Okay, I will be the first to admit that for many years in my career, I was not a fan of Obagi’s Nuderm program- why?  Because I personally didn’t think that I would ever be able to do that many steps in one day.  But you know what guys?  It works! Obagi is the #1 selling skin care system in the WORLD.  This is not a small statement, why is it the number one seller?  Because it works.  So if you are one of the many who has experienced brown patches appearing on your skin as those of us in Florida do after a long hot summer, get on the Obagi Nu-Derm System.  It is a pain in the butt to go through five steps in the morning and five steps at night, but it works.  You have to put up with dry, flaking, sensitive skin for the first four to six weeks, but it works.  So no more complaining about it, if you have dark spots on your skin that you don’t like- just do it. 

I recommend it for any of my patients who have melasma or dark patches on their skin.  Now remember this is not a hard core anti-aging routine.  The process works through exfoliation and bleaching with hydroquinone.  Retin A is added in a few nights a week which is great for fine lines and wrinkles, but this is really the only anti-aging portion of the regimen.  I recommend that once the hot, scorching months of summer are over and we are getting close to holiday season, take a break.  Give your skin a vacation from Obagi and treat it to some human growth factors, moisturization and antioxidants – that is an anti-aging regimen.  It is good to keep your skin guessing and switch things up every once in awhile. 

I am going to post the Obagi Nuderm Regimen for all of you to see.  If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to email me. 

AM:

Step1 Foaming Gel

Step2 Toner

Step3 Apply Clear

Step4 Apply Exfoderm

Step6 Apply Healthy Skin Protection SPF 35 or Sunfader SPF 15

 Apply Makeup

PM

Step1 Wash with Foaming Gel

Step2 Apply Toner

Step3 Apply Clear

Step5 Apply pea sized amount of Blender with pea sized amount of Tretinoin/Retin A Micro- plan to do this only 2 nights a week at first if you can handle more- go for it- your ultimate goal is nightly

YOU WILL NOT BE HAPPY WITH YOUR SKIN FOR THE FIRST 4-6 WEEKS, KEEP PRESSING ON -DON’T GIVE UP IT WILL GET BETTER AND WHEN IT DOES YOU WILL LOVE IT!!!

Call us at 904-996-0600 if you have any questions or email us at info@skinsolutiondmd.com.

So, the summer is fast approaching and most of us are starting to pull out all of our old sunscreen bottles and thinking about buying more.   Hopefully, my regular patients are already applying sunscreen on a daily basis at least to their face, neck, chest and hands.   If you are not you should be, because if you don’t have brown spots yet, you will….and then you will be going to a dermatologist or plastic surgeon asking how to get rid of them.  Let me assure you, it is not easy to get rid of those dreaded brown spots, I have lasered my back and chest multiple times, with good results and bad results.  I wish that I had just worn sunscreen from the start.  I can’t tell you how many times I have heard a patient say, “Well when I was young, they didn’t have sunsceen, we used baby oil and iodine.”.  Now we do have sunscreen no more excuses.  So what kind should you be using?

The key is this, make sure that whatever you use it is broad spectrum or says UVA/UVB coverage on the bottle.  If it does not stop both types of rays, I am not going to waste my time applying it to my skin or my children’s skin.  So what is the difference in these two types of rays? UVB light penetrates the skin and causes tanning, burning and skin cancer.  UVA light comes right through glass windows and penetrates our skin more deeply than the UVB light.  It’s effects on our skin are those that we associate with aging, wrinkling, dullness, discoloration and likely skin cancer as well. 

Believe it or not over 50% of the sunscreens available to us at our local drugstores are not broad spectrum.  Personally, I look for a few specific ingredients, if the sunscreen does not contain at least one of these ingredients, I will not use it. 

Parsol 1789 (Avobenzone)

Helioplex

Mexoryl

Zinc Oxide

Titanium Dioxide

Avobenzone was developed in the late 1980s and was the first decent sunscreen to address UVA light but it breaks down in sunlight, it is not stable.  Mexoryl and Helioplex are two recent chemical sunscreen advancements that address UVA light and remain stable for longer periods of time than Avobenzone does by itself.  Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide are physical blockers, sunblocks that physically shield your skin from the sun much like your clothing does.  Thankfully newer micronized versions of these sunsceens have been invented which have made the application of some sunscreens much more cosmetically elegant. 

How much should you use?  One full shot glass, every two hours if you are out between the hours of 10 am to 4pm.  Seem like a lot?  Ask me that question again when I am giving you quotes for laser procedures to remove wrinkles and brown spots, or after a biopsy to rule out skin cancer on your nose.

In my next blog, I will break down each of the sunscreens sold on this site so that you know what their active ingredients are and what situations they are best used in.