Acne is quite possibly one of the most emotional skincare journeys a person can take. There are days when you wish you could be invisible, days when you feel the burn of everyone's eyes on that new crop of pimples that showed up overnight, and days when you regret picking because now your pimples are bigger and angrier than they were before you touched them. There are also those magical days when you wake up and all of the stars have aligned and your skin is clear and bright

There's a little cart that holds a fantastic little machine and it makes its way from treatment room to treatment room and saves the day when nothing else seems to work. It's a device called LamProbe. LamProbe is a radio frequency energy device that utilizes disposable sterile attachments to correct a multitude of minor skin conditions, irregularities and growths. I've talked about this before, but as we age, there are lots of little unsightly barnacles that grow on skin. Mos

I have a secret. I have an unwavering love for the sun. now don’t get me wrong, I wear SPF, hats, and hang out under umbrellas, but I still love the sun. I think there is a common misconception that if you take all of the aforementioned precautions then you won’t wind up with sun damage. WRONG! Those UV rays are tricky and they find a way to circumvent even the most advanced sun protection leaving you with brown and red spots. Oh you didn't know? Diffuse redness and broken ca

If your teenage years were anything at all like mine, you spent the summer months trying to get a “healthy tan.” Boy, if I only knew then what I know now! I spent endless hours at the Jersey Shore baking myself with the help of Baby Oil mixed with Iodine only to wind up with blistered pinkish purple sunburns that peeled away and left me with permanent damage and not even a hint of a tan. As the years roll by, I find myself wondering why I tortured my poor skin repeatedly know

Let me tell you a little bit about Scarlet. She and I have become pretty close since meeting in March 2019. She is tall, slender, and attractive, but she does have a mean streak! Despite her nasty side, she’s a good friend to have. She will bring out the best in you, but she’ll use tough love to get you there. She has perfected her craft and is extremely successful too. I’m speaking, of course, about Scarlet SRF microneedling with radio frequency. Scarlet is a machine, develo

I was treating a patient the other day who is in her mid 30's with very healthy skin. She is regular about her skin care treatments and religious about her home care. She is seemingly doing great, but asked me if she should be doing peels. In her case, I advised against it and asked why she felt like it was something she should explore. She said she simply "didn't know what comes next." That sat with me for the remainder of the day and I realized that many of my patients were

Aging is not for the faint of heart! in the years to come, I will continue to fight for superior dermal health, but I fully expect...

Retinol, retinoid, retinoic acid, adapalene, tretinoin, what are they? Are they all the same? Are they right for you? All of these ingredients /products are a form of Vitamin A. Vitamin A is an essential nutrient to the body that helps with maintaining healthy skin, eye function, reproductive health, and immune health. When taken in supplement form, it is stored in the liver until it is needed internally. When applied topically, it is readily absorbed by the skin so it can su

Whether you are a dad, have a dad, are married to a dad, or know a dad, this post is for you! Gentlemen, your skin matters too. There is definitely an increase in the number of men we are seeing in the treatment rooms, but we can do better. While men’s skin is not that much different than women’s physiologically, we do treat it quite differently. There is the obvious distinction of facial hair, which can limit the types of treatment we are able to perform, but there is also a

Nobody’s Got Time for That You did your homework and you wrote down your questions. You made an appointment and now you are in your initial consultation for the newest hottest trend in skincare (as described by Celebrity of the week). You are stoked that this will give you perfectly glowing skin. This is going to be great! Then your provider tells you that results vary by person, and no guarantees can be made. And oh, by the way, you will look like a face full of road rash fo

Body hair…not a fan. Shaving…not a fan. Waxing, also, Not. A. Fan. When I was about 23 years old, laser hair removal was becoming more and more of a popular option for reducing unwanted hair. In its infancy, it was considered a luxury treatment, and was quite expensive. Laser treatment chains like American Laser Centers (my very first job as a laser tech. BTW) started popping up across the US offering packages with payment options so that everyone could take advantage of perm

Its that time of year again, May flowers are in bloom and the landscapes are gorgeous, but if you are one of the more than 50 million allergy sufferers in the US, you can’t go out and enjoy it because your eyes swell shut, your sinuses feel like they are going to burst, and everything itches! Seasonal allergies are miserable. And, to add insult to injury, they and their medications wreak havoc on your skin too! Every Spring my face swells up like it did when I was pregnant. M

This weekend my family and I got out of the Phoenix heat by distancing in a cabin in Big Bear Lake, CA. It was glorious being in the fresh air and cool temperatures! There was snow still on the top of the mountains. It was amazing! And then I fell and sprained my ankle. I wasn’t even doing anything exciting, just walking along and down I went so this year for Mother’s Day I got lots of scrapes, an air cast, a big colorful cankle and a tetanus shot! What does this have to do w

Melasma, say it with me, melaaaaaaasma sounds like it should be the name of some super decadent gooey dessert, but actually it is the name o

The month of May is Skin Cancer Awareness month so I thought it only fitting, as an advocate of healthy skin, that we talk about the basic kinds of skin cancer and go over the ABCDE’s of skin cancer detection in moles. First, let’s explore some of the different types of skin cancer. Basal Cell Carcinoma is the most common form of skin cancer making up 80% of the more than 3 million skin cancer diagnoses each year. Basal Cell Carcinoma develops in the basal cell layer or lowe

My knees and elbows are dry and flaky, my hands so incredibly itchy, and my knuckles cracked and raw. I'll admit I am terrible about hyperfocusing on my face and forgetting the rest of my largest organ. I do carry excess face products left on my hands down onto my neck and chest (Décolleté, if you're fancy), and once a month-ish, I put some lotion on my legs. But that's about all I ever manage. Now that I have copious amounts of free time, I am seeing the effects of my neglec

I want to talk a little bit about the choice to have a procedure or treatment. In every consultation, it is my goal to help you reach YOUR skin health goals. If you ask me what I think you should do, I will hand you a mirror and ask you to point out the thing or things that bother you the most. I'll make recommendations based on your lifestyle, timeline, and budget. What I won't do, is point things out that you haven't mentioned, but may bother you later. Chances are, if we g

I know you have all been waiting for this one...how to do an at-home peel!!! By now we are all feeling kinda gross. You haven't put on makeup since this stay at home order began. You have roots for days, there are two lash extensions remaining on your right eye and three on your left. Your daughter painted your toenails (and we love them no matter what they look like). Lets face it, we all need a pick-me-up. An at-home peel is a great way to refresh your appearance in a long

In my post "Missing Me," I discuss categorizing your stash of products so that you can use them more efficiently, but it has occurred to me that you may not know which of your products goes where. Categorizing products can be a little tricky, especially when they have multiple functions. Let's look at the products and ingredients needed for a good basic skincare regimen, so you can get your products out of the cabinet or drawer and onto your face, neck, chest, and maybe even

Lately I’ve gotten a TON of inquiries about acne. In my post “Acne and Your Gut,” I talk about the influence a healthy diet will have on acne, but I don’t really get into treatment options. In this post, I will give an overview of different treatments for different types of acne. This is not a replacement for a visit to the dermatologist. If you are suffering from acne, it is a good idea to get the advice of a dermatologist. #skinguru4u #bealsmd #acne #acnetreatment Acne is a