Hi, my name is Dr. Cheryl Burgess, and this is “Ask A Derm”.
My mission as a board-certified dermatologist is to educate the public in who’s the expert in skin, hair, and nails. Okay, the first question is:
1. What is the simplest and most overlooked skincare advice you wish everyone followed?
My best advice would be to protect your skin from the moment you’re born to the day you die, and there are a lot of aspects to why we suggest wearing sunscreen or sun protection every day.
2. So what are some new and innovative skincare ingredients that you are recommending for your patients?
Well there’s a lot of new preparations, one: Alastin – strengthening elastin in the skin which we tend to deplete around the age of 40, and therefore that is one of the products that I really, really encourage women over 40 or mid-life that they should be using.
3. So are morning and evening skincare regiments different and why?
Yes, they are different. For the most part, our body goes through a circadian rhythm and where the skin is protecting itself in the morning and repairing itself at night. So for the most part, the ingredients that you use need to be assisting what the body is typically doing. So for instance, your sunscreens and your antioxidants you want to use in the morning because your body is trying to protect itself from the environmental elements such as the sun. At night we want to repair any damage that was caused during the day, and therefore reusing our alpha hydroxy, beta hydroxy acids, we’re using our retinols and those other types of products that cause the body to repair itself.