Latest / Skin Anarchy / E.301: Harvard Trained Dermatologist Shares the Dos and Donts of Skincare

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E.301: Harvard Trained Dermatologist Shares the Dos and Donts of Skincare · Skin Anarchy

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_03: Hey guys, so right before this episode starts, I just wanted to say hello, and I hope you guys loved our first ever episode of Fragrance Fridays.
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• 0:36
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• 0:41
  SPEAKER_03: About the series, I love fragrances and scents, and I want to learn as much as I can about them.
• 0:46
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• 0:50
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• 0:56
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• 1:02
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• 1:27
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• 1:43
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• 1:53
  SPEAKER_03: We do not get any commissions from this.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_03: So it's fully, you know, just us telling you what we love.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_03: And I I think all of you are gonna love it if you love a good summer scent.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_03: So again, it's the Heart Company on Amazon.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_03: Check them out and stay tuned for this episode.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_03: Hi guys, welcome back to Skincare Anarchy.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_03: This is Ekta, as always, and I'm very excited about our guest today because um I'm excited to learn, and she is truly a leader in the field of dermatology.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_03: So without further ado, I'm gonna introduce you guys to um Dr.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_03: Kim Nichols, who is a board-certified dermatologist.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, Dr.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_03: Nichols, welcome to the show.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_03: I've been really looking forward to this episode.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Eka.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_01: I've been looking forward to it too, and I can't wait to talk about my favorite subject, which is of course skincare.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_03: Now I'm very excited to learn from you.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_03: And um, I really want to get started though, and and ask you how you got into dermatology and what really led you down this uh career path.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, I mean, I've I've always wanted to be a doctor.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I was one of those kids who, you know, um watched the the doctor shows and even at six and seven was was already planning my my path, but I really didn't know exactly what I wanted to do.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_01: And then um by by med school, I was I was really interested in plastic surgery.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_01: I liked the fact that it was kind of transformative, but yet hands-on, um, could really change people's lives in a way, um, increase their confidence.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_01: And then finally, I was in uh med school, I was on my rotations the third year, and I was sitting in surgery rotation as a med school student in the hospital at three o'clock in the morning, and there was a couple of plastic surgeons in there doing like an emergency um, you know, treatment.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, okay, that's probably not the lifestyle I want.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_01: So I said, how can I, how can I get the things that, you know, how can I get the hands on?
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, um, the the treatment and improving people's confidence, um, you know, and what what field can uh do that for me without those type of uh surgery hours and and then late nights and dermatology really fit the bill.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: And um that's how I got into it.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I've obviously been thrilled with thrilled with that ever since.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_03: That's so awesome.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, no, I know.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_03: Surgery is always like, I feel like every medical student I ever have is like, I want to be a surgeon.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, are you sure?
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 4:28
  unknown: Yeah.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, meanwhile, all my classic surger surgery friends are, you know, again, they're um regretting it still this day.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I'm glad I made that switch.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, absolutely.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_03: You know, I you know, I actually have such an interest in dermatology now more than ever.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_03: You know, I I because I feel like it's coming up more and more into the limelight um as a specialty.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, I think just the other day I had um, you know, one of my students said that yeah, my friend took the board exam.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_03: There were so many derm questions on there, and I was like, good, that's a good thing.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so that's so funny, yeah.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_03: I want to get your take on just how you see the industry right now because I know you know we talk about skincare on this podcast, and I'm always curious, you know, as dermatologists, like how the industry is viewed, you know, through your perspective, like, you know, when you look at brands or when you look at just um the kind of entrepreneurs we have in the space, like what are some of the things that you've caught that have really caught your eye or you know, your attention?
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I mean, I think the the biggest thing is how much how many people, whether they're credentialed or not, are getting into skincare.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: We were actually talking last night that even um you know Kelly Clarkson is coming out with a skincare line.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's just inundated.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: And I think our role as dermatologists is to really be the skin experts, because you know, out there there's just so much information that that people are getting fed from all the social media and use this, use that.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, they we all have that kind of uh drawer of products, and now it's just coming in from all, you know, these uh these tutorials online and all this stuff.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_01: So really I see my role as kind of distilling the information, giving the science, um, because there's a lot out there that that isn't necessarily um the right information.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_03: No, I I couldn't agree more.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, that's definitely, definitely true.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm I agree with you that I'm glad that I'm we're seeing more derms, you know, kind of come up to the surface and you know, really talk about health.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_03: Because I'm not gonna lie, you know, there's a lot of people that tell me, well, this is the healthiest thing.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, well, you know, did you talk to a dermatologist?
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_03: Are you certified?
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_03: So it's definitely a a space of a lot of misinform misinformation, excuse me.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but you know, I my big question I think I always have um for every like, you know, doctor that comes on the show is like, you know, what what do you think, like, how should people be approaching skin?
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_03: You know, just everyday consumers, when we wake up, like what should we be thinking about when it comes to protection and um, I guess, maintenance of good skin, you know, if if you can kind of walk us down that.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I I actually love that question because that's you know a question that um, you know, my my my patients ask a lot and then I talk about a lot, which is really starting starting young.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_01: And remembering, of course, you know, we all know that skin is the biggest organ in our body and that we need to take care of it.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_01: And and if you're talking about anti-aging, for instance, you you're seeing, which I think is a good thing, you're seeing um patients really know, or even people who are not patients yet know that they have to kind of start early in terms of sun protection, sunscreen, antioxidants, things that can really help their skin down the long, um, long road, as opposed to, you know, kind of doing the the tanning and all that business and then coming, coming at 50 and saying, oh my God, now what do I do?
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, when you know they should have kind of been maintaining the whole time.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that awareness is certainly, I mean, a lot of my employees are millennials or even, gosh, they're I guess they're Gen Zers now, right?
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, they're much more aware of the need um for starting early in terms of you know, get giving um maintaining their skin health.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_03: No, that makes sense.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, it's it's interesting because you know, when I was a teenager, like going to a dermatologist was like a no-brainer to me.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_03: I was like, you know, uh, I'm breaking out, I don't know what this, you know, I'm gonna go see a germ.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_03: And I feel like now um the first thing people do is like, oh, I have a pimple, let me pick up TikTok.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_03: You know, it's just like, what are you doing?
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_03: You know, so I mean that's I feel like that's why I want to ask you these kind of questions because, you know, my goal, you know, as both a medical professional like yourself and as this podcast host is hoping that people stop doing that, you know.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_03: And and I would I would love to get your view on like what you think, um, you know, why is it important to go to a germ?
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_03: You know, like I know it's a big question, but like what if you were to give somebody like an elevator pitch about like why it matters, like what would you say to them, you know, just to convince them?
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I think the biggest, you know, biggest thing I would say is that we we're the experts, and and you know, you you really want to go to somebody who can can break down exactly what your particular skin needs.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_01: See, one of the things that that bothers me a lot about these TikToks and these other things is that they're just bundling everybody in into one group and saying, okay, this is what you need to do, like this is the cure, this is how you get rid of acne.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: Meanwhile, not even seeing the person or touching the person.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_01: You know, the dermatology is a very hands-on um, you know, type of field where I need to see your skin, I need to touch it.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_01: And so the fact that these people are getting information that they're actually taking and doing without having anyone actually examine their skin tends to be the scary part.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_01: And of course, oftentimes I see the end result, uh, which can can lead to scarring and all these other things that we then need to help to them to correct.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: So um, you know, I'm happy to see that some of some of my patients and and you know, some of the mothers and fathers are bringing their kids in even at 11 and 12 when they're starting to break out, so that they can get them on a good regimen without them going out, these kids going out and and starting to try all these different things that they see on the internet.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, absolutely.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_03: I think teenagers are definitely getting into more with like the skincare aspect and stuff.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_03: So I definitely hear you there.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, uh, so you know, that kind of leads me to ask you is like, you know, for example, there's a lot of controversy, I think, around like, you know, prescription medications for uh, you know, common dermatology, I guess, uh, you know, so things that people come to dermatology, like acne, rosacea, eczema.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_03: Um, what, you know, what is your approach with patients?
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_03: Is it really because you know, I think it's time to debunk this myth, right?
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_03: That if you go to a dermatologist, they're gonna automatically put you on Accutane.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, that's just not true.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_03: You know, people analyze and you're gonna be, you know, talked to, and and it's every patient is different.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_03: So I want you to talk to us about that, you know, the process of um, like what goes behind if a teenager or somebody comes to you with acne, like what's your process?
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_03: Obviously, you examine their skin, but in terms of like prescribing things, do you integrate skincare into your um prescriptions or how does that work for you?
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I'll tell you.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_01: And unfortunately, dermatology got a bad map because, you know, back in the day and not even that long ago, um, a lot of times, right, you'd walk into a derm office, you'd get a you know, quick examination, you'd get a prescription, it might not even, you know, be the appropriate thing for you.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_01: Whereas in my office, you know, we're very much of a um a boutique place where we approach patients in a holistic manner.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, after the examination, it's not just about if they need a prescription, it's about let's start with what's appropriate for your skin in terms of a good skincare regimen.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_01: What are you eating?
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_01: You know, what what's your lifestyle like?
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_01: What um procedures or or things that we can do to augment what we're gonna do with the skincare.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_01: So it's not simply throwing, you know, a prescription at a patient and then saying, I'll see you in six months.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: We're we take them through the journey because what happens so many times is that you know, patients who were just kind of given these prescriptions and then kind of put out the door, they have no idea how to use these things, they don't have no idea how to really take care of their skin in general.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I I my my approach is definitely a holistic one.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_03: I love that.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_03: No, I love that.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_03: And I know that you're very, very well recognized um, you know, in the space.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_03: And I know you have so much experience.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_03: So I I really want to ask you, you know, we hear things all the time about like horror stories, right?
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_03: Like with injectables and botox and stuff.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_03: And I would love for you to educate us on what is, you know, what are some of the things that consumers and patients should be looking for when they're um going for an aesthetic procedure?
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_03: You know, what are what are some of the red flags, I guess, that we can look out for, you know?
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, and this is something I I preach about all the time at conferences and other things and on social media.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_01: I would say the number one thing is go to a board-certified um dermatologist or plastic surgeon or physician or somebody who really knows what they're doing and knows the anatomy.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_01: Because remember, these things aren't innocuous.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_01: You know, fillers, fillers done by the wrong what wrong person doesn't know what they're doing and doesn't know the actual anatomy of the face and the body can lead to very bad consequences, even much worse than just you know having a fat lip or uh, you know, looking overdone.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, we're talking about actual uh necrosis or or problems that can can lead to real big big things and and um if it's gone wrong.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_01: So I would say that's the first thing.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_01: Go to um a person who actually um is a medical provider who knows what they're doing.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: And remember, every state is different, but there are people, there are states where it's the wild west.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, where you know that you don't need you don't need a degree, you don't need, and they're just doing all these crazy injectables, and of course we've all seen the horror stories.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I would say if you know, patients need to be educated about that first, um, and then you know, go from there.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_01: But I would say that's the most important thing.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_03: That makes sense.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_03: No, that definitely makes sense.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_03: And I think, you know, um it's very difficult, you know, to kind of like for me, like people reach out to us and they say, you know, should I go to an aesthetician or should I go to a dermatologist?
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_03: And I mean, no shade to any of my aesthetician friends out there, but I always say dermatologist because of exactly what you've said here.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_03: It's like this expertise level is just so important to recognize, you know, as as people and as consumers, because you know, going through medical school and then residency and then fellowship, I mean, that's a whole different life, you know, compared to like just aesthetic uh, you know, I guess training that you that estheticians get, you know.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_03: So I it's something that I'm very passionate about.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_03: And I think, you know, there's a huge difference there that consumers need to understand, right?
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm glad to do it.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_01: Because again, right, no, no, no, um, you know, no hate on estheticians.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_01: In fact, I we I work with them in my office, um, and we all work together.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_01: But I'll tell you, you know, the your point in terms of the training that we go through, I'm stunned sometimes.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_01: I'm stunned when I, you know, see pro quote unquote pro non-medical providers out there who are doing things and literally don't know this, don't know anything about the science, don't know anything about the anatomy, and yet are doing these things and and and patients think that they're experts.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_01: And then when something happens, you know, that goes wrong, they send them to me, you know, because um, right, because that now we got to deal with something.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_01: And and, you know, of course, it it would have been it would have been all all better if that person had uh come to um a medical provider in the first place.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, that leads me to ask you, what are some of the most like the trickiest procedures that people are really opting for right now?
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_03: Like, you know, um things that definitely need a trained hand, you know, to do.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_01: So I mean fillers is definitely going to be the number one.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_01: And the reason is, and and for those of you who are listening, um there's something called vascular occlusion, which basically means, you know, filler can, if you don't know where these vessels are in your face, in your body, filler can go into the wrong place and then cause big problems.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so that would be the number one.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_01: And there's certain areas like the nose, you know, which is very vascular and leads to, you know, arteries and such that are in our eyes that can, if if occluded or or or um filled, can um mistakenly can lead to blindness.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, God forbid.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, there's even areas you've probably seen, I mean, um, stories about injecting of the wrong type of sub substances like silicone for but lifts.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, so again, um fillers I would say would be you know one of those things where you certainly, certainly want to go to somebody who is medically trained, you know, because with things like Botox, yeah, you could end up with a wonky result, but it goes away in three or four months, it's not gonna usually cause big issues, and there it is.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_01: But with fillers for sure, you definitely um could get into trouble if you don't go to the right person.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_03: That makes sense.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_03: Now, I I've always like, I'm not gonna lie, I'm I'm scared of fillers.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_01: Don't be scared, come to me.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, absolutely.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_03: If I ever get anything done, obviously I'm going to come to you directly.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_03: Very scared of them because you know, when it comes to putting anything inside of your face, I just I mean, call me crazy, but I would definitely go to a licensed professional who's had a lot of years of training, you know, rather than a med spa or something like that.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_03: So um, you know, I'm I'm glad that you cleared that up because I I see that a lot.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_03: And obviously, I mean I'm sure you're aware of it too, is that a lot of the youth are really opting for it.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_03: I know when uh what's her I what's her name?
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_03: Kylie Kardashian or something.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, when she got her lips done, I know a lot of girls kind of flock to that, you know, they flock to the lip injections.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_03: Like, you know, how do you deal with that?
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_03: You know, like how do you deal with these trends, you know, as they pop up and then you see more, you know, I'm sure you see patients that come in, they're like demanding the same thing, right?
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_03: That's going on in social media.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_03: So, like, or do you see that rather a lot?
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_01: Uh uh uh yes.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_01: The answer is uh is a double triple yes for sure.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, especially something, you know, somebody who has the the power of social media, like a Kylie, Kylie um um uh Kardashian, and you know, so for instance, the lips, right?
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_01: So lip filler in is not bad, right?
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_01: So lip filler is not a bad thing.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_01: In fact, lip filler can, you know, be used not just to plump, it can smooth, it can be used to hydrate lips at an age, it can give a you know, can help some asymmetry.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_01: But the problem is is that with these images of these social media people who who have overdone it to say the least, you know, these these girls who want to understand the consequences long term of this look.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_01: So for instance, you know, I have um I have colleagues who will remain anonymous, but who know that that uh look and family actually um intimately, and and we're talking about six, eight, nine syringes of filler in in their lips, you know, which is just astounding.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I have to kind of re-educate, you know, both young people and and middle-aged people who are interested or thinking about lip filler, that that is overdone to an extent that is, you know, um, it's not the lip filler's fault, it's the fact that, you know, they're using way too much and going to people who are allowing them to use way way too much.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_01: So I I say no a lot.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_01: I say I say no a lot.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_01: And and one of the big things I'll do is also, you know, for instance, in in lip filler in general, you you have to go slow and steady because studies have shown that even after a year, 50% of filler is still in the lip.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_01: But yet patients want more and more and more and more.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_01: And that is actually what leads to something called lip migration, which is you know, where it actually moves away from the lips and goes into the areas around.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_01: And that's oftentimes if people get too much too quickly, they they get that ducky lip that everybody sees on, you know, on social media and on television that um happens, and it and that's can be hard to reverse.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_01: So it's really an edge education process.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that sounds really, really like I mean, definitely like a medical issue at that point.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I don't think anyone should even do that to a patient.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_03: Like that concerns me that there are practitioners out there that even allow that to happen, you know?
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_03: That's crazy.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's astounding, yeah.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_01: What what what we say?
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I I want to ask you because I know when you went on to the today's show, you had like, you know, six mistakes that we make with our skin, uh, skincare and skin health.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_03: And I would love for you to kind of expand on that a little bit.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I know you mentioned things like, for example, the use of SPF indoors and outdoors, and then only concentrating on our face.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_03: I want you to talk to us about um, you know, these kind of topics and what your suggestion is when we Approach buying over-the-counter treatment.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know, if I'm somebody like from, I'll take my example.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_03: I'm in my mid-30s, and when I'm approaching my skincare, what areas should I also be concentrating on other than my face?
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_01: Well, one thing, you know, when I was on that clip, um, you know, I talked about this last year, was the year of the neck, right?
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_01: And because, you know, we've all been so concentrated on our face, and which is great, you know, it's a start, but again, then then it ends up where we the neck skin is actually more vulnerable.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_01: It's thinner, um, vulnerable to environmental and skin as um sun damage.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_01: So people really would weren't thinking about that.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you you see people on the beach, right?
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_01: They'll re they'll be doing the right thing with the sunscreen, putting it on their face, putting it on their kids, and completely forgetting their neck and chest, and where it's completely exposed, you know.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_01: And what ends up happening, of course, is that your your neck and chest end up aging way faster than the than the rest of uh than your face, uh, of course, um, you know, in terms of that that that whole continuum there.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_01: So that was one of the things that we I talked about, which is everything that you use on your face, your antioxidant, your retinol, whatever it is, your sunscreen, apply it to your neck and your uh your declate area also.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_03: I mean no, I I've been trying to do that more and more.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_03: The like well, and I think in my 20s moving forward, I was definitely not it makes sense.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_03: And I think it's very easily forgotten.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_03: You know, we we concentrate so much on our face and and we forget our neck, and and that's really interesting.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_03: No, I didn't know that the skin is thinner or on your neck area.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, actually, even you know, so if if if anything, that's where you want to um apply the most for sure.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_03: Um, now, you know, since it is uh skin cancer awareness month, I I really want to ask you about things that we should be on the lookout for.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_03: I think, you know, um a lot of people are now coming into this understanding that skin cancer is one of the most prevalent cancers in the world, you know, the non-malignant type.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_03: And I feel like, you know, just knowing that we need to be, I guess, more self-aware.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_03: So if you could give us some advice on, you know, just you know how they tell you as women, like always do your own self-breast examinations, you know, just make sure you're keeping up.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_03: What are some things we can do to always keep an eye on our skin and and any changes we should always look out for and go to a dermatologist for?
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_01: So that's one of my favorite questions.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_01: And of course, May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, the first thing is to to, you know, over the age of 20, it's recommended that you get a full skin um mole check or exam every year.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and that should be increased to every six months if you're somebody maybe that has a has a lot of uh moles or nevi or has a family history of skin cancer.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_01: So that's of course the number one.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_01: And then having, remember the the the thing about um moles and such and looking at them or changing is a lot of areas you can't see.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_01: So having what whatever you uh having your mother or significant other help you in doing those skin checks, because sometimes it can be harder, of course, just look at your back, um, as opposed to you know looking at your breast for a self-pressed exam.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_01: And changes, of course, that we we've talked about are the A, B, C, D, E's of moles, and which is basically A for asymmetry.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_01: So if you you want um to look at moles and and see if they're basically pretty symmetric, border, b being for border border, um, C being for color, so something with kind of a broker, B, of course, being diameter, so it's like then the uh pencil eraser, which is millimeters, and then E being which basically means that if you had a mole that looked fine and then now it's changing, or you have a new one that's growing very fast, those are simple things that you can look out for and say, hey, let me go get it checked out by a dermatologist.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_01: Now, the good news is 99.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_01: But again, um, you know, as as lay people, it it's best if you those changes um to have a dermatologist check it out.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_03: You know, that made that actually makes it a lot easier is to remember those ABCs of this.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_03: And I hope everyone listening, um, you do that because that's that's something that I've always been curious about, you know.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_03: Um, for example, like my mother had this terrible skin tag, you know, on her eyelid for a very long time.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_03: And it was um, you know, it looked like a mole, and it looked it, it was just very difficult for her, and it kept growing and it grew into this, it was just bothering her.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_03: So for me, I was like, Well, why did you wait so long?
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_03: You know, you don't know what that is.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_03: And she was like, Well, it's just a skin tag.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, how do you know that?
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, like I just I just urge people, you know, like even more so, you know, during this month, like, go check it out.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_03: If you don't know what it is, don't assume it's a skin tag.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_03: And I actually want you to tell us like, what is the difference between a mole and a skin tag?
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_03: How do we how do we know which is which?
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I'd say the first thing is is you know, don't okay, so raised, first of all, so raised, something that's bumpy or raised, which you know, obviously a lot of skin tags are some uh benign um bumps called separate keratoses, we call them barnacles of age, are are raised.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_01: And that's when people actually freak out about those.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_01: They think that raise means bad, when in fact uh most me by or moles, mevi is just a medical terminology, uh are flat and and and end up being you know the ones that can transform into something like skin cancer.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_01: So again, raise doesn't necessarily mean bad, but again, if it's something that's evolving or changing to get it checked out, but also don't think that flat means it's okay, you know what I mean?
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_01: Because moles go deeper down underneath the skin.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_01: So that's what people kind of have to understand because a lot of times people think it's everything's fine unless it's raised.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_01: So I would say that's that's a big point that I educate patients about a lot.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_03: That's very interesting, like an iceberg, like you don't know.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of right, right, right exactly, exactly what's underneath.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_03: That's very interesting.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_03: No, I I mean I I'm definitely one of those people that's always been confused about that.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_03: So that's you know, I think I think this is something that is starting to come up the more and more I watch social media and people just influencers, you know, they're starting to talk about these things, and I it just makes me happy to see that at least somebody's talking about it, you know.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_03: And although these like these kind of facts before it was just medical school, right?
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_03: We we learned the stuff in medical school, but now I really, really love the idea that it's coming into this, you know, um public domain of understanding, you know.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_03: I I think the feedback I've I got very early on on this podcast was well, Ecto, why do you ask such science-heavy stuff?
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, well, because everyone deserves to know this stuff, you know, like you we gotta know.
• 29:04
  unknown: Yeah.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_01: So I actually want to ask you.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I will say that social media and and podcasts and you know, or social media may get a bad rap in some respects, because of course misinformation, everything, but it also has been um, you know, kind of a conduit for patients to say, oh, wait a minute, maybe I should get this checked out.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_01: So there's there's a huge role in disseminating that scientific key information.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um, even patients don't understand it completely, they under they do understand, like, okay, this is gonna get me to go see the doctor and just make sure everything's okay.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_03: Exactly.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_03: No, exactly.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_03: I completely agree with you.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_03: And I, you know, I actually think that um it it's important to know where to go, like which doctors to go to.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_03: And that actually leads me to a question I I really wanted to ask you, which was, you know, you are such an accomplished physician.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_03: For everyone listening, you know, Dr.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_03: Nichols um has studied at Harvard School of Medicine.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_03: She has so much experience, top institutions.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and as being a woman, and especially as a woman of color, you know, I know how difficult that must have been to like really, you know, be so successful and be at the top of your field.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_03: So I would love for you to talk about your experience um and your journey and give any advice you have for any aspiring physicians out there, especially women that might be listening.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you know, that that's my thing, which is um, you know, women in business, and I'm gonna, of course, I'm a woman of color in business, and entrepreneurship is kind of half of what I do as a as as a physician and um as an entrepreneur.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_01: And I think the the biggest thing is getting, you know, is realizing that you have to, and I know this sounds funny, but um you have to sell yourself, not the product, right?
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, we we talk about the commoditization of of things like Botox, you can go down the street and get it, this and that.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_01: So what's really helped me as as I I've grown in my practice is essentially myself and the the unique gifts that I have, um, the unique um you know attributes of of my employees in our office and what we bring to patients.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_01: And that's really what's led us to to success, and hopefully we'll continue to do that.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because I think a lot of people, you know, when they get in this space, especially in dermatology and aesthetics, they're just like, oh God, how do I, you know, how do I differentiate myself?
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_01: Anybody can do this.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_01: And it's really about um, you know, yourself and credentialing who you are and what you bring um to your patients.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_01: So I said I would say that's the number one thing.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and of course, you know, always realizing that you're gonna be, you're gonna be constantly growing and you need to continue to to educate yourself and your staff.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_01: For instance, in my my office, we have God, we have so we have uh Monday staff meetings that go on and on because our staff is so involved in everything that goes on.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_01: We do grand rounds where they learn about even front desk people will learn about procedures and will do them and demonstrations so that of course they can speak to um the patients on the phone and everything else.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm proudly obviously a woman-owned, and right now, you know, we're we're women operated.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_01: So um all of my employees are um, you know, uh women who are are really intent on on bringing other women up in this business and and beyond.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think it really gives people uh or or women, for instance, in my business, it really gives them a mission that's more than just about Botox or more than just about, you know, uh what we do in terms of patient care.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_01: It's about um building something that's bigger than themselves.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_03: I love that, by the way.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_03: I love that you're you know, you're really just walking the talk.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_03: You know, you're not just you're really leading the way with this, with the, you know, supporting fellow, you know, female entrepreneurs and and professionals, because I often see, you know, women that are so successful, but then you look at their teens and it's like, well, where's all the other one women that you can give a chance to?
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_03: You know, so I appreciate that a lot.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, that's that's huge.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_03: And I think uh we can all learn from that, you know, that example.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I do want to ask you one last question, Dr.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_03: Nichols, and that's your favorite ingredients in skincare.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_03: I would love to hear like a short list that you love um of you know, just seeing products that have these ingredients or anything that you might recommend to us as we're shopping for skincare.
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I mean, I and I and I like to, you know, a lot of my patients will come, as we talked about in the beginning, will come and say, I don't even know where to start anymore.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_01: Because it's so it's either the patient who who who's been inundated by information, maybe that's the younger patient seeing all this stuff on social media and TikTok and all this stuff, or it's the patient like my age who is who's like, you know what, I I've done it all.
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_01: I have this drawer full of stuff that I don't even use anymore.
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know what I'm supposed to use.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_01: So I really try to kind of pare it down to what's the most important thing or the most important ingredients.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_01: So number one, of course, is sunscreen, right?
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_01: And of course, and and I know it sounds boring, but using sunscreen every single day, even if you're working at home, you know, in front of a blue light of a computer, number one, most important, vitamin C and E, antioxidant, number two, every single morning, because it's gonna protect you from the environmental damage that we're being, you know, blasted with every single day.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_01: And then at night, uh, things like glycolic and retinol, right?
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_01: Because as age, of course, those skin cells are starting to slow down their turnover.
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_01: So we need we need things that are gonna help to speed that up again.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_01: So I would we I call it the trifecta, but that really is, those are the three number one products that I say should be the basis of anyone's skincare regimen.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_01: If you can do more than that, great.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, we're all working hard, we're tired, we're moms, we're you know, owners of businesses, this and that.
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but that would be the three three ingredients that I would say would be the most important.
• 35:17
  SPEAKER_03: I love that.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_03: I really love that.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_03: And it's simple, you know.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_03: It that's the best part is like I always try to tell people, like, yeah, I feel like good science is gonna be simple.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_03: And that's you know, what's described is just it's beautiful to know that these are the things that are absolutely essential.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, when it comes to antioxidants, I think now like I'm finally seeing this word circulate, right?
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_03: It's like before it was like people had no idea what an antioxidant even is, and so to hear this in the mainstream and then to hear dermatologists back that up, it makes me really happy, you know, as well as a scientist.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_03: So um, I definitely appreciate that.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_03: And everyone listening, I hope you're taking notes.
• 35:55
  SPEAKER_03: Because um, I want you to give us some examples though, Dr.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_03: Nichols, some products you personally love or that you've seen your patients use um that you approved of, if you could.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 36:07
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I one of my favorites, for instance, is um from Skin Suiticals, which is is called Custom Dose.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_01: Basically, it's a customized uh serum that's used at night, which has a lot of different ingredients that are customized for the patient's needs, basically for um, you know, you know, helping bite down spots, uneven skin, um, a little formulated with retinol, but they're customized for the patient.
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_01: So that's one of my um for sure is for myself and for everybody.
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_01: I also love um sunscreens that are, you know, the one of okay, so one of the problems with sunscreens and why people wouldn't use them on a daily basis, especially even in people of color, would be that they were chalky.
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_01: If you were somebody of color like yourself and and and you put on a sunscreen, it would kind of you know make you look pasty.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_01: The sunscreen formulations these days are so much better.
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_01: They're really so much better.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of them, um, there's one that's called a daily brightening that also skin suiticals that literally I I sometimes use, I don't even put makeup on after it because it gives such a nice glow, but it it has the the SPF protection behind it.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_01: So I really think people need to give these sunscreens another a chance if they've had bad experiences with some of those old kind of lifeguardy ones uh from the past.
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, no, I I think sunscreen, you're absolutely right.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_03: Like for me, it was the same story, you know.
• 37:33
  SPEAKER_03: Like, uh yeah, I can't wear it because it feels like a mask on my face, you know.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_03: So I I hear you there.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_03: Um now, when are you coming out with your online, Doc?
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_01: Because I would we're working on it.
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_03: Working on it.
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_03: Well, we're working on it.
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_03: I hope you do come out with it soon, and I would love to have you on for that because I'm sure it's gonna be phenomenal.
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_01: So I would love that.
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_01: I would love that.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_03: Um, well, everyone listening, I hope you enjoyed this episode, Dr.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_03: Nichols.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_03: If you have any questions at all for her team, please leave them in the comments section.
• 38:05
  SPEAKER_03: I will definitely pass them along.
• 38:07
  SPEAKER_03: And like I said, we would love to have you back anytime, Doc.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_03: I I love learning from dermatologists.
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_03: I think it's such a fascinating field, you know, and there's just so much to learn.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_03: So I really appreciate you breaking it down for us and and giving us something to really kind of think about as we're approaching our skin health.
• 38:24
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you again.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for for having me.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_01: And for anybody who has even questions, please DM us on our Instagram or anything else.
• 38:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and again, I'd love to be on the show again once once we come out with that new line that's coming soon.
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_01: I hope.
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_03: Awesome, awesome.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_03: No, I'm gonna tag everything.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_03: So everyone uh listening, please check out our Instagram feed for all the tags and uh all the information.
• 38:45
  SPEAKER_03: But thank you again, and I will be back next time.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_03: Awesome.
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_03: Hey guys, so I hope you love that episode.
• 38:51
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• 38:56
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• 39:34
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• 39:44
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• 39:56
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