Are You Overdoing Your Skincare?

 

[INTRO] Hey, everyone. Welcome to Facially Conscious. I'm Trina Reneá, an esthetician with deep experience in medical aesthetics. And I'm sitting with my two rock star co‑hosts, Dr. Vicki Rapaport. She is a board‑certified dermatologist with practices in Beverly Hills and Culver City, and we have Julie Falls, our educated consumer, who is here to represent you. 

So, on this show, we help you navigate the world of skincare, treatments, procedures and trends so you can understand what’s working, what's marketing, and what's actually worth your time and money. Think of us as your go‑to girls for making sense of it all and helping you make smarter, more confident decisions about your skin. 

01:10 Trina Reneá: Hi, ladies. Welcome. 

01:11 Julie Falls: Hi. What are we talking about today? 

01:13 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: I think we're going to talk about punch biopsies. 

01:17 Julie Falls: Ooh.

01:19 Trina Reneá: No, I have a question, okay? 

01:21 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: Okay. 

01:22 Trina Reneá: So you know when you punch biopsy somebody and you take a circle piece of their skin out, and it's just like a chunk of their skin comes out perfectly circular?

01:31 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: Yes.

01:34 Trina Reneá: Okay. So I was cleaning earlier and I'm holding up this metal thing. It's like a flower leaf. 

01:41 Julie Falls: It's a feather. 

01:42 Trina Reneá: I slam down on it with my hand and one of the little tips gave me a punch biopsy. It's a perfect circle and it's hurting. Do I need to come in? 

01:52 Julie Falls: Trina…

01:53 Trina Reneá: It's bleeding and it went really, really deep, like into the dermis or the lower…

01:59 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: I'm looking at that thing that you say you impaled yourself with. And, I bet you, that thing is dirty as hell. Not that you're dirty, but just that thing is like dirty as hell. You need to clean that. 

02:07 Julie Falls: Oww. 

02:09 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: You need to clean that with soap and water. I would even do like a little peroxide. Do you have some hypochlorous acid you can spray on that? 

02:14 Trina Reneá: No, but I put hydrogen peroxide and then I put Polysporin and put a Band-Aid on it. But it hurts to move my muscle. Am I going to die? 

02:24 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: No, you're definitely not going to die. But can you send me a picture every single day so I can look at it? If it gets redder and hotter, then we'll get you some oral antibiotics. But, yeah, you impaled yourself. 

02:33 Julie Falls: How deep did it go? 

02:34 Trina Reneá: It looked like a punch biopsy. It looked like a circular thing. At first, no blood came out of it. And then it filled up and then it started, like, doing its weird thing. Then it swelled up. 

02:45 Julie Falls: Is it bleeding?

02:47 Trina Reneá: The Band‑Aid has full blood. 

02:48 Julie Falls: I think you should go to urgent care. 

02:51 Trina Reneá: What? 

02:51 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: She doesn't need to go to urgent care.

02:54 Trina Reneá: Oh, no. 

02:56 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: So, Trina, when we're done with the podcast, send me a very, very clear couple photos of it, and I’ll look at it. 

03:01 Trina Reneá: Okay.

03:01 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: And I like the idea that you're doing the Polysporin. Keep doing the Polysporin. If it gets worse, of course, I'm going to help you. But you don't need to go to urgent care for that. I can help you.

03:11 Julie Falls: Okay, well, I have something called a ganglion…

03:16 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: Ganglionic cyst.

03:18 Julie Falls: It is so painful I'm going to go to an orthopedic guy. 

03:21 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: They're going to slam a bible on it.

03:23 Trina Reneá: You slam a bible on it and it pops.

03:25 Julie Falls: I think they aspirate it. I have to go to Europe and pull my suitcase, so I want to get it done before. Do they aspirate it, Dr. Vicki? 

03:33 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: They'll numb it. They'll make a little incision. They'll get all the junk out. They'll probably inject it with cortisone. And then they'll tell you it's going to come back, because they do love to come back. But you can just get it drained. If people want them excised, it's a much bigger deal. But, yes, they'll do a great job and they'll take care of you, and you'll feel better, especially if they inject some steroid in it. 

Anything else you guys want to show me? 

03:53 Julie Falls: I know, right?

03:56 Trina Reneá: Okay. Well, what we're here to talk about today is barrier repair and exfoliation, and how to do both without overdoing it, because people say barrier repair versus exfoliation. I don't think it's a versus. I think that sometimes you can exfoliate and do too much, and then disrupt your barrier. Then you need barrier repair. So I think we can do both.

I think this is an important subject because everybody's talking about it right now. Like, everything's about barrier creams and barrier, barrier. And people are saying don't exfoliate, but let's talk about that. I know everyone wants that glass skin, right, Julie? 

04:34 Julie Falls: Yeah, absolutely. Well, let's first talk about what exactly the barrier is. 

04:40 Trina Reneá: Yeah, Dr. Vicki, you want to tell everyone? 

04:42 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: So on the very, very, very top of your epidermis is the topmost layer, which is the stratum corneum, which it repairs itself every 28 days. A little bit slower when you're older. Unfortunately, that's why people get dry skin stuck on their face because they don't exfoliate naturally. 

But the very, very, very top layer is called the stratum corneum, and that is what the barrier is made up of. What is it made up of? It's made up of corneocytes, which are skin cells. Corneocytes, and the lipid layer. 

And the lipid layer is very important because that's what keeps the corneocytes stuck together. The lipid layer is very, very, very important. It keeps those corneocytes together, it keeps the barrier strong. What's in the lipid layer is really important. And this is the last thing I'll say about, it is cholesterol, fatty acids, and ceramides. That's the cement that kind of glues your skin cells together. When that is disrupted, your skin barrier is disrupted. 

So you want to elaborate a little bit on that, Trina, about the stratum corneum and the barrier? 

05:43 Trina Reneá: The way that I explain it to clients is I dumb it down a little. We say, think of a brick wall and think of the glue that holds the bricks on. The bricks are your stratum corneum and the things that are holding the bricks together is the mortar. So the bricks and mortar are what the top surface of your skin is. So if the mortar is disrupted, the bricks will fall off or stay together. 

06:09 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: Tumble down.

06:10 Trina Reneá: Right. So what this layer is doing is it's protecting your water to stay in your skin and not to evaporate out of your skin. It's also keeping irritants and bacteria and things from attacking your skin. It can't get through that layer. So if that layer is disrupted and the mortar is breaking through, and you're over exfoliating and you're doing things, or the weather is hurting your skin or whatever is disrupting that barrier so that it's not a solid brick and mortar, then that's when you get a compromised barrier. That's when you need to use barrier repair creams to fix that surface dryness and dehydration.

People do it to themselves a lot with over exfoliating. Then you get this water loss and then the barrier gets dehydrated. It gets irritated. It gets broken. And then you have stinging that starts to occur. Even water and cleanser will sting your skin.

If your skin is stinging, that means you have a disrupted barrier. And you want to use gentle products. You want to stop exfoliating. You want to get your barrier back in order. 

But you can still exfoliate. You just need to do it maybe less. You never want to get to the point where your skin is stinging. 

07:29 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: What your barrier is doing is it's not only keeping the rest of your skin intact so it doesn't just melt, but it's locking in moisture. We absolutely need moisture. And without our skin barrier, you open the skin up for all the irritants, the environmental toxins, just everything that's in the world. Like, it is protecting us from the outside world. 

And when you have that irritated, broken down skin barrier, it looks like this. It's red. It's itchy. It's flaky, It's peely. It's dry. It's rough. Sometimes discoloration comes from a disrupted barrier. And burning, and then even actually acne and breakouts. So a disrupted skin barrier can cause literally almost everything bad that can happen to your skin. 

And then the root causes of the skin barrier disruption, it can be an internal thing. It can be genetic. People who have eczema, unfortunately. People who have psoriasis. People who have genetic reasons to have certain rashes and very dry skin. But mostly it's external. I think that's what you were saying, is that we do it to ourselves, Trina. Sometimes it's weather changes. You can't predict and you can't control coming indoor from outdoor with the heat on. And then, of course, fragrance can do it. Allergens in our products can do it. And what Trina said, over exfoliating is the number one cause of a damaged skin barrier. 

08:48 Julie Falls: Is that what you see in your practice primarily, from people just doing too much of what they think is a good thing and it's not? 

08:55 Trina Reneá: I see a lot. 

08:56 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: I see mostly like the genetic reasons. Yes, I have some people who overdo it with Retin‑A and retinol and all the acids, yes, but mostly it's because they have eczema or they just are genetically prone to being very, very dry. 

09:08 Julie Falls: What about like inflammation, like alcoholism and things like that, rosacea? 

09:14 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: Well, yes. And rosacea is genetic, but rosacea isn't really a barrier problem. It's more of an inflammatory problem. But it's disrupting your barrier. If you're prone to rosacea, it will bring out your rosacea. So yes, if you're prone to rosacea and you strip your skin and you irritate it, of course, your rosacea is going to come roaring back. 

09:34 Julie Falls: I was wondering if in the last few years or so, there's obviously TikTok, social media, Instagram, all ages, there's such a craze for skincare. It's funny because I think about how far back I was starting to care for my skin and nobody was really talking about it then. Of course, Vicki, it's your profession. Trina, it's your profession. And now, it's everywhere. It's all ages. You see even little kids. There are so many products being sold. 

I'm wondering if people have jumped on this bandwagon and they've over, over treated themselves. And they're causing a lot of barrier disruptions because of wanting to over treat and use too many products. 

10:25 Trina Reneá: I see a lot of confusion in my clients. Social media has really made products seem extremely amazing. Then they buy them and they're not. They're just trying so much more at the same time, and so they don't know what's disrupting and what's not. 

I keep trying to tell people, like, get back to the simplicity of it. Your skin is simple. It doesn't need a lot. You just need to support it. And I think that overuse of lots of different products, and they don't know what to use and they don't know what's the same as the other on their shelf, they end up confusing their skin. And then it gets irritated. 

Let's go back to the simplicity of it all and not disrupt the barrier. Let's make sure the barrier is intact and then do a little bit of treating.

I find myself having to do a lot more explaining these days because of everything that's on social media and the hypes. 

11:26 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: And we get to see, the small percentage of people that we see. Imagine the massive amounts of percentage of people who are out there who never see an esthetician and who definitely never see the dermatologist. Hopefully, this will reach these people. 

Yes, Julie, they're overdoing everything, right? There's so many accessible products now and they're being directly marketed to, so people are using so much stuff on their skin. And if they get rashes, whether it's perioral dermatitis or hives or irritation, it's going to be quite obvious. I hope these people will just stop using all their products. 

And there is a way to get your skin barrier back. Your skin barrier is brilliant. It's going to go back to normal. It's going to bring its lipid layer back and everything will be okay. But they do have to stop all the crazy steps that they're doing. They don't need all these numerous products. 

Some people can handle it. Some skin is quite oily. Some skin needs it and will never get irritated. Good for those people. But I think there are so many people who are just doing way too much. 

12:23 Julie Falls: Yeah, I was very lucky because a long time ago, if I ever had any kind of reactivity, Trina would send me home and say, “Don't use anything. Just a few nights of Aquaphor when you go to bed.” And to this day, I still do it. I actually did my diaper rash cream the other night, but sometimes you just got to lay off. And I keep trying to tell people less is more.

12:48 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: You did a diaper rash cream? That's impressive. Which one? 

12:51 Julie Falls: Oh, yeah. The Triple Paste.

12:53 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: Oh, yeah. No, Triple Paste, I learned about that in residency. It's the best because it has zinc oxide and petrolatum. It's amazing. 

13:00 Julie Falls: Yeah, it's great. Great in the morning. But then there are people like Trina who don't even wash their faces. 

13:04 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: Yes. 

13:05 Julie Falls: So that's a whole other level we have to talk about, which we have talked about before. 

13:11 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: And Trina, do you not wash your face because you're trying to keep your skin barrier intact? 

13:15 Trina Reneá: Yes. Because I don't have oily skin. My skin is on the drier side. My body creates oil, we all do, and it comes out to the surface. It's your natural moisture barrier. It is your God‑given moisturizer. So why are we washing it off so much? 

I try not washing because… I mean, I tell people, “Wash your face. If you wear makeup, wash your face.” And if you wear Pavise, wash your face. 

13:41 Julie Falls: Right. But we have this conversation before. I only use water in the morning. I don't use any products.

13:46 Trina Reneá: That’s good. 

13:48 Julie Falls: But at night, I feel like I need to double cleanse. 

13:51 Trina Reneá: Yeah. But you wear makeup. 

13:52 Julie Falls: And sunscreen, makeup and sunscreen. So you don't even cleanse once? No cleansing morning and night. 

13:59 Trina Reneá: No, I don't. I mean, I splash with water morning and night, for sure, but I don't use actual cleanser. I also sit in this room all day in shades, so I don't really need sunscreen in here. So, I don't know. It's been working for me. My skin never gets dry and it's been in good shape.

14:21 Julie Falls: Good. 

14:21 Trina Reneá: Plus I use exosomes. That’s a whole other thing. 

14:25 Julie Falls: God bless. God bless. 

14:28 Trina Reneá: But I do exfoliate sometimes. I do use a little retinol and I do use a little glycolic. I don't use it as often as I used to use it, but I do use them. 

14:38 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: The name of this podcast is important because it's barrier repair and exfoliation, how to do both without overdoing it. As a dermatologist, we do see so many people with issues that need exfoliation. Acne, for instance. Usually, comedones, blackheads, that kind of thing. Doing exfoliation is very important. 

And we will definitely harm people's skin barrier by prescribing certain acne medications, so we train patients, we teach them every other day or taking breaks, make sure to get the moisturizer on your skin. 

But if you don't have acne, you also just want to exfoliate because, as we get older, as I was describing that 28‑day turnover of the skin cells, it slows down. Sometimes it's 40 days, sometimes it's 60 days. And these people who are much older have very unsightly dry skin that just heaped up. It's not dry skin from being dry. It's like dead skin that isn't falling off, so they need a little exfoliation. 

Sometimes that just means a wash rag. Sometimes that just means cleansing with a little scrub or a little salicylic acid. But I like the idea of the balance of exfoliating a little bit to whatever your heart's content, whatever your skin can handle, and also keeping the skin barrier up and the moisture barrier up. 

I think that people are pretty smart. They can kind of figure it out themselves. But if they end up needing help, they should seek the dermatologist or the esthetician. 

15:59 Julie Falls: Yeah. I was going to say, nobody knows your skin better than you do. I have days where I have a little redness, so I'll use some rosacea wash. Then maybe the next day I'll use a glycolic wash. I change my cleansers almost every night.

16:14 Trina Reneá: For the purpose of this episode, it's not barrier repair or exfoliation. It's barrier care and exfoliation. You want to take care of your barrier and you can exfoliate. These are two totally different things. One is protecting the barrier. The other one is exfoliating dead skin so that your cells will reproduce faster and you will get a better, smoother surface. And you want to care for your barrier. You can do both at the same time. 

Barrier repair creams are to repair a damaged barrier. They keep the barrier safe. There are ingredients that are more lipid forward and they're protecting the barrier from damage. 

16:57 Julie Falls: I feel like they're throwing that name on everything now.

16:59 Trina Reneá: I know. But I think people are damaging their barrier and so they're throwing out all these barrier repair creams for the stuff that they're throwing at people, you know? It's like all these extra products and overdoing things to your skin. Your skin gets irritated and then you have to use barrier repair. The industry is creating it.

17:22 Julie Falls: I guess. Can't you just use Vaseline? 

17:24 Trina Reneá: Yes. Okay. So, I am definitely not anti‑exfoliation. I am for exfoliation, but I'm for exfoliation in a controlled manner. You can be guided better by an esthetician or a dermatologist than by social media people who don't know, who are promoting things to you. 

I hate social media sometimes.

Anyways, so barrier care and exfoliation, they do opposite jobs. One is caring for the barrier, the other one is exfoliating dead skin cells. Does it make sense? 

18:05 Julie Falls: Yes, absolutely. For example, using a mild lactic acid serum once a week is exfoliation, and then a ceramide moisturizer, using sunscreen, that's all barrier care. They all follow each other, which is great. 

18:15 Trina Reneá: Exactly. 

18:19 Julie Falls: We have probably, Dr. Vicki has products that she really likes, and Trina does and so do I. They would be available to you, if you're interested, in our Substack. We’ll list any exfoliating products and barrier care that we would recommend. 

18:35 Trina Reneá: Yes. 

18:37 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: Do you guys know the difference between chemical exfoliating and physical exfoliating? 

18:41 Julie Falls: I don't.

18:42 Trina Reneá: I do. 

18:43 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: Oh, of course you do. Enlighten us. 

18:46 Trina Reneá: Chemical exfoliation is using things like Retin‑A, retinol, glycolic, salicylic acid, lactic acid, all the acids. That's a chemical exfoliator. A physical exfoliator is something like a washcloth or a scrub brush or a scrub. 

The difference between the two is that the chemical exfoliation goes deeper into the layers and helps to exfoliate a little bit more, where the physical exfoliator, if you go back to the brick and mortar, if you're scrubbing the top of the bricks, the only ones that are going to come off are the ones that don't have the mortar in between them. So it's the very top pieces maybe you're going to get off. So it's a much lighter exfoliation at the surface. You're not really getting into the layers. You're not getting through the mortar. 

It feels good, the physical exfoliation. Your face feels soft afterwards. Some people can really scrub too hard and then they get red and irritated and inflamed, which is not a good thing to do. It doesn't get the layers off. It just irritates your skin. 

So if you're looking for a feel‑good exfoliation, I think physical is more fun. Chemical is deeper and does more.

20:02 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: Okay. So I'm going to give Julie a test. Okay, Julie, chemical or physical exfoliator? Walnut shell. 

20:09 Julie Falls: That would be a physical. 

20:11 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: Ding, ding, ding. A‑plus. Trina, citric acid, chemical or physical exfoliator? 

20:17 Trina Reneá: Chemical. 

20:18 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: Yeah. Okay, Julie, rice powder, chemical or physical exfoliator? 

20:24 Julie Falls: I'm going to say both. 

20:28 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: Ooh, that was sort of a trick question. It's a physical. 

20:31 Julie Falls: It's a physical. Okay. 

20:31 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: Yeah, because it's like-- and then Trina, this is so easy. You're going to get this, but it's a good one because it's out there. Pumice stone, physical or chemical exfoliator? 

20:42 Trina Reneá: Physical, physical.

20:46 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: How about sugar? Chemical or physical exfoliator? 

20:49 Trina Reneá: Physical. 

20:50 Julie Falls: Physical.

20:51 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: Physical. Good. But interesting because glycolic acid comes from sugar cane. 

20:55 Julie Falls: Right, and that's why I thought the rice maybe had a little bit of beneficial…

20:59 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: It's interesting, yeah. I think you guys both got A's. Nice job. 

21:05 Julie Falls: Thank you. 

21:06 Trina Reneá: So I have a cleanser that I love, that I have here in my line, but it has glycolic acid and salicylic acid and jojoba beads.

21:18 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: Super exfoliator. 

21:21 Trina Reneá: Yeah. So they loosen up the dead skin cells.

21:23 Julie Falls: Everybody loves that cleanser. 

21:26 Trina Reneá: The scrubby stuff gets off, what the glycolic and salicylic are loosening. So it's a quick thing. It's a little bit but it's got a little of both, which is cool. 

21:35 Julie Falls: Do you ever use it yourself? 

21:38 Trina Reneá: Yeah, it's in my shower, so once a week.

21:41 Julie Falls: Once a week. 

21:42 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: There you go. That's the balance of the barrier care and exfoliation. This is a great example. You're a living, breathing example of how to balance this. 

21:50 Julie Falls: And I must say, , everyone in my family uses that and loves it. 

21:54 Trina Reneá: Yeah, it's a good one. 

21:55 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: So once a week you indulge?

21:58 Trina Reneá: Yeah. 

21:58 Julie Falls: Wow. 

21:59 Trina Reneá: But I also use retinol. 

22:01 Julie Falls: Party, party, party. 

22:02 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: Party in the shower.

22:04 Julie Falls: Yeah. 

22:05 Trina Reneá: I also use a retinol twice a week. And I also use a glycolic cream, like once a week. So I am exfoliating more than that, but not as much as I used to. I'm older now. 

22:17 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: Okay, so when you use that really amazing cleanser that you have in your line, that's both the glycolic and the salicylic and the pumice. What was it? No, no, no. And the jojoba. 

22:26 Trina Reneá: Jojoba. 

22:27 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: And you use it in the shower once a week, like you said, you're having a party in the shower. Do you use it in any other places other than your face? 

22:34 Trina Reneá: No. I mean, I do put it on my chest a little bit, but you could use it on your KP bumps on your arms. You can use it anywhere where you have any acne would be good. 

22:46 Julie Falls: Your barnacles on your back. 

22:48 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: Barnacles on your back. 

22:50 Julie Falls: Right? Because I live with someone who gets barnacles on his back, so that's a good idea. 

22:55 Trina Reneá: Oh, he's not going to like that you say that. 

22:57 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: Do you use that cleanser on the barnacles on his back? 

23:00 Julie Falls: No, but I should. 

23:01 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: You should, with a washcloth. 

23:02 Trina Reneá: You should. 

23:04 Julie Falls: Yeah. I mean, right now, somebody attacked him with a freezing apparatus and he's got scabs all over him.

23:13 Trina Reneá: Oh, no. 

23:14 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: I know who that person was. But he's my favorite patient so, hopefully, he's doing fine. Let me know if he needs a house call. 

23:20 Julie Falls: Mine are healing very nicely. 

23:21 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: Oh, nice. Beautiful. 

23:23 Trina Reneá: I just heard a man's voice. Who was that? 

23:25 Julie Falls: I don't know. 

23:26 Trina Reneá: I'm like, is your husband haunting you in the back of the room?

23:31 Julie Falls: Not yet. 

23:34 Trina Reneá: So, Dr. Vicki, what age do you recommend your patients to start exfoliating?

23:38 Julie Falls: That's a very good question. 

23:40 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: That is a loaded question. If somebody has acne at eight years old, I might recommend they start exfoliating that area where they have acne, but I wouldn't recommend they exfoliate their whole-- and I have had eight‑year‑olds with acne, so a tiny bit of exfoliation, whether we do it with a scrub or whether we do it with a little salicylic acid wash. But, no, I don't think eight‑year‑olds should exfoliate unless they have acne. 

And if somebody's quite oily, maybe they become like a preteen or a teen that's becoming oily but they're not really super acneic yet, I would recommend a little exfoliation probably every other day. 

If somebody doesn't have acne, isn't oily, what is the answer to that question? Personal issue, personal desire. If somebody feels like they want to do a little scrubbing in their mid‑20s, starting in their mid‑20s, go for it. 

24:27 Julie Falls: I remember the oily kids at my school. I don't think they were exfoliating. 

24:32 Trina Reneá: Probably not. 

24:33 Julie Falls: Those poor oily kids in those days.

24:37 Trina Reneá: Probably. 

24:37 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: Just like shiny, super, like the sun bouncing off their wet skin. Oh, my God. 

24:42 Trina Reneá: That's so sad. 

24:43 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: Those are bad memories. 

24:45 Julie Falls: Big things were starting. 

24:47 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: Oh, poor acneic kids. 

24:49 Julie Falls: I know. Poor them. 

24:50 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: Should we try and find them and send them Trina's fabulous wash?

24:55 Julie Falls: Yes. Yes. 

24:56 Trina Reneá: You know what? I say to all you mothers out there who have children with acne, please get them to a dermatologist if you can. And help them so that they don't live with scars for the rest of their life. Help them. 

25:11 Julie Falls: Get on it early. 

25:12 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: The truth is a lot of these families go to urgent care for everything else. Go to urgent care for your acne. It's not an urgent matter but they'll take care of you. They'll get you a prescription. They'll hook you up with a dermatologist. That sometimes is something that they forget to do because their family members have it, uncle had it, Dad had it. “Oh, he just has it.” No, get them to a doctor because, you're right, they can get scarring. 

25:34 Julie Falls: And now it's 2026. There's all kinds of new treatments. You don't have to suffer. 

25:40 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: Yes. 

25:41 Trina Reneá: All right. Well, I think anybody else have any questions about barrier care and exfoliation? 

25:47 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: Well, if you could do one thing, let's all go around in a circle. If you could do one thing, what would it be?

25:55 Julie Falls: Less is more. 

25:56 Trina Reneá: Good one. 

25:57 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: I like it. 

25:57 Julie Falls : Yeah. 

25:59 Trina Reneá: Yeah, less is more. I'm down with Julie's.

26:01 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: Less is more.

26:02 Trina Reneá: I say the one thing, is just make sure that you always protect your barrier. Always make sure it's stable before you do anything to it. 

26:13 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: And I would say if you could do one thing in addition to all the other things we've already talked about, I would say don't forget about your bodies. Because I do see a lot of people as they get much older and they just ignore the rest of their body. Their bodies are dry and itchy. Like, don't forget about your chest. Don't forget about your arms. Don't forget about your itchy back. Don't forget about your hands. We need to moisturize. 

And I'm not even talking about one thing in particular, but the barrier care on your hands, the exfoliating on your dry back. It's just you kind of take care of every part of your skin, not just your face. 

26:49 Julie Falls: Yeah.

26:50 Trina Reneá: Yeah.

Okay, well, I agree with all of that. If you guys have any questions or if you're interested in the show, there's a few easy ways that you reach us and support us. 

27:04 Julie Falls: Yeah. First, you should tell a friend. If you learned something today or you're enjoying the show, share it with someone you know, because word of mouth really matters. 

27:11 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: And second, you can subscribe wherever you're listening. And if you can, you can rate us those amazing five stars and you can leave us a review. That does absolutely help more people find our show. 

27:21 Trina Reneá: And if you're watching us on YouTube, subscribe there too and leave us a comment. We may feature your comment or question on an upcoming episode.

27:30 Julie Falls: You can also follow us on social media at Facially Conscious for more from the show, and updates on what's coming next.

27:37 Dr. Vicki Rapaport: And you can subscribe to our Substack. I love our Substack. Lots of goodies in there. That's where we're going to go into a little more depth on all the things that we talk about here.

27:45 Julie Falls: That's right. And if you want even more, you can join us on Patreon for bonus episodes and access to our back catalog. 

27:54 Trina Reneá: Thanks, guys, so much for listening and we'll see you next week.