208SkinDoc.

"Another topical prescription I can try to help slow down oil production and get fewer of these lesions to grow is something called Winlevi. This is a topical acne medication that targets the oil glands specifically to reduce oil production so we don't feed the bacteria that cause acne. Topical Winlevi is very similar to oral spironolactone, which is commonly used in females for hormonal acne. Winlevi has to be used twice a day to be effective, and currently it's only a brand-name medication, meaning it's going to be expensive depending on your insurance plan."

"Melanotan 2 is a synthetic peptide that absolutely produces a tan, that part is real, but it is not selective, so along with the tanning receptor it also hits receptors that cause nausea, stomach cramps, flushing of the skin, fatigue, decreased appetite, and in men spontaneous erections within one to five hours of injection. Beyond that there are documented cases of rhabdomyolysis leading to kidney failure, renal infarction, and priapism serious enough that surgery was needed to save function. There are also multiple published case reports linking Melanotan use to melanoma, and because it directly stimulates your melanocytes, the exact cells that become melanoma, this is the reason I would never recommend this peptide to anyone. It is an unregulated, non-FDA-approved product usually sold as a powder online with no quality control and no standardized dosing, so people end up having to be their own chemist calculating their own dose, and the reality is this is not worth the risk."

"You can find this peptide in The Ordinary Matrixyl 10% Plus HA. The science here is pretty limited, mostly manufacturer claims and small studies, so there's not a lot of independent research to get excited about. This falls into the it might help and probably won't hurt category. If you're already using a product that contains it I think that's fine, but I wouldn't necessarily go out of my way to add it to my routine if I wasn't already using it."

"I personally prefer the texture and the results I have seen from a couple of products from SkinBetter Science, but I'm not out there claiming you have to have them to get great results on your skin. This just happens to be what I personally like to use, I find them easy, I can be consistent with them, and I can afford them. But if that's not what you want, you don't have to get them, I'm not promising they're going to work better for you."

"This is the Alpharet from Skin Better, a top tier retinoid, an over the counter version of retinoic acid comparable to tretinoin 0.025. I used to use tretinoin every night but it made my skin so dry and flaky, but when I use the Alpharet I can use it every single night and my skin loves it. It keeps the minor pimples and blackheads away, keeps my skin bright, and keeps the dead skin cells and debris off. I've even moved up to the Alpharet Advanced, which has a higher percentage of glycolic acid, and I still don't need a moisturizer after I use it, which is wild. I've never used a product from Skin Better Science that I didn't like."

"The first thing I like to do is use the Avene Thermal Water. It's sterile inside the canister, and when you're really hot after a laser treatment, that feels great to spray on your skin. This has been shown, because of the high mineral content, to improve microbial diversity on the skin, so it promotes more growth of good bacteria and more diversity of bacteria, so you're less likely to deal with infections."

"What works really well to help repair skin barriers quickly, or at least soothe the skin, is something called Domeboro soaks. You put the packet in a bowl of lukewarm water, soak a washcloth in it, and lay it on the affected area, and that helps soothe the skin and calm down things like allergic reactions or really severe itchy eczema, so patients don't have to be using a steroid constantly. For the right skin condition it can be helpful, but for others it may not be."

"For toenail fungus I'll often work with a compounding pharmacy to create a 10% terbinafine solution, terbinafine's brand name is Lamisil, and you get a bigger size for a lot less money than Jublia. This 10% terbinafine solution does tend to work pretty well, but you have to be committed to use it consistently, painting it on the nail and under the edge every single night for about a year. For the oral pill I usually use terbinafine because it carries a lower risk of interactions with other medications, and clearance rates with oral terbinafine are much higher than with the topical medications. There's some risk to the liver so we check liver enzymes, but with pulse dose therapy, taking it seven days a month instead of every day, we get clearance that's almost as good with a lot less risk to the liver."

"The one that I most commonly prescribe is Drysol, a twenty percent aluminum antiperspirant. I have patients put it on dry skin at nighttime, using it five nights in a row the first week, then tapering down over several weeks until they're using it just once a week. For many people that is an excellent plan that leads to significant improvement in their sweating. One challenge with Drysol is that it can be irritating to the skin, so it can't always be used as much as we prescribe it, and if that's the case I just have patients use it as frequently as they can without causing too much irritation."

"This is a topical that comes in a cloth you rub under the arms, and it works by stopping the transmission from the nerve to the sweat gland, so even if you have hyperhidrosis you will have significantly reduced sweating. It's a brand name medication and not many insurances cover it well, so it gets expensive, though compounding pharmacies can make versions of it as a topical solution or on presoaked pads. You do have to wash it off your hands after applying it under the arms, because if it gets on your hands and you rub your eye, your pupil will dilate and it can look alarming, like you're having a stroke. That said, it is a safe product to use."

"When you're putting an adhesive on the skin every day it does overtime increase your risk for a contact allergy to the adhesive. When you're buying them every day the price does add up over time and I'm not sure how much money you're saving over just doing Botox in that area. Some people don't like needles and that's okay, so you can use Frownies if you want, but it's not my choice for reducing wrinkles on my forehead."

"Epiduo Forte has two different ingredients, adapalene at 0.3 percent, which is only available by prescription at that strength, and benzoyl peroxide in a micronized form that's specifically formulated to play nice with the adapalene, so they're chemically stable together in the same bottle and you're getting two ingredients that help fight acne. Using it as a spot treatment instead of all over the face is an atypical, non-traditional use for that ingredient, but it's working well for her and I would encourage her to keep doing it."

"The Shark Beauty Depuffy attachment, I think, is genuinely innovative. This device is incredibly easy to use. It only takes about 10 minutes, and the extraction results speak for themselves. This satisfies that same urge that we get while watching pimple popping videos, but it's actually good for your skin. The hydration boost from the products is real. At $399, it pays for itself after just three uses because professional facials in the dermatology office can cost $150 or more. And unlike those monthly appointments, this is available whenever your skin needs it."

"The Ordinary Mandelic Acid 10% plus HA is only $8, and if you're new to acids or on a budget, this is where I recommend you start. 10% mandelic acid is a sweet spot for effectiveness, effective without a lot of irritation. The formula is straightforward, no fragrance, no unnecessary filler ingredients, just the active ingredient doing its job. The Ordinary sometimes gets a bad rap because the packaging is a little boring and the texture can feel a little sticky, but I don't really care about that, I just care about whether it works, and this one does work. I've had patients use it for months and see real improvement in texture, tone, and breakouts."

"This is the Go Deep 8% Mandelic Acid Serum Concentrate, and this is the hero product. Mandelic acid is a really smart choice for an acne-focused line, and it's not an ingredient a lot of other lines have focused on. It's an alpha hydroxy acid with a larger molecule size than something like glycolic acid, so it penetrates more slowly, which makes it significantly more gentle, especially for sensitive or darker skin tones, where other AHAs can cause irritation or even post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. It exfoliates, helps with texture, fades post-acne marks, and can support collagen production to a small degree over time with consistent use. At 8% I think this is a meaningful concentration, not just a token amount, and the supporting ingredients, including licorice root extract, arginine, squalane, centella asiatica, and synactin AC, are pretty solid. It's a PM only product, which is correct since alpha hydroxy acids can increase photosensitivity, so you need SPF in the morning, and if you're new to exfoliating acids you might want to start with it two or three nights a week. It's the most expensive product in the lineup at $39."

"There's a newer ingredient from La Roche-Posay called Melasyl that works on pigmentation. It doesn't work directly on the tyrosinase enzyme, but instead it takes away the amino acids that would go into making pigment. It's very well tolerated, very safe, and highly effective. Studies show it's more effective than 4% hydroquinone. You can get it in the Mela B3 serum. This is one of my favorites, and I've recommended it and given samples to many of my patients."

"There's a newer ingredient called Thiamidol, one of the most potent tyrosinase inhibitors available over the counter, and it's tolerated really well even by deeper skin tones. A 24 week randomized controlled trial showed it was significantly superior to placebo for moderate to severe melasma, and I believe it's also been compared to 4% hydroquinone and found to be superior. Thiamidol is available through Eucerin in their radiant tone collection, which has a moisturizer, a sunscreen, a serum, a cleanser, and I believe an eye cream also. If you want a full routine that really focuses on pigmentation, I do highly recommend the Eucerin radiant tone collection."

"If you want to try copper peptides, I recommend starting with The Ordinary Multi-Peptide Plus Copper Peptides 1%. It's straightforward and it's affordable. Copper peptides are probably the most legitimate peptide in the skincare industry right now, since copper is essential for making healthy collagen and elastin, but they're not going to turn back the clock twenty years, so don't expect overnight miracles. They can also be finicky, so I wouldn't layer them with a strong chemical peel acid like an AHA or BHA, certain vitamin C's, or other aggressive exfoliants."

"You will find this peptide in the hugely popular SkinMedica TNS serum, which is kind of an expensive product, so you're paying for a premium, but it's a cult favorite and it's widely loved by the people who use it frequently. This is really for skincare enthusiasts who want to try cutting edge ingredients and don't mind paying for that, even if the science isn't quite there yet. I do think most people would be better served by more proven ingredients, and if you're just getting started with skincare, this isn't the place you need to start."

"This is the top tier, high price range option, the SkinBetter Science Alto Advanced Defense and Repair Serum. It has vitamin C, but it also has a complex of 20 different antioxidants in it, so you're getting a whole range of additional ingredients to help fight free radicals. To be frank with you, this is the one that I use every single day. It comes in an airless pump and you get about 150 days of use out of it, so even though it comes in at like 190 or 210 dollars, you do get a long time of use out of that."

"This has a 15% L-ascorbic acid, the same percentage as CE Ferulic, plus micropeptides designed to penetrate deeper and signal the fibroblasts, and 2% PHA, which is a gentle exfoliant that also helps bind water into the skin. The formula is fragrance-free and non-comedogenic. It feels really nice on the skin, it's not heavy, not greasy, not too watery but not too oily either, it's not sticky, and it did not sting at all when I put it on. It layered well under my sunscreen and I think it would work well under makeup too. It's a small bottle so you'll run out faster if you use it on your arms and legs, but it's twenty dollars on Amazon and Walmart, compared to a similar stack of ingredients in CE Ferulic that retails at a hundred eighty five dollars, so I think this is a very worthy contender. I'm impressed with the ingredients and I think this is a very compelling product for the skincare routine of anybody who's interested in preventing the signs of aging and preventing collagen loss."

"Remedy for Dark Spots has a treasure trove of ingredients all designed to help fight pigmentation in the skin, so it doesn't just have one single ingredient to interrupt the melanin synthesis pathway, it has several approaches. It's been a very well received product on social media from people posting their before and afters. I've had the chance to use this and recommend it to patients, and it is pretty well liked. It has a really nice cosmetic feel to it, and most importantly it does a good job of reducing unwanted pigmentation. It starts with an encapsulated retinol, which makes it a little more gentle on the skin, along with mandelic acid for gentle exfoliation, one percent kojic acid, glutathione, three percent tranexamic acid, silymarin, and I do like the addition of five percent niacinamide. It's pretty reasonably priced for all the ingredients you get, somewhere around thirty eight dollars."

"We're going to finish off this routine with a moisturizer, the SkinBetter Science Trio Rebalancing Moisture Treatment. This has a nice complement of lipids in there to complement your skin's natural lipids, to help repair and restore that moisture barrier. This is a really rich, luxe feeling cream that's going to be a great user experience, but it is going to be at a much more premium price point than many of the products that we've talked about."

"I have used a product from Topology that has Matrixyl in it, which is designed to stimulate collagen production in the skin. I find that the Topology product actually feels really great on the skin, it's a lightweight serum, and I have recommended it to patients who maybe can't tolerate a retinol or a prescription strength retinoid but want something to help boost their collagen production."

"Remedy for Pore Size has retinol, about zero point one percent, to help improve cell turnover, salicylic acid to help dissolve the oil that accumulates in the pores, niacinamide and green tea to help regulate oil production, and perlite, which is a mattifying agent that helps absorb oil and make the skin look less shiny. It spreads easily, there's clearly no fragrance and no irritation to the skin. My initial impressions of this product are really great. It's thirty two dollars, so it's a little less expensive than Remedy for Dark Spots and really not out of reach for most people if you're going to get longevity out of the product."

"This is a two-in-one formula, part serum, part emulsion, and one drop supposedly hits dark circles, puffiness, and wrinkles all at once. I've personally been using it for the past couple of weeks and I already feel like my under eye area looks brighter and smoother. It has niacinamide for brightening and for brown pigment, organic horse chestnut escin for blue and purple dark circles and for microcirculation, phyto caffeine to cut down on fluid retention and puffiness, and organic marjoram and organic turmeric to target both lifestyle-driven and chronological aging. As a dermatologist I'm always a little skeptical when a product claims to do everything, because usually that's a red flag, but this is one of the rare exceptions where I've actually looked at the science and thought, okay, this checks out, they've got the right ingredients, and so far my user experience backs it up. I only talk about stuff that I genuinely recommend to my own patients and to my mother."

"This is a pure zinc sunscreen, water rated for 40 minutes of water resistance. There's a little bit of stuff in the beard, not too bad, and a little bit of white sheen on the skin. I don't want to rub that completely away because then you're rubbing away some of the effectiveness of the sunscreen, so we're going to be a little bit white today. Would I wear it in clinic? Not so sure. Would I wear it to a social function? Not so sure. But on vacation with my kids, absolutely. I appreciate the water resistance."

"This is Sun Bum, the body sunscreen I usually pick up once we get to the vacation location. If you haven't used it before, they are great sunscreens. They do have fragrance to them, so if that's irritating to you, you need to find an option that doesn't have fragrance. But this is a premium moisturizing sunscreen, SPF 70, which is great, and it's water resistant for 80 minutes. This one has been going on me and my kids, and I've reapplied it on my face as well when we've been out at the beach for several hours."

"This is the Tower 28 SPF 30 Save Our Skin. It's a 12.5% zinc oxide sunscreen. Tower 28 makes a lot of great products, and their sunscreens are also very nice. This one is a tinted sunscreen that's going to mask any appearance of a white cast. If you like a little bit of tint to your sunscreen, it will blend well under makeup. Looks great on the skin. It's a mineral only sunscreen."

"When I first started putting this on it looked very white and made me worried they had overstated their claims, but as I kept rubbing it in it did blend in nicely and left a pretty sheer finish. It did cake up a little in my beard, which would give me pause about using it as my daily sunscreen when I'm seeing patients, and they don't make any claims that it's water resistant, so I probably wouldn't wear it if I were going to be in the water or sweating a lot. But it's about as good as you can get for a mineral sunscreen, it's gentle on the skin, dries quickly, isn't sticky or greasy, and I think it would work well under makeup. I would recommend this product, I'd put it on my kids in the summer, though it's probably not going to be my everyday sunscreen."

"I love Cicaplast Balm B5 as a healing balm, as a healing cream, I give this to a lot of my patients who have rosacea or a compromised skin barrier. This particular one is an SPF 50 sunscreen version, so it's going to help keep my skin hydrated while protecting it. It's a very thick sunscreen though, not the kind I would typically use as a daily sunscreen, it's very thick and white and feels almost like a diaper rash ointment, but it's excellent when you're healing."

"They sent me the Beauty of Joseon Relief Sun a while back and I have loved using it. It's a very lightweight Korean sunscreen that does not sit heavy on the skin, and I use it all the time, even all the way up over my head. It provides SPF 50 level protection without leaving a heavy feeling on the skin. This is a great option for those with acne prone skin who tend to produce a lot of oil, because it's not going to add another layer on top that feels really heavy."

"The Isntree Hyaluronic Acid Watery Sun Gel is another Korean sunscreen, and I find that Korean sunscreens are a lot better than a lot of the ones we have available in the US. They have better filters and better UVA protection. This is a really great option for your skin. It's the one I took to Hawaii last year because it was really hot and humid and I wanted a lightweight sunscreen that would protect my skin, and this one did an excellent job."

"La Roche-Posay also created the MelaB3 UV sunscreen. It's a chemical sunscreen and it's not tinted. My personal preference is that if you have significant melasma I like my patients to use a tinted sunscreen, but this one feels really nice on the skin, it's very lightweight, and it spreads very easily. It also contains MelaB3, so you're getting an extra dose of that compound to help target excess pigmentation. It's an SPF 30 sunscreen and it also contains five percent niacinamide."

"If you need a moisturizer for the daytime, or a moisturizer and sunscreen, I strongly recommend Cicapair from Dr. Jart. It's a moisturizer, or a moisturizer and sunscreen, that's specifically made for individuals with redness on the skin because it has a little bit of color correction in it. If you have excess redness in the skin, getting something with a little bit of a green tint helps to neutralize the appearance of that redness. Cicapair is a great option for individuals with rosacea, it helps to correct the redness and limit the inflammation from continuing and the problem from getting worse."

"I love the Unseen Sunscreen from Supergoop. It feels good on my face, it's not heavy, I'm not overpowered by fragrance, it doesn't leave me shiny, and it provides 40 minutes of water resistance. But at 38 dollars for 50 milliliters it's the most expensive sunscreen by the ounce of all four I tested, and because of that I think the Trader Joe's dupe beats it out. I do love Supergoop, but it's probably my third favorite of the four."

"Black Girl Sunscreen is SPF 45, fragrance free, and rated water resistant for 80 minutes, so it's a step up in protection from the other clear sunscreens I tested. I like the formulation, that it's a little higher SPF, and that it's better rated for water resistance. But it feels a little more oily and thicker, it doesn't rub in quite as well, and I just didn't enjoy the texture of it as much as the others, though that's an individual personal preference. I wouldn't make this my primary sunscreen if I were jumping in a pool, since I feel like it can rub off and I don't know that you get the same longevity out of it."

"Pimecrolimus Cream, the brand name here is Elidel, is a nonsteroidal prescription that works by calming the immune response in the skin. It's a topical calcineurin inhibitor, so it doesn't have any of the steroid side effects. It's been around for over twenty years, it has a solid track record of safety, and it does work in calming the inflammation of seborrheic dermatitis on the face. For long term management, a non-steroid option like Elidel is, in my opinion, a way better option for your face than steroids."

"For the fourth and final step of the routine we have the barrier boosting moisturizer, which retails at $36 and seals everything in. The shea butter in this formula is at a low concentration and balanced with lighter emollients in a delivery system designed for proper absorption, and it was clinically tested and confirmed to be non-comedogenic, so what shea butter actually brings is barrier support, since it's rich in fatty acids that help repair and nourish the skin barrier. It's got a quad ceramide complex, hyaluronic acid, glycerin, ectoin, lactobacillus ferment for microbiome support, and willow bark for a very gentle ongoing BHA effect. Overall, this is a well-built moisturizer, you can use it morning and night, and it's lightweight enough that it won't feel heavy underneath SPF in the morning."

"The retinoid I recommend for nighttime use is the Avène RetrinAL 0.1% Intensive Cream. It contains retinaldehyde, which is a gentle form of retinol that's less likely to cause irritation than most prescription retinols. This is the one product that's going to give you the most dramatic long term improvement in your skin. The Avène retinol is gentle enough for sensitive skin, but still very effective."

"If you're dealing with sensitive skin and rosacea, you want an excellent moisturizer, and La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Balm B5 is one of my favorites. It's a thick moisturizer that's easier to use at night than in the daytime, but you want a generous amount on the skin to really help repair the skin barrier. I use it on my patients after laser procedures to repair their skin barrier, and I've also seen it work really well on patients who have rosacea."

"If you're dealing with sensitive skin and rosacea, you want an excellent moisturizer, and Vanicream is one of my favorites. It's a thick moisturizer that's easier to use at night than in the daytime, but you want a generous amount on the skin to really help repair the skin barrier. I use it on my patients after laser procedures to repair their skin barrier, and I've also seen it work really well on patients who have rosacea."

"This is a knockoff Noxzema moisturizer with eucalyptus oil in it, and I don't feel moisturized from it at all. It has so much fragrance to it, the added fragrance, the camphor, the phenol, you can smell all of it, and I did not enjoy this. There's propylene glycol in here too, which can be an irritant or allergen for some people, and phenol at high concentrations is what we use in the most aggressive chemical peels in dermatology. The smell reminds me of the cadaver lab from college and med school. It's no wonder I had flakes of skin all over my face like sandpaper from using this."

"The moisturizer option is the First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream. It has a nice rich texture to it, and it's great for helping to repair the skin barrier. It is a little bit more expensive than the Neutrogena Hydro Boost we talked about, but it has a really elegant feel to it, a little bit more premium, a little bit elevated experience, and I think that you'll really like it, still without really breaking the bank."

"I've been loving a new moisturizer from Prequel, the Advanced Relief Moisturizing Milk. It's a pretty lightweight moisturizer with shea butter, glycerin, niacinamide, and ten percent urea to really help draw water into the top layers of the skin. I've been loving it for both my face and my body. It's a fantastic moisturizer to use especially when you step out of the shower to help lock in that hydration, and it's certainly worth a try if you don't have a body moisturizer that's working really well for you."

"We picked the Biossance squalane plus vitamin C rose moisturizer. Biossance makes a lot of great products, they use squalane in all of their products which is an oil our skin really needs, and they derive theirs from sugarcane rather than sharks so it's ethically sourced and sustainable, and it has some vitamin C in there for a bit of an antioxidant. It's going to be just a nice lightweight moisturizer to use in the morning, and you can also repeat it in the evening. This is probably the more expensive product we have in this routine and it's not necessary for everybody, you could certainly go with a less expensive moisturizer."

"The CeraVe Daily Facial Moisturizing Lotion is a long time favorite in the CeraVe family and one of their original products. It contains three essential ceramides that help strengthen and fortify your moisture barrier, and it's an oil free moisturizer that contains hyaluronic acid, so when you put it on you immediately feel more hydrated. CeraVe uses MVE technology for a delayed release of their patented ingredients so you get long lasting hydration that doesn't go away immediately. It's safe to use on both the face and body, it's non-comedogenic so it won't plug your pores, and it's developed in collaboration with dermatologists. I personally love the daily moisturizing lotion, I've used it for a long time, and I use it on my kids on both face and body. If you have dry skin or even normal skin, this is going to work really well for you."

"For sensitive skin I use the Eucerin Skin Balance Facial Day Cream. This is a moisturizer I was recently turned on to and I've really liked it. It has what they call a tri-balance complex of ingredients to help soothe the skin, fortify it, and repair your moisture barrier. Just as important as what they put in it is what is not in there, and this moisturizer is free of a number of things that could lead to irritation if you're really sensitive, including preservatives, parabens, alcohol, dyes, and other emulsifiers. So you're getting a very basic but well formulated moisturizer that will help repair and hydrate very sensitive skin. Some of the hydrating ingredients it does have include glycerin and shea butter, both of which I'm a big fan of."

"This is the Water Bank Blue Hyaluronic Acid Cream Moisturizer. It's a complement to the hyaluronic acid serum, using the same filtration process and fermentation with algae and hyaluronic acid, but in a thicker base, so it does impart better hydration to the skin for longer. I do like this moisturizing routine, first with the hyaluronic acid serum, now with the water cream, you're going to get a little bit longer effect from that."

"If you're going to add one proven active on top of your basics, I'd recommend a retinoid, and your late twenties or early thirties is a great time to start thinking about it. AlphaRet from SkinBetter Science gives you prescription retinoid level results in my opinion, with a gentler experience, and that's where I'd put my money. I'd be using something like that before I'd put anything on my skin with longevity on the label."

"This is a cleansing balm, and the delivery system here is genuinely clever. You twist the top, it carves off just the right amount of product, and you apply it directly to dry skin so the oils can bind to the oils on your face, whether that's sunscreen or makeup, and pull all of it off. The key ingredients are squalane, green tea extract, centella asiatica, vitamin E, and a sebum dissolving oil complex with seabuckthorn, grapeseed, and meadowfoam seed oils. There's no synthetic fragrance, it's non-comedogenic, and it's clinically tested. My one note is that if you have acne-prone skin, make sure you're rinsing this thoroughly, because cleansing balms can leave a little residue if you rush the rinse. It's priced at $29."

"This is the Pore Power Exfoliating LHA plus BHA Gel Cleanser, and this is where some of the actives start to come in. LHA is a derivative of salicylic acid, and it's oil soluble, so it gets into the pore lining and can help break up the blockage at the source, which matters because pore blockage is literally one step in how acne forms. Willow bark adds a natural BHA component, and ginger root extract and glycerin keep it from being too stripping. The instruction to massage it for 30 to 60 seconds is actually important, not just filler copy. The brand recommends using this AM and PM, but if you're already using the mandelic acid serum at night you're starting to stack exfoliation up multiple times a day, so if your skin is on the more sensitive side I would start with this cleanser just once a day and see how it responds before going twice a day. That's not a knock on the product, it's just smart skin care practice. It's priced at $28."

"Starting off with the cleanser, we have the SkinBetter Science Cleansing Gel. This clocks in around 50 dollars, but it's an 8 ounce size, so you get quite a bit of product, it's going to last you a long time. On an ounce by ounce basis this gentle cleanser is not terribly more expensive than some of the others that we've talked about, but you are going to shell out more upfront for it."

"A foaming cleanser does a better job removing excess oil from the skin, but if you have very dry skin, this one may be a little too much for you, even though it has ceramides and hyaluronic acid. If you tend to be oily and you produce a lot of oil as the day goes on and want to get that off after a workout or at the end of the day, the foaming cleanser is going to be the best option for you."

"This wash does not have salicylic acid in it like the others, so it's less targeted specifically to treating acne, but it does a really good job removing excess oil. The claim is that it removes 99% of excess oil without overdrying or stripping the skin. It has hydrating ingredients in it so you're not left feeling dry and tight, and it has zinc, which can also play a role in regulating oil production."

"First up is Nizoral shampoo, which contains ketoconazole, a common antifungal agent. This is my go-to recommendation over-the-counter. It's a true antifungal and directly targets the malassezia. You can get the one percent version over the counter at pretty much any pharmacy or off Amazon, and if your case is more stubborn there's a two percent ketoconazole version available by prescription."

"The CeraVe hydrating anti-dandruff shampoo and conditioner contains pyrithione zinc, and it's my favorite pyrithione zinc option. This one is really gentle and it's a really solid maintenance option, and it can also be great during a flare, using it two to three times a week, applying it, scrubbing it into the affected area, and waiting five minutes before you rinse it out. I'm such a big fan of the CeraVe, I actually appeared in a commercial with them."

"One of the most common over-the-counter treatments you can get is Rogaine, or minoxidil, the generic. It comes in a 2%, marketed toward women, and a 5%, marketed toward men. The 5% is absolutely going to work better, and I generally recommend that for my female patients as long as we've covered all the risks and benefits, because at those higher percentages there might be a little more risk of irritation. I generally find that they charge more for the 2%, and it definitely doesn't work as well as the 5%. So if you are a candidate for Rogaine, I would just start with the 5%."

"I use T/Gel personally. I know it does not smell good, it smells like tar, it's a tar based shampoo and it stinks the whole bathroom, your wife's going to yell at you. But it does help me, it helps my itch, especially any inflammation going on in the scalp. That tar based shampoo is very anti-inflammatory on the skin and really does a great job of breaking up scale. It's becoming harder to find unfortunately, but it's a good option."

"My first experience with physical exfoliation was the St. Ives apricot scrub. It has little shards of walnut shells in it that are just tearing your skin. We just didn't know better, we were rubbing that stuff all over our face thinking it was doing something, but what it's doing is causing little micro tears all over your face and compromising your skin barrier. I typically don't recommend physical exfoliants very often because it is harsh on the skin and it can tear it."

"Our esthetician does a lot of the Perfect Dermapeel. It has several different ingredients in it, including a little bit of phenol at a very low concentration, so it acts almost as an anesthetic, which makes it a very comfortable peel, but it can still give you up to a week of peeling so it can still be very effective. It also has glutathione in it, so it's really good for those with hyperpigmentation, and it's been shown to be safe for lots of different skin types."

"The peel pads she's using from Dr. Dennis Gross are designed to be used daily, but if you have sensitive skin I don't recommend any type of exfoliator used daily, and if you're exfoliating daily I would not recommend using a separate retinol or other exfoliating or peeling product. It's a self-neutralizing peel, and the second step has retinol, retinoic acid, and resveratrol, a lot of antioxidants along with the retinol to help reduce or prevent fine lines, wrinkles, and pigmentation. She has a good exfoliating solution that she uses about once a week, and that works for her."

"This is the Water Sleeping Mask from Laneige. This one has mineral water in it, which can help to balance the skin's microbiome, and it's going to have a little bit of fragrance as well, so be careful if you're sensitive to fragrance, this may not be a great option for you. But this is kind of a boost of hydration on top of your regular moisturizer, you put it on and go right to sleep, so it's not the kind of thing you'd use as a morning moisturizer, but it's great for nighttime."

"La Roche-Posay also makes an Effaclar 0.1% adapalene, and it's very similar, just formulated by the La Roche-Posay scientists. It includes their thermal spring water and other ingredients to help build your microbiome. These are two really great options and my favorites to recommend for my patients who want an over the counter option that helps control their acne and can also help with oil production."

"Salicylic acid is a beta hydroxy acid that I like on the back as well, it can help get down into the pores and decongest them. It comes in sprays, which is really convenient if you can't shower right away since it's hard to reach the back. Differin makes a spray you can just hold and spray on your back to help kill some of the bacteria, get down into the pores a bit, and remove some of the oil and sweat and dirt that accumulates."

"The CeraVe Healing Ointment is the favorite in my family, my wife and kids use it all the time on every cut, scrape, or dry skin area. It's primarily petroleum jelly, but it comes in a tube so you can squeeze out just what you need instead of dipping your fingers into a jar. It also contains ceramides, which are important lipids and proteins for your skin barrier to function properly."

"Dermatologists hate Neosporin. It wasn't developed or recommended by dermatology. Neomycin, one of its main ingredients, was named the contact allergen of the year, so a certain percentage of people who use it become allergic to it. I've seen this so many times in the clinic where somebody just had surgery, put Neosporin on against our advice, and became allergic to it. The wound gets more red and irritated and starts weeping, they think they're infected, so they put more Neosporin on and it gets worse. Those kinds of ointments can be used when there's a verified infection, but generally they're not needed in a preventative role."

"The Eucerin Advanced Repair Lotion is a great body moisturizer. It has five percent urea in it, which is more than double what your own urine produces, and it's not going to make you smell bad. In addition to the urea, it has other beneficial ingredients like ceramide three and other natural moisturizing factors that actually help hydrate your skin and contain the lipids your skin barrier needs. If you just have dry skin and need a good moisturizer, the Eucerin is going to be a great option."

"Remedy for Lips has ceramides to help build the skin barrier, ethically sourced squalane, peptides, and petrolatum as the occlusive. It feels really nice on the skin, it's not as heavy and greasy as plain Vaseline, it blends in well, and there's no fragrance and no flavor to it. I think this would be a great product if you have really dry lips, if you like a Lip Balm, or even if you're on Accutane, since it actually puts moisture on the skin rather than just occluding it to prevent water loss. It's sixteen dollars, definitely more expensive than your average chapstick, but it's definitely a better product than your average chapstick. I do like this product very much and I'm definitely going to keep using it. If you get great results from plain Vaseline or Aquaphor, there's probably not a big reason you need to switch unless you just want to support the mission of the company."

"I have here the Cure Micro Infusion System, and this is the one product that I think is superior to any other at-home product. You get the bottle, and when you take it off you've got tiny little needles that only go 0.25 millimeters into the skin, but it delivers a solution as it does that can help with fine lines, wrinkles, and pigmentation. You use a new bottle of solution every time and a new tip every time, so you're not having to clean it, and these come in sterile packaging. When you wash your face at home, you dry it, you don't put any other product on, you stamp this onto the skin, and it takes maybe ten minutes to do your whole face. I think it's a twice a week at-home treatment, and if you are going to be doing micro infusion or micro stamping at home, this is the product that we recommend."

"I've been using this for the past several weeks and my skin is genuinely improved. As someone who spent years telling patients to skip the gadgets, that kind of surprised me. [...] I can't overstate the comfort of this mask. [...] The eye pads on this mask actually lift the mask off your skin for a way more comfortable fit. The reflective technology on the inside means as much of the light as possible reaches your skin. The battery pack that it comes with means that I'm not tethered to a wall. [...] LED therapy is one of those things where consistency is everything [...] and for me, this one fits easily into my routine. [...] The Ulike ReGlow mask is FDA cleared and has 272 LEDs, which is [...] double what most other competing masks have. More LEDs mean more coverage, more intensity, and faster results. [...] It has four different treatment modes: [...] glow mode with red, infrared, and yellow light for pigmentation and [...] skin tone; firm mode with red and infrared for collagen stimulation; rejuvenate mode with yellow and infrared to boost skin barrier; and clear mode with blue, red, and infrared for acne-fighting. In a 28-day study there was a 20% reduction in fine lines and wrinkles around the eyes, a 20% improvement in skin texture, and a 61% improvement in acne. In the first 1 to 2 weeks you'll notice your skin feels a little smoother. By weeks 3 and 4, texture improvements become more obvious and tone starts to even out. After 6 to 8 weeks there's firmer skin, reduced fine lines, and noticeably better overall skin quality. I recommend using it three to six times a week for 10 minutes. At-home LED therapy lives in the middle between basic skincare and professional treatments. It is a genuinely effective way to maintain and improve your skin and it's something you can do consistently at home without booking an appointment. For at-home skin maintenance, the Ulike ReGlow, in my opinion, is that thing. It is cheaper than professional treatments over time and is a one-time purchase with no subscription, no refills, and no ongoing payments. However, you have to use it consistently, results take weeks not days, and if you're not the kind of person who's going to use it consistently, you shouldn't buy it. It's not for use during pregnancy or if you're on certain photosensitive medications. This is not technically a medical device, it's an FDA cleared over-the-counter device. Individual results will vary."

"The Ulike Air 10 IPL is absolutely one of the better at home IPL devices that I've tested, primarily because of the safety features and the ice cooling technology. It's not going to replace professional treatments, but it is a solid option for hair reduction if you are the right candidate. The price point of $399 puts it in the premium category for at home devices, but when you compare it to the cost of professional treatments, it's reasonable if you're committed to using it. You do need to use it consistently for 8 to 12 weeks to really start to see the best results because of the hair growth cycles you're going to need to treat over time."

"Do you need red light therapy in your routine? The short answer is no, but it can be a nice thing to add on. Don't look to red light to solve all your skin's problems, if you're not wearing sunscreen every day, exfoliating in some manner, and using vitamin C in the morning, you're not going to see a ton of benefit from it. This is a really popular device and it's not terribly expensive, especially compared to some LED masks that cost close to five hundred dollars. I'm not big personally on using skin care devices, I don't take the time to do that regularly in my own routine, and I prefer an LED mask so I can put it on and go about another activity rather than stand in front of the mirror with a wand like this."