SPF is an essential. Just ask any doctor, derm, or that one overachieving friend that always reminds you to reapply. But sometimes you just want to feel more comfortable in your skin and you're looking for something a little more hard hitting than your C E Ferulic.
We get it. It can be a little daunting when you're first considering getting a little work done.
So we've hit up Dr Jeremy from Ageless Clinics, who's here to answer all your basic questions on procedures like lasers, skin needling and botox.
Tell us a little about yourself
Ahh Ok…(uncomfortable silence)…Since graduating in Medicine in 1990, I have been able to mix thirty years of being a GP with my passion for theatre and film. Over the last 14 years I have concentrated on cosmetic medicine and integrative health. I was interested in disease prevention and supporting a healthy lifestyle, which included feeling good about yourself at any age.
Talk us through your philosophy on skin and skincare
Getting old is not for the fainthearted and I think everyone needs a little support to allow themselves to age gracefully! My philosophy on skin and skincare is simple. Give skin the love it deserves…Protect and Cherish it.
Protect: Skin elasticity, bounce, hydration and vitality is determined by the amount of collagen and elastin that present in the skin. UV rays break down and twist these fibres which are then removed and not replaced at the same rate. The result is that skin gradually loses it’s ability to hold water and it grows thin and flat. This thin skin only increases the UV damage leading to pigment changes. Thin wrinkled skin with uneven tone…not so great…so protect your skin first and foremost with SPF. I recommend Ultra Violette cause its simply best in market for skin protection.
Cherish: Just doing cosmetic treatments like anti-wrinkle and fillers/ laser will not guarantee great looking skin. Cosmetic Physicians need to work with beauty therapists and skin therapists who regularly pamper the skin with high end serums, facials, peels and massage. The clients that I treat who look the best, all protect their skin twice daily with SPF and all cherish their skin with regular facials and beauty/skin specialist instituted treatment plans.
How important is SPF in your routine?
Like super, super important! Like the most important thing. There is no point me working on someone if they cannot protect their skin going forward. It is a journey to get great skin and takes a great deal of time and energy but it is ultimately worth it. This all starts with protecting the skin.
What’s the difference between Botox and filler?
Botox is an anti-wrinkle injection. It is a purified protein that has a strong affinity (attraction) for the nerve-muscle junction. The protein sits on the nerve muscle junction and stops the nerve from firing. It usually reduces the muscle action for 10-14 weeks. Botox is mostly used in the upper face but can also be used to reduce grinding and jaw tension as well as being used to reduce sweating in the underarms face, hands and feet (hyperhidrosis).
Filler is actually a sugar molecule called hyaluronic acid (HA). HA is a part of every living organism; it is an essential molecule in our skin.
Filler comes in different concentrations. The more the cross links between the HA molecules the stronger the concentration. Filler does not relax muscles like Botox, rather it provides structure, volume and water draw into the skin.
How does needling and laser actually work to improve the skin?
Skin is connective tissue with the same embryonic origin as muscle and bone, which means it shares the same properties.
If you lightly and repetitively stress muscle by say. regularly lifting weights or walking, it is put under what we call a “good stress”.
This stress causes bleeding into muscle and results in the area getting a better blood supply, stimulating growth.
When the skin is put it under the correct amount of stress, by using something like fractional needling or a fractional laser; it will promote healthy bleeding into the tissue and this results in the skin making more collagen and elastin. Which are two most vital proteins in the skin that give it not only its bounce and elasticity, but its vitality and glow. If you want healthy glowing skin you need to regularly stress the skin.
What are the benefits of skin needling?
Skin needling provides the good stress as previously mentioned. It provides fractional mechanical damage to the dermis. This fractional damage induces bleeding in the skin and the platelets released in the skin stimulate very important stem cells to change into the cells that make collagen and elastin.
What can lasers do for the skin?
Lasers work exactly like needling, in that they cause fractional damage to the skin except that they use light energy to stress the skin by burning microscopic holes into the skin. Lasers need to be carefully delivered in the right patients- because lasers light activate the skin. Meaning the skin is more prone to pigmentation. People using lasers need to use SPF minimum twice daily! And not for just six weeks post laser; it is a forever thing I’m afraid.
How can daily SPF help the longevity of these treatments?
Well, there is no point in building brand new skin more plumped with extra collagen and elastin if you are going to go out and expose the skin to UVB and especially UVA radiation. UVB radiation causes the skin to burn but there is 40X UVA compared with UVB and UVA radiation penetrates deep into the cells and causes DNA and protein damage. Everyone needs to know that to protect skin, particularly after laser and needling treatments, you need to apply SPF 50+ at least twice a day. Preferably three times daily. For me, the most important step a client can make when deciding they want healthier, more radiant and more hydrated skin is to choose an SPF they love and can use happily every day x3!
What are some trends you’d like to see gone?
The practice of putting more than 0.5 ml in a client’s lip. The distortion of lips and cheeks that we see in popular culture is hard to justify.
Any parting words for someone considering getting a treatment for the first time?
Go and see someone who has a reputation of being honest and someone who doesn’t care if you decide to have no treatment. People up-selling cosmetic services is a pretty common place but still pretty lousy!
Future proof your skin by shopping our SKINSCREENS HERE.
& Learn more about Dr Jeremy and Ageless clinics by checking out their website HERE.
