![San Diego plastic surgeon Dr. Katerina Gallus and her scrub tech Bri on the episode of their podcast "All the B's" where they chat about skin care [Skin Care Trends That Need To Be Over]](https://restoresdplasticsurgery.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/ALL015-thumbnail-1-1024x576.jpg)
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Keeping up with skin care advice feels like dodging landmines. One wrong move, and your face is paying for it. Dr. G and Bri break down the absolute must-do steps for healthy skin and explain why that viral product on TikTok might be wrecking your face.
Dr. G & Bri cover:
- Why you should ALWAYS wear your sunscreen, plus our go-to picks
- Physical vs. chemical sunscreen: Yes, it actually matters
- Skin care trends from TikTok? Snail mucin? Yeah, no
- St. Ives? Don’t even think about it
- What’s in their skin care routines
- The powerhouse ingredients your skin actually needs
- The non-negotiable basics of everyday skin care
- How to play the long game with retinols and tretinoin (without freaking out over breakouts)
- Why taking care of your skin is so important
Trending stories:
Daily Mail, REVEALED: Justin Baldoni’s voice note to Blake Lively addressing It Ends With Us rooftop scene feud
ABC News, Young people are fleeing fillers and opting for face-lifts
Daily Mail, Country icon, 59, looks unrecognizable and much younger without makeup while on the beach with her husband
Skin care-related articles:
Daily Mail, Travis Kelce reveals his skincare routine while living with Taylor Swift
Daily Mail, Experts warn TikTok advice to coat the face with potent skincare products ‘is ruining women’s skin’
See Bri’s cystic acne transformation:
Transcript
Dr. G (00:02):
You are listening to another episode of All the B’s with me, Dr. G and my scrub tech Bri. All right, I’m back today on All the B’s. I’m Dr. Kat Gallus here with plastic surgery unfiltered with Bri. Welcome back.
Bri (00:25):
Good morning.
Dr. G (00:27):
We keep switching up the days we’re recording, so it’s kind of wild. I’m getting used to Wednesday, not wearing pink scrubs.
Bri (00:34):
I know. This is the first time I haven’t worn scrubs in like a year, ever, actually.
Dr. G (00:39):
Okay. So today we’re going to be talking about skincare, which we talk about kind of a lot all the time, organically, in the OR sometimes.
Bri (00:49):
This is our jam.
Dr. G (00:50):
Yeah. So we’re excited about that. But I mean, first we got to hit some current events and
Bri (00:56):
There’s a lot happening right now.
Dr. G (00:58):
Yeah. Some of it’s really daunting and scary. And then when you need a break from all of that, I mean,
Bri (01:05):
Justin leaves a 2:00 AM voice note.
Dr. G (01:10):
A six minute voice note. No one ever wants to listen to a six minute voice note. Please tell me you were drunk when you left this. It’s embarrassing. But I did see in comments that people were like, when’s his audio book coming out? So I feel like we have to listen to just a tiny clip of his voice, please.
Bri (01:31):
All right. Let’s hear it.
Justin (01:32):
Okay, Blake, it’s two in the morning. Hopefully this doesn’t wake you up. Wow. Say to you, and I hope that we can FaceTime or in person get to talk more, but I’m just going to send you a few thoughts and hopefully it’s not going to be more than a few minutes, but
Dr. G (01:59):
It will be.
Justin (02:00):
Don’t have the best track, I don’t think either one of us have the best track record for our voice memos. I want to start with an apology. Man, reading the second part of your message, my heart sank and I’m really sorry.
Dr. G (02:21):
We can help.
Bri (02:23):
He’s definitely laying there naked. Also, is there a way to put the, what I just said right next to his, because my take of him sounded exactly the same. Hey. Hey, it’s 2:00 AM
Dr. G (02:47):
I mean.
Bri (02:47):
That was so sexual.
Dr. G (02:48):
And cringey.
Bri (02:51):
Yes.
Dr. G (02:53):
And everyone’s like, why at 2:00 AM Although I will say in context, she had just sent him a text at 1:50 AM. So these two are communicating at two in the morning. So whatever.
Bri (03:05):
Where are their spouses?
Dr. G (03:05):
I don’t know.
Bri (03:09):
I don’t know. It feels like, no offense, Blake, but it feels like a fair number five or six or I don’t know how many.
Dr. G (03:19):
Yeah. And then it didn’t go well.
Bri (03:22):
No, it ended.
Dr. G (03:25):
I was momentarily excited. I saw something that was like, their trial is set for March 9th, and then I saw 2026. I was like, oh no. No way. I cannot deal with this for a whole year. Or maybe it’ll die out. And then just when we’ve put it to bed, literally and figuratively, next year, yay, the televised trial of,
Bri (03:55):
I hope they televise it. There’s no way they can’t.
Dr. G (03:58):
Yeah, it’ll be Johnny Depp.
Bri (03:59):
Thought it was 2025.
Dr. G (04:00):
Johnny Depp, Amber Heard Take two. It’ll be good.
Bri (04:06):
Yeah, I just don’t love the voice now. I mean, he was trying too hard to be too seductive.
Dr. G (04:16):
And then just the way they fawn over each other, but are a hundred percent being fake about it between her Text and his voice note.
Bri (04:26):
Yeah.
Dr. G (04:26):
All of it is a no go for me, but a hundred percent. He should record an audio book, one of those racy, I don’t know, 50 Shades of Grey nonsense.
Bri (04:36):
50 Shades of Grey.
Dr. G (04:38):
Yeah, he’d be perfect.
Bri (04:40):
I’d listen.
Dr. G (04:41):
He just has to record it at 2:00 AM
Bri (04:44):
When he is half a bottle in, laying there naked.
Dr. G (04:47):
Alright, moving on. More relevant is young people are fleeing fillers and opting for facelifts. I’m going to say, sure, young people with money, right? I mean fair.
Bri (05:06):
A lot of people don’t even want to pay for fillers. I’m kind of confused how they’re paying for facelifts. I feel like this was a trend though that we predicted because I feel like people are, we did filler on Monday for a very young patient, a full facelift.
Dr. G (05:24):
She was young and she did get a full deal, but also she had weight loss. Right. Wasn’t that the other, she wasn’t my patient. So those two things combining, you have weight loss, you get lax skin, and then refilling your face with fillers, probably not the answer. It’s just definitely a more expensive option. So sure, if you’re like Kylie Jenner or somebody and you want to reverse your filler and do a facelift, you can do that. I just think itself, people are like, how much for a syringe of filler? And I think it’s the same issue with people being concerned that filler is going to be alarming. You have to have thousands and thousands of dollars to put that much filler in your face anyway. So it looks like black china. Yeah. So losing weight prompted her to have her work reversed. Yeah.
Bri (06:17):
Oh, interesting.
Dr. G (06:18):
That’s going to be the next thing. And because nobody likes to do anything slow. They’re going to lose weight fast, have more laxity, and then they’re reflecting on how the filler, I would say people who do have a lot of filler in their face generally get there over time. And so you lose sight of what you look like. And then if you go back in time, you’re like, huh, that’s crazy. So it’s an easy way to reverse all that. This is Ashley Stobart discussing how she got a facelift after removing fillers from her face. I mean.
Bri (06:57):
Oh, she’s so young.
Dr. G (06:58):
She looks good there.
Bri (06:59):
She does look good.
Dr. G (07:02):
So yeah, multiple layers of treatments that she got reversed. And when she got pregnant, she took a break from filler and realized that it wasn’t reversing. So I am starting to see those patients. Oh, Ryan, I actually know this guy, so I know him looking like he knows, like how he looks now. He was the manager at Air Sculpt.
Bri (07:23):
Oh that’s where that pictures from.
Dr. G (07:24):
Yeah. And the pictures he shows of himself. He is such a nice guy. Really just a nice guy. I about died. I know him where he looks like this, a dude who takes care of his skin pretty much.
Bri (07:38):
It’s glowing.
Dr. G (07:39):
I know. And he’s super nice. He’s only 26, and I think in the show they show a picture of him with lip filler in and I was like, oh hell no. He looked ridiculous.
Bri (07:51):
Crazy.
Dr. G (07:53):
Just so bad. So yeah, I think the other thing I’ve been seeing is that patients are coming in and they had filler done and they’re trying to reverse it and it’s not all reversing. Again, we just took care of somebody last week who had had filler done and I did a combined case revising her sort of botched scars from Mexico elsewhere on her body. And then Dr. Chao was removing filler from her lower lip, but needed to do it surgically because they had used a product that wasn’t reversible by hyaluronic acid. But sometimes I think when you continue to layer that in on top of each other, it doesn’t completely reverse because you’re changing the dynamics of your skin. You’re maybe inducing scarring or collagen production. It never completely goes away. So I think those are all reasons why we’re all leaning a little bit away from filler, but I think just a little bit can go a long way. So it’s good that young people are exploring options, that there’s alternatives. I wish there were other alternatives.
Bri (08:54):
A facelift is a pretty big alternative.
Dr. G (08:57):
Yes, that’s what I was going to say. I wish there were other alternatives besides doing filler or facelift like in the bell curve of things, those are on the opposite ends.
Bri (09:07):
And what’s the dangers of having multiple, are there any dangers of having multiple facelifts? I mean, just watching the procedure and the way they tack things up. I assume when you do that multiple, oh my goodness.
Dr. G (09:20):
Yeah. It doesn’t look like him at all.
Bri (09:22):
That looks insane.
Dr. G (09:25):
He looks unwell.
Bri (09:28):
Looked like me after Mexico.
Dr. G (09:32):
It kinda did.
Bri (09:33):
Yes.
Dr. G (09:33):
The one on the left. Mexico lip filler plus a dog allergy. And then you have, and no hair.
Bri (09:43):
Exactly. Yep. That was me. If you can envision, that’s a no for me. And I love some big lips.
Dr. G (09:50):
Yeah, I just did lip filler this week actually, so I’m not opposed to it. Don’t get me wrong. It’s just everything can be taken to the extreme. And again, a lot of people, I mean if you remember three or four years ago, that’s all we could talk about was filler on Instagram and on TikTok and the snatched jaw and put filler here, put filler there. And then you would see it’s a one dimensional look. You need to see the whole person’s face. They turned their head and then you can see this crazy filler sticking out. So I think everything in moderation, everything by a qualified professional, taking some time to go slow with any changes that you’re going to make or improvements that you’re going to make. To your point about facelifts, anytime you go in and do something, you’re potentially creating scarring as you get to your second or third or fourth facelift. If that’s how we’re going to be, it becomes more difficult for the plastic surgeon to perform that procedure because there’s going to be scarring. The planes aren’t pristine anymore, and so the increased risk of nerve injury goes up with repeated facelifts, which is a big deal. So let’s move on to Shania Twain country icon, who looks unrecognizable.
Bri (11:07):
Is she the one that sings Damn, I feel like a woman.
Dr. G (11:10):
Yes ma’am.
Bri (11:11):
Okay. You can also cut that singing.
Dr. G (11:17):
No, I think we should, I sort of remember the Go on girl.
Bri (11:23):
She looks great.
Dr. G (11:23):
But yeah, I think she looks fine. I don’t understand what’s the problem. She just has no makeup on. I mean, hasn’t Pamela Anderson taught us anything? Come on.
Bri (11:37):
She looks fabulous.
Dr. G (11:39):
Yeah, she looks like she’s at the beach where you don’t need to put on a full face and makeup.
Bri (11:43):
Right? Oh, I can see the difference.
Dr. G (11:47):
Oh, she’s just dressed down.
Bri (11:49):
I really like her natural look though.
Dr. G (11:53):
Yeah, I know. I think she looks good. She looks kind of almost too much in the dressed up version, which is from 2023.
Bri (12:01):
Right.
Dr. G (12:02):
She looks a little, I don’t know, her face looks wide and a little overfilled, so I think she looks good and she’s 59. Like what? That’s great.
Bri (12:13):
You look so good for 59.
Dr. G (12:16):
I mean, they just get her making weird faces. So I mean, nobody wants screenshots of me with my mouth house open saying something.
Bri (12:25):
Oh yeah, I got some pictures.
Dr. G (12:28):
Dog is cute. Love the dog.
Bri (12:33):
But she doesn’t hate her ex-husband for cheating. I’m glad they clarified,
Dr. G (12:37):
But she’s moved on. Good for her. That’s healthy.
Bri (12:40):
Okay. We love that.
Dr. G (12:42):
I think she looks good. She looks natural and she doesn’t look overdone, which as we keep saying is the direction we’re all going in. Even if you do get a facelift, don’t make it overdone.
Bri (12:52):
Yes. Make it a natural facelift.
Dr. G (12:54):
Okay, let’s talk about, you don’t get that kind of look at 59 by not doing skincare. Let’s just be real.
Bri (13:06):
She pulled a Martha and rides horses. She’s never going to live that down. I can bring that up in so many situations. Martha Stewart saying that she rides horses to make her stay young.
Dr. G (13:19):
Yeah, that is so dumb. Also like Jennifer Lopez and her olive oil. Nope. Girl, no one believes you.
Bri (13:26):
I just always think it’s so great the things people say to stay young. I do this, I do this. Just say you get filler, lasers, you do medical grade skincare like
Dr. G (13:37):
Oxygen facials, whatever, you’re doing stuff all the time.
Bri (13:42):
Yeah.
Dr. G (13:43):
Alright, let’s, speaking of JLo, let’s look at the Jennifer Lopez slammed as inauthentic after her skincare line fails at Sephora.
Bri (13:54):
What was her skincare line called?
Dr. G (13:56):
I have no idea. Was it the olive oil based nonsense?
Bri (14:01):
Oh, J Lo. Beauty.
Dr. G (14:01):
Wow. Did they really brainstorm that?
Bri (14:09):
I know. I don’t think that I ever even saw it. That big sunscreen that hit single?
Dr. G (14:15):
It was removed.
Bri (14:16):
That J-Lo glow, I understand why you could do better than that JLo. This is the most basic, you gave creative rights to somebody else, never went and looked at your line. My 10-year-old might use something called that hit single, but I, as a close to 29-year-old, would not.
Dr. G (14:40):
Can I be close to 29? I’m not using it either. Yeah. Broad spectrum SPF, moisturizer. Moisturizer, that big screen. No, these are awful.
Bri (14:55):
These are terrible.
Dr. G (14:57):
And although I don’t think it’s news to anyone that JLo’s considered inauthentic. Come on, Jennifer, inauthentic. Stop. Shocker. I mean, I feel like it is just a money grab at this point. Successful celebrities, but everything is olive oil and her dumb skincare line infuriates me so much said another.
Bri (15:18):
Yeah, I feel like Rihanna definitely did great with her skincare, at least marketing wise, and Selena Gomez.
Dr. G (15:26):
It made you feel like she cares about it.
Bri (15:28):
Right? The Rare Beauty. I feel like that’s been so popular. I mean even seen JLo promote any of her skincare ever?
Dr. G (15:38):
No. Yes, it’s a cash grab. I will say I have no specific brand loyalty to any one brand. I think different, each company makes a good X, Y, or Z Almost everybody can pull off lip gloss to be honest. But it strikes me as wild that we lean more on celebrity skincare or makeup versus the makeups that are designed by makeup artists. So the people who are doing JLo’s makeup or the person doing Jennifer Aniston’s makeup. So when you look at those makeup lines like Makeup Forever or Makeup by Mario, or
Bri (16:14):
Love his.
Dr. G (16:14):
Huda Beauty or Pat McGrath, those are all makeup artists lines that seems more genuinely, those people are actually interested in makeup, not just how it’s making them look.
Bri (16:27):
And they use it all the time. They know what’s good, what they do need, what they don’t need.
Dr. G (16:32):
It’s like when we’re trying to come up with solutions in the OR, we’re the end user. We want the implant container to open a certain way, not be stuck. Or we want the fat transfer device to be stable enough that we don’t have to jerry rig it to the back table so that when the power of the liposuction hits it, it goes careening off the table.
Bri (16:54):
Right.
Dr. G (16:55):
So, I feel like makeup artists are the same. They’re applying that stuff to people’s faces every day. That’s their job. And they’re like, Hmm, if this texture was better or if this had more staying power, then it would be it. Right?
Bri (17:10):
These people aren’t, I don’t think JLo has, I don’t think she’s on that.
Dr. G (17:16):
She just knows she looks good. So
Bri (17:18):
Yeah. But I’ve never seen her, at least Kylie, she posts herself getting completely glammed up in all of her makeup products. I don’t know if I have ever come across a video of J-Lo doing that, and I’m sure they’re out there, but I had personally have never seen her being full glammed in J-Lo Beauty.
Dr. G (17:39):
Right. Right.
Bri (17:41):
Also kind of segues down to the TikTok advice. Yeah. TikTok ruining people’s skin. My daughter loves TikTok. She has all these products she sees that she has to buy and I mean, they just use so many different ones. It just makes her break out everywhere. And I’m like, you can’t be doing that. She sees these influencers posting it and this and that. I’m sure they’re getting paid to do that first off, but, they are all this snail musin, and whatever crap is on TikTok. I mean, when can we just get some good medical grade skincare?
Dr. G (18:26):
It does drive me crazy because my kids will, they mix and match with medical grade skincare, which we’re going to talk about what we carry in our office and the nonsense that they see, and sometimes I try it and hate it. I polled my 13-year-old this morning on the way to school and she was like drunk elephant’s garbage. I, no, tell us your full. She is a huge fan of glow recipe, so I’ll throw that out there. She likes their dewdrops and something else, their toner.
Bri (19:00):
Yeah.
Dr. G (19:01):
Tower 28 spray was a fan, but I feel some of these things, like whatever that little product is that’s standing up in that image, I can’t even remember the name of it. I had gotten that as a free sample from Sephora and I was like, wamp, wamp, this is terrible. Some of the stuff is just terrible. And then there are some other things that, like TikTok advice, like slugging your face or mixing Vaseline or Aquaphor with your moisturizer to give that glass skin effect. I’m like, no wonder you’re breaking out. What are you doing? Don’t do that.
Bri (19:36):
Clog all our pores. I’m to the point where I can’t even try samples. If I do anything outside of my regular skincare, I have a super basic skincare, my skin does not like it. My daughter probably uses 32 different skin products and I’m like, this is why you’re getting pimples is because changing it and adding all this crazy stuff. She likes the same, the glow recipe, the drunk elephant, the, I think it’s bio or something, the bubble. And I’m like, you just don’t need all these different products.
Dr. G (20:09):
Yeah, it’s a little out of control. Some of the more ridiculous skincare hacks are Aquaphor mixed with anything.
Bri (20:16):
I do put Aquaphor under my eyes sometimes.
Dr. G (20:21):
You want to rebuild your barrier or if it’s really dry, right now when the world around us is setting on fire, it’s a very dry environment. No humidity. Aquaphor can work in a pinch, but I do think some skincare hacks, over exfoliating generally messes up your skin barrier and so will again make you break out or overproduce oil. So those things aren’t great. I would be careful about all the masks that you put on your face and make sure that you’re not overdoing it. I do think it’s interesting that we’ve segued from home masks when that was a thing. Like mixed oatmeal and olive oil and put it on your face to purchasing things now.
Bri (21:04):
I would like to say I would like people to move away from all the skincare masks at Marshall’s and TJMaxx. And I’m like, just please stop.
Dr. G (21:16):
Right? That’s crazy. Right. It’s important to know what the ingredients are. So curiously, can we look at the Travis Kelsey? He reveals his skincare routine while living with Taylor Swift.
Bri (21:28):
She has great skin. So I am curious to see what he does do. He uses probably soap. Just kidding. Oh, shampoo.
Dr. G (21:40):
Shampoo.
Bri (21:41):
Okay,
Dr. G (21:42):
Cool.
Bri (21:44):
Alright, you’re another man.
Dr. G (21:45):
Sun on the skin. Stop.
Bri (21:49):
That’s my routine. So he is a shampoo, a little beard wash and then gets sun. So no sunscreen. Taylor, come on.
Dr. G (22:00):
Not influencing her man at all. That’s terrible.
Bri (22:05):
I have tried.
Dr. G (22:05):
He’s going to look old and wrinkled in a hot minute.
Bri (22:10):
Yeah, Eric does the same thing. He does not even, I mean, and he’s out in the sun most the day anyways. And I’m like, can we do maybe a cleanser in sunscreen? He’s like, nah, I’m a man. I just wash it off. I’m like, no, you’re going to be wrinkly.
Dr. G (22:26):
Yeah. I do get my husband to use sunscreen because he had a basal cell removed probably five or six years ago from his nose. And you get all the excuses, well, I’m not going to be outside today. Well, you’re going to drive to work. So if you look at it, the left side of your face is usually worse off than the right just from driving and sun impact there.
Bri (22:49):
Check your hands while you’re holding the steering wheel.
Dr. G (22:52):
Yes. If you take away nothing else from this podcast is sunscreen’s critically important. Period.
Bri (22:59):
Yes.
Dr. G (23:00):
Full stop.
Bri (23:01):
We love our sunscreen, every morning.
Dr. G (23:04):
So you need to do that. Yes. Let’s talk about the most important ingredients for things that make a difference. I would start number one with sunscreen. Again, my 13 year old’s a fan of super goop. I don’t really care as long as it’s something that you’re going to use every day and that you like and it doesn’t clog your pores or have some cast or something that bothers you. But the two major types of sunscreen are physical and chemical blockers. My preference is for physical blockers, as is the preference of most dermatologists because zinc and titanium oxide are going to block the UV rays, whereas chemical-based sunscreens are often not reef safe and, so not safe for the ocean, and are absorbing the UV rays and then it’s breaking down the chemicals, so that’s stopping it from getting into your skin. So I feel like it’s a little safer to use the physical. Why don’t people use physical? Because they’re afraid it’s going to leave, like zinc oxide, the original version was that white stuff that lifeguards put on their nose. Right?
Bri (24:11):
Yeah.
Dr. G (24:12):
So nobody wanted that. Now they can micronize it. They have nanotechnology and it’s pretty seamlessly integrated with your face and you can put it on before your makeup is applied. One of my pet peeves is people who are like, well, I have sunscreen in my foundation. I mean, are you getting an adequate amount? What kind of sunscreen? What SPF are they putting in there? That sounds like a good idea, but it’s not. Just put some sunscreen down man, and then apply makeup over that if you need it.
Bri (24:49):
Yeah. My biggest thing is I have noticed certain types of sunscreens, they peel off a little bit more with certain makeup. So I have found one perfect one that does not, the moisture matte one.
Dr. G (25:03):
Oh, moisture matte.
Bri (25:04):
Yeah. And that one makes my skin not too oily. It is versatile tint. So it kind of blends to the color of my skin. And now I just put that on almost as a foundation. I don’t even wear foundation very much anymore, except for right now I’m wearing it for this podcast. I didn’t want to look like Ben Affleck in the morning.
Dr. G (25:26):
Cigarette hanging out of your mouth.
Bri (25:27):
Yes. And then a little bit of concealer, but I, yeah, very picky about my sunscreen. Do you ever reapply your sunscreen during the day? I know some people are very, even if you’re indoors, put it on. Super goop has a powder .
Dr. G (25:46):
I’ve had that powder. I think if it’s my regular day at work, I used to try and make it a habit to put it on before I went home when it’s still light at night. I don’t like reapplying cream sunscreen on my face midday because I feel like it’s dirty. But I will do it when I’m on vacation in Hawaii, absolutely every couple hours I’m slapping that on. But here in the day to day, I have to say I don’t. Sometimes I will be good about applying a powdered SPF on afterwards, which I think is a good compromise. So there’s several that make mineral-based SPF powders. I do like the Alumier md, it’s a skincare line that we carry. They have a couple of different options of sunscreen. I usually am a fan of the moisture matte and I apply that as a foundation essentially nothing over it.
(26:39):
But lately because my skin’s been kind of dry from the weather, I’ve been using their sheer hydration, which is tinted, same accomplishment. So yeah, you can see this is my current setup at home. I have sheer hydration when I feel like it’s a little dry out and moisture matte when I want a little bit more. Clear shield, which is not in the shot, is their other one. It’s a clear sunscreen that one’s off to the right where my husband’s sink is because he doesn’t need any tinted nonsense and I just need him to put sunscreen on. So he uses the clear shield, which is great. I think I’ll use it on my neck or when I’m at the pool and I don’t want to worry about making sure everything’s perfectly blended in. I’d rather have a little white not blended in than moisture matte or tinted shear hydration. So anyway, those are my go-tos for sunscreen. And then there are some, like I said, some powdered options for afterwards. Those are all mineral based, they’re going to be physical blockers and there’s many companies who make good ones.
Bri (27:40):
Wear your sunscreen people.
Dr. G (27:41):
Yeah, I would say wear your sunscreen, wash your face is always the other one. Please wash your face at least at night to get the grime and makeup off from your day. A true aesthetician will often recommend the double cleanse, which is just washing your face twice. You can use the same product twice.
Bri (28:00):
I thought you were supposed to use an oil-based one first, and then a water-based one.
Dr. G (28:05):
You can use an oil-based one to loosen stuff up and then a water-based one. But the bottom line is just at least attempt to wash your face before you go to bed.
Bri (28:14):
I just use the same cleanser twice.
Dr. G (28:16):
Most times I do.
Bri (28:19):
Three times.
Dr. G (28:21):
I mean, if I still see stuff coming off, I’m like, let’s get this.
Bri (28:24):
I just look up in my shower head and I see a little raccoon eyes, I’m like, got to keep going.
Dr. G (28:32):
Little raccoon eyes. Yeah.
Bri (28:34):
See on my mascara, I’m like, nope,
Dr. G (28:37):
That’s just getting in the pores on my cheek. Now I got to get that off. Okay, so basic skincare is wash your face and put some sunscreen on. But I think if you’re looking at these celebrities as swear, they’re just horseback riding or whatever, they’re using sunscreen and then they’re using a lot more. So I think having, I mean you can debate the washing your face. I use purifying gel cleanser by Alumier md. It’s, most medical grade face washes are making sure the pH of your skin is correct after you’re done washing your face and plus, minus have active ingredients in it depending on what you’re looking for. So if you’re an acne wash, it has salicylic acid or glycolic acid or some sort of acid that’s helping gently exfoliate as you’re washing your face. So I mean we could talk about face wash for 10 minutes too. But we can talk about scrub, right? So that’s another way of double cleansing. So changing it up with an exfoliating scrub afterwards is, or washing your face with a cleanser and then using a scrub is important because that mechanical exfoliation is getting all the dead crap off your face. Right?
Bri (29:50):
Yeah, absolutely.
Dr. G (29:51):
What’s your favorite scrub?
Bri (29:54):
I kind of switch off. I got the
Dr. G (29:58):
Say St. Ives, so I, no I’m just kidding.
Bri (30:01):
You know what, my older sister, she is 32. She has used St. Ives up until about, I started working here and once I realized what I was doing wrong, I was like, you have to buy something other than St. Ives. But she used it for 30 years, not 30 years, but up until she was 30 years old.
Dr. G (30:19):
That is brutal.
Bri (30:20):
Just recently she switched over. I use the AnteAGE, the resurface scrub. I also use the, what’s the
Dr. G (30:32):
ZO?
Bri (30:34):
No, I bought
Dr. G (30:35):
You don’t like the
Bri (30:36):
I do, but my daughter used a whole container for her magic potions in the shower, so I never repurchased it. I don’t know if you’re going to judge me for this, you are, but the Peter Thomas Roth has this pumpkin scrub that smells really good that I like.
Dr. G (30:54):
No, I’m going to judge. That’s fine. As long as it’s not, St. Ives get so much hate because it’s literally little crushed walnut shells or some crap and it’s creating micro tears in your skin, which is not the purpose of exfoliating.
Bri (31:08):
It’s rough. It’s so rough.
Dr. G (31:11):
I like the Resurface by AnteAGE. I love the ZO exfoliating polish. Currently my line of being able to purchase that has dried up, so I might have to figure something out.
Bri (31:24):
I have not repurchased it.
Dr. G (31:26):
But it is hands down, a really great product for a gentle exfoliation. And then sometimes I’ll use something like Skin Medica makes Aha Baja, you can just put something that has active ingredients on it and just leave it on your face for a minute. And then it’s doing chemical exfoliation versus mechanical exfoliation. But I think both are important because you want to kind of slough off that dead skin in a gentle routine fashion. One of the things that’s not in this image is Bright and Clear by Alumier md, which is a kind of like a toner, but it’s also an exfoliating.
Bri (32:05):
It’s in my image if you want to pull it up.
Dr. G (32:08):
Yeah, that stuff is great. I put that on right after I wash my face. So yeah, Gel Cleanser, then Bright and Clear. It also both does some gentle exfoliation with lactic acid. It normalizes the pH of your skin so that when you’re applying active ingredients in your products that they can penetrate your skin better. So a lot of the washing your face and applying toner is important. And exfoliating is important because if you’re going to spend money on skincare with active ingredients, whether it be retinol or stem cells or exosomes, if you’re just setting it on top of a dirty on exfoliated face, it’s not going to do shit. Right? It’s just sitting there. So you need it to get into your skin. The pH of your skin has to be good. You have to have normal skin barrier. And you can only do that by the equivalent of brushing your teeth every day and flossing, which is the cleanser and the exfoliating somehow, so that the stuff you’re spending money on actually gets to work.
Bri (33:12):
Yeah, I think that’s why I advocate for medical grade skincare now is because, and staying kind of within a line or two I think is pretty good because every product sets up another product to be absorbed in a specific way. Like the AnteAGE one, I use the serum, the accelerator and then the moisturizer because each one, like you said, is allowing your skin’s pH or whatever technical medical term to actually be absorbed and not just sit on top of the skin.
Dr. G (33:44):
You want it to do what it’s supposed to do and it can’t penetrate if the skin isn’t ready for it. Yeah. So I would say if you’re going to look for routines, I do use the serum and accelerator. Again, I used to use it, that used to be part of my nighttime routine. The serum has growth factors and biosomes that help your skin kind of regenerate, make collagen and elastin repair damage skin cells. It also has some, the accelerator has Bakuchiol, which is a plant-based retinol derivative. It has antioxidants in it. So if you want the go-to for simple, this is a great simple option. The serum and the accelerator.
Bri (34:28):
And the retinoid you can use morning and night. It’s like light enough on your skin to where you can use it every day.
Dr. G (34:35):
So for a while I wasn’t using it twice a day because my skin tends to run a little oily and so it was just a little bit too much. But again, now it’s dry AF up right now, so I am using it twice a day. If you go back to my product line, I’m always trying stuff. That’s why it looks so crazy.
Bri (34:53):
I did the super basic ones that I use every day, but if you saw all of my skincare.
Dr. G (34:59):
Yes, we hoard a little bit.
Bri (35:02):
Yes.
Dr. G (35:02):
Break stuff out for travel or if the weather changes. I currently also in the morning, I like the vitamin C, by Alumier md. That was my, put the Bright and Clear on, put the vitamin C serum on and then put sometimes a moisturizer, but often not a moisturizer. So I would use the AnteAGE, no, not AnteAGE. Oh my God, what is it called? The AGE. So antioxidant defense serum. And I preferred that because it was a little lighter on my skin, but I currently ran out and it’s been dry. So I’ve been using the serum and accelerator twice. But I think having something for the morning that has antioxidants, moisturizer if you need it, is helpful because it’s going to, and something that there’s a lot of products now, again, in the medical grade skincare field that have that bio mimetic shield. So they’re kind of protecting your skin from pollutants and UV as well as scavenging all the stuff, the UV and everything that’s coming at you. So the reason vitamin C and E is important is because it’s a free radical scavenger. So it’s fighting off all the damage that’s coming at your face, secondhand smoke, all the whatever pollutants are in the air. I think having an antioxidant in the morning is critical. And then moisturizer I think is important to preserve your skin barrier if it’s something that you feel like you need.
Bri (36:31):
I have tried to incorporate vitamin C into my skincare routine. I want to so bad. I never quite get past that, I know you can break out for the first week or two, but I don’t really get past that. I don’t know if my skin just does not like the ingredients in the vitamin C that I’ve tried. I know there’s two different kinds of vitamin Cs.
Dr. G (36:55):
That is a hard one to start if you’re prone to breakouts. So like I said, finding a way around it, like the antioxidant, there are antioxidants, C and E, there’s a version of it in the AnteAGE. So you’re covered there. It’s just not straight vitamin C, which is totally acceptable. But if you’re doing straight like a serum vitamin C, is it SkinCeuticals, vitamin C and E Ferulic is always on the top 10 list of skincare brands. That one is great, but it can be either it’s a little too oily for me, so I need something more drying or it can cause your skin to break out. ZO makes one, but that can feel your skin gets red and irritated with because it’s so powerful. So I think finding one that works for you, and like I said, that’s the beauty of this other line is that it kind of has all of that built in, plus the growth factors. I definitely think you’re taking your chances when you’re using vitamin C from Sephora, whatever brand.
(37:53):
The problem with over the counter is that they’re not regulated at all. So they can put what they call a whisper of that active ingredient. They don’t have to say, Hey, we’re 7.5% vitamin C, or we have this much active vitamin C. They can just throw a little bit of vitamin C, whether it’s active or not, and then call it vitamin C serum or whatever. They’re not beholden to anything. So you might be paying a lot for packaging and marketing, but you might not be getting the active ingredient you want. And the same goes for retinol. If you want to know that you’re getting a standardized version, one that’s actually going to penetrate your and maybe isn’t a formula that’s going to be more tolerated, so mixed with peptides or something to stabilize your skin or soothe your skin, then again, any kind of medical grade retinol is going to be a better option.
Bri (38:49):
And what is the difference between, I know there’s a whole bunch like Retinol Retin A, Tretinoin, all that stuff. I know. I wouldn’t know unless I heard it all the time. My little sister started and she was like, I want to throw in a retinol to my skincare. Got a super strong one, used it every day for two weeks, actually destroyed her skin. She has no skin barrier. She actually had to go back on Accutane after that a couple months later. It was so bad.
Dr. G (39:20):
They’re all basically vitamin A derivatives, and they’re important for skin health and they’re just how they’re formulated. So retinol is a natural form and it is considered milder. When you put it on your skin, it has to get converted into retinoic acid to do something. But I think it’s a great way to start because it’s not as harsh as using retinoids, which is a synthetic vitamin A derivative. And that includes your tret, right? Tretinoin. Adapalene, which is now over the counter. It’s called differin gel and Retinaldehyde. So most of the common ones are Retinoin, which is your trade name is Retin A or Altrino. And then Adapalene, like I said, which was different. There’s a couple other options, but I won’t go there. Anyway, I think if you’ve already been on a retinol, you can probably up your game to a tret, which is a much stronger version.
(40:17):
And then there’s different percentages in all of them. But you need to strengthen your skin slowly. So even when I prescribe Tret or retinol, I tell people don’t put it on every day because in two weeks you’re going to start reaping the effects and your skin’s going to get red and flaky and peely and itchy. And then you’re going to be like, shit, I’m not using this anymore. So compliance is hard. So I say just use it once a week. Nothing’s going to happen that you’re going to notice. And then when you’ve done that for a couple of weeks, use it twice a week. Hopefully nothing happens. And then you slowly step it up. Maybe you end up using it every other day. As long as you’re just getting some exposure to it, it’s great. And why? Because it increases cell turnover, which is also why if you go ahead and just blast it on your face every day, you’re going to purge.
(41:05):
And so any pimples and breakouts, they just come right to the surface. It’s also a common acne medication. And again, the reason people aren’t compliant with it when your derm prescribes it for acne is because you purge first and it takes about six weeks to get over that. Again, it’s increasing cell turnover. If you go slow, you’re more likely to make it a habit and continue to use it. And then there’s some formulations in medical grade skincare. Again, that isn’t like generic tretinoic acid is brutal. It’s just the stuff in some basic carrier and it hurts. Altrino is kind of a vamped up version of that. It has hyaluronic acid in it, it has soothing ingredients. It has a system so that it spreads across your face more evenly. It doesn’t rely on your little fingertips to get it everywhere. So you don’t end up with blotchy, with it being more concentrated on one area of your face versus another.
(41:59):
The retinols that are made by AnteAGE, Alumier, md or other medical grade skincare products are combined with a peptide, collagen, things to restore your skin barrier as the retinols getting in there. So I think that’s kind of the key. If you just go buy it at CVS and throw it on your face, you’re going to be sad. And then you’re, you’re not going to use it.
Bri (42:25):
Don’t be bad.
Dr. G (42:26):
It does make your skin more sensitive to sun. So you are more prone to sunburn. So back to sunscreen. And so it’s something that should be used in the evening only, not in the morning.
Bri (42:38):
If you had to use one skincare product, what would it be? Only one.
Dr. G (42:45):
I mean sunscreen, but beyond that I would use the AnteAGE serum.
Bri (42:49):
Okay.
Dr. G (42:50):
What about you?
Bri (42:51):
The serum. That was pretty much all I used until I got my skin under control. And then obviously it was sunscreen, but I didn’t use anything else. It’s very moisturizing, so I kind of duals as everything.
Dr. G (43:05):
I mean, it has stem cells from 20-year-old girls in it, so.
Bri (43:08):
Yeah, that don’t drink, don’t smoke, don’t party.
Dr. G (43:12):
And they just added biosome. So the only way you can get exosomes, which I think we talked about on the last podcast, but are also
Bri (43:20):
10 billion, there is 10 billion exosomes in every single bottle.
Dr. G (43:26):
So that stuff is helping send signals to your skin to get it together.
Bri (43:31):
Yeah.
Dr. G (43:32):
So it’s telling your skin to repair damaged cells, get rid of damaged cells that are beyond repair, create collagen, create elastin. And again, none of this stuff is going to work overnight. So that’s why it’s a long game.
Bri (43:46):
Yeah. I feel like people want to see dramatic results right away. And you can’t have that mindset. You have to, skincare is investment and you have to get past the first couple of weeks and be consistent.
Dr. G (43:57):
It’s not a magic wand. Nope. That’s lighting.
Bri (44:01):
Yeah, exactly. And filters and lasers.
Dr. G (44:06):
Yeah. Don’t even start me on Rodan and Fields, all their before and afters. You’re like, girl, that person either had a facelift or you can just tilt the lighting or the angle of the face and get a real difference. Although I haven’t put ’em out there, but I have before and afters of where I did the microneedling with PRP and then exosomes and my skin legit looked really good right after. I mean, I took pictures because when you look at your skin day today, you’re like, nah, that’s fine. I mean whatever. And then I took the before and afters and looked at ’em and I was like, oh damn, it does look good.
Bri (44:39):
I have to send some of my skin before and afters. I have really bad cystic acne. So
Dr. G (44:45):
Yes, we worked on that. And we did did it with a lot of things too. IPL facials. I mean, you were a project.
Bri (44:52):
I was. Wait until you see it.
Dr. G (44:55):
We’ll submit that to the pod.
Bri (44:57):
Project face, facelift coming soon.
Dr. G (45:02):
No. So I think that about wraps it up. Remember taking care of your skin, super important. It’s your largest organ. I remember that from high school biology. It’s super important in protecting you, but it’s also prone to dehydration and skin cancer and help it out by taking care of it.
Bri (45:20):
Protect your skin barrier. And wear your SPF.
Dr. G (45:25):
Alright, so if you’re listening today and you have questions, need info about scheduling, financing, reviews, want to see photos of our skin before and afters, please check out the show notes for links.
Bri (45:36):
Justin, if you’re listening, please slide into the DMS and let us know what the heck you were thinking leaving that 2:00 AM voice memo because.
Dr. G (45:47):
Please, please.
Bri (45:49):
We’ll be waiting.
Dr. G (45:52):
We’re happy to have you come on the show and tell us your side. If you’re listening today and have questions, need info about scheduling, financing, reviews, or photos, check out the show notes for links. Restore SD Plastic Surgery is located in La Jolla, California. To learn more about us, go to restoreSDplasticsurgery.com or follow us on Instagram @RestoreSDplasticsurgery. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it and subscribe to All the B’s on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you like to listen to podcasts.
About Restore SD & Dr. Katerina Gallus
As the Director of Restore SD Plastic Surgery, board certified female San Diego plastic surgeon Dr. Katerina Gallus has over 20 years of experience helping patients enjoy head to toe rejuvenation with face, breast and body procedures. After a successful career as a Navy plastic surgeon, Dr. Gallus founded her San Diego plastic surgery center, Restore SD Plastic Surgery, with the intention of creating a welcoming space for anyone seeking cosmetic enhancement.
Restore SD Plastic Surgery offers popular facial rejuvenation procedures like facelift & neck lift, facial fat transfer, nanofat grafting and rhinoplasty; breast augmentation with implants, breast lifts or breast reduction; body contouring procedures such as tummy tuck, liposuction, mommy makeover, and Brazilian butt lift (BBL), as well as non-surgical aesthetician services, BOTOX, dermal fillers, laser treatments, and weight loss injections.
Dr. Gallus and her highly-experienced aesthetics team are here to help you look and feel your best! To schedule a personal consultation, please contact us online or call our office at (858) 224-2281 today. We proudly serve the San Diego and La Jolla areas.
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