- So, Vicki Enna says "makeup, wipes, are okay
"if you used with another cleansing method."
Unless it's Friday night and you are tipsy.
(upbeat percussive music)
- My name is Dr. Shereene Idriss,
and I am a cosmetic, board-certified dermatologist
here in New York City.
I am here today to take a deep dive into the
go to bed with me comments section.
I'm getting ready to roll up my sleeves
and start World War, I guess, three
because people are really opinionated.
So there is no typical nighttime skincare routine
because everybody's different, but to simplify it,
at night you really wanna take the time
to take care of your skin, to let it regenerate
and to let it heal from basically the whole day.
So let's start with just a much debated issue
and I never thought this would be
a much-debated issue but cleansers.
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So, Vicki Enna says "makeup wipes are okay
"if used with another cleansing method."
And then Alex Tostado says, "no, still very harsh,
"causes wrinkles and irritation."
And then Jade Ava says "makeup wipes do nothing."
Unless it's Friday night and you are tipsy,
because I only keep makeup wipes next to my bed
for Friday nights when maybe I'm a little bit too tired
to actually go and wash my face.
Otherwise, I do agree that it's not something
I usually push or recommend.
A, it's not environmentally friendly unless you use
biodegradable makeup wipes, which are great,
but it's not enough.
It helps get rid of the makeup, but you still have
to cleanse your skin and get rid of
all the impurities that have built up
throughout the day.
So I am actually a fan of a double cleanse.
Not to sound cliche, but it doesn't necessarily have
to start with an oil cleanser followed by
a water-based cleanser.
For me, double cleansing means getting your makeup off
and I use a micellar water in order to do that,
followed by a water-based cleanser
in order to get rid of any extra residue left on your skin.
All right.
Ooh, Elon Musk, okay.
So, why are you commenting on Bazaar's videos?
Shouldn't you be making cars, number one.
But Elon, "an oil cleanser is used
"before a normal cleanser and does not actually
"cleanse your face in the same way a normal cleanser does."
Edit, oh, he edited his own comment.
Oh, interesting.
"If oil cleansers were meant to be your only cleanser,
"then dermatologists, estheticians, and other experts
"probably wouldn't be telling everyone to double cleanse
"and use a water-based cleanser after an oil one."
I mean, I guess Elon is a man of many talents
because he's right, I mean oil cleansers
kind of help melt the makeup off your skin,
so Elon, I mean Elon is truly a man of many talents.
So Miriam Felt, right.
Oh, I said that weird.
"You're not supposed to leave micellar water on your face.
"It's literally a cleanser so you have to wash it off.
"Otherwise it can irritate your skin
"and it definitely does not restore
"your pH level in your skin."
I love the authority, but she's kind of right too
in the sense that I use micellar water as a makeup remover.
Micellar water is basically made up of micels,
which are small little oil droplets
in a hydrating water base, so that kind of helps
break up the crud off your face.
That being said, it doesn't get rid of
all the impurities that have built up
throughout the day, so I do, I use micellar water
in that double cleansing method and I followed it
with a gentle water-based cleanser.
Now does it actually irritate your skin?
It has never irritated mine from personal experience
so I don't know if I necessarily agree with that.
Sue Harrison is asking "what's with all the scrubbing?
"Any dermatologist will tell you physical scrubs
"are bad for your skin, plus that oil made
"by always calm skin break out in little spots.
"It smells nice though and I use it as a scent now."
So I agree, save it as a scent
and it's a good thing I agree
with all the other dermatologists.
I am not a huge fan of scrubbing because people
can just go overboard with this, especially if
they already have active acne.
You can cause micro-tears in your skin
and you can cause worsening of your scarring.
So when it comes to scrubbing, less is more.
If you're somebody who has already an even skin tone
and an even skin texture, then scrubbing
every once in awhile is not necessarily a bad thing
but I would not recommend it as part of my daily routine.
There are chemical scrubs and you have physical scrubs.
Physical scrubs tend to be physical,
so you will have little tiny beads in them,
they can be made out of sand for example,
you can even have for example some made out of walnuts,
which you may or may not have heard of,
whereas chemical scrubs are exactly that, they're chemical
and so they're either alpha hydroxy acids
or beta hydroxy acids and they tend to be gentler.
They basically break up the glue between your skin cells
that they kind of flake off, the dead skin cells,
not all your skin cells.
As a general rule of thumb, the cheaper the scrub,
the bigger the bead, when it comes to a physical scrub
and it's probably worse for the environment
so if you can just avoid it then that's great.
So let's move on to everyone's favorite steps
and probably one of my favorite steps, serums.
(percussive music)
So what's the difference between serums and essences,
and that's such a hard word to say.
So those were recently reintroduced from let's say
the Korean skincare trend back into
the western skincare regimen, and it's just
complicated everybody's life because they're like
what's an essence, what's a serum,
do we need both, do we not need both?
They are basically more or less the same thing
in that they both deliver a highly concentrated dose
of an active ingredient before you moisturize.
Essences are however more lightweight than serums
and the dose of active ingredient, the concentration
is a little bit less than in a serum.
So if you're somebody for example who has
very sensitive skin and can't really tolerate much,
I would tell you pick an essence over a serum
if you're worried that the serum
is going to make you irritated.
Do people actually really need to use a serum
in their nighttime routine, like absolutely?
No, it depends on you and it depends on what
your skin problems are, and whether or not
you wanna use a serum to address those areas of concern.
So Anisia Magdaong, I don't know if I said that right,
says "so many different serums she's putting
"on her face, is that even okay?"
And the Cubicle say "yes, three is the limit."
Well I don't know who made Cubicle the serum police
because I've never heard that three was the limit.
I mean you can knock yourself out.
Whether or not you wanna just stick to one serum
or two serums or three or maybe four or five.
Can somebody put too many things on their face?
Absolutely, if your skin cannot tolerate it.
If somebody's a complete virgin and just starting out
with the nighttime routine and they've never, ever
entered this territory, I would tell them
at least for sure start with a makeup remover,
if you do wear makeup, a gentle cleanser,
probably a simple moisturizer, and start with that.
See if you can adhere to that, because you'd be surprised,
it's like going to the gym, people just kind of
fall off the bandwagon after a couple of days
and they don't wanna stick to it so I don't
want to intimidate you.
Once you know that you can stick to those
three simple steps, then we add a serum
in between washing your face with a cleanser
and the moisturizer, and I would honestly generally
advise you to do it slowly.
See if your skin is tolerating each thing
and see if you're able to put them all together
every night on your skin without breaking out
or going crazy.
When you layer certain products with each other,
you're actually increasing their efficacy overall
and especially if you know what your skin concern is,
you can really tailor it to have a stronger skincare regimen
with very affordable product.
So let's move on now into active ingredients.
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First off, what are actives?
And actives are usually FDA-approved to deliver
something specific for your skin.
So for example, vitamin C is an antioxidant
that helps you protect your skin against you know,
free radicals and pollution throughout the day
and that has been FDA approved for that purpose.
Another active for example is benzoyl peroxide,
which has antibacterial properties
that help fight acne.
A third active is hydroquinone which is a brightening agent
which can be found over the counter within the U.S.,
or prescription strength at your dermatologist's office.
So actives vary across the board and you just have
to be a well-educated consumer to know
what you're using on your skin.
So Random Irish Girl says "don't use vitamin C serum
"in the morning, it makes your skin
"more sensitive to the sun.
"It's best used at night and wear sunscreen
"the next day of course."
I mean she's not completely wrong in the sense
that I like vitamin C at night to help restore
the damage that was done throughout the day,
but I also like using vitamin C in the morning
before I apply sunscreen to help protect me for my day.
But if you are somebody who has very sensitive skin,
and let's say you're using a retinol,
then I would break it up and use the retinol at night
and the vitamin C in the morning followed by sunscreen,
of course, always and that's always a non-negotiable.
- [Producer] Is there such thing as too much vitamin C?
- No, not in my book.
I mean is there something as too much vitamin C?
I guess it depends on your skin type, if you're somebody
who's extremely sensitive and just cannot tolerate it
but for most people, I mean vitamin C is like
just, it's like a blessing in a bottle.
Colleen says "putting retinol and vitamin C products
"at the same time is a big no."
She's wrong.
This is a misconception.
People thought, and this is where you can
probably have like a little math thing going on,
that retinol changes the pH of your skin
and vitamin C has extremely acidic pH and therefore
if you have one over another, you're gonna deactivate
the retinol, but that's not the case,
because your skin is actually very acidic
when it comes to pH, and so it's actually been proven
that when you use both of them in conjunction,
they actually increase their efficacy
and so if your skin can tolerate it,
if you are somebody who does not
have extremely sensitive skin, if you're not prone
to irritations and if you've already been using a retinol
and your skin is used to it, then by all means,
try layering on the vitamin C,
'cause you will have a better effect overall.
Retinols are a vitamin A derivative
and there's a lot of confusion around them
as to whether or not you can use them during the day
or use them at night.
Most of them are formulated to be used at night
but they can definitely also be used throughout the day,
just make sure that that's what's formulated,
that's what's packaged, that's what's marketed
for that retinol specifically, because retinols
bypass the step where they convert the vitamin A,
so it's already active when you apply it
whereas retinoids, which are prescription strength
actually need to be converted in your skin
in order to become active and that needs
to take place at night because the sun
can deactivate it.
So let's talk moisturizers.
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Basically, moisturizers are really important
for your skin because they help restore the balance
of your skin, they help protect the skin barrier,
your skin barrier basically.
There are lightweight moisturizers,
there are mid-weight moisturizers and then
there are really heavy moisturizers
and they're not all created equal,
so just to give you just a background,
there are humectants.
Humectants are a type of moisturizer that attracts water
from the deepest layers of your skin and bring it
up to the surface.
There are then emollients which act as a filler.
And emollients basically fill the space
between the skin cells in order to kind of create
a protective barrier which is your skin.
And then there are occlusives, which sit on top of the skin
and basically prevent your skin from losing water,
prevents dehydration, but is it actually
really moisturizing is a debate for another day.
Everyone is different.
If you are somebody for example who has very oily skin,
you probably want to use a humectant
because you still wanna bring moisture
to the superficial layer of your skin.
If you're somebody who is combination skin,
maybe dry skin, then you wanna use an emollient
to repair your skin barrier, and if you're somebody
then who's extremely dry or if it's winter
and you're living in a dry environment,
then you wanna use an occlusive on top of everything
in order to seal it in.
I don't mind mixing ingredients or products together
to save time, the only thing I will tell you
is probably not to mix your SPF with a moisturizer
'cause it might dilute the SPF a little bit.
Moisturizers with SPF in them have gone through
a very rigorous process before they actually
hit the shelves, they have to get FDA approval
and they have to have been tested, whereas
if you take a regular SPF sunscreen and mix it
with a moisturizer, you might be diluting it
and you might be losing its protective value.
So I would at that point definitely trust the manufacturer
of the product that you're buying,
if it's a moisturizer with SPF.
"I thought Dr. Dray said these types
"of hyaluronic acid moisturizers should be followed
"by an emollient to seal everything in.
"Kind of interesting to see another take on this."
Whereas Wendigo says "ideally, they should
"to lock in that hydration, with an occlusive."
And Wendigo further comments "unsure, especially as
"she says she has very dry, sensitive skin.
"It would lock in that hyaluronic acid quite nicely."
Do you mean hyaluronic acid serums, because yes,
I do believe that hyaluronic acid serums,
if that's something that you wanna use,
should be followed by a type of moisturizer,
whether that's an emollient or a humectant
or an occlusive, to seal it in because hyaluronic acid
itself is basically drawing water out,
and trying to bring water as well almost like,
almost like a humectant up to the surface of your skin.
So hyaluronic acid serum alone is not necessarily
moisturizing, it can be plumping,
but it's not moisturizing.
So Sara Salinas says "oils and vitamin E, LOL,
"none of those are moisturizers."
Sarah gets a slow clap, because they're not moisturizers.
Oils are not gonna moisturize your skin,
and with that, that brings us into our next section, oils.
(percussive music)
Oils are an issue of a huge debate
and personally, I don't really use facial oils
all that much.
Sometimes I'll use for example marula oil,
because it's definitely much more moisturizing as an oil
itself and it's much more lightweight
but oils in general, I find break me out,
so they don't work for me.
But if you're asking what the benefit of an oil does,
an oil boosts the efficacy of your moisturizer.
It can enhance the moisturizer's effects on your skin,
but it's not going to hydrate your skin,
it's just going to help seal in that moisture
in your skin, preventing your skin from having
the water evaporate out and keeping
that moisturizer, whatever it is you're using sealed in.
"FYI, oils are not really helpful to the skin.
"We all have natural oils on our skin and our face anyway.
"Putting all that natural Argan oil or other types
"apparently doesn't really improve skin at all."
I mean again, it's so dependent on you and your skin
and what your issues are, but I do think
when it comes to oils, understanding what type
of oil you're using, whether or not it's a lightweight oil,
whether or not it's a comedogenic oil
can make a huge difference if you're somebody
who wants to go down the oil route.
Not all oils are created equal.
Coconut oil for example is very comedogenic
and it does clog your pores, whereas marula oil
is much more lightweight and actually can
be moisturizing to a certain degree,
so understanding where your oils are derived from
can make a very big difference in how you use them
in your skincare routine.
So Le Lo writes "serums first, oils,
"then moisturizer, night cream is an actual
"game changer though."
good for you if it works for you.
In general, rule of thumb you wanna go
from lightest to heaviest and starting off with serums
followed by moisturizers and ending it with your oil.
Antony Ortiz said "any oils made from any type of foods
"or vegetables is something you should never,
"ever put on your face, ever."
I don't know what kind of foods or vegetables
people are putting on their face.
I'm guilty, sometimes I use an egg white mask
but that's not an oil, but I think what Antony Ortiz here
is trying to say is that do it yourself oils
are not to be used on your face, and I don't necessarily
disagree with him.
I mean keep the kitchen in the kitchen
and you know, people have really studied
different formulations and it's not something
that's whipped up overnight in a kitchen
that actually delivers results.
So I agree with Antony.
Thank you so much for joining me.
My name is Dr. Shereene Idriss
and this has been Derm Reacts, a new ongoing series
by Harper's Bazaar straight from the comment sections
of Go to Bed With Me.
If you have any other questions or concerns
or if you just plain-out disagree with me,
drop your comment below and we will address them
next time, either with me, probably not,
or another dermatologist.
(calm music)