The long read — Skin
Your barrier is not broken. It is over-managed.
Eleven steps, four acids and a peel on Sunday. We asked four dermatologists what actually happens to skin that is asked to do too much, and what a two-week reset really looks like, night by night.
The files
Everything we published this week
Skin
A dermatologist can guess your bathroom shelf before she sees your face
We sat in on a week of consultations. The most common presentation was not a condition. It was a routine.
Health
The cheapest thing on your bathroom shelf is sleep
Cortisol undoes what the serum was hired to do. Three levers move skin faster than anything you can buy, and all three are free.
Hair
Four hair problems that look identical in the mirror
Shedding, thinning, breakage and frizz get treated as one complaint and sold one solution. Telling them apart takes about ninety seconds, and it is most of the fix.
Hair
Every hair treatment looks like it is failing at week six
The shed that makes people quit minoxidil is often the drug working. Here is the timeline nobody hands you at the pharmacy counter.
The ingredient index
What to layer, what to leave a night between
| Active | What it actually does | Use it | Pairs with | Not the same night |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vitamin C | An antioxidant that also inhibits pigment transfer; unstable in water at high pH. | - | - | - |
| Salicylic acid | A beta hydroxy acid that is oil-soluble, so it works inside the pore rather than only on the surface. | - | - | - |
| Retinol | The most studied over-the-counter retinoid; two conversion steps from retinoic acid. | - | - | Salicylic acid |
| Niacinamide | Supports barrier lipid synthesis and moderates sebum. One of the few actives that plays well with everything. | AM or PM, daily | - | - |
| Glycolic acid | An alpha hydroxy acid that loosens the bonds between surface corneocytes. | PM, 1-2x a week | - | - |
| Retinal | A retinoid one conversion step from retinoic acid, so it works faster than retinol at similar tolerability. | PM, 2x a week to start | Niacinamide | Glycolic acid |
Most of what I treat in clinic is not a skin condition. It is a routine.
Tested
Bought at retail. Scores are not for sale.
- 8.3
Encapsulated Retinal Serum 0.3%
A 0.3% encapsulated retinal serum aimed at first-time retinoid users. We ran it against prescription tretinoin 0.025% and a drugstore retinol on nine testers, photographed fortnightly in fixed light.
The Letter
One letter a week.
No miracle in the subject line.
What we tested, what we dropped, and the one thing worth your money. Unsubscribe in a click.