When is the right time to try a prescriptive skincare solution?
When it comes to custom skincare, I like to make it personal.
Targeted and tailored prescriptive skincare treatments to restore your skin back to radiance whilst addressing your individual areas of concern.
When do you know it’s the right time to try a prescriptive solution?
My patients will often start the consultation by telling me about all the lovely products they’ve been using but finish the sentence with ‘but I just don’t find my skin’s responding the same way any longer....’ When the clients can actually see a physical change in their skin, this is when I know their skin is ready for some extra attention.
For someone’s skin to stop being visibly as lustrous as it once was, indicates to me the skin has not been getting benefit from those skincare products for some time. Rarely do visible changes in radiance and lustre just ‘happen’ overnight.
The other time to consider switching over to a prescriptive skincare regimen is at certain milestones in our life. Once a woman has finished her reproductive years – which is around the age of 35 to 40 for many woman – then this can be a good time to address both hormonal and (sadly) signs of aging.
Can I start off with just one or two products incorporated into my existing skincare regimen?
First and foremost, I do not believe in wasting product. Unless a product is detrimental to someone’s skin, I will encourage my patients to finish their current product whilst we create the new regimen. I completely respect that beauty maintenance can be an expensive investment and patient comfort (not just physically and emotionally, but also financially) is key to me.
My mantra in prescriptive skincare is to create an efficacious but cost-effective regimen. Prescriptive skincare may sound a little indulgent to anyone new to the concept, but most of the time I’m prescribing only two products – a morning and night cream – and asking you to pair them up with a good quality cleanser and sunscreen, both of which can be bought for less than $30 from a chemist. My aim is to provide a solution that is simple and that you’ll actually use every day.
How does compounding work?
Compounding is taking specific medicines or prescriptions and formulating them for an individual patient. These are not mass-produced products, and they will have a finite expiry. This is because the formulation’s ingredients are the purest form available and they contain no preservatives. The products are pharmaceutical grade and can only be prescribed by a doctor and made by a pharmacist. The modality is strictly regulated, and all the compounded ingredients are TGA approved and backed up by scientific research.
Are compounded products better?
Whilst the ingredients themselves are the highest medical grade, what really makes this type of skincare ‘better’ is that the high-performance ingredients are prescribed and formulated in a way specific to you and the concern you’re addressing.
When it comes to skincare, no two people are the same and I don’t believe the products should be either.
What products are the most important to invest in?
This is both the easiest question and the hardest question to answer! But the number one product HAS to be sunscreen. Australia is recognised worldwide for our sunny environment and the education around sun damage finally seems to be making an impact, but if I’m prescribing my patients active ingredients to address their skin concerns then sunscreen is non-negotiable.
Compounded products utilising active ingredients are highly effective at encouraging exfoliation of old cells to jump start cellular renewal. This elicits an exposure of sorts for the new skin cells. So, the ingredients in my prescriptive skincare wont necessarily increase your sensitivity to the sun but we will start seeing clear, beautiful, renewed skin that is far more vulnerable to the degenerative effects of the sun.
My hero product – for the 35+ age group – would be Vitamin A. It has such lovely, gentle qualities for exfoliating and regeneration which entices the dermis to plump up and look fresh. But Vitamin A is also a great agent for addressing pigmentation. Vitamin A ticks a lot of boxes!