Skincare Tips from Dermatologists
I have a complicated relationship with skincare advice on the internet. There’s so much of it, it contradicts itself more often than not, and most of it exists to sell you something. A new serum. A trending ten-step routine. A $200 cream that does essentially what a $12 one does (sometimes).
So when I want to cut through the fluff, I go straight to dermatologists. Not influencers who are sponsored by the brand they're recommending, not wellness accounts recycling the same five tips, but actual doctors who have spent their careers studying skin and have no financial incentive to tell you to buy anything in particular. What they consistently say is simpler than the skincare industry wants you to believe, and most of it doesn't require buying anything new at all.
Here are the three things that come up every single time.
SPF is non-negotiable for healthy skin
Applying SPF every morning is widely regarded as an essential step for a comprehensive skincare routine yet most of still aren’t wearing it daily. [Guilty]
I wrote an entire post dedicated to this with my friend Michael (who is basically my personal esthetician), so I won't repeat everything here. But the short version is this: sun exposure is the leading cause of premature aging, fine lines, wrinkles, dark spots, and hyperpigmentation. Not genetics, stress, or your diet. Sun exposure. And it is almost entirely preventable with one product applied every morning.
The specific recommendation is broad-spectrum SPF, meaning it protects against both UVA rays (which break down collagen and accelerate aging) and UVB rays (which cause sunburn and increase skin cancer risk). SPF 30 minimum, SPF 50 if you're actively using retinol or tretinoin products in your routine. Every day, even the cloudy ones.
I know this feels like a lot of emphasis on one step but dermatologists genuinely cannot stress it enough. It is the single highest-return action in skincare and it costs as little as $10. If you're not doing it consistently yet, that's the best place to start.
(Full breakdown of the products I actually use and recommend is in this post.)
Avoid touching your face
This one sounds obvious and I still catch myself doing it constantly, so clearly it's worth saying out loud.
Throughout any given day your hands pick up bacteria, oils, environmental pollutants, and whatever you touched on your phone, your keyboard, every surface in a public space. Every time your hand makes contact with your face, all of that transfers. It clogs pores, triggers breakouts, causes irritation, and if you're doing it repeatedly in the same spots — resting your chin in your hand, rubbing your eyes, touching your forehead — it accelerates inflammation in those specific areas over time.
The picking and popping extension of this is its own category of damage. I understand the impulse. It is not helping. Dermatologists are consistent on this: picking at blemishes introduces more bacteria, worsens inflammation, and significantly increases the likelihood of scarring. A pimple that runs its course leaves no mark. One that gets picked at might leave one permanently. The patience required to leave it alone is genuinely worth it.
Practical fix: notice when you're doing it. Most face-touching is unconscious. Once you start actually tracking it, you'll be surprised how often it happens and it becomes easier to interrupt the habit.
Wait between your skincare layers
This is the tip that changed my routine the most, because it's so easy to skip and the difference when you don't is noticeable.
When you apply skincare products in layers (and most routines involve at least a few), each product needs time to absorb before the next one goes on. The recommendation is two to three minutes between steps. This isn't just a patience thing. It's a chemistry thing. Applying a moisturizer on top of a serum that hasn't absorbed yet can dilute the serum's active ingredients and prevent them from penetrating the skin properly. Your hyaluronic acid, Vitamin C, and retinol (or other) work optimally when they have actual contact time with your skin before adding something else on top.
The order matters too. Thinnest to thickest. Cleanser, toner if you use one, serum, moisturizer, SPF. Let each one settle before the next. If you're doing your skincare while doing other things in the morning (I can relate), this is easy to build in without actually waiting. Apply your serum, go make coffee. Come back for your moisturizer. The two minutes pass without you having to stand there watching a timer.
None of this is revolutionary, but I’ve learned through trial and error (funneling money into wrong products) that's the point. The most consistent finding across every dermatologist recommendation I've ever read is that the basics, done consistently, outperform complicated routines done inconsistently. SPF every day, hands off your face, let your products absorb. You don't need ten steps. You just need a few good ones, done properly, every single day.
The skincare industry is not financially motivated to tell you that. Dermatologists are.
For more on SPF specifically, including the two products my friend Michael and I both actually use, read The Power of SPF in Maintaining Youthful Skin
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