But what do *you* recommend?!
Patients always ask what I recommend for skin care. It's super easy to get bogged down in the rabbit-holes of an #instainfluencers "12 steps to your perfect skin" regimen. In all reality, I have three kids, a full time job, a husband, a dog, five chickens, hobbies (ummm... hello #foodscape), and way too much on my plate to follow any specific skin care routine every single day faithfully.
These are the things I *try* to do regularly.
I always wash my face twice a day (morning and night.... usually one of those times is a shower ... should I be so lucky that day). Most of the time I'm using a gentle cleanser like SkinMedica Facial Cleanser or La Roche-Posay Toleraine Hydrating Gentle Cleanser
Sometimes, if I'm feeling puffy, I'll apply SkinMedica Instant Eye Bright Cream
Most days I put on some type of vitamin C. Lately, I've been using The Ordinary Ethylated Ascorbic Acid 15%
I always apply sunscreen in the morning. At least an SPF 30, most of the time an SPF 50. La Roche-Posay Antihelios Ultra-light Mineral Sunscreen has been my go-to for quite some time. Most days, I apply the tinted version. If I'm going out for a run and will be sweating a lot, I'll apply the untinted version.
I use my retinol or retinoid (depending on how dry the weather is) on a fairly regular basis. Right now I'm doing tretinoin 0.05% cream every 3rd night. I sandwich it between SkinMedica HA5 Rejuvenating Hydrator underneath and La Roche-Posay Toleraine Double Repair Moisturizer on top.
I get botox for my glabella, forehead, bunny lines, and crow's feet.
The reality is that steps 1, 4, and 6 are the only things I really strictly adhere to.
Most of the time, I'm grabbing whichever product is closest to me, or whatever I can find most easily on SkinStore.com
Often, I give my patients a handout listing all of my favorite products. All of these above are on there, but a more comprehensive list of what I like can be found over on my shop.