SPRING SKIN GLOW

It’s the perfect time of year to visit your skin practitioner, says Dr Kim Prescott

After a few months of exposure to central heating – or winter sun and icy cold for those who managed a ski tripmany of us start to notice our skin looking dull and tired. With summer around the corner, Dr Kim Prescott discusses how to restore your dewy complexion.

Exfoliation

There’s no need to stress the importance of proper cleansing, but not all of us exfoliate regularly. A fruit acid facial wash left on the skin for a few minutes in the shower or glycolic acid overnight cream used once or twice a week can rapidly improve the texture of your skin. Glycolic acid helps to promote turnover of cells, increases absorption of serums and helps to refine skin tone. It’s also the perfect time of year to visit your skin practitioner for deep cleansing and resurfacing treatments such as chemical peels - which help improve skin tone in general, but also help manage pigmentation and breakout prone skin.

Hydration

Well hydrated skin appears plumper and better reflects light to give you a radiant glow. Moisturisers rich in peptides and hyaluronic acid will help the skin retain moisture along with healing and anti-inflammatory properties to reduce the irritation of dry skin. Profhilo is one of the aesthetic treatments of the moment - a highly concentrated injectable hyaluronic acid that acts as a bio-stimulator; integrating with underlying tissues to rebuild and remodel the skin through production of new collagen. It draws moisture in the skin helping to restore firmness, volume and elasticity.

Firming And Tightening

Every clinic has its own version of the SuperFacial – combination treatments that exfoliate, tighten, plump and infuse nutrients. Radiofrequency microneedling has perhaps been the most popular skin tightening technology over the last couple of years, but with the rise in popularity of facial muscletoning treatments that are combined with skin tightening, we are entering an exciting new era. Keep your eyes peeled for the Lipofirm SMAS Lift and Emface facials.

Nutrition For The Skin

With the abundance of excellent products available, all with their own avid fans, it can be difficult to know which ones are worth the investment. Start with a good quality vitamin C serum, a potent antioxidant, helping reverse skin damage caused by sun and pollution and an essential building block for making new collagen. For those with limited budgets, less sophisticated products don’t penetrate the deeper layers of the skin but can still have a significant surface brightening effect, even if they are less effective for anti-ageing.

• Vitamin A derivatives including retinol are known as the rock-star skin ingredients, slowing the breakdown of collagen, encouraging thicker, firmer, more even-toned skin. Retinol encourages cell turnover in every layer (along with a host of other benefits) so plays an essential role in restoring youthful skin.

• Niacinamide is another potent antiaging ingredient. It is best known for reducing the appearance of large pores, uneven skin tone and fine lines and regular use is thought to help reduce long-term DNA damage in the skin.

DR KIM PRESCOTT practices aesthetic medicine in Surrey and Knightsbridge as well as clinical research, lecturing and training.

You are welcome to send questions to drkim@psmd.co.uk. Drkpclinic.co.uk