Bite Back with Abbey Sharp - The SECRETS to Glowing Skin - Tackling Breakouts, Wrinkles & Skin Barrier Damage with Dr. Sandy Skotnicki

Episode Date: June 10, 2025

Here’s a run down of today’s show on skincare:00:00 - Introduction02:32 - Skincare essentials05:15 - How the gut microbiome affects our skin08:32 - Diet Recommendations for acne, eczema, psoriasis, rosacea, and premature aging/ wrinkles11:49 - Impact of stress on skin12:30 - Impact of lack of sleep on skin15:49 - Skin Barrier 10119:55 - Natural Skincare vs Synthetic24:17 - Tween Beauty and Influencers28:44 - Skincare Myth vs FactCheck in with today’s amazing guest: Dr Sandy SkotnickiInstagram: @drsandyskotnickiWebsite: drsandyskotnicki.comPodcast: skintoitpodcast.comBook: Beyond the Soap by Dr. Sandy SkitnickiReferences:https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6115795/#abstract1https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30079512/https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4884775/#S0003https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18194824/https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30079512/https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11151999/#s3https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31453631/https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7432353/#sec3-ijms-21-05405https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8794493/https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5718124/#sec4https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38854476https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38192916/ Disclaimer: The content in this episode is for educational and entertainment purposes only and is never a substitute for medical advice. If you’re struggling with with your mental or physical health, please work one on one with a health care provider.If you have heard yourself in our discussion today, and are looking for support, contact the free NEDIC helpline at 1-866-NEDIC-20 or go to eatingdisorderhope.com.  🥤 Check out my 2-in-1 Plant Based Probiotic Protein Powder, neue theory at www.neuetheory.com or @neuetheory and use my promo code BITEBACK20 to get 20% off your order! Don’t forget to Please subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts and leave us a review! It really helps us out. ✉️ SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTERS ⤵️Neue Theory newsletterAbbey's Kitchen newsletter 🥞 FREE HUNGER CRUSHING COMBO™ E-BOOK! 💪🏼 FREE PROTEIN 101 E-BOOK! 📱 Follow me! Instagram: @abbeyskitchenTikTok: @abbeyskitchenYouTube: @AbbeysKitchen My blog, Abbey’s Kitchen www.abbeyskitchen.comMy book, The Mindful Glow Cookbook affiliate link: https://amzn.to/3NoHtvf If you liked this podcast, please like, follow, and leave a review with your thoughts and let me know who you want me to discuss next!

I always say when people say natural, I go poison ivy is natural, arsenic is natural. Doesn't mean it's better for your skin. It might be better for planet earth, but not necessarily for your skin. Welcome to another episode of Bite Back with Abbey Sharp, where I dismantle diet culture rules, call it the charlatans spinning the pseudoscience, and help you achieve food freedom for good. Today's episode, we are going to be talking all things skincare. And as I inch closer to 40, I am personally super invested in all the tips. But skincare isn't just about aesthetics. It's your body's largest

organ and one of its most powerful storytellers. From persistent breakouts and dryness to dullness or sensitivity, what's happening on the surface may tell us something about what's going on inside. Hormones, gut health, nutrition, hydration, stress levels, sleep quality, and even immune function all play a role in shaping the look, feel, and health of your skin. And to help me unpack it all is Dr. Sandy Scott-Nickey, a Toronto-based dermatologist, professor at the University of Toronto, podcast host, and author of the book Beyond the Soap. As an expert on all things skin, I am so excited to be chatting with her on what women actually need in their skincare routine,

skincare facts versus fiction, and the role that the skin barrier, stress, sleep, and our gut health play in our skin health. And at the end, I will be going through the unique role that diet plays in conditions like acne, eczema and psoriasis. And of course, I'll be sharing the best foods for support. If you're on a mission to get healthy, glowing skin, then this episode is a must listen. I already know I am going to learn so much from Sandy, and I absolutely know that you will too. Now, quick note that the information in this episode is not a replacement for personalized health advice, so always speak to your doctor or dermatologist about your unique needs.

Also, I would love, love, love if you would subscribe to the podcast wherever you are listening, and please do leave me a little review and comment because it really truly does help me out. Well, Sandy, thank you so much for joining me. It's a real pleasure to be here. Thanks. Okay, so there is like no shortage of, you know, skincare products and procedures being promoted online. And it's so hard to like know what is like hype and what is an

actual hack. And obviously everybody's different, you know, all of our needs are unique. But if you were to just like pick a handful of products, just like kick us off here, what would be the most essential products for for women to have? Well, first of all, with your first comment, I mean, it's just it's not just become it's such a problem now, like there are everybody's so confused it's just, it's not just become, it's such a problem now. Like there are, everybody's so confused. And then that's why, you know, we need more information podcasts and not 10 second,

you know- Influencer clips, yeah. Or a 30 second reel. Right. What is the, like in my bag, like people would say, what's in my bag? I mean, obviously I'm a dermatologist, I'm gonna say sunscreen. Yes.

I like, like one of the tips and tricks is like to have a sunscreen powder. Like you're not gonna use sunscreen powder as a one-off, but it's nice to have it, you can throw it in your bag. A little shout out to Color Science since I have no association with them. I think they have the best powder. They've actually shown some studies,

like they have done some studies to show. So that's a great tip. And as far as like my nighttime routine, is this what you're getting at? I kind of, I do exactly what I would tell my patients. I use a, uh, something for decreasing aging or rolling back aging. I don't like the term anti-aging. So, uh, I use retinols, I use peptides. I don't like to wash my face aggressively.

I have very sensitive skin, so I typically use a micellar water, wash my favorites, Bioderma. And moisturizer, I might use a little bit more, I like Cyclet, like if a retinol is too irritating, or a peptide, a serum underneath a moisturizer. And my moisturizers vary, because I have so many ones that I try.

And I think that's the whole key, is once you find something you like, stick with it. Or if you're that type of person who always likes to try something, just be careful because you can react and you can't go by the hype. Right. And if you're putting like a million things on your face at the same time, you don't know what you reacted to. That's the whole point. And that's what a lot of my book is about. And so like it's about eliminating just like a product, like a dye elimination, product eliminate. So whenever you've had a reaction, yes, take everything away. Don't throw it out. Go back to three or four things that have

very little in them and then reintroduce one product per week. Okay. That is a really great, some great tips there to start us off. Okay. And we're going to talk about a lot of things today. And I want to just preface that we're going to be focusing mainly on like lifestyle factors when it comes to skin, but there's a lot of other non-controllable factors in play, like genetics, just getting older, different life stages, pregnancy, postpartum, you know, menopause, etc., you know, medications, infections, all that jazz. But I want to kind of start with the role of the gut, because this is something that I'm interested in, and a lot of people don't know that we have this

like bi-directional, this two-way communication street called the skin-gut axis. And when we see dysbiosis, we, you know, we tend to potentially see, you know, inflammation or, you know, immune dysfunction or nutrient deficiencies, you know, malabsorption And all that can affect the skin So can you just talk a little bit about some of the ways that you might see like gut dysbiosis appear or present itself on the skin?

I came I kind of look at it slightly different than you as a dermatologist and I you know, you think about When I went to medical school, which I am dating myself now. So 30 years ago plus When I went to medical school, which I am dating myself now, so 30 years ago plus, we never even talked about how food affects the skin. Right. So my general statement, and I did do a little bit of research on some of the studies, but generally, like, let's say you came in to see me as a patient. At your age, you would get adult acne, sort of cyclical, round your cycle, you get a cyst or two, and then you say to me, okay, I'm going to do X, Y, and Z that you've told me to

do Dr. Skarnakipa, what about my diet? So this is where I kind of come in as, as, as at it generally, like, okay, what are, what is the science, where, where are the studies at? So the number one thing is anti-inflammatory diets. Okay. So if you have an inflammation, whether it's an inflammation in the skin, inflammation in your joint,

we could be talking about somebody with arthritis. I would say follow an anti-inflammatory diet. You're a, I'm sure there's an episode on that. Of course, we'll talk a lot about that too. Eat some blueberries, leafy greens, et cetera. The next thing, and there's actually now some really good science on high glycemic foods. So when you eat, I always use this as an

example with my patients and I don't mean to be, you know, because you're the dietician, but when you drink a glass of orange juice, your sugar spikes. You see on a graph, yep, when you eat an orange, because you've got the fiber, you've got everything else, the glycemic or sugar spike is low. And so when you have that high spike, you induce insulin fright growth factors.

And that drives in an inflammatory response, basically drives cortisol, cortisol to turn into testosterone, testosterone to possess. So I do think there's a big role with foods that cause high glycemic spikes. And people, you know, the old adage, I ate chocolate and I got acne. I mean, there's actually now some science. And then the last thing is the probiotic. So when I looked at the probiotic data, um, there was one actually really good 12 week randomized controlled double blind study, which for your listeners,

if you don't know, I'm sure you do. That means it's a good study. Right. Now I don't know how robust it was or the power, but they looked at oral probiotic supplements and,ic supplements for people with acne between 12 to 30 years old. And there was a 50% improvement compared to benzoyl peroxide. The research is happening.

There is something to, if you have a dysbiosis. When I talked to microbiome researchers, like I had a guest on, we were talking about before the show, that he worked in, you know, all the major microbiome labs in the world. We don't know exactly which one to give. Right, we don't know. You can't suggest something to treat a disease if you don't know what the normal is. Right. What is the normal microbiome of the skin? What is the normal microbiome of the gut? Well, we don't really know that and there's no normal because if you live in the desert or you live in a jungle or you live in a city

it's you know and you died as XYZ it's all gonna be different. So it's one of the biggest nuts we have to crack. It doesn't mean we can't try using something. For acne there's topical probiotics that have been studied. I actually suggest oral live in a microbiome or bacteria when people, I'm giving them antibiotics for longer than four weeks. There's some study that actually it might enhance the results of the antibiotic use. There was a study that showed giving antibiotics for acne with probiotic and without the, it was again, not a great robust study, but there was some something to it.

And then immune modulation, there was one study looking at giving a probiotic that increased an anti-inflammatory mediator in the gut. So if you decrease again, inflammation in the body, are you going to have an improved result when you give an acne treatment? So I think there's a lot that we still need to learn and it's a very interesting and fascinating topic. And it's something that as a physician, you don't know about, you should really educate yourself.

Yeah, and if not, you know, speak to a colleague who may have some more, you know, information. But you're right, like the challenge with the gut is we know there's a connection, we just aren't sure what the specific solution is. We don't know what the norm is. We don't know what the norm is. Absolutely hit it on the head.

And you know, I've also read some very interesting studies looking at, I know, you know, the idea of quote unquote leaky gut is a very controversial topic in science space, but the more, you know, technical term intestinal permeability, there is some, you know, linkage there to some of those more inflammatory skin disorders like psoriasis, eczema, acne, things like that. They've looked at children with eczema and noticed that they may have lower levels of some of the more beneficial strains of bifidobacterium in their gut. Just to study you on that.

So that's interesting. Even things like SIBO, which is a functional gut disorder, they've seen that nearly 50% of Rosacea patients also have SIBO. So we know there's obviously connections here, we just don't always know what the solution is. Yeah, and I think the trouble with all that, when you have an area that is sort of still evolving,

that's when you get a lot of charlatans. Oh, right. Of course, yeah. So my son, as I was telling her, has IBS and he tried the SIBO diet, which isn't... SIBO is the Overgrowth, right? Yes, it is, correct. He tried that. What's the acronym for the diet? The SIBO is the diet, is the elemental diet. Okay, I don't know. He tried a couple.

Yes, the Leuphana. Yes, that's it. And he did see some response, but it's not easy to fall. Oh, it's terribly hard. It's terribly hard. It's not even meant to be a long-term solution. You know, you have to basically eradicate the SIBO. And actually, we do have an episode on SIBO. So definitely check that out. Okay, so switching gears here because, and this is actually quite related in fact, because there's a gut-skin axis and there's a gut-brain axis. So I want to talk about the role of stress when it comes to skin, because that also may play a role. Can you kind of talk a little bit about that?

Well, I had, um, uh, uh, an, uh, interviewed a psychiatrist dermatologist. Interesting combo. She was fascinating. I think there is, again, when I go back to my 30 years ago when I was at med school, not talking about anything that wasn't specifically organ driven or medicine driven. So I think the biggest issue there is sleep, especially like we probably don't sleep a lot, you and I. And then just, yeah, stress. I mean, we know stress increases cortisol. And then when you drive cortisol,

you drive inflammation. It's all connected. It's all connected. And there's countless studies now, some of them very, very good, to show that, you know, if you don't sleep well, you age faster. You know, you can see stress in people's faces. Yes. And you can see, like, I try to go on a retreat now once a year where I sort of disengage, don't do anything. I come back and people go, wow, what did you do? I go, I basically did nothing for a week. And it's that, between that and sleeping is more cost effective than a lot of, you know. That's why I looked so much better before kids, guys.

Wait, just wait, you know what they said? Stress. Well, when the kids get older, there's fewer problems, but they're bigger problems. I don't know that it's better. Yeah, yeah, enjoy what you can. Yep. Sleep is a big one, right?

Like a lot of us are not getting the sleep. We live in this like hustle culture where everyone's promoting like, you've got to grind it out at night and then like get up for this like 4 a.m. morning routine as like part of your wellness routine. Like that's seen as like a flex online. But obviously, like you said, it can do more damage than good because, sleep is this time for our bodies to down regulate

inflammation and release these anti-inflammatory hormones and repair skin cells and tissues and produce collagen and all that. So without that deep restorative sleep, we do see an increase in these like pro-inflammatory cytokines and a decline in immunity and boosting cortisol, like you said, insulin as well, which can play a role in acne. So these things are absolutely connected. And so it's not just about sleeping, it's about sleeping well.

Well, yeah, yeah. So, you know, those cold temperatures, dark room, getting rid of the technology before bed, like, you know, real asleep hygiene 101. I know. And we all, we know it's just very hard to actually do it, especially because we live in this like digital age where we're just like addicted to our screens. A good tip is to get an old fashioned alarm clock.

Yes. And leave your phone downstairs. I love that. Right before bed. Yep, cool old fashioned. Baa baa baa. Ours when we were growing up, it used to always just like turn the radio on. So yeah, there's, I mean, there's lots of things.

But you're right, to finish off on that, the stress and lack of sleep, you wear it on your face. You wear it on your face. And actually that just got me thinking too about like, okay, dark circles and like puffy eyes, like what is that about? Such a common question that asked. I would say that the vast majority of that is genetics.

You know, some people just have thinner skin there, their vasculature, their blood vessels, you just see more readily, they have a deeper groove. A lot of that is genetics. Then, you know, some things like if they have persistent rhinitis, which is allergy, season in the runny nose, or they have chronic sinusitis, that can cause congestion and asthma. So any of those kind of, again, it's inflammation in the area, but that's not a large percentage of people. The vast majority of it is unfortunately genetics.

Got it, got it, got it. Okay, so another thing that we keep hearing a lot about is the skin barrier. Can you just define what the skin barrier is and then we'll kind of talk more about it? Well, actually, I wanted to jump in there when you were talking about the leaky gut. So the gut lining is an extension of the epidermis, right? When we're being made in utero, you know, there's the ectoderm, endoderm, mesoderm. So ectoderm is all of our outside skin, but it's also all the lining inside. They're similar.

So if you have a leaky gut, that means the cells aren't, you know, right beside each other. That's what the skin barriers. So the very, I like to That's what the skin barrier is. So the very, I like to make an analogy of a brick wall. So the very outer layer of our skin is called the stratum corneum and it's actually dead. The cells are dead there, they're desiccated and they're like a brick wall. So the bricks are the cells, the mortar is the contour in between or which is the lipids. So if you have, and that's when it's tight and the wall is working well, um, that your, your skin barrier is working well. When the, the mortar is decreased and the cells are far further apart, which

you could also use the term leaky. Totally. That's a skin barrier that's, um, not working well. The thing I, the problem I have, cause it's such a trendy thing right now. There's this like, I damaged my skin barrier forever. Well, no, I mean, because we, our skin turns over every 30 days. So every 30 days, you're getting a new, that new wall. So if you kind of use too much exfoliant and you wash a little aggressively and you did too many masks, okay, do nothing. And then a month later,

it'll repair itself. So there's all this like, I've damaged it forever kind of stuff on social media, which is not scientifically possible. Right. So with the skin barrier, like what are some things that you see causing this damage? Well, I mean, you know, it's everything we do to our skin, right? Because, well, first of all, just water itself will damage your skin barrier. Well, think about it. So you got this brick wall, the mortar is lipids,

what dissolves lipids? Water. The hotter the water, the higher the pH of the water, so the more alkaline the water, the more you damage your mortar. So just the act of- Husband showers? Cold, cold husband showers? So the act of- Husband showers? Cold, cold husband showers?

So the act of washing. Then you add detergent or cleansers or soaps or whatever terminology you want to use. Soaps are actually more damaging than cleansers because they're usually high pH. The higher the pH, the more damaging. Our skin barrier, our skin is a pH of four to six. Okay. So it's acidic on a gradient. And when you alkalize the skin through washing and through high pH soaps, you damage the skin barrier more.

So you want to have pH-adjusted cleansers. That's all where the whole pH thing is. The pH is important to maintain a skin barrier. So when you do that, that will make the skin barrier dysfunctional. What else can make it? Well, you can take it off. You can exfoliate it. We don't need 11-year-olds using retinol and glycolic acid because their skin barrier isn't fully fully formed. It is, but it's not working as well. And when you over exfoliate, those are the main two things that

damage our skin barrier. So all us millennials with the same knives, apricots, scrub was not a good plan. I'm filing that one under like bad beauty, you know, hacks with the tanning beds and the sun in in my hair and like the ironing my hair on the ironing board. Oh God. And then what do we do to repair it or does it just repair itself? You just like do nothing. So again, I mean if you do nothing, your skin does regenerate in 30 days. So and the skin barrier, like you're still washing and cleaning. So if you've really done a really bad job, you kind of want to

repair it. How do you repair it? You replace the mortar. What is the mortar made out of? Lipids, so sphingos, filings, ceramides, all those catchy words you hear. I mean, ceramides is the best thing. The question always was, like, if you put it in the cream, does it actually absorb into the layers of the skin? And a few companies have shown that it does.

But, you know, everybody and their mother is making it in their garage. There is a reason why you want to use some companies that actually have some science behind them. Okay. Speaking of science behind them and not science behind them, so what about the beef tallow thing? Should we be slathering ourselves in just butter, fat, oils? Well beef tallow, it's got some things in it.

It's got some specific amino acids and things that repair the barrier. I can't remember all the details, but it stinks. And it's heavy and it can cause acne. You're better served with using things that will have a same result. I guess the argument there is it's more natural, it's cheaper. But I always

say when people say natural, I go poison ivy is natural, arsenic is natural. It doesn't mean it's better for your skin. It might be better for planet earth. And so if you're putting beef tallow and when you wash it off, it's going down the drain, it's probably better for the earth, but not necessarily for your skin. Yeah, that's, yeah, I was going to talk about that because actually on the podcast, we talk a lot about the appeal to nature's fallacy, which is, you know, basically this assumption that because it comes from nature, that it's inherently better, safer, you know, healthier. It is for the earth. Fair, fair, fair. But not necessarily for our skin or our bodies. I mean, some of the most powerful, toxic medications we have in medicine come from plants.

Do you know where Dijoxan comes from? No. Do you know what Dijoxan does? No. If you want to kill somebody, Greg could take a syringe and put Dijoxan. It's a heart medication. It comes from foxglove.

I love foxglove. They're so pretty. I know that they're bad. They're dangerous. You plant it around your pet. No, no, no. They eat it, they die. So that fallacy of, again're so pretty. I know that they're bad. They're dangerous. No, plant it around your pets. No, no, no. I know. They eat it, they die. But they do.

So that fallacy of, again, the plant. But on the flip side, there's so many miraculous drugs and being good things that come from plants. But this catch-all, just because it's natural is better, is not. And unfortunately for the skin, many times it isn't. Right. And can you give us any other examples of, quote, unquote, natural products that are, you know, may cause more harm than good? Well, I mean, this, the harm sometimes is, for me, like my academic interest is reactions. You know, people that have come in

and have had bad reactions to skincare, you know, I got a rash, I got burning, it was whatever, my acne got worse. So it's ingredients that actually can aggravate the skin. Like the de-jog-sin example, they're not gonna kill you. But the problem is it's most of the essential oils. Now the poisons in the dosage, I have arguments with toxicologists and perfume people online. Perfumes can be good if the dosage is properly,

not all of them are bad. So dosage is important, but it's mostly the essential oils where people often get reactions. And the number one cause of allergic reaction and irritant reaction into skincare is from fragrance, both synthetic and natural. Wow, yeah, that doesn't surprise me. I'm definitely sensitive. I really have to be careful about that.

It's honestly you don't even know if it's, if just reading these long lists, if it has some kind of fragrance, even if it's not, it might not say perfume. Right. Well, that's the legislation is going to change in Canada. I did a whole episode on regulation and labeling. So in Europe, if you see fragrance on a bottle, so fragrance or perfume is a placeholder name because you actually don't know what's in that because it's often proprietary, what makes, you know, Pantene smell like Pantene and they don't want to give that recipe away. But if there's kind of identified 26 fragrance allergens that are quite problematic from an allergy point of view, from sensitization, and now another hundred and something, many of which are essential

extracts. So if you want to, as a company, use any of those hundred plus fragrance molecules in your fragrance recipe, you have to put it on the label. Mm. Yeah. I want to go back to something that you mentioned earlier about 11-year-olds wearing retinol because, like, they, there's this whole kind of Sephora tween culture with all these like you know Gen Z skincare influencers putting all these these things on their face you know products that like when I was that age I never never would have thought about retinol I didn't even think about retinol until I was like 30. Right. So like what are the risks here and what should parents be looking out for?

I think the number one, and not to keep plugging my podcast in, but we did a whole episode on tweens. And I think when I did all the research, I think the number one thing, especially, I have three sons and you have two sons. I don't have a daughter, but my friends that have daughters and they're teenagers, you either have, you know, a very easy relationship with your daughter or you're just constantly just butting heads. I think what you want to do is not be dismissive because when you are dismissive, the teen will just go out and buy stuff anyway.

So I think that's the number one point to take home that I got when I was researching for the topic and everything that I read. And then try to make it fun and do a little research together because a lot of them are very knowledgeable and are like, okay, well, listen, this person wrote this and this, you know, read about everything and then go to Sephora together and say, well, let's try to get products that are fragrance-free. Let's try peptides seem to be safe, like they're okay, we can use that, the whole Hailey Berry, Bear, it was Bieber, hers all peptides. I mean, so you can focus on, you know, ingredients that have safety and make it fun and put it together. I think face masks, you know, those, you can get

bamboo ones, they can be biodegradable, you can get fragrance-free ones, or maybe something like with watermelon, and they have a sleepover, can be fun, you can have fragrance free ones or maybe something like with watermelon and they have a sleepover, it can be fun. You can have formaldehyde free nail polish. Like there are ways of doing it and you do it together and you come out with products that there's the, get the boring stuff, the body wash, maybe the shampoo, and then let them have some fun with some other things. But I would encourage the parents to go with them when possible. I think that's a way of doing it. No, of course. I mean, from my perspective, a lot of my job, you know, I'm a dietitian,

but a lot of my job is really commenting on, you know, the dangers of what we see on social media every day when it comes to just our own mental and physical health. And so this is like such an old person thing to say, but like I worry about the young people and like their exposure to social media and the fact that they are used to seeing all skin through a filter, through this like glowy sparkly filter, you know, all the stars are gone.

That's not real life. We don't even know what real skin looks like. And now it's generative AI, it's even worse. Even worse. And I actually's generative AI. It's even worse. Right? Even worse. I actually just saw this TikTok recently where people were commenting on the real images of all the celebrities at the Met Gala because they were like real unedited skin and they were like, this is real skin.

This is real skin. This is real skin. Because normally we see these celebrities after they've been edited and filtered, right? And so we need more of that because I do think there's this fear of the unknown of what real skin looks like through the stages. And I just always worry that when young people's kind of wellness, the idea of wellness is centered in this aesthetic perfection that it displaces other really important acts of self care,

whether it's like friendships and play and movement and emotional regulation and all those other things because their idea of wellness is just like putting 10 products on their skin to look a certain way. And that's really, as parents who always say, we want our kids to be happy. Well, if you look at happiness, we were talking about this earlier,

it's your relationships with other people, it's giving back to society, it's cultivating purpose in life. It's not about your skincare. So, I mean, but I think what I have evolved as a dermatologist through all the stuff that I do in social media is you can't just dismiss it. So, you have to be part of the discussion, especially as a dermatologist, we have to

be part of the discussion. And you have to somewhat make it fun and especially as a parent and try to be part of the conversation. Yeah, I love that. Okay, I want to just close off because sometimes I like to do this kind of like quick fire like a hype versus hoax segment in some episodes and there's obviously so many that we could cover but okay the first one and I know the answer because you know I'm I'm very into this myself okay you don't need sunscreen on cloudy day. Oh that's incorrect. Yes.

I feel like I'm, yeah, I feel so vindicated. Actually the clouds filter out the UVB rays, which are the ones that kind of give you the sunburn, but the UVA rays still go through. I mean, a lot of it still goes through. And those are the more damaging ones that are associated with skin aging and skin cancer. They also go through windows. Ooh, gotta get those blinds down. You gotta wear sunscreen in the house at all times, even if you don't

leave the house, folks. Okay. Oily or acne prone skin does not need a moisturizer. I'm going to even take that further. No skin really needs a moisturizer. Especially young people. Fair. Right.

Moisturizer replaces, you know, something young people. Fair, right? Yes. Moisturizer replaces something that you've removed through washing. Right. It's not anti-aging, unless it has an active that potentially does something. So basic moisturizer is not necessary. If you are feeling like you're dry, you can use it.

You can also use it if you're oily, because some people like the sensation. It's self-care again. Right. But choose also use it if you're oily because, you know, some people like this sensation. It's self-carriagate. Right. But, you know, choose your moisturizer wisely if you're oily. Okay. That's very helpful. You can shrink your pores in some way or another. Can you? Well, a pore is very deep, by the way, and we're born with this. It's just like some people say, can I get more hair follicles? No, you're only born with so many. So you're born with so many pores. And they're deep.

So you can increase the scaffolding around a pore. Think of it like a hole. So you can increase the scaffolding with things that increase collagen or elastin. That takes years. And so if you use your products like Retin-A or glycolic acid over the years, your pores will continue to improve.

If you wanna do it fast, you can do things that damage your pore and make it regrow. So those are like microneedling, and then the next level would be fractionated injury with laser. So you're putting holes into the skin, which seems counterintuitive.

And then you're reforming the skin, the skin's regrowing, and when it regrows, the pores can be tighter. Oh, okay. The best way to get rid of a pimple is to pop it. Uh, no. So the pimple popper, docker pimple popper. Well, she's actually removing large...

Fair. ...epidermal and pilar cyst. If you have a blackhead, that's the only thing as a dermatologist, we say you can take a tissue and very gently with a tissue, tridex fullis, it's good to do, not to express it, after a shower where your skin's a little bit more moist and the pores are a little bit more open. But if you have like a closed pimple, no.

If you have a big pustule, like no one wants to rock around with a pustule. Again, very gently with the tissue, you can pop that, not aggressively, because when, I always tell people, when you push a pimple, it's not only going up, it's also going down. You're pushing inflammation down. So I hope that answers the question.

That does. And then after you, and then after you pop that pimple, what do you do? Like, what do you put on it? Yeah. Well, if you have an opening, you want to make sure that it's disinfected, like wash your face. You could put some acne medicine over top, like salicylic acid if it's over the counter, benzoyl peroxide or something that your dermatologist gave you.

Great. Okay. That's good to know. And what about like just generally all of these kind of TikTok trends? Are there any weird things that you're seeing people put on their face and you're like, why? Don't do that. We talked about the beef tallow earlier, but

what else? So I, my partner in crime who I do my podcast with, she's a TikTok fanatic. So I actually feel like I don't have to. I'm not a big TikToker. I am on Instagram. So one of the, some of the trends that we kind of looked at, you know, DIY sunscreen, big no-no. Okay. Big no-no. Um, like, uh, well we chatted about DNA, um, salmon DNA. There's actually some studies, I don't know. Like it's like they take this DNA and the ribonucleos, the RNA from sperm,

salmon sperm, cause it's similar to human. And then they're injecting that. So it seems kind of weird, but there is some studies. Why are they doing that? from sperm, salmon sperm, because it's similar to human. And then they're injecting that. This seems kind of weird, but there is some studies. Why are they doing that? Rejuvenation, it's DNA, it's all right. Yeah, I know, it's crazy. Other trends, you probably know more. I'm not-

Snail mucin. Well, snail mucin, I mean, it's just, again, it's really, really, it's gonna have a lot of hyaluronic acid, polysaccharides, which all of those things are,, the humectant is gonna absorb water. So you're gonna look like puffy and glassy and everything, but it's gone in like, you know, hours to a day. And it's gross. That seems like not worth the, not a good ROI for putting snail gunk on your face. No, it's kind of gross.

Okay, well this was so, so helpful. Thank you so much, Sandy. And you have a podcast skin to it and a book. Yes. The book's called Beyond Soap. Beyond Soap. Excellent. So I'm going to be leaving links to all of that below so you can, you know, check out lots of great resources on your website and channel. So definitely, definitely check that out. Thank you so much for having me on. Thank you. Oh that was so incredibly helpful. You know some really good reminders here about how our overall health can impact our skin. And I did want to share a bit of like very top level nutrition insight into best practices for various skin conditions. Now very broadly broadly speaking, there are some very strong themes when it comes to skin health nutrition, regardless of the unique condition.

That is, we want to try to focus on antioxidant-rich high-fiber fruits, veg, and whole grains to reduce inflammation and feed our microbiome. We want lean protein, especially a lot of plant protein, and we want to focus on anti-inflammatory fats like omega-3s. And we also, of course, want to limit alcohol, foods that are high in sugar, or animal fats. So if you've got those things down, you are likely at least 90% there, regardless of what skin issue ails you. But there may be some more specific food triggers for some conditions in some people.

So with acne, for example, many studies have shown an association between dairy intake and acne, with skim milk dairy being a greater culprit than full fat because it lacks the fat to buffer the blood sugar response and it tends to have more poor clogging compounds just because of how it's being processed. Then there's eczema and psoriasis, which may be linked to certain food intolerances and gut dysbiosis, with some evidence that certain strains of probiotics may be helpful, along with omega-3s and vitamin D supplements. Then there's rosacea, where food triggers can be a little trickier to identify, but some of the more common culprits include cinnamon aldehyde foods like

tomatoes, citrus fruits, and chocolate. I know, sorry. High histamine foods like aged cheese, sauerkraut, and processed meat. Spicy food, and then again, alcohol. And then finally, there's just good old-fashioned aging, which is really where protein, especially collagen protein, may come into play, which research suggests may help to improve skin elasticity, hydration, and wrinkles. As always, any specific diet restrictions or supplements beyond the general Mediterranean heart-healthy diet should ideally be explored and monitored with the help of a dietician or dermatologist. But I really do hope that this was insightful for those of you who are struggling with frustrating

skin challenges. And on that note, that is all that I have for today. Thank you again to Dr. Sandy Scott-Nickey for helping me bite back against misinformation online. Signing off with Science and Sass, I'm Abbey Sharp. Thanks for listening.