If you want the nitty gritty, then jump down to the video below. But if you learn better by reading, then continue on! Today’s topic is about the “best” skin care regimen. And the best regimen isn’t what I say is the best. It’s the one that’s the best for you. So I’ll talk about my skin care regimen and in the process, teach you what products you should look for in your preferred skin care regimen.
My skin care regimen
Regardless of what regimen you use, there’s a few things that everyone needs.
- Cleanser to remove dirt and makeup
- Toner to equalize the pH of your skin so that all products you apply afterwards are better absorbed
- Under eye cream to help with puffiness (won’t completely remove all lines so have reasonable expectations)
- Hydroquinone (pharmaceutical grade) to reduce dark spots and even out skin tone
- Retin A (pharmaceutical grade, not retinol) to improve the overall health of the skin
- Light chemical peel product to remove or exfoliate old, dead skin cells
- Antioxidants
- Moisturizer
- Suncreen
What you don’t need
Regimens that claim to get rid of stretch marks or “tiger stripes”?! Sorry folks, they don’t work. Stretch marks are due to breaks in the dermis. That’s too far down for a cream to work. Sure a cream may obscure it for a few minutes before the cream dries, but this is not a real short term or long term fix.
If you use Obagi Blender (step number 5) in the NuDerm System isn’t necessary either as I explain in the video. The NuDerm System from Obagi is great and user friendly. It’s numbered in the order it’s applied. Number 5 is Blender. The idea is that it’s supposed to be used to blend with Retin A and then apply to the face. But guess what, Blender is made of 4% hydroquinone. And if you look closely, step number 3 is called Clear, and it’s also made of 4% hydroquinone!
So just blend number 3 Clear with retin A and you can skip number 5. More importantly, if you buy the whole system and then run out of step number 5 (Blender), just keep using step 3 (Clear)! Anyway, enjoy the video!
Video of Dr. Kaplan’s skin care regimen
To check pricing on these products from Dr. Kaplan, and even buy them online, click here.
Click here for the original blog post written by Dr. Kaplan for BuildMyBod.
