Stop Doing This To Your Skin! The Expert Advice Everyone Needs To Hear | The SheerLuxe Podcast

0:00All right, well welcome everyone to a very special live episode of the Shear Lux podcast in partnerships with Boots Online Doctor. We are going to be doing a bit of a skincare SOS today, so any skin concerns you have, we're going to be addressing them, whether it's acne or hyperpigmentation or rosacea or anything going on at this time of the year. I've got a really amazing panel today. We've got our Shear Lux contributor and expert Alex Steinher and Boots' very own Megha Pancholi, who is going to be talking about Boots Online Doctor, which we're going to dive into in a moment.

0:43We're going to start with sort of the noise around skincare at the moment. There is advice coming from every single angle. So I'd like to know, Alex, first of all, what is the one piece of skincare advice that genuinely changed your life? I think I've interviewed so many experts over the years but one that always resonates with me and I got this from a dermatologist is don't treat your skin like a project, treat it like an organ and I think what it means is it's don't jump on every trend, don't think like oh let me try this for a week and that like really think about like the health and the long term especially long term with your skin.

1:24I think that's something that, you know, definitely when I was younger, when I started out in journalism, you know, the long, this idea of long term wasn't something that now finally we're understanding. So we had to go through all the aggressive skin moments. But I think we're now getting into more of a think about it, you know, invest in your skin and don't just look for the quick little fix. Yeah. And Dr. Mega, from your perspective, do you feel like social media has made people more informed or more overwhelmed when it comes to skincare? I mean, it's both and I think compared in throughout my career in the last 10 years specifically patients are coming in with more knowledge and that's great you know you want people to think about their skin they know about ingredients they know about what works which is great people are taking ownership but on the other hand there's so much information out there and people are following whatever they see and what I'm excited in terms of trends somebody doesn't have the same skin type as another person yeah you said oh this product changed my life and therefore I'm going to try as well and it might not be the right thing for you so absolutely net positive but you have to think about where you're getting information from i agree with you because also the thing about knowing all the ingredients doesn't necessarily mean that they're going to work you should yeah you should use it all at once so i think it's such a double-edged sword isn't it it's kind of like and as a doctor i can imagine you're just like i studied this as a doctor dr Alex guys no I would never I interview experts that's where I get my knowledge from but you know for you it must be a bit like baffling my job especially when patients come they come in with their bags of stuff and a lot of time is just because just going through the noise not focusing on percentages and ingredients and oh this person is using this I must use this ingredient and it's like you don't it's not right for you it's not right for your skin concern yeah um and just it's knowledgeable for me to know what's trending because obviously i can adjust my advice um but just trying to explain to patients that not everything you see is relevant for you for sure and i guess for both of you what's a skincare trend that you're really surprised actually went viral whether it's a good or where do i start guys the beef tallow did you guys see the beef tallow thing I was like no then there was the whole thing about um I this was more of like a TikTok trend I saw this more last summer but it was like mixing your own sunscreen and that is one thing are you insane like if you want to literally ruin your skin mix your own sunscreen you crazy person so that those are things that no what we saw a lot of um with online doctor and also just seeing it's the sort of 20 step routines especially in teenage skin and people who don't need to be using harsh actives I'm sure we've seen the same thing and following all these routines when it's not right for you I mean I use a lot of products same but not 20 and we know what to use I was watching all these videos and I was like yep that one and that one and that one yeah but the thing is we all love skincare yeah I mean you do love skincare and like obviously part of our job sap and obviously you see a lot as a doctor but you know we do get to try a lot of products but that's also you know to be informed and to kind of hopefully you know at sheer lux hopefully we give the right advice and we're not saying like you have to buy this you have to buy that you have to buy that it's more like giving you know advice and sort of information reviewing exactly and so you know what's then right yeah and also you know at sheer lux we all have different skin types we all are different ages you can guess who the oldest is but you know what i'm saying like there is a variety and I think that's important as well.

5:06And what we're going to talk a lot about today is specific skin concerns and sort of what you do when it's kind of when you see a doctor, when you can use this online doctor, so kind of on that many people try and give skin concerns the time to settle on their own but how can someone tell the difference between something that's simply taking the time to heal and something that needs to or sort of it's persisting longer than it's normal. So most common skin flare-ups conditions if you give it a bit of a breather use sort of simple over-the-counter treatments it usually sorts itself out you know give it some time be gentle with your skin be patient with your skin if you are finding that despite using these simple things it's just either persisting it's getting worse it's not getting better if it's getting painful if it's causing symptoms like irritation bleeding itching it's just going the wrong direction rather than settling down.

5:58I mean that would never be good. That's what you think about. Absolutely. If you're bleeding, probably. Absolutely if you're going down that. But kind of giving it enough time to see if it's settling by itself, especially when we get to like being away, being in a different environment, you can kind of explain that this will happen. Yeah. But if you think, hang on, this is just hanging around, despite using simple over-the-counter treatments, it's not. That's just the best advice to be simple because I think when something happens like i know from myself if i get like a breakout i'm literally like right what am i doing what am i throwing and your instinct right your instinct is i'm going to throw everything at it and i'm getting out the you know the salicylic acid and i'm just chucking everything on it that's and i get that as you know it's like if you have a headache you want to take a headache you know your tummy aches you want but actually you know the proper professional advice chill.

6:51Well this is the first advice I say, you see something don't panic, stop, take a breather, let your skin, sometimes doing nothing will sort it out, don't rush to buy, you go online, find a five product video, buy those five products, put it all on and you've made it worse. Yeah that's the opposite of what's gonna help you. What about if someone has kind of gone that one step further, it's a persistent rash, something that looks a little bit sus, what should they do, what's the first place to start? So to get to the point where you know you used over-the-counter treatments or moisturizers you think something's going wrong so there are lots of options obviously going to see your GP but that sometimes can feel a bit like what's going on here I don't know if I need to go and see my GP with this what am I even going to say what do I say there is a boot smart skin checker so that's a free service it is powered by Autoderm AI it's not a clinical consultation I do want to say that it's not taking place or takes the place of a clinical consultation but you'll upload a photo of your condition or whatever you're worried about answer a few safety questions and through the ai it gives you five possible possibilities of a diagnosis and what to do in each one yeah there's information about the potential diagnoses um if you're still unsure about it if you're not feeling really happy then you obviously can can get sort of medical care after that as I said it doesn't replace a clinical consultation but if the AI feels that it's something suspicious then it will obviously give you that advice and flag it as urgent.

8:27So that's really good because I feel like sometimes you get a bit stressed out about oh my god am I about to die and I think having those sort of five things that it might be puts you slightly more in peace of mind. It gives patients I mean information is always great but it gives you maybe some sort of signposting and think okay maybe if I do go and get medical help or use online doctor or any other health service you think oh i think it's this from what i've read and i've used this service to kind of help so it's just giving you that little bit of extra push in the direction that you can go down yeah and also self-diagnosis is not the way to go like you know go with where there's some some knowledge an expert yeah well when it comes to this time of year when you know it's hot and we're on holiday honestly every time gonna go on holiday I get a spot what is going like why is it that this time of year people's skin changes and has issues I mean Alex has just been on holiday guys I just flew in for this event guys I did come back last night and can I just say my suitcase didn't so I'm like thank you thank you I mean this is just like every time anyway so I have just been on holiday just came back and I think you know I literally my skin always acts up in one way or another and I know what I'm I mean, I supposedly know what I'm doing, but it's things like as soon as you step on the plane, it's the dry air, then it's the humidity.

9:48It was so hot. I was in the south of France. It was literally so hot. I could feel like the heat coming from inside, you know? And then also the food's different. You're on a different schedule as well. Don't underestimate that. I mean, sometimes I sometimes think, but I'm not stressed. Why is my skin stressed? It's just because your whole cortisol levels, everything's different. So that's, you know, that for me is just yeah i always i mean right now i feel very like my skin feels very dry but you know i'll be okay your skin is your largest organ and it loves it shows what's going on externally but internally as well and skin loves routine as well as our body loves routine so as you said you're sleeping different you're eating different you might be having a little bit more alcohol your products are different you might forget to take all the spf off that you've been protecting yourself all day which is not of your not of your shirt you know you always remove your skin absolutely um and and yeah so having some sort of flare-up as you've mentioned is a normal thing or can be a normal thing focusing on acne a bit i don't know if anyone here sort of suffers with that but how do you know when it's sort of an occasional breakout and when it's something that you should progress further and maybe it's acne or that yeah so i think most of us have probably experienced the odd breakout on holiday or if we've been stressed or a new environment that's normal it will come up it will hang around and you might use something you might not even need to use something it will go away so if something is persistent so if you're getting spots or acne or flare up or symptoms in a specific area but it's there predictably rather than just after an event or a stressor that would be concerning if you're getting scarring which is obviously what we worry about with most of inflammatory skin conditions if you're getting obviously pain and redness and that is a serious thing as well so persistence is the key so something which is hanging around longer than it should I would also say you think that it has to be super severe for it to be something that needs treatment acne is so personal we've all suffered with it I've suffered with it and it doesn't have to be severe for patients who are really affected mentally so I always say if it's affecting your day-to-day life is affecting your function your relationships how you work even if it's not severe you still should really similar hyperpigmentation we talked about it earlier I don't have anyone here suffers with that at all but why is that worse in the summer as well so without going too clinical we've got special cells called melanocytes they produce melanin so that is the pigment which gives the skin color so when skin is faced with UV those cells are triggered and the melanin production is increased when there is inflammation already so acne and mosquito bites insect bites eczema any kind of inflammatory skin condition and then you've got UV that is making the melanocytes produce more melanin so the hyperpigmentation gets worse so it's not necessarily that the Sun is making it worse it's the fact that it can trigger whatever you've got already to make the pigmentation worse and what what what to give you a double whammy and depress us even more you know if you are the heat can also trigger it so it's not just the uv so for example i really struggle in heat i just i'm just i'm just that kind of person where it's too hot i'm like i i really struggle i mean even in london in the office the other week i was just like guys where's the ac like i can't deal So if you are a melasma sufferer, the heat, unfortunately, will also trigger.

13:29So it's a bit of a, you know, and the thing is hyperpigmentation. I do, you know, I always want to be truthful, you know, and I never want to say there is a miracle cure because really I think hyperpigmentation, it has to be managed. And the problem is, you know, the moment any heat or UV hits it, that's it. So even if you've paid so much money, I'm sure you agree, right? Like if you spend money on laser, and I've done it myself, right? Like you spend money on lasers and topical, it all will help. But as soon as that sun that we all love hits us, boom. Right. You know, so it's a tricky one. So, I mean, sunscreen.

14:06I was going to say, how do you prevent... And managing. Managing hyperpigmentation is so difficult, but as Alex said, it's the key. So people pay for all these treatments and even just using creams daily. if you're not doing something to protect new hyperpigmentation from coming you're kind of going back well you might as well take your money and chuck it on Mortimer Street do you know I mean like it's like so it's one it's just one of those things but also people forget sometimes sorry Saf I'm going on about this but also it's not just sunscreen everyone's like yeah but don't be in the sun when it's super hot wear your hats wear your sunglasses especially you know when sometimes you can get a bit of pigmentation here but that's also the reverberation thank you so she's a charge um of the sunglasses as well like you really have to think about your behavior yeah in the sun and in the heat not just oh i'm wearing sunscreen i'm safe you know and reapplication as well you probably talk more about that but you put it on in the morning and then people think oh that's it i'm good now you must reapply i mean i'm crazy like that i swear to god I mean, on this holiday, like my friends were like, can you just stop?

15:17I'm like, no, I'm saving your skin. Especially like my boyfriend. I mean, men are sorry. I'm sure not every man, but like the men in my life are the worst. I'm always there like. Yeah. Does she even love you if she doesn't like force you to wear something? But you know, it's the truth. I'm saving you. It's like you're annoying me. I'm like, because you can get on your body as well. Right? You can get hyperpigmentation anywhere. Yeah. So, yeah. Yeah, and I mean, anywhere there's inflammation, there's a body acne, eczema, bites. The skin is the skin, right? The melanocytes are everywhere. Well, back to kind of holiday.

15:53Alex, I want to know what's in your holiday wash bag. Well, it's in Nice. It's not here. Shame. I wish I could bring... No, but I mean, look, in all seriousness, I'm not going to bore you all. We both agree. Numero uno, sunscreen. We've talked about it. There are so many different types. I understand some people don't like wearing it, but there's so much out there now that you can literally find when you like. Because I get very, very hot, as I mentioned earlier, I always have sheet masks with me. And I just like them because I feel like they give me, I put them in the fridge. I feel like they cool me down and it helps, you know, it helps and rehydrates most importantly, because a lot of the sheet masks have like humectants in them, like glycerin or hyaluronic acid or any of those.

16:35so and I never ever will take an active with me on holiday so no retinoids because of the sun and the sun deactivates it so but also why try you know why get an why risk it so I don't do it I'm not saying it's forbidden but I don't do that maybe a vitamin C but some ascorbic acid can also be quite strong so I'll take probably more like a vitamin C derivative because they're a bit gentler but I tend to keep it more to protection and hydration you know what have a break man like yeah you don't have to do like all your so it's literally like protect your skin hydrate your skin finito what about you what do you take I mean I'm I've got like about five different types of SPF and all the different every time I go into a pharmacy I'm buying everything where I go I like what you said about the mask and hydration barrier support is really key especially I mean we're talking about like face facial but the body as well forget especially when you know apply you're going in swimming pools chlorine going for showers after swimming and your skin oil and you're just wiping all the moisture away and so so much body inflammatory conditions can flare up as well so hydration I'm just gonna add that to the SPF I think we're saying we know that we know we need to do that yeah what about in flight I feel like you've got a good one well I will I always have hyperchlorous acid on do you guys know what that is it's a little spray that you can get from different brands it's not really it's not expensive it's just good also it's good for for everyone like people who get breakouts or people who get redness as well it's just a good all-rounder it smells like a chlorine it's yeah it smells like chlorine why does it it smells like a swimming pool well it's hyperchlorous isn't it It actually worked.

18:21And also like, you know, I just feel, I always, when I fly, I always feel like everything's a bit like, oh, gross. Well, I first heard about it on TikTok where people were using it post-gym. Yes. If you're going from the gym to like, to work and you can't like properly, I mean, wash your face, but like if you can't properly shower, other people would just go and spritz it. That's great. Or the tube. Yeah. I also want to touch on anti-aging because like skincare, there are so many conversations and so much advice. Is there anything simple, like simple habits that you would recommend i swear to god i'm this she's gonna say spf again i know it we're laughing because we literally said it's true though spf yeah because also i don't want to promise miracles and lies you know at the end of the day i can only also this is something i can actually speak from experience on right so having aged and still aging but it's consider unfortunately it's also being incredibly consistent i mean i always say it's like going to the gym.

19:17I don't really go to the gym enough to get good results from it. But you have to go. So, you know, it's the same thing. If you want to get good skin, you just have to be incredibly consistent. It is being absolutely religious with your sunscreen, your behavior in the sun. It's about cleansing your skin properly. It's about getting enough sleep. It's all that stuff, you know, I mean, diet. But you know what? I eat sugar. I love sugar. I'm a sugar addict. I have sugar all the time. I know it's not great. But you do the best, you know, the best you can. One One thing which I believe in is that I think the retinoid conversation, it's not for everyone.

19:53And I think now there are other options which I prefer. So it's all the regenerative skincare. So it's all your growth factors, your peptides, your exosomes, your PDRN. There are different options now. And I think for a long time it was very much like if you don't use a retinoid, you're going to age terribly. And I don't use one and I think I'm doing sort of all right. So I think definitely look after your barrier, be consistent. And sure, I mean, I also think technology has really evolved and also in terms of products and efficacy. I think when I started as a beauty journalist, there wasn't, you know, it was hydration and maybe liposomes, if anybody remembers that.

20:34But nowadays, you know, skincare really works. I think one of the biggest questions I get is, does it actually work? And yes, it does work. And yes, there is so much out there. and what actually works is about finding, you know, making your own little concoction. But definitely don't be aggressive is the biggest lesson I will give to anyone. Don't overdo it because your skin barrier, once you damage it, it's a lot harder to repair. And why are there so many barrier repair products out there? I leave it at that. It's the same with hyperpigmentation as well, going back to that in terms of overdoing everything, inflammation.

21:08It's so much harder. You have to be so much more patient. you know it takes longer to correct hyperpigmentation than it does for that pigmentation to occur in the first place so being patient kind of not looking at what everyone says you should be doing and knowing what's right for your skin and you obviously did that so that's great thank you love when a doctor and how do people work out whether they're dealing with a cosmetic concern a skin condition or something that needs further assessment i mean you kind of touched on it before but yeah so um cosmetic concern usually patients come saying i want to improve my skin i want it to look better clinical conditions almost always not always have symptoms associated with it so whether that is discomfort itching there's some soreness there's tightness there um the way it looks if you know it's affecting your confidence um so it's the clinical symptoms associated rather than just what it looks like so when I'm assessing someone clinically just as doctors what we do we don't we obviously look at what a skin condition looks like the majority of the time we're taking a clinical history in the presentation what else what else is going on so what's happened patient medications environmental changes as well as what it looks like so symptoms alongside what is affecting you I feel like this is a good time to kind of deep dive a little bit more into what Boots the Online Doctor actually is so for anyone here who hasn't heard about it before can you kind of explain what it's designed for how it works what's the sort of journey that one goes on?

22:49So simply it's an online digital service if it's not obvious so it's a convenient way for somebody to get clinical help clinical assessment for a we've got a variety of medical conditions that we offer help for and advice for but we're here for skin so a patient will be able to fill out a consultation form upload photographs and as a clinician we would so each one is assessed by a UK registered clinician assessing the clinical information assessing the photographs if you need to ask more questions we can do and based on the information if we want to just give advice we will do that if prescriptions appropriate after a consultation we can do that if sometimes we feel that this is beyond the scope of an online consultation we will signpost them to face-to-face care.

23:42Can I interject you get back within 24 hours don't you which which I think is also great because it's the speed of it as well so I think this is fantastic. And even for as I said if we're not treating you or if you're not prescribing something new we can still signpost you to appropriate care so absolutely we do find a lot of our patients like the convenience of it and that's what it's designed for well alex for you i mean i'm sure you've come across so many iterations of something like this what stands out to you about boots online doctor it's the access it makes it available to everyone and i think you know hopefully most of the people you know it'll be nothing nothing you can put them at ease but you know if you really have an issue and i I don't even want to talk about like the worst case scenarios, but like a skin cancer, you need to get, you need someone to go, do you know what?

24:34Maybe get that examined. So I think that's what I love about it. It's just that it makes it accessible for everybody. And I think that's important because also we can, I mean, I know myself in so many things I go, oh, if it's too complicated, oh, just do it another time. I'll wait, I'll wait, I'll wait. Waiting too long can sometimes be a relationship. Like I said, that's extreme cases, but even things like rosacea, That can be incredibly debilitating. Acne flare-ups. And you just want to also have your mind, do you know what, if it's fine, it's fine. Skin's not a priority for a lot of, you know, it's like, oh, it's just the skin.

25:10Do you know what? The body, yes, but also the face. We look at people, I mean, I'm sitting here, we look at people's faces all day. You know, it's not irrelevant. It's not stupid. It's not superficial. You know, it's how we present ourselves to the world. So, you know, I want, if I can get good advice, good care, then I can action it. And if it's something easy, great. And if it's not, well, then I can take the next step. Well, on that note, thank you guys so much. And thank you, everyone, for being here. Do check out Boots Online Doctor if you haven't already. It's a very clever service. And for any more information, feel free to touch these guys in a second.

26:01Thank you.