, dry skin means that:

• your body’s water, which is normally present in your skin, is escaping more easily (called transepidermal water loss).
• soaps and solvents are better able to penetrate deeply into your skin and pull out your natural skin oils.

You can see why the problem compounds, getting worse and worse, and you’ve undoubtedly experienced it.  The most common example is chapped hands.  Once your hands are chapped they get worse and worse every time you take them outside into harsh weather or do the dishes without gloves again.  Your skin becomes rougher, dryer, itchier, starts to crack, hurts, becomes rougher and dryer etc…

What’s happening is that your impaired barrier can’t stand up to the usual insults of weather and soaps.  Harsh weather ‘pulls’ water out of your skin into the dehumidified wind.  Soaps seep into chapped skin  ‘cleaning-out’ more of your skin’s natural oils.  Unless you intervene, your skin gets drier and drier and its barrier weaker and weaker.

The intervention is actually simple – stop exposing the skin to situations that decrease its water and oil content, and instead do something to increase these important components of healthy skin.

Dermatologist’s advice to heal dry skin:

1.  For starters, wear gloves, clothing or facial mufflers to protect skin from harsh weather so that water isn’t ‘pulled’ out so rapidly.

2.  Increase the relative humidity of the air that you expose your skin to by adding an indoor humidifier. (Or, hello Hawaii!).

3.  Minimize the exposure of your skin to harsh solvents and soaps that ‘clean out’ the oils you need for a healthy skin barrier.  This means wearing protective gloves when you must come into contact with these things, such as when doing the dishes.

4. Use only gentle cleansers when you wash your skin because skin cleansing also ‘cleans out’ your natural skin oils.  Have only gentle cleansers handy at your sinks and in the shower.  Rinse them off well too because soap residue can irritate skin and even gentle soaps will pull oils out of your skin given hours of opportunity.

For chapped dry skin care I recommend only skin cleansers with a high glycerin content and no sodium laurel sulfate foaming agents.  Safe options include pure glycerin bar soaps and naturally made bar soaps that retain their natural glycerin.  Whole Foods 365 brand glycerin bar soap is a deal at about $2 and is a great all-purpose skin cleanser.  Other commercially available liquid cleansers that meet this criteria include Toleriane Cleanser, which is my ‘go-to’ cleanser for cleansing dry sensitive facial skin.

5.  Apply a high quality skin moisturizer that’s rich in oil immediately after washing or bathing skin.  This will add oil back and help to trap water. Water enters your skin during water exposure and oils prevent its evaporation by sealing it in.  The oils will also seep into your skin to replace your lost natural oils. Find a product you like and use it as often as possible.

Most commercial moisturizers have petrolatum or mineral oil as their therapeutic oil ingredients and many scientific studies over the years have proven the effectiveness of these oils for repairing skin barrier impairment.  There are also products with natural oils that work beautifully too such as almond oil, shea butter, olive oil, jojoba oil etc.  Other moisturizing oil ingredients that can be helpful are ceramides which more closely resemble your skin’s natural oils and are important for healthy skin barrier.

Moisturizers that also contain humectants (water binders) are even more effective than those based solely on their oil content.  Look for humectant ingredients such as

• urea,
• the alpha hydroxy acids called lactic acid and glycolic acid,
• glycerin
• hyaluronic acid.

These humectants boost skin water content by binding water in the skin, thus preventing it’s loss.  Urea and alpha hydroxy acids however can irritate severely chapped skin and you need to heal your chapped skin before you start using them.

It’s possible to find products that specifically heal and protect dry, chapped, barrier impaired skin and that are not heavy or oily.  For example, my favorite humectant containing hand moisturizer is Intensive Hand Cream with glycerin, dimethicone (a skin protecting ingredient added to prevent water loss and protect an impaired barrier) and the palm oil emollient isopropyl palmitate.  It’s a cleaver, non-greasy formulation that protects and hydrates hand skin.  I keep it in my lab coat pocket and I apply it numerous times a day to prevent dry skin from washing. 

The bottom line is that to treat and prevent dry skin you need to protect it from water robbing circumstances.  You also need to moisturize it after bathing or washing to help recreate the water and oil content of healthy skin.

References:

Lodén M.”Role of topical emollients and moisturizers in the treatment of dry skin barrier disordersm” Am J Clin Dermatol. 2003;4(11):771-88.

Imokawa G. Stratum corneum lipids serve as a bound-water modulator. J Invest Dermatol. 1991 Jun;96(6):845-51.

Cho HJ. “Quantitative study of stratum corneum ceramides contents in patients with sensitive skin.” J Dermatol. 2011 Oct 31. [Epub ahead of print]

Photo: Thanks and gratitude to Hanaan Rosenthal

Dermatologist Explains What Causes Dry Skin? is a post from: Dr. Bailey's Skin Care Blog

I’m a dermatologist so I know the secrets that make spa beauty treatments work – and believe me, I do them myself at home for a fraction of the cost.

I’m personally in the mood for some spa TLC right now, and am going to run a little series to share with you my favorite home spa treatments.  I make it my business to try spa treatments when I’m on vacation.  My DIY treatments are adaptations from the treatment menus of some really great resort spas.  They’re dermatologically therapeutic for our skin, hair and nails and we can do them at home anytime we need a little ‘SPA-brain’.

With my favorite DIY home spa treatments, you can get expensive spa results at home because you know what the key steps are.  You probably even have some of what you need already in your bathroom cabinet or kitchen.  Add a few more things, create a relaxing ambiance,  and you’re ready to make these simple DIY health and wellness spa treatments a part of your regular skin care routine, no expensive spa bill needed.  Combine them all for one of those giant spa packages that you always dream about doing but don’t want to spring for!

Treatment #1,  DIY Exfoliating and Deeply Hydrating Body Treatment

Step 1:  ‘Taking the Waters’

Turn your home bathtub into a therapeutic soaking tub just like at a spa.  Make it both luxuriously relaxing and deeply hydrating.

First, prepare your ambiance by lighting a candle and turning off the electric lighting.  Put on soothing music and tell the rest of the household not to disturb you.

Then begin filling your tub.  Use warm water and a handful of Epsom salts for your soak.  Add a few drops of lavender essence for de-stressing aroma therapy, it works and these two additions are the most important elements of most spa soaking tubs.  You can add a tablespoon of oil too to hydrate your skin while you soak.  We do this all the time for dermatologic skin therapy.  Use your favorite body oil, mineral oil or even one of the oils you cook with and that are undoubtedly in your kitchen.  Yes, canola oil, olive oil, peanut oil all show up in natural skin care products and they’re good for your skin.

Soak for at least 5 minutes and preferably 15 minutes or more in your therapeutic waters and breath in the rising lavender steam.  (Remember, if you add oil to the tub it will be slippery, so be careful!)

Step 2:  DIY Total Body Exfoliating Scrub Treatment

Exfoliating makes your skin soft. When you have an exfoliating scrub treatment at a spa all they’re doing is massaging your skin with a rough scrub and a luffa sponge or rough shower mitts.  You can do this in the tub and get the same results (yes it’s nicer to have the spa technician do this for you, but you’ll still get a great exfoliation this way too).

Exfoliate your body and feet after you’ve soaked for at least 5 minutes.  Your skin will be soft and ready for exfoliation.  You’ll have velvety, spa-soft skin that lasts for days or even longer after your treatment.

Exfoliate your feet using a pumice or foot file to remove rough skin.  Massage your body skin with a luffa sponge, exfoliating shower mitts or shower sponge and a little of your favorite body cleanser for slip and glide over your skin.  Or use an exfoliating body scrub. Spend a little extra time on your elbows, knees and ankles where dead skin really builds up.  I personally use my Salux Cloth with Glytone Body Wash, both of which come in my Anti-Aging Body Kit.

Step 3:  Holding On To All That Spa Goodness

When you feel ready step out of the tub, pat your skin dry and trap all that goodness into your skin with your favorite skin moisturizer or body oil.  Add a drop of lavender essence to your oil or moisturizer to continue the soothing aroma therapy benefits of lavender.  Deeply hydrating oil or moisturizer options include jojoba oil, extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil (you may want to warm this first since it may be solid at room temp).  I personally use either jojoba oil or the Glytone Body Lotion that’s in my Anti-Aging Body Kit for all the anti-aging benefits of glycolic acid.

This is a hydrating, restorative spa treatment that will unwind your nerves and leave your skin looking and feeling like you spent a small fortune at a spa!  It incorporates the essential steps of key body treatment services that are on treatments menus from some really great resort spas.  You’ll have the polished and hydrated skin of the ‘rich and famous’ 24/7/365 if you do this treatment once a week at home.

Check back for the rest of my DIY home spa treatments:

Next I’ll give you step by step instructions for how to add:

1. A mini-facial
2. Deeply hydrating hand therapy
3. Deeply hydrating scalp and hair therapy

Add them all to your tub treatment for that big spa package you’ve always wanted to do but couldn’t quite justify financially!

Ahhhhh

Photo:  Thanks and Gratitude to Dennis Wong and Luz A Villa

DIY Spa Skin Treatments You Can Do At Home is a post from: Dr. Bailey's Skin Care Blog

How do they get so beautiful?

What are their tricks?

When you look in the mirror after you’ve done your hair and makeup, why don’t you look like them? Do you feel a little pang of disappointment and inadequacy?

You look different than the models and celebrities who are constantly photographed flaunting their otherworldly beauty? Does a brief excuse run through your mind?  Is it because you’re getting older, they have access to all the best tricks, you always had skin problems, weight problems or a facial shape that just wasn’t perfect.  Is that why you can’t ever seem to look like them?

But wait, do you wonder where these gorgeous people are?  Why isn’t there at least one in your town from time to time?   They have to grow up somewhere.  Don’t the ones in pictures go to the grocery store, yoga class, drive cars?  How many have you personally seen in the last 10 years?

Here’s the secret. This really beautiful woman is on billboards.  She’s one of the modern icons of beauty that we all measure ourselves against.  In this brief video she shows you how she does it. Watch it and learn how you too can be a flawless, model-gorgeous beauty for the camera.

How To Look Like a Model is a post from: Dr. Bailey's Skin Care Blog

I am 42 with quite good skin and not a big problem yet with wrinkles.  I do suffer from tight feeling skin and lumpy skin with blackheads.  My skin mainly looks very dull and uneven.  My skin is quite tolerant.

I’m confused what products would be best.

I am ordering some of your body care products but would love to know what skincare products would be suited for me to order.

Many thanks for your help.

Kind regards
Helen W

Hello Helen,

One of my favorite places to start with skin care that brightens skin and decreases blackheads is glycolic acid.  It also helps to even skin color and reduce wrinkles, which are otherwise part of everyone’s future as our skin ages.

The simplest way to add glycolic acid to your skin care is to use one of my Glycolic Acid Anti-Aging Kits such as this one for ‘normal’ skin.   I have different kits based on skin type (normal and combination, oily or dry).  These kits come with the Buf Puf Facial Sponge that gives an instantly brighter exfoliated look to skin.  Patients love this product combo.

Glycolic Acid Anti-Aging Kit For Normal Skin

Remember, it’s also important to use a mineral sunscreen every day to help prevent darkening of uneven hyperpigmentation and worsening of wrinkles.  My favorite mineral zinc oxide sunscreen is Citrix, which I’ve personally worn every day for years.

The product sequence of this regimen is:
Morning:

1. Cleanse with Glytone Mild Gel Wash and the Buf Puf Facial Sponge
2. Apply Citrix Sunscreen

Evening:

1. Cleanse with Glytone Mild Gel Wash with or without the Buf Puf
2. Apply the Glycolix Elite 15% Face Cream with glycolic acid

Eventually, as skin adjusts to the glycolic acid, it’s often possible to apply the Glycolix 15% Face Cream under the Citrix Sunscreen during the day too.  It takes at least few weeks for skin to adjust and be ready for twice daily glycolic acid so I typically start patients once a day.

For the ultimate state-of-the-art skin care regimen though it’s possible to use the Glycolic Acid Anti Aging Kit and an Antioxidant Kit. This gives all the benefits of antioxidant skin care (reduces inflammation and potential free radical skin damage, reduces wrinkles by acting on at the cellular level in your skin and further evens skin color), includes the Citrix Sunscreen mineral sun protection, plus you’re getting the skin brightening and blackhead reduction that comes from the glycolic acid products.

For example, a person with normal skin would use the Glycolic Acid Kit for Normal Skin that I mentioned above, and an Anti-Aging Antioxidant Kit

Anti-Aging Antioxidant Kit

The product sequence of this regimen is:
Morning:

1. Cleanse with Glytone Mild Gel Wash and the Buf Puf Sponge.  Twice a week use the Replenix Scrub in place of the Glytone Gel Wash
2. Apply Replenix CF Cream
3. Apply CRS
4. Apply Citrix Sunscreen

Evening:

1. Wash with Glytone Mild Gel Wash without the Buf Puf sponge
2. Apply Replenix CF Cream
3. Apply Glycolix Elite 15% Facial Cream with glycolic acid

With this regimen, the Glycolix is not added during the day because the CRS is applied instead.

The final option to this regimen is to add a moisturizer during the day if you find that there are parts of your skin need even a little more ‘thirst quenching’.  For blackhead prone skin I like Glycolix Elite Face Cream (not to be confused with the one that has glycolic acid!).

Glycolix Elite Face Cream Ultra Lite

This moisturizer goes on just before the Citrix during the day.  At night the Glycolix with glycolic acid doubles as your moisturizer.

These are the building blocks of complete skin care; the products each play a role in improving your skin problems by fighting the signs of aging, protecting your skin, keeping your pores clean and giving you instantly improved skin appearance.   Equally importantly, all the products and ingredients are compatible so you’re not wasting your money on products that counteract each other.  Building skin care regimens like this is what I, as an MD skin care professional, do all day – and I love it!

Thanks for a great question.

Cheers,

Cynthia Bailey MD, Dermatologist

If you have questions about skin care or skin health please send them to me using the Contact Dr. Bailey button at the top of the page.

Disclaimer: Please realize that availing yourself of the opportunity to submit and receive answers to your questions from Dr. Bailey does not confer a doctor/patient relationship with Dr. Bailey. The information provided by Dr. Bailey is general health information inspired by your question. It should not be a substitute for obtaining medical advice from your physician and is not intended to diagnose or treat any specific medical problem (and is not an extension of the care Dr. Bailey has provided in her office for existing patients of her practice). Never ignore your own doctor’s advice because of something you read here; this information is for general informational purpose only.

What’s The Best Over 40 Skin Care To Brighten Dull Skin? is a post from: Dr. Bailey's Skin Care Blog

Are there products at DrBaileySkinCare.com that you’ve wanted to try but your budget minded self nixed the idea?  That $100 Gift Certificate would sure be a kick.  Get what you want, try something new and it’s basically $100 off if you win.

Have you been dreaming about trying the best professional anti-aging skin care, complete skin care kits for smooth and healthy skin, powerful acne products that work, the state-of-the-art under eye cream, products that I know transform skin, hmm……..

It’s super quick and easy to enter, and you’ll meet our Facebook page where some of us hang out from time to time.

Visit our page, ‘Like’ it and leave us a sentence or two about why you ‘deserve’ to win. That’s it, you’re in!  Our office will hold the drawing on Monday January 16th.  Someone’s going to win that gift certificate for DrBaileySkinCare.com products, and it really could be you!

Click here to jump on over to Dr. Bailey Skin Care’s Facebook page.

Product Gift Certificate Give Away on Facebook is a post from: Dr. Bailey's Skin Care Blog

It’s the middle of winter and a lot of my dermatology patients have dry skin, even in our relatively mild climate here in Coastal Northern California.  Many are perplexed about it because they’re drinking plenty of fluids. 

Unfortunately, drinking water won’t fix dry skin any more than taking a bath will quench your thirst.

To hydrate your skin you have to add water and oil from the outside.  Bathing actually becomes therapeutic if you moisturize right after you towel off.

Taking a bath or shower actually adds the water your dry skin needs.  If you apply a moisturizer right after you towel off then you trap that moisture and – presto – moist skin!  If you don’t apply a moisturizer then all that water evaporates, leaving you with even dryer skin.  The key is the moisturizing step!

The only way to treat dry skin is with hydrating skin care.  Here’s how I explain it to my dermatology patients

Step 1: Bathe

Take a shower or bath in warm water, not hot, and ideally for 5 or more minutes to load your skin with water.

Water temperature is important.  To treat dry skin use warm, not hot, water to bathe.  Washing your skin is just like doing the dishes in that hot water cuts oil better and you don’t want that because it dries out your skin.

Step 2: Mild soap only and use it sparingly!

Bathe with only mild soaps and warm water.  Strong soaps remove too much of your natural skin oils, just like hot water does.  I recommend naturally made soaps that have natural soap glycerin still in them, or soaps made from glycerin alone.

Glycerin based cleansers are different than regular soap because they help hold water to your skin and they’re less efficient at removing skin oils.  Unfortunately most commercial soaps have the glycerin removed, leaving a very drying product.  Adding an oil or ‘cold cream’ to a drying soap doesn’t compensate, so don’t fall for the sales pitches, just find a glycerin rich product.  Good choices include Whole Food’s 365 brand glycerin bar, which is a deal at about $2.  L’Occitane has nice glycerin rich, natural bar soaps that are quite elegant.  A great liquid glycerin skin cleanser is Toleriane Cleanser.  It’s a richly hydrating, ultra-mild glycerin skin cleanser that’s great for severely dry skin anywhere on your body including your face and hands.  I’ve used it for years in my dermatology practice.  Click below to read more about it.

Toleriane Cleanser

Also, just soap up the parts of your skin with body odor glands unless you’ve gotten really dirty.  That means armpits, groin, buttocks and feet.  Be sure to rinse well too to remove all the soap residue.

Step 3: Apply your moisturizer within 3 minutes after toweling dry after every bath or shower.

Bathing loads your skin with water.  Trapping it with a moisturizer is how you treat dry skin.  You don’t need a heavy, thick layer of moisturizer to do the job.  Just cover your skin with a nice, thin layer of product that it can easily absorb.  It traps the water and the oil soaks into your skin.  This is what moist skin is, really!

If your skin is so dry that it’s cracked, itchy or painful then use a moisturizer with soothing water binding ingredients like rich oils, glycerin and possibly also lanolin.

If your skin is just dry and flaky then get all the hydrating and skin softening benefits of AHA’s (alpha hydroxy acids) by picking a moisturizer with glycolic acid or lactic acid.  It will work even better than plain moisturizers.  My Anti-Aging Body Kit has everything you need for soft, healthy, hydrated skin year round.  Use it every other day alternating with your favorite soothing moisturizer and have healthy skin that stands up to the elements.  Click below to read more.

Anti Aging Body Skin Care Kit with Glycolic Acid

The Bottom Line: You treat dry skin from the outside in.  Don’t get me wrong, drinking water is good for your body, so do it.  But don’t look for ‘8 glasses of water a day’ to fix your dry skin.  Only in the extreme, when a person is massively dehydrated to the point that their level of dehydration is a health risk, will their skin be limp, flaccid, lusterless and dry because they’re thirsty. The dry skin that most people suffer from is caused by dryness on the outside and the fix is with the right skin care.

Photo: Thanks and Gratitude to tommerton2010

Does Drinking Water Help Treat Dry Skin? is a post from: Dr. Bailey's Skin Care Blog

My favorite healthy lifestyle blogger, Debby, The Healthy Librarian has a great post that’s a must read for all of us. In her sound, rational medical librarian way she always keeps her fingers on the pulse of the ‘real’ medical literature for diet, exercise and lifestyle.  She brings the ‘fat trap’ discussion back to the real issue and points out the obvious solution.

Debby’s ‘nail on the head’ solution is one that rarely get’s ‘air time’ in main stream media.  It’s also a solution that, based on real medical studies, works miracles for your heart health, belly fat woes, aging mental acuity, diabetes and cholesterol problems, cancer risks and even erectile dysfunction (yes really, cardiovascular disease has been associated with erectile dysfunction).

Cruise over to her site and digest what she has to say.  I’d even recommend subscribing to her site because her articles are all 100% valuable.  Let the Healthy Librarian be your medical librarian for the sound healthy lifestyle advances that come out in the ‘real’ medical literature, it’s what I do.

Click here and the link will take you to her site and her post on the ‘Fat Trap’

The Best Diet For Weight Loss in 2012 is a post from: Dr. Bailey's Skin Care Blog