I'm a dermatologist — 3 'universal' skincare staples I always recommend for anti-aging
Anti-aging skincare won't turn back the clock, but using the right products can help slow down the passage of time. Skincare aficionados often tout the benefits of wrinkle creams, plumping serums and youth-preserving eye creams, but according to Dr. Renita Ahluwalia, the lead Dermatologist at the Canadian Dermatology & Plastic Surgery Centre, a pared-back skincare regimen is oftentimes the way to go.
So many skincare products, anti-aging and otherwise, are "not backed by science," Ahluwalia tells Yahoo Canada. There is "no evidence" that they work. If you're going to spend the money on skincare, "invest in things that are backed by science and are good quality."
Instead of "doing 100 different things" and over-complicating your routine, Ahluwalia recommends three products that are "universal to everyone:" Sunscreen, vitamin C serum and retinol.
Sunscreen
"I'm always surprised when [dermatology patients] want to try different treatments, but they're not wearing sunscreen every day." Forgoing daily sunscreen is a "very poor return" on your beauty investments, Ahluwalia says. The majority of photoaging comes from sun damage and exposure, so sunscreen is a "non-negotiable."
The average woman spends nearly $1,000 on beauty each year. But if you're not applying daily sunscreen, "you're not going to get the results" you want.
Skipping sunscreen and lying in tanning beds are some of the biggest skincare mistakes people make, Ahluwalia warns. If you want healthy skin, never leave your home without applying "at least an SPF 30."
"If you have issues with pigmentation in your skin, which a lot of us do, especially as we get older, I usually like a mineral-tinted sunscreen because the tint contains iron oxide, which is a visible light filter," she says.
Vitamin C serum
Another staple in your skincare routine should be a "really good" vitamin C serum. A well-formulated vitamin C serum "can really improve your skin's ability to neutralize free radicals, so it boosts your sunscreen and protects your skin, kind of like an environmental shield," Ahluwalia says.
If you're in the market for a vitamin C serum, Ahluwalia suggests looking for those that have undergone the most studies and meet a threshold called the "Duke Parameters."
The Duke Parameters dictate that a vitamin C serum should contain pure L-ascorbic acid (vitamin C), have an acidic pH between 2.0 and 3.5, and be at a concentration of 10 to 20 per cent. Why? These parameters mean the serum will be the "most effective" and penetrate the skin the best.
Ahluwalia recommends: Vichy LiftActiv 15% Vitamin C Serum
Ahluwalia recommends: La Roche-Posay Pure Vitamin C12 Serum
Retinol
"I always recommend a retinol or something in the retinoid family, whether it's prescription grade or cosmeceutical," Ahluwalia tells Yahoo Canada.
"Something that suits a patient's skin type to maximize results because retinols are one of the most studied ingredients in dermatology; they do a lot of different things. They help increase cell turnover. They help with collagen stimulation. They help with fine lines and wrinkles. They can help with pigmentation."
Many medical-grade retinol products are covered by prescription drug plans, which, if you can tolerate them, is a great, more affordable option than a lot of in-store alternatives. However, if you want to avoid prescriptions, Ahluwalia recommends steering clear of derivatives and opting for "pure" retinol formulations instead.
"Neutrogena has some nice options," she says. "They have capsules and they have an overnight cream."
Ahluwalia recommends: Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair Retinol Serum Capsules
Ahluwalia recommends: Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair 0.3% Retinol Pro+ Night Cream
Avoid these common skincare mistakes
One of the most common blunders Ahluwalia sees in her practice is overcomplicated skincare routines.
"You want to use products that are tailored toward your skin type," she says. "Going with trends is not the right thing to do. Invest in good quality products that work and invest in procedures that work because that's going to give you long-term benefits for the skin."
In addition to skipping sunscreen and using tanning beds, Ahluwalia recommends avoiding manicures that are cured with UV light. "They're very damaging to the skin," she says.
Instead of skipping your manicure entirely, she recommends manicures that are "cured with LED light or just a regular manicure or dip nails."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Burning eyes, scratchy throats: Canadian wildfire smoke is making Americans miserable
Peggy Goodwin typically likes to spend as much time outside as possible in the too-short Michigan summers, riding her bike or taking a walk. But Goodwin, and the residents of the assisted living facility where she works, have been spending more time indoors lately as smoke from hundreds of wildfires burning in Canada drifts across the border. Goodwin said the skies have turned hazy, the smell of barbecue lingers in the air, and her eyes burn and water if she's outside too long. "It's just not pleasant," she said. Canadian wildfire smoke has worsened air quality in many parts of the United States, putting a damper on Americans' summer plans and raising health concerns, particularly for vulnerable groups like children, older adults and those with respiratory conditions. The smoke can irritate the eyes, nose and throat and contain particulate matter small enough to be inhaled. The National Weather Service has issued air quality alerts in states including Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. See map: Smoke from Canada wildfires prompt air quality alerts in US "Once inhaled, these particles can affect the lungs and heart and cause serious health effects,' the Environmental Protection Agency has said. 'It almost makes me gasp' Carol Schuchart has been eagerly checking the weather reports to see when she and her two dogs might be able to venture outside again in Hanover, Pennsylvania, where she runs a wedding planning and coordination business. Schuchart, who has fibromyalgia, said she's been having trouble breathing since the haze has settled in. "It's hard to go outside and enjoy when that air quality is bad and you have trouble breathing, you know," she said. "So I tend to stay in when it's like this." Meanwhile, Dorothy Curran said she was shocked to see the Minneapolis skyline obscured by wildfire smoke during a recent commute to work. When she stepped outside, Curran said she felt a tightness in her chest. "I was just feeling very scratchy, having a lot of coughs," she said. "And I think a lot of people were feeling that, even without respiratory conditions." For those who do have health issues, the smoke can cause even more concern. As of Aug. 6, the EPA labeled air quality throughout the Plains, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions "unhealthy for sensitive groups." Wildfire smoke safety tips: How to keep you, your family and beloved pets safe Curran, a pediatric pulmonologist and a professor at the University of Minnesota, said she's been getting more and more calls from parents seeking refills on medication for their children with asthma or other underlying health conditions. "Things that I've been hearing about are shortness of breath with activity, cough, especially a dry cough," she said. "Very rarely, we've been seeing that trigger more airway reactivity or narrow airways leading to wheezing and presenting to the emergency department." Breathing in wildfire smoke can be dangerous because it can contain hazardous chemicals and particulate matter, which is comprised of small particles of solids or liquids suspended in the air, USA TODAY has reported. While larger particles can irritate the eyes, nose, and throat, particles as small as 2.5 micrometers, PM 2.5, can "penetrate deep into the lungs, where they can impair lung function, cause illnesses, such as bronchitis, and increase asthma attacks," according to Yale Medicine. For Joel Williams, the smoke prompted an asthma flare up that landed him in the hospital for more than three weeks. Williams, a retired police officer who lives in Bloomington, Minnesota, said he started wheezing earlier this summer as the sky turned orange and the air began to smell like a fireplace. He said he tried the usual remedies ‒ breathing treatments, extra prednisone and even antibiotics ‒ but the wheezing persisted. Williams said he was eventually admitted to the hospital where he stayed for 23 days. "I am a very active person," he said. "To miss a whole month just sitting in a hospital bed was uncool." Since his release, Williams said he's been staying indoors more, wearing masks and using an air purifier as he waits for conditions to improve. He urged others affected by the smoke to take similar precautions. "I can almost tell as soon as I step out the house, it almost makes me gasp, even with a mask on," he said. "So that tells you how bad this stuff is." Contributing: Michael Loria, Christopher Cann This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Canadian wildfire smoke blamed for burning eyes, scratchy throats
Bloomberg
36 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Why Too Much Retinol Is Bad for Your Skin
Hi, it's Micah in New York. I love doing my skin care routine, especially when I get to try new products. But one product I've been skeptical about for a while is retinol. More on that in a moment, but first ... Many consumers have used cosmetic lotions containing retinol, a form of vitamin A, to reduce wrinkles and age spots. But starting in November, the EU will restrict the maximum concentration allowed in face products to just 0.3% and 0.05% in body lotions.
Medscape
2 hours ago
- Medscape
Microbiome Changes May Affect Squamous Cell Carcinoma Risk
Comparing metagenomic profiles of the skin microbiome in immunosuppressed patients and those at high and low risk for cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) revealed distinct expansions in fungal and viral taxa in the first two groups, according to the authors of a recent research letter reporting the results. Such differences one day may help clinicians identify patients at high SCC risk, they added. Shadmehr Demehri, MD, PhD Currently, physicians identify patients at high SCC risk based on whether they have had several prior SCCs. Analyzing skin microbiome changes to identify patients at high SCC risk before they develop several SCCs could revolutionize dermatologic care, senior author and investigator, Shadmehr Demehri, MD, PhD, said in an interview. He is the Arthur and Sandra Irving Endowed Chair in Cancer Immunology and director of the High Risk Skin Cancer Clinic at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Although age, ultraviolet exposure, and immunosuppression are well-known SCC risk factors, Demehri said, the skin microbiome's contribution to SCC risk remains unclear. To explore this issue, he and his coinvestigators conducted comparative metagenomic analyses of skin microbiomes from 30 patients: six with high SCC risk (> 2 prior SCCs), nine with low SCC risk (≤ 2 prior SCCs), and 15 solid organ transplant recipients (SOTRs). The results were published online in July in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology . Using swabs from six bilateral anatomical sites per patient, with air swabs as negative controls, the investigators performed shotgun metagenomic sequencing and differential-abundance analyses to compare relative taxa populations across patient groups. After an analysis of 249 metagenomes, high-risk individuals had the highest mean SCC count (11.8), followed by SOTRs (8.73) and low-risk individuals (0.33). 'Compared with low‐risk SCC subjects,' Demehri added, 'both solid organ transplant recipients and high‐risk SCC subjects showed higher relative abundances of eukaryotes, such as Malassezia restricta and M globosa , and viruses such as Betapapillomavirus .' Moreover, these taxa showed robust differences and strong discriminatory power between patient groups, indicating their potential utility as signatures of elevated SCC risk, he told Medscape Medical News . Which Comes First? Currently, it remains unclear whether the relative expansion of certain skin microbiome components directly drives SCC pathogenesis or reflects underlying immune alterations that raise SCC risk indirectly. And despite the eukaryotic expansions observed in the high-risk and SOTR groups, researchers saw no between-group differences in Malassezia -related conditions such as seborrheic dermatitis. Yet subclinical expansions in Malassezia and viral taxa still may translate into increased SCC risk, Demehri said. Accordingly, he said, dermatologists must not assume that people who develop certain viral and fungal skin diseases are at higher risk for SCC. 'It's more subtle changes, probably in association with other microbiome changes, that seem to be associated with skin cancer risk.' Nonetheless, Demehri said, watching for skin conditions that signify an expanded skin microbiome — such as the appearance of warts in fair-skinned adults — may signal the need to monitor for SCC risk. Commensal Concern Sancy A. Leachman, MD, PhD Sancy A. Leachman, MD, PhD, professor and vice-chair of faculty development in the Department of Dermatology at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, said that although the study requires replication in larger, prospective cohorts, its findings are provocative for several reasons. She was not involved with the study but was asked to comment. Dermatologists are starting to embrace the skin microbiome concept but rarely beyond bacteria and yeasts, Leachman told Medscape Medical News . 'I don't believe most dermatologists are thinking about papillomaviruses being commensal: present on your skin as a normal part of your microbiome,' she said. The observation that baseline papillomavirus populations can exist on normal-appearing skin without causing pathology is important information, she added. 'What is their purpose there? What's the evolutionary advantage?' A study published in Cancer Cell in January 2025 showed that commensal papillomaviruses can boost immune surveillance and clearing of UV-induced p53-mutant keratinocytes. 'It appears that the commensal papillomavirus population may help to stimulate the immune system in a way that helps the immune response against skin cancer,' Leachman said. Papillomaviruses work primarily through p53. 'So if you've developed an immune reaction against a p53 element of the papillomavirus,' Leachman said, 'there's a possibility that might cross-react with abnormalities of the p53 pathway in squamous cell carcinomas and act like a mini-vaccine against the tumor. And if that's true, could you do that intentionally as a therapeutic or prevention strategy?' Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines have proven highly effective in preventing cervical cancer. However, she said, based on the results of commensal HPVs protecting against SCC, it is unclear whether elimination of commensals by the vaccine could render some women more or less susceptible to SCC later in life. 'If those papillomavirus vaccines cross-react, and you're diminishing the commensal papillomaviruses that are helpful in recognizing squamous cell carcinoma,' she asked, 'are you going to have people who experience an idiosyncratic increase in squamous carcinoma because the HPV vaccine prevents development of a robust commensal population of helpful papillomaviruses? I don't believe anyone has even examined alterations of commensal HPV populations following vaccination.' Functional Immunosuppression One of the study's most tantalizing findings requiring further follow-up, Leachman said, is that the nonimmunosuppressed high-risk group (median age, 78.5 years) was much older than the low-risk group (63.0 years). 'That says there's probably some sort of functional immunosuppression occurring in those high-risk people.' As baby boomers age, Leachman added, the population with immune-system senescence will grow. 'If you can use solid organ transplant recipients as a model for the aging population that is becoming functionally immunosuppressed, that would be very beneficial, to know how to tailor treatments, detection methods, and even potential risk evaluation methods for these people.' Anecdotally, Leachman has identified a group of patients with what she calls systemic 'skin failure' — elderly patients at an extremely high SCC risk who routinely have multiple skin cancers and precancers excised. 'Generally, those people are older and have an apparent functional immunosuppression; in my hands, they seem to respond better to topical imiquimod than topical 5-fluorouracil.' Based on years of clinical observation, she prescribes topical immunotherapy rather than topical chemotherapy depending on patient age and the number and (wart-like) appearance of their SCCs. Microbiome Manipulation? In the interview, Demehri said that although it might be tempting to try and alter the skin microbiome through supplements or topical agents, nothing in the study suggests a cause-and-effect relationship such that modifying the microbiome would directly affect SCC risk. Therefore, he said that along with SCC detection and monitoring, immunosuppression and its role in skin cancer development should receive more emphasis. Presently, Demehri's lab is exploring ways to detect and monitor microbiome changes more feasibly than through costly shotgun sequencing. 'It's not something we can do for every patient all the time to monitor their skin. But there are ways we could extract that information more directly from the skin by swabs and then inform the physician that the patient might be at risk of cancer as well because their microbiome is being altered in ways that are associated with increased risk.' Broad adoption of such techniques, he estimated, is perhaps a few years away. This study was supported partly by the Intramural Research Programs of the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) and the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) at the National Institutes of Health. Study coauthors were from the Center for Cancer Immunology and the Cutaneous Biology Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, and from the NHGRI and NIAMS. Demehri had filed a patent for the development of T cell-directed anticancer vaccines against commensal viruses. Other authors had no disclosures. Leachman is an investigator or advisor for several companies involved in screening and early diagnosis of melanoma but reported no relevant financial relationships . John Jesitus is a Denver-based freelance medical writer and editor.
