Hair and nails forgive and forget. But skin is something else again. It doesn’t forgive and it doesn’t forget. So, I do take care of my skin, and pretty well too. And I have for a long time. That is because skin holds a grudge. If you don’t take care of it , it goes bad on you, and at least some of the damage is irreversible. You can fry your hair, color it blue, lose it from going off birth control pills or after pregnancy and it recovers. Hair just says “whatever, and it grows out just fine. And the kind of hair problems that are really frustrating are not from anything that you do, they just happen, like alopecia areata, and the scarring hair loss diseases. You can have chipped and damaged nails from working in the garden, you can abuse your nails from wearing acrylics and, within reason, they can recover. Unless you damage the matrix or the nail bed, then you gotta pay. But your skin remembers every unkind thing you ever said about it, did to it, or didn’t do to it (like protect it from sun damage). It really can’t take a joke.

So here is what I do. And I do it every day and every night, without fail. And yes, I use my own line of skin care products, Dr Elaine’s Advanced Skin Treatment, almost exclusively. After all, I developed them, and they are full of both high quality botanicals, marine actives, other natural actives with specific purpose, and various cosmeceuticals including alpha and beta hydroxy-acids, peptides, antioxidants, and vitamins. Since I developed them exactly the way I wanted them, this should be no surprise to anyone.

My morning routine—First I get up, reluctantly, then:

1. Three days a week I use Dr Elaine’s Antioxidant Enzyme Peel (1 oz 42.00). You have to use it when your skin is completely dry. So I do it the very first thing, I don’t wash my hands or face, and I apply it in a very thin layer. Key word is “very thin” and then I let it sit 30 seconds with my hands in the air, without rinsing them, until the peel liquefies. Next I rub in a circular motion and exfoliate the dead skin. Then I rinse with clear water. I love this product because the papaya, grape seed, and willow extracts in it gently exfoliate without granular particles with the end result that my face reflects light well and glows, but it still allows me to use the retinoid Refissa without the increased irritation of a granular exfoliant.
2. Since I have normal-dry skin, I wash with our Facial Cleansing Lotion (6.7 oz $30.00), using my fingers only, never a washcloth. I love this cleanser—it has glycolic acid to exfoliate, it cleanses well, removes make up and the combined group of natural botanical oils leaves my skin soft and smooth rather than uncomfortably tight.
3. Then I follow with our Gentle Toner (6.7 oz $30.00) applied with a 100% cotton ball. Since I have a tendency to get eczema, and use a fairly potent retinoid every night, I need to reduce the tiny microscopic abrasions that I would get from a synthetic “cotton” pad. I don’t need a drying type of toner, so I use this one that is not drying.
4. Dr Elaine’s Correcting Serum (1 oz $59.99) 2-3 pumps for my entire face and neck. The two things that I feel should be used every day as a basic program, other than sunscreen, is either an alpha hydroxy acid or fruit acid, and a retinoid. Our Correcting Serum has both 8% glycolic acid and a multiple fruit acid complex to exfoliate and promote collagen production, and hyaluronic acid to plump wrinkles and balance moisture.
5. Next I apply Dr Elaine’s Line Diminisher (1 oz $96.00). The peptides Acetyl Hexapeptide-3 and Palmitoyl-Pentapeptide 3 combined with hyaluronic acid help minimize fine lines, and antioxidant green tea calms irritation.
6. Then our Facial Moisturizing Cream ($44.00) in the winter or when I am extra dry or my skin is irritated, or our Hydrating Cream ($39.99) if it is summer or less dry weather. Moisturizers like the Facial Moisturizing Cream that are fragrance free are best if your skin has a tendency to irritation and you are using retinoids like Refissa.
7. Then I apply our Total Eye Renewal (0.5 oz $72.00) to my entire face. Yes, I know it says eyes, and I do use it on eyes, but also on my face, because the 3 peptides are very good, it has active Vitamin C, bunches of active botanical antioxidants and I really like the silky smooth effect from the shea butter and silicone base.
8. Then I apply DCL Super Sheer Sunscreen SPF 50 (2.5 oz $55.00) to my face, neck, chest, forearms and backs of my hands every single day, year round, without fail. I really like this sunscreen because it covers a really broad spectrum of UV, and it is so light weight you don’t even know you have it on.

At night, no matter how tired I am:

1. Dr Elaine’s Facial Cleansing Lotion
2. Refissa (by prescription $145 and up) to face, neck, upper chest. I apply Refissa to back of hands and forearms every other or every third night.
3. Dr Elaine’s Total Eye Renewal around my eyes after Refissa.
4. Brush on Latisse to the base of the eyelashes (by Allergan—prescription $150 a 3 ml bottle) to grow eyelashes and make them darker—but I only apply it every other night or the lashes get too long and thick. That also cuts the cost, as a bottle will then go 2-3 months.
5. Dr Elaine’s Lip Therapy ($6.50) right before bed so my lips don’t get too dried out.

For Body:

1. Dr Elaine’s Calming Body Wash (12 oz $18.00) in shower which helps my dry skin.
2. Dr Elaine’s Smoothing Body Moisturizer (12 oz $37.99) every night. I am atopic, so my skin is sensitive and rashes easily. That means if I don’t apply moisturizer to my entire body I will itch all night and since I don’t want to do that I just go ahead and use body moisturizer every night. I love the scent, and also the powdery smooth feeling.
3. Then I put our Perfecting Hand and Body Moisturizer (12 oz $40.00) on my feet and heels right before bed. The glycolic acid and fruit oils, soften and repair thickened skin and cracks, and the Evening Primrose oil reduces irritation.
4. If I have been lazy and my heels are really bad I will use Ureacin-20 (4 oz $26.99)on them for a couple of nights. It works really well for thickened calloused heels, but leaves a thin white film on them, so I don’t do it in the daytime.
5. For a little color, in the summer or if I am going on vacation I will use Jergen’s Sunless Tanner ($7.99) for medium to tan skin (just means it has more DHA in it and I get color quicker) or Clarins Self Tanning Instant Gel (4.4 oz)

And that’s how I do my own skin care. I take care of my skin, and I don’t tell it any jokes.

Next: how I do cosmetics