Nobody's skin, no matter how good it looks on the screen, is
100% perfect. Every single time I log onto
Instagram, I come away thinking that I need to buy about 5 new
products. It does feel overwhelming
because it is overwhelming. If you're not doing your basics
of using a sunscreen every single day, you don't need to
bother because you're just undoing all the work that it
would do. Do we really need a 100 step
skin routine? I'm going to stop you right
there and say there's no such thing as glass skin.
I think that's a little bit of a marketing tool.
I'm going to put that in the show notes because I feel like
that's going to change people's lives.
I'm very excited about it. You're listening to the Too Much
Information podcast where no Women's Health topic is off
limits. Before we get started, I just
want to say thank you. This podcast would be nothing
without you. Follow along if you're not
already, and if you like what you hear, please spread the
word. Enjoy the episode.
Hello and welcome to this episode of Too Much Information.
Today we are talking all about skin care and importantly how to
simplify your skin care. Because I don't know about all
of you, but every single time I log on to Instagram, I come away
thinking that I need to buy about 5 new products, invest in
a whole new routine. And there are a lot of people
who maybe don't know their stuff who are recommending a lot of
products, which is why we have got a qualified expert in the
form of Doctor Sonia Sharma, A consultant dermatologist here
today. I'm so excited to have you here.
Sonia, welcome. Thank you so much for having me.
It's so lovely to be able to, you know, talk about this area.
This is my like expertise. I love talking about this.
Honestly such a pleasure. I mean, I've only recently
become more interested in skin care personally.
It's a funny one to do on a woman's health podcast because
some people might think it is quite surface level, but your
skin does play a massive role in your self-confidence and I think
that trickles down into everything else.
So I'm buzzing about this topic and I know that it's one that
firstly and most importantly, my little sister has been really
badgering me to do, but secondly, loads of listeners and
followers have just been so excited about it.
No, it's great. And absolutely you've, you've
hit the nail on the head there because you know, sometimes you
have a small little blemish somewhere or you've got really
Florida acne or other inflammatory skin conditions
like psoriasis or eczema and it can affect their face and it can
really affect your confidence. And I feel like as women, I
don't know what you've grown up in, but I had the glossy
magazines of the 90s and being all the supermodels and
airbrushing and all of that. And I think it's a lot of
pressure on women to look a certain way.
And so when there is something that we don't necessarily feel
comfortable with, it can really damage people's self-confidence.
So I think this is right. This should be on a Women's
Health podcast, definitely. And now it is, thank God.
I would love to know what got you into this field, Sonia, what
inspired you to get qualified as a doctor and then go into
dermatology specifically? Yeah, so I think, yeah, from a
very young age, I've known that I wanted to be a doctor.
And so I'm actually, I have type 1 diabetes and I was in touch
with, you know, lots of doctors from a from the age of five when
I was diagnosed. And it was more how because I
think I was so young, I didn't quite understand life without
it. And I, as I grew up, I kind of
saw how my mum handled, you know, my condition and the way
the doctors were with her and how they made her feel as a, you
know, worried parent of a child. And I think I was just like, do
you know what? I want to do that one day, Make
somebody'd mummy, you know, happy and you know, make them
understand that their child is an abnormal or unusual and they
can live a full and healthy life.
So I think that really started my passion in trying to help
people. And then I was in about, I
think, third year medical school, I saw a lady with really
terrible and inflammatory autoimmune condition and
Scleroderma. And it not only affects your
skin, but it affects your internal organs.
And I said, oh, you know, you have trouble with your kidneys,
you have trouble with your lungs.
She said, that doesn't bother me, it's the skin because people
can see it. And from then I was like, yeah,
I'm going to do dermatology because I think I can help
people feel better about their skin.
And that's what I want to do. That's amazing.
We were talking just before we started recording about how you
relatively recently have started talking about skin care and
dermatology and hair I think as well on social media.
When did that start? So that started roughly about
2024. My sister is AGP.
So they, they deal with a lot of skin conditions in primary care.
And my sister was like, I think, can you please help me answer
some of these questions? I'm getting a lot from my
followers. And I was like, yes, I can help
you. And she's like, well, you love
chatting and you just don't stop talking ever.
Why don't you just go on to social media and try and answer
some of these questions? And she said, and there's loads
of nonsense out there, you know, like missing information.
So she was like, I think you could have a go at trying to
help people on there and educate people on there.
So that's where it all kind of started.
The first question that I have Sonia, why do you think that
women are so overwhelmed about their skin?
I mean, where do I start? I'm in this field, so my social
media, when I go into there is inundated with skin care
products, brands, people saying what they've used.
So I think it's very much in the forefront for me.
But I know from my friends, you know, everyone is not Googling
much anymore. They're going down tick tock
rabbit holes or, you know, on Instagram to look at.
They look at other people be buy things.
So I think social media has really changed and there's a big
marketing out there for skin care brands and products, which
which is great that there's so many out there for different
skin types and skin tones. But it does feel overwhelming
that, you know, there's so much out there and you just think,
where where would I even possibly start?
Then there's a new product and a new viral product, and you
think, oh, I could do with a bit of that and maybe I should try
it, you know? And we're all human at the end
of the day. And I suppose that's why
marketing is out there, isn't it?
To fall into this like human psychology and make us want to
try things because we feel it may do something for us.
Yeah, it does feel overwhelming because it is overwhelming.
And I, I do wonder whether a big part of that is kind of the rise
and rise of influencers as well. I often think you're looking at
these women who have absolutely stunning skin, but you don't
know necessarily what's gone into that.
You don't know what treatments or tweakments they might have
had. And perhaps it creates maybe a
bit of a false perception of what a 26 year old or a 36 year
old or a 46 year olds skin should look like.
Yes, and I think the other thing is, is that there's things like
lighting and then obviously peep some people have philtres on on
their, you know, videos and things and some of these
philtres, I mean they're so subtle.
It's hard not to feel that kind of overwhelm and think, Oh my
gosh, that person online has completely flawless skin.
And I think a lot of us, when you do come up close, you'll be
like, oh, I didn't even know that you had this there.
And you're like, well, yeah, that's what makeup's for.
That's what lighting's for, you know?
And I think, I think we do need to be kinder to ourselves and
our skin to say nobody's skin, no matter how good it looks on
the screen, is 100% perfect. And I think that's something I
hopefully we can get across today.
Yeah, I love that message. I think that's so important.
And I completely agree. The amount of times that I'm
literally just getting ready to take one photo for my social
media or even go onto a day of calls with my colleagues, and 9
out of 10 times I will be putting makeup on.
Probably more than that, even if it's just a little bit.
Because yeah, it comes down to that confidence thing.
Let's talk about skin routines. Do we really need a 100 step
skin routine? Absolutely not.
I sometimes watch these videos as well of people applying one
thing after the other and then a spray and then a toner and then
a this. And then, I mean, I don't know
who has time to do that. First of all, who has money to
buy all this stuff? Second of all, and it's just,
it's unnecessary. It really is unnecessary.
I think my message has always been keep it simple.
You don't need to spend lots of money.
Everything you need you can find in your local Boots Super drug,
whatever, wherever you're getting your skin care, you
shouldn't have to spend, you know, £200 on a cream to achieve
that healthy skin. If you were to choose a kind of
blanket skin care routine that would work for most women, what
would you be recommending? So I would say a cleanser,
something that actually removes your makeup and removes your
sunscreen. You may choose a oil based 1A
balmy kind of one, which is meant to like melt away the
makeup. You may choose a, you know, more
of a Milky 1. So anything that's going to
remove the makeup. And yes, ideally a double
cleanse. If you are someone who wears
sunscreen, please do. By the end of this, I hope
everyone's wearing sunscreen and then you do need to kind of do a
double cleanse because I hopefully everyone's reapplied
their sunscreen as well. So you've got that sweat,
sunscreen, makeup and you know, if you've been out and about,
you will, you know, especially if people live, you know, in
inner cities like London or Manchester, you're in touch
with, you know, pollutants in the air as well.
So that would be my main thing is to get a good cleanser and it
doesn't have to be expensive. Remember it's going down the
drain. So you use it to wash off all
the bits and then and it's going down the drain.
So you don't need to spend a lot of money on a cleanser.
Please, please don't. And then I'd say a moisturiser.
People think that acne skin or acne prone skin doesn't need a
moisturiser. It absolutely does.
And actually you can get lots of lightweight moisturisers which
are great for acne prone skin. And so everyone would benefit
from a moisturiser. And then my third step would be
an SPF. And that's your like basic
three-step routine, which most of the days that I, I do, I have
to put my hands. I don't actually cleanse my face
in the morning with a cleanser. I just use water.
That's what I do too. Is that OK?
Yeah, and it depends on your skin.
So if your skin is, you know, and I think that's the main
thing people sort of need to work out what their skin type
is. And and if you've got acne prone
or a breakout prone skin, then that's your skin.
Or if you're more oily in certain places but dry in
others, then you've got kind of combination skin and then
obviously dry skin. So I think working out what your
skin is rather than picking a product because someone said,
oh, this has made my skin look flawless, is actually better to
follow. And I've done it before.
I've used something that's given to me and it says use for dry
skin and that's broken me out because my skin isn't dry on my
face. So I think it's working out your
skin type would be would be the sort of first thing I would do
and then working out the products to suit that skin type
would be the next thing. Such good advice.
Like I it's so Simply put, but I've never really thought about
that. So you've almost got your step
one before anything else is figure out what category you
fall into and then hopefully the rest is made easier because of
that. Is there such a thing as doing
too much? Yes, yes there is.
I suppose people are putting on things and not really knowing
why. So people might be using lots of
what we call actives. So we've got our three steps,
our cleanser, moisturiser, SPF. If you wanted to add in an
active, what what would you be adding in and why?
So my active would be vitamin C because that's a great
antioxidant. So it's going to help protect
your skin from, you know, the pollution and it actually works
in synergy with your SPF. So that's one of my favourite
actives. Now Vitamin C is great but it
depends how it's formulated. It also depends on your skin
type. Some people find it quite
irritating and it can be quite stingy and make your skin quite
red to use initially when you first start using it.
And as with all actives, they can do that.
So I would say yes, doing too much can be bad and no one needs
to add in every single active under the sun to, to, to do
anything to their skin. And there's lots of products out
there which you know, could potentially be harsh for your
skin type. If you're, if you are
experiencing overuse of products or your skin has broken out or
it's become really dry, flaky, etcetera.
Work out what your basics are. Go back to the three-step basics
and then work out what you don't need, and then add in slowly if
if need be. That's such good advice.
I'm with you as well that I've discovered vitamin C about a
year and a half ago and I genuinely think it's transformed
like it's been really, really good, but as we know, it's not
the same for everybody. No, it's not.
And there are different formulations and different
brands have different types of vitamin C To to target those
different skin types, it can be helpful to look for those
specific acne prone or oily skin types or drier skin types
specific labels on on the product.
So we're going to go into a little section, which I'm going
to call worth it or waste. I, I hope it will be fun.
Let's see, I'm going to say a few of the trending items or
skin care must haves that I've seen recently.
And I would like you to say whether you think they're worth
the hype or whether you think it's a waste.
OK, and I'm allowed to give an explanation.
Yes, OK, yes, you are. She's.
Not going to play if she's not able to talk.
About it, No, I think the reason we need you is because we need
the evidence behind it. So absolutely explain away, OK?
For it. OK.
So the first one is LED face masks.
Oh, can I say I'm on the fence with this one?
Yeah. So potentially worth it, but I
don't have one. Is that helpful?
I think so. So they, the research behind
these is mainly done on in clinic LED devices and there's
all different wavelengths, which if you're a physicist you'll
get, but everyone else is a bit like, oh gosh, what wavelengths
do I use for what? And then on top of the
wavelengths, there's different lights, there's red light, blue
light, etcetera. And I think there's other lights
now coming out. So they've got a sound kind of
basis to them and why they would work.
My kind of caveat is the price point of some of these, they can
be quite expensive. The second thing is, is if
you're not doing your basics of using a sunscreen, for example,
every single day, you don't need to bother with the LED masks
because you're just undoing all the work that it would do.
And the third thing is, is that it they can make certain
conditions worse as in certain skin conditions.
So things like melasma, which is hyperpigmentational and it can
be called a pregnancy mask. A lot of ladies see it related
to their hormone changes or a skin condition called rosacea
where people can get quite flushed and they could have
pimples and spots. So we know that that's triggered
by heat and spicy foods, alcohol.
So those masks, although they don't get very hot, they, the,
they, the kind of the infrared heat or the LED light that is
applied can potentially make those conditions worse.
So I would say I I personally wouldn't spend money on it.
Thank you. I think that's useful, honestly.
Let's talk about retinol or retinoid.
Yes. So retinoids, so we've got
retinol which is your like first step, like the baby steps if you
really want to try. And then you've got retinals
with the A and then you've got your things that are
prescription based like tretinoin for example.
So they're like heavy duty each as you go up the ladder, there's
more increased risk of peeling those retinol uglies or purging,
etcetera. So the retinols are quite mild.
The dose isn't as high as what you'd have in tretinoin, for
example. And so they're, I'd say they're
useful and they can help with things like fine lines,
wrinkles, uneven texture, a lot of the skin concerns that most
people have or want to help to have help with.
So I would say worth it as long as you're using your sunscreen.
Very important. Those who are in that phase of
trying to conceive or pregnant breastfeeding retinoids are one
of the ones we say definite no to.
We know that oral retinoids are unsafe and we know that there
can be some absorption into the bloodstream and they can harm
the baby. So we say absolutely not, don't
use those retinoids of any kind. But Cuchiole is another active
which is a plant based 1 and that's it's like a retinoid
alternative. Yeah, it's B AKUCHIOL bakuchi of
it, so it can help improve, you know, fine lines, wrinkles,
texture and things like that. So it's an alternative if people
wish to use, use. Yeah, definitely.
I think particularly when you are going into a phase which is
potentially quite stressful and might lead to quite a lot of
sleep deprivation, it's about, you know, doing something for
you and sort of maintaining your own identity and a bit of your,
well, as much of your self-confidence as you can at
that stage as well. Isn't it drinking collagen every
morning? If this is really tricky because
more evidence is emerging on on the benefits of oral collagen,
but there's not enough to definitely say yes, it's the
100% improves things. So the evidence isn't great for
them. However, there are people that
use it anecdotally and personal experiences and say I started
taking that collagen and it's really made my hair nice or made
my skin feel nice. So yes, use with caution.
Don't spend lots of money on these things.
Really helpful. Another one which might be
divisive. Yeah, I will say that I don't
use any of the ones we've spoken about so far.
I do quite like this one, which is guasha, if I'm saying that
correctly. Yeah, yeah.
But you know what, So guasha is rooted in like traditional
Chinese medicine, and it's meant to be, from my understanding, is
meant to be like muscle scrubbing.
So it's meant to help with alleviating pain from muscles.
It can help a little bit like lymphatic drainage.
So I think if you know what you're doing and you've got your
technique sorted, go for it. People think it's going to
completely snatch their faces and, you know, give them 10
years of their youthful skin bag.
I doubt it's going to give you a long term snatch look.
So some people find that they have puffiness around the eyes
when they wake up in the morning.
I mean, who doesn't? We're lying horizontally.
Our fluid is literally, you know, going going to do that.
But I think it's quite a soothing thing for people to do.
And if that's going to help you feel a bit more like yourself
and a bit more alive and, you know, happy, go for it.
Be realistic with the expectations.
So you're telling me that those videos that I get served on
Instagram where somebody's got a pencil in their mouth and
they're doing all of that, like up, down, side to side, that's
probably not going to work either.
What pencil in their mouth you're going to send me do?
I'm going to have to do a demonstration.
Is this what muscle activation or something?
Yeah. You know, so this is a lip
gloss. They'll get their lip gloss and
they'll be like. Oh my gosh, I mean, that's great
if you're going to exercise the muscles, but if I suppose if
you're talking to people and you're smiling and you know,
being rational full throughout the day, you're probably using
all your muscles. I that's great, but part of skin
ageing and ageing in general, which is a privilege is comes
from bone resorption. So your bones start to, oh, this
sounds really awful, but crumble essentially like they get
rewarded. So, you know, like the jawline
gets softer and you, and what happens then is the fat pads
start reducing in size as well. So the the the skin doesn't have
essentially like the architecture to keep it in
place. And that's why we find that we
get gels or the sagging on sagging skin because the bones
are results. So the muscles are great to work
on, but you know that that's not essentially going to help later
down the line. March.
Yeah, I mean. If your time watch some TV but.
You're so right that actually if you're just sitting and having
conversations and laughing and. My jaws are hurting now.
I've been smiling so my eyes are sore, which is good, good.
We've done exercises in the matter.
Of thank God I don't need to do my 10 minutes with my pencil in
my mouth tonight. I don't do that.
I need. To can you please send me these?
I need to watch what's going on. When I next see one, I'm sending
it to you because I see these like extremely chiselled
Scandinavian women and I'm there with my big cheeks and I'm like,
I need to do this. You've got.
Lovely. Cheeks lovely comparison is the
thief of joy. Isn't it exactly micro needling?
Worth it or a waste? So I think micro needling can be
really helpful in terms of, you know, stimulating collagen
essentially, you know, creates micro channels or micro injuries
in the skin to try and help your blood kind of rush to that
place. So you're kind of flushed and
all the kind of rejuvenating skin cells come to the rescue to
try and help re remodel and kind of help that that skin that's
been damaged. And so I think on the face, I
would say in clinic treatments are better.
I know they can be expensive, but there's specific devices and
the lengths of needles, et cetera.
There are some people that do micro needling and derma
stamping of the scalp and I think because the scalp skin is
thicker, it's slightly safer that if one wanted to do it at
home, it would be safer I think to try that on and scalp skin.
But as with all these things, you have to ensure that you've
you've properly, you know, sterilised the tools that you
are using and ensure that the needles don't get too blunt
because that can be damaging as well.
Yeah, that's so interesting. Spot dots.
Oh, is that I actually like these.
And because if you're a picker like me, they're quite good to
to stop you from picking. And I think if you've got severe
acne, I wouldn't plaster them all over the face.
They're meant to be little dots for, you know, small breakouts.
Some of them come with added ingredients like salicylic acid,
which again helps unblock those pores and helps with kind of
exfoliating the skin gently, which I think is great.
Some of them are just bland spot dots and if you're going to do
that I'd say don't waste your money on those.
Just go and buy some good old fashioned hydrocolloid dressing
in these big packs. You can cut them to size and
then stick them on because they're probably going to be
cheaper and they'll last you longer.
But if you want medicated ones like with the salicylic acid, go
for the spot dots if you want. Love that great tip.
I think I know what you're going to say about this one.
SPF. I mean, yes, every day.
Every single day, yes, and reapply throughout the day.
Yeah, throughout the day. And even if you're working from
home opposite a lovely window or you're going to go for your 10
minute walk outside at lunch, SPF.
And, and it's not just about SPF you, there are other, some
protective measures which we are very bad in the UK at taking
because we think, oh, we'll take all our sunscreen abroad and
wear our lovely hats when we go abroad and sitting in the shade
when we're, we're on holiday. We don't think to do those
things in the UK. And actually the UV index today
has gone up to 5 from about 10:30 till about 2:30.
And that's quite that's that's quite high.
So what is SPF like in really simple terms?
Apart from protecting us from getting sunburn, what is it
doing that's beneficial to our skin?
Yeah. So you've got SPF, the skin
protection factor, so how long that sunscreen will protect your
skin from burning. And then you've got, you know,
the star rating. So, and that's usually for UVA,
this is very simplified. So UVA is thought of as ageing,
UVB is thought of as burning. UVA can actually travel through
windows and things like that. So what you want to look for in
an SPF or sunscreen is a high protection factor.
So you've got SPF 50 and then a high UVA rating and a lot more.
Sunscreens these days are getting sophisticated.
So they're also looking at high energy visible blue light, which
also comes from the sun and causes things like pigmentation
problems as well. So they're becoming a little bit
more high tech with the philtres that they're using.
Ideally, I'd say everyone should use you, you know, SPF 50, high
UVA rating and when you use that every day.
I definitely need to do this more, but one of the reasons why
I don't, which I think is one of the reasons why a lot of people
don't, is because so many sun creams either feel really greasy
or they make me get spots. Yeah.
How can we avoid this? Yeah, so I'm there with you on
this one. I hate that feeling of
heaviness, especially on the face.
So looking for SPFS or sunscreens which have like oil
free in them or they're like fluid gel type textures is quite
good. And looking for those that say
non comedogenic, which means non pore blocking is helpful as
well. And then there's the also the
chemical versus mineral sunscreen debate, which we
haven't even touched on, but. Chemical.
Screens, they're great because essentially what they do is they
absorb the philtres and then they stop you from kind of
reacting to the philtres essentially.
Whereas mineral sunscreens block the kind of UV rays.
It's kind of deciding which one you want to use.
The mineral sunscreens can be a bit heavier.
They can leave a white cast on your skin, which is why people
then don't like them. We tend to recommend them more
in pregnancy because there's thoughts that the chemical ones
can get more absorbed into the bloodstream.
And again, it's a bit of a trial and error to see what your skin
type is, what sunscreen is going to work for you.
And there's some good, good ones out there and you know, I've
tested quite a lot of them. Things like La Roche per SE have
a good one there and Thalios is a good one.
Eucerin dry touch, I think they've got an oil free one
there. There's a Helio Care one, which
is a tinted mineral sunscreen as well.
And there's a Murad 1. Again, a little bit on the
expensive side of things, but there are there are loads of
sunscreens and there's like Serapine, there's like a whole
range of sunscreens that you can test and try.
Amazing. Just quickly on on the sunscreen
question, one person asked whether there's a need to look
out for your skin more particularly thinking about some
protection and beauty spots or moles when you are either doing
trying to conceive or pregnant. Yes.
So yes. So actually we know that
pregnancy or trying to conceive with all those hormones abroad
can actually cause a change in moles.
So yes, being aware of your own moles pre pregnancy is great and
then keeping an eye on them during pregnancy is also
important. And we use the ABCDE and kind
of, you know, pneumonic for moles.
So that's A is asymmetry, B is border, C is varying colours, D
is diameter. Usually we say more than six
millimetres, but you don't need to go around measuring all your
moles, especially if you're a really moly person and E is
evolving. So any change.
So if you've had a mole before and you think, oh, that doesn't
quite look like what it did in those summer photos last year,
it's always best to get it checked out.
And we would rather see people reassure you and reassure us
that it's it's an OK mole rather than you sit there, worry about
it and not not seek advice, you know?
Yeah, Thank you. That's so clear.
The final one in our Worth it All waste is preventative Botox.
So preventative Botox, I would say waste because so it's Botox
is a brand name, it's botulinum toxin.
What it does is it freezes the muscles to prevent us from
having lines that we don't want. So if you're not seeing lines
that are static and that are actually there and you think,
oh, I can see these now and and they definitely weren't there, I
would say you don't need to get the Botox done.
And bear in mind, none of this is necessary.
You don't have to get any Yeah, treatments or procedures carried
out. This is all optional.
And bear in mind that if you start doing it when you're
trying to prevent something that hasn't occurred yet, it's an
upkeep. So Botox lasts about three to
four months. So actually you'd have to then
get another one done in three to four months time and then
another. And it's an upkeep and it's
expensive as well. But overall, no one needs to get
these things done if you're going to get these procedures
done, choosing A practitioner, looking at their qualifications,
ensuring that you're able to ask those questions and feel
comfortable asking those questions and someone reassures
you and not just saying yes, yes, yes, we'll do all this to
your face. And you think why didn't come in
for that? You know, we'll do all these
additional things. I think choosing A practitioner
that's sensible and suitable for you is really important and that
we'll have that discussion with you and also be able to tell you
no. I love it.
Such good advice. And yeah, you're completely
right. I feel like that is such an easy
kind of red flag to spot. If you're going somewhere and
they're trying to upsell you, maybe no, just don't.
Whereas actually maybe it's a good sign if they're saying, Are
you sure you want to do this? Exactly.
I think we should talk a bit more about actives because we do
have quite a few questions on this.
Do you have any advice about how you can safely introduce a new
product or active ingredient without it causing a flare up or
being too much for your skin? So we would say test them out
first and then see how you get on.
If you're going to use a new product, but you've been having
lots of breakouts with other products.
Usually we recommend like patch testing.
And people think of that, that when you go to the hairdressers
to get your hair dyed and they put a little, you know, bit of
dye on the back of the ear. So similarly to that, you can
either do it on your jawline or you can do it on the back of
like of your forearm. And you pop any product on there
that you want to try for the three days, ideally in the same
spot and ideally not wash it off and see if that produces any
reaction for you rather than going in straight all over.
So you know, when you get a little sample or something to
try, I always think why would someone do that?
Like give a little sachet of something or a little sample of
something. But actually samples are great
if you have sensitive skin or you're prone to breakouts to
actually test out and to try it on the jawline for the three
days. And that gives you a little
sense of, but whether you're going to react to it or not, I
think it's quite a helpful way of testing out a product.
How would you feel about doing a bit of a a mini a mini
assessment of which active is appropriate for which skin
concern? Yeah, we can have a go, sure.
OK, so one that we got loads of questions about and one that I
am very invested in is hormonal acne or spots especially around
your jaw or chin. I suppose it's the age of the
person and the skin type and then why you're developing these
acne spots or breakouts on your jawline.
We know a lot of us get spots around our period and it's
completely normal as as not nice as it is, it is completely
normal. And then it's like if you know
that's occurring, what you can do about it.
Just changing up the basics can sometimes help listen to your
skin. So you will very quickly
realise, oh, I'm breaking out here.
Why is it? Well, my skin is feeling quite
dry and I think listening to those things and sometimes
changing up your routine from I'm going to not use this harsh
cleanser because it's quite drying, maybe I'll use one which
is a little bit more moisturising.
Might be a helpful change to make rather than adding in
something new knowing actually my skin gets a bit greasier
coming up to my period. I won't use that lovely thick
moisturiser. What I'm going to do is use a
thinner, more fluid or gel texture moisturiser, which will
kind of help with the sort of reduce the oil production or the
sebum that we have on our skin. So I think sometimes making
those little changes to your basics can can help.
And then in terms of actives, it really depends on where you are
in your stage of life, what you want to do.
Are you already, for example, using something like a retinoid
or is that something you want to include as part of the acne?
As dermatologists, we use retin retinoids to help with the
treatment of acne, and that can be topical retinoids.
So things like we use Differin, adapoline and sometimes
tretinoin as well. And we also give oral
medications which are hospital only medications by
dermatologists for treating quite severe acne.
I like the idea of taking the preventative route because I
would imagine that specifically for hormonal acne, a lot of that
is around the time of your cycle.
There are a few who have mentioned having that kind of
around your chin or area acne whilst they've been on hormonal
fertility medication or even during pregnancy.
Yes, So there are, there are other actives that people can
include and things like you know, like your salicylic acid,
as long as it's not in a high concentration can be quite good
for things like clogged pores, blackheads to try and help
exfoliate the skin in a gentle way rather than using.
I don't know if you have the era of the scrubs and rather than
using those they are very harsh on the skin.
I would not advise those at all. I have one of my sisters, Fred
still uses her St. Ives speech scrub and I just.
Don't have you such a throwback? Every time I see her I feel like
a feeling of dread. So sticking to things like you
know, chemical exfoliation like your salicylic acid as long as
it's under AI. Think it's 2% concentration.
Try once or twice a week and see it you see if that can help and
it can quite be quite helpful for those blocked and pause and
help with, you know, breakouts. Love that that was definitely on
the list. And then you've got your
bacuccio which you could try. I'm going to put that in the
show notes because I feel like that's going to change people's
lives. I'm very excited about it.
And what about somebody who has got dry or dehydrated skin?
Or what do they say? A compromised skin barrier?
That is definitely what I have been diagnosed with before.
So they're slightly two different things.
So your drier skin can be a compromised skin barrier, but a
compromised skin skin barrier can also mean lots of breakouts
and sensitivity and, and reactions.
So your, your skin barrier. I'll, I'll do that one first.
Then we'll go into the dry skin is if you think of it as bricks.
And then between the bricks we have mortar and then on top of
those bricks we have a lovely layer of like lipids and all the
moisture that our skin and the oils that our skin naturally
produces. A compromised skin barrier
essentially means that you can get increased water loss and
increase entry of things like bugs and pollutants and things
which can then make your skin dry, increase sensitivity.
You can even react to things that you may not have reacted to
before, things like fragrances, for example.
And those can all happen at different stages of your life.
Or if you're using things like harsh physical scrubs or harsh
actives or overuse of actives, you know that can compromise
your skin barrier. And then you've got your dry
skin. And that can be just dry skin
and you're prone to having dry skin.
And that's something that you have of all have always had or
it could be. You know, in winter we all tend
to get drier skin and we've got lovely central heating on, then
we go out in the cold and that can simply make your skin drier.
So yes, those there's they're 2 slightly different categories,
but they can. Kind of that makes sense.
And you can have acne skin or acne prone skin and you can
still have a compromised skin barrier, if that makes sense.
So what ingredients would you be looking for in those cases?
So if your skin barrier is compromised, I'd say stripping
back on all the kind of actives, back to your three steps
cleanser, moisturiser and SPF and actually looking is this
moisturiser for my skin type? Is this moisturiser sensible?
IE does it have fragrances in it and should I maybe stop the
fragrance? 1 Sometimes it can be a simple
ingredient within is causing a problem or someone somewhere
down the line they've always bought the same moisturiser, for
example, someone's formulated it differently or changed it
slightly and then the drier skin types again.
Moisturiser is great and and maybe not using like a harsh
cleanser, so something you might not want to use as many
salicylic acids and things like that.
But you may wish to use things like hyaluronic acid, which is a
lovely water based, you know acid and it can help under a
layer of moisturiser lock in a bit more moisture for for those
dryer skin skin types. That's brilliant.
I never knew that about all the different acids.
I just kind of assumed they would all do the same thing.
No, they all have slightly different properties.
So yes, they they do slightly different things.
So the next skin issue I have on my list is dull skin and someone
has asked what's the best thing to do in your 40s for glowing
skin? That's a great question.
So I'd say what do they mean by dull skin?
Is it more that they want that glowy glass skin?
Because I'm going to stop you right there and say there's no
such thing as glass skin because I think that's a little bit of a
marketing kind of tool. And I think, I think glass skin,
it's not an overnight thing. You can't apply something onto
your skin overnight and expect the next day to wake up with
glowy glass skin. It might give you temporary
hydration or a shine or a Sheen to your skin, but nothing's
going to alter your skin skin texture appearance over
overnight. In terms of you know, what you
could be doing is actually cleansing properly sounds really
silly. Cleansing properly, ensuring a
double cleanse can help remove the excess, you know, dead skin
build up. Adding in potentially your
vitamin C can have a brightening effect as well as that
antioxidant effect. Sometimes certain acids can help
speed up that kind of exfoliation of the dead skin
cells. And then things like retinoids,
one of our most evidence based skin care products and they
actually help with that kind of skin cell turnover.
So, so you get that kind of the dead skin cells shed quicker and
they they reveal the lovely new skin underneath which can give
which can give you that kind of glowy appearance.
That being said, don't introduce everything at the same time,
please. I'd say go slow with those and
to just gently build up. Don't sort of plaster it on
every single night for the first week because you will be
suffering the following week. Yeah, I have also experienced
that first hand. One more on this, which is fine
line, fine lines and wrinkles. Is there an active that you
would recommend for people who are concerned about that?
Yeah, so again, retinoids is the kind of gold standard to help
with fine lines and wrinkles. And again, you don't those
lines, laughter lines are there. They show that you have enjoyed
your life. But if you wish to, you know,
help them improve the appearance of them.
Retinoids can help but also hydration of the skin.
I think, you know, these, these fine lines can sometimes look
much worse after a day of, you know, you've not drunk any
water, you've had about 10 cups of coffee because the kids might
not have slept. And you think, my gosh, I don't
think I've, you know, had any water today.
And sometimes it can just be hydration both internally and
externally on the skin. So sometimes things like, again,
your hyaluronic acids or a good moisturiser to help improve that
the skin barriers, hydration can help improve the appearance of
these of these fine lines and wrinkles as well.
If you don't want to use retinoids or if you're again
trying to conceive pregnant breastfeeding.
I talked to Sonia Sharma. I know that there were going to
be so many people listening to this podcast and going.
I just want to know what you use.
Help me. What I will say is for anyone
listening, if you do want more, Sonia's Instagram page is a
great place to go. But for now, I wondered if we
could just go through questions where you are very much allowed
to mention product names or brand names.
My first one would be your top budget buy.
So there's so many good cleansers out there.
I do work with Boots but so there's so many great options in
Boots and things like Cetaphil cleanser is great and they are
non fragranced. They used to have different
variations. They've got foam to cleanser and
they've got things like salicylic acid as well, which we
didn't mention body hair, but you can use on the body as well.
If you've got things like dark elbows or knees.
Stereo V are really good as well.
They've got some lovely gentle cleanses.
I personally use Event and I've been using them for years.
I love their Milky cleanser because my skin tends to be if I
use quite harsh cleansers can can get quite dry and it I can
get broke. So their Milky cleanser is great
because it takes away the makeup and I actually use that one as a
double cleanse. But there's great micellar
waters as well. If people are, you know, wearing
a lot of mascara or eye makeup. Bioderma do a lovely one,
Garnier do a lovely one as well. And then we're moving on to
moisturisers. I love La Roche Passe's
moisturisers for acne prone acne skin.
They've got a lovely range called efficler, which you know,
our patients find really helpful, those who are on
treatments for acne and they're that range is really lovely.
It's gentle to use again event have a lovely Clenault range as
well. And again, Cetaphil, I mean, all
of these have lovely, you know, moisturisers and I'd say within
that, if you're dry skin, you need a slightly thicker 1, you
know, to to use and then SPFI don't think you need to be
spending more than, you know, £25 on a good tube of SPF.
Look for your SPF 50 and a high UVA rating.
But then there's ones which also target, you know, high energy
visible blue light. So if you're concerned with more
pigmentation, melasma, that might be something to look for.
And if you're of the skin tone that tends to hyperpigment more,
you might want a tinted mineral sunscreen, for example.
And what about worthy investments?
I think your investment should be in yourself.
Does that make sense? I think you spend your 10
minutes in the morning getting ready and all you need to do is
cleanse, moisturise, SPF. So actually investing in a good
SPF that you like, that you will use and that you find nice to
use, I think it is. That's my worthy investment.
I This is like my biggest takeaway of this episode.
I'm actually going to religiously use mine every day
because right now it's more of a if it's a sunny day and I
remember and I'm going to be outside a lot.
I know. I'm sorry, I really AM.
I think in the UK, as soon as we see the sun, we all just want to
enjoy it, don't we? We don't get yeah, but when it
comes out, we really love it and it's great.
It boosts our mood. Like everyone's happier, nicer
and we want to get out there. But I think getting into that
routine and teaching your kids about it from a young age is
really is really important. I think, I think there'll be a
lot of people listening to this who are like, yes, I'm on board
with this now. Doctor Sonia Sharma, where can
everybody find you? Where can we find more of you?
Well, I'm on Instagram, I'm also on TikTok and my DMS are always
open. So if you've got queries or
like, oh, you know, you want to check out if a product might be
suitable for you, I'm happy to do that.
I can't give personal advice and I think that's really important
for me to say because obviously I would want to see you.
I would want to, you know, properly take that history from
you, see your skin, see what it's like and then give advice.
I'm happy to give product recommendations in terms of this
is what I've tried and things like that, but it's hard to
give, you know, personalised advice.
If anybody has real concerns, where should they?
What is their next step? It depends on what exactly the
skin concern is. You know, if you're suffering
with your acne to the point where it is making you feel bad
about yourself, you are low in mood, definitely see your GP in
the first instance and they can refer onwards to a
dermatologist. It's so important for us to help
make people feel better in the skin that they're in, if that
makes sense. Yeah.
I completely agree. Thank you so much for today.
I've absolutely loved this conversation.
I feel like I've learned so much and will not be overhauling my
skin care routine, but I will definitely be focusing on the
stuff that really matters, so thank you for that.
No, thank you for having me. It's been great.
I'm very happy to come on at another time to to chat more.
So no, this is really lovely. I'd love that the next time we
can talk about all my hair woes. That would be very cathartic.
Thank you so much, Sonia. It's been great.
Thank you so much.