My skin care knowledge has increased this summer, thanks to the great contributors to the Love The Skin You’re In series! Today, I want to introduce you to a special guest, my beautiful new sister-in-law, Dr. Michaela Overturf. She is currently completing her residency in Dermatology, and has become my go-to source for all of my skin care concerns and questions! From the time we met, we became fast friends and I am so glad that she is now part of our family. We have found that we share many common interests, and I am sure we drive our husbands crazy with the amount of texting we do at times! I was so happy when she agreed to contribute to the blog, to share her professional recommendations and tips with us. I will admit, I am pretty vigilant about sunscreen for my face, but, I am guilty of neglecting other areas that need protection and treatment. This will be especially helpful for me! These products are going on my skin care “must-have” list!
More Than A Pretty Face: Protect + Treat Your Neck, Chest, and Hands, by Dr. Michaela Overturf
I have been a loyal Loubies and Lulu follower from the beginning, checking in several times a week to catch up on the latest trends in fitness and style. Some of my favorite posts have been the recent ones about modifying our diet and lifestyle to promote healthy skin, but as a budding dermatologist, I am probably a little biased!
There are so many great products on the market today that it is easy to become overwhelmed. I loved Sarah’s post about keeping it low maintenance. I totally agree with a pharmaceutical-strength antioxidant and loved her Skinceuticals recommendations. C E Ferulic is great for drier skin types and Phloretin CF is better if your skin is on the oily side. They have also recently come up with a new nighttime formulation, Resveratrol B E to help promote the skin’s natural nightly repair process.
During the day, your antioxidant has to be followed by your favorite sunscreen. My absolute favorite also happens to be Elta MD UV Physical 41! Most days that is all I wear, topped with just a loose powder. It’s great stuff. At nighttime, if you can add one more product, I would recommend a retinoid to help with blemishes, pigment and texture. There are a number of prescription-strength retinoids that your dermatologist can recommend, but if you prefer an over-the-counter product, I have found Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair Serum and RoC Deep Wrinkle Night Cream to be the most effective in reversing the signs of aging, including dyspigmentation and wrinkles. Because many of the retinoids are easily inactivated by sunlight, they should only be used at night and these should be applied BEFORE your nightly antioxidant for optimal results.
Now…while most of us are doing a better job to protect and correct our facial skin, what I cannot understand is why so many of my patients are neglecting to protect their lips, neck, chest, and hands. These are all areas that are quick to show signs of sun damage and make us look so much older than we should. I have just a few products that I wanted to recommend that will hopefully be easy to add to your regimen to keep not just your face, but all of you looking wonderfully radiant for years to come.
For lips, I am a huge fun of Jack Black SPF 25 Intense Therapy Lip Balm. Jack Black is actually a line of men’s skin care products that I was introduced to when I was a teenager on Accutane with insanely dry lips. Nothing else worked this well. Now that I am so crazy about sun protection, I love it even more. It comes in a number of great scents/flavors, so I keep them in every car and bag and even in the boat. Because it’s intended for men, it’s easy to convince my new hubby to use it too!
When it comes to the neck and chest, many of the same products used for the face can be used on these areas too. Just make sure that you bring them all the way down to your décolletage. If you are using a tinted sunscreen for your face, you will want to use something non-tinted for your neck and chest. While the Elta Physical is great at being water resistant, it can rub off on clothing. There is one last Skinceuticals product that I am really excited about (I promise I don’t own any stock!) specifically for the neck, chest, and hands. It is their new Neck, Chest and Hand Repair Treatment that helps to reverse signs of photodamage. It has really helped to brighten and smooth the skin of all of these areas in just a few weeks of use.
That leads me to hands, possibly the most sun-exposed part of our bodies, and definitely one of the earliest areas to show signs of sun-related aging in most men and women. The Neck, Chest and Hand Repair is a great option for hands, but my favorite is L’Occitane SPF 20 Brightening Hand Care. It not only corrects, but also proects, moisturizes and smells really nice!
I hope that you can incorporate some of these items into your already healthy lifestyle, so that your skin stays looking as good on the outside as you feel on the inside! Thank you, Michaela, for all of these wonderful product recommendations, and instructions on how to incorporate them into our skin care routine. I am definitely going to add some of the items into the mix!
SHOP THE POST: MORE THAN A PRETTY FACE…
