Forget the serums, potions, gels and products of all kinds that take up so much bathroom cabinet space.
Instead, for healthier living, one expert revealed that the best skin care routine today is a very simple one.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Dr. Fayne Frey — a dermatologist based in West Nyack, New York, with more than three decades of experience — shared her best-kept skin care secrets.
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They include strong protection against the sun.
Frey revealed that the only product needed to achieve a healthy, ageless complexion is sunscreen.
“The single product [that] everybody should be using 365 days a year is sunscreen,” she said.
“It is by far the most effective ‘anti-aging’ protective product on the market that promotes not only skin health but skin appearance.”
Even during the cold winter months, Frey emphasized the importance of using sunscreen.
And while many beauty products such as foundations and moisturizers come with SPF, Frey said most women don’t use enough of the product for adequate protection.
“I always suggest wearing sunscreen — an SPF broad-spectrum sunscreen — and then apply your makeup over it,” she said.
“And put it on liberally.”
Frey said sun exposure can cause pigmentation and fine wrinkling issues with age, so she recommends sunscreen as a preventative for people of all ages.
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The dermatologist and author of the book “The Skincare Hoax,” explained that most people don’t need a multi-step skin care routine.
Instead, the best skin care regimen doesn’t come in a bottle, but rather in the lifestyle choices that people make every day.
“Healthy skin mimics a healthy lifestyle,” she said.
“So, getting up in the morning and maybe exercising, getting a good night’s sleep … [eating] a nutritious diet” — all of these things are wise to do, she stressed.
“The best things in life don’t come in a bottle or a syringe or a tube or a jar,” she said.
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Frey revealed that she’s seen “thousands” of women who come into her office feeling bad about “minuscule” flaws that are often pointed out by today’s media machines.
“Marketing is powerful,” she said. “And our cultural bias is a definition of beauty that is unattainable and unreachable for many people.”
When it comes to skin care misconceptions, Frey encouraged the public to pay attention to marketing labels, especially on products that claim they’re anti-aging.”
“The truth is, science hasn’t found a single ingredient to reverse the aging process,” she said. “It is inevitable, and it is irreversible.”
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The dermatologist admitted that she doesn’t even recommend using a cleanser for normal face washing, based on a study that revealed that half of a pool of 500 women used only water and still had healthy skin.
“I don’t know anybody who doesn’t use cleanser and has sick skin because of it,” she said.
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For those with inflammatory skin, acne or other conditions, especially adolescents, Frey recommends seeing a dermatologist for elevated skin care.
Otherwise, Frey said that a hydrating moisturizer for dry skin and petroleum jelly, like Vaseline, are great additional products to keep in your cabinet.
“Petroleum jelly is the most versatile skin care product on the market,” she said.
“It’s great for really dry areas, like elbows and knees, runaway eyebrows, chafing on the nose when you have a cold, chapped lips … I can’t imagine life without it,” she said.
