152. Does Your Tween Really Need a Skincare Routine? with Dr. Angela Casey

Skincare can feel overwhelming these days, especially for parents of tweens and teens. Social media is filled with influencers promoting complicated routines and expensive products, leaving many moms wondering what their kids actually need.

In this episode I sit down with dermatologist and mom of three Dr. Angela Casey to talk about simple, preventive skincare habits that help kids care for their skin for life.

Dr. Casey shares practical tips for parents, explains when kids should start a skincare routine, and discusses how to navigate skincare trends without getting caught up in the hype.

In This Episode We Discuss:

•  When kids should begin a skincare routine 
•  The biggest skincare mistakes parents and kids make 
•  Why prevention matters when it comes to skin health 
•  Social media skincare trends and what to avoid 
•  Building confidence and healthy self-care habits in kids 
•  The simple essentials every tween and teen needs 
•  How parents can support healthy skin without creating insecurity 
•  Raising kids who understand realistic self-care 

About Dr. Angela Casey

Dr. Angela Casey is a double board-certified dermatologist, mom of three, and founder of Bright Girl, a skincare company created specifically for tweens, teens, and college students. She is passionate about helping families develop simple, effective skincare habits that prevent problems before they start. Dr. Casey serves on the Forbes Health Advisory Board and has been recognized as a Castle Connolly Top Doctor and Exceptional Woman in Medicine.

Connect with Dr. Angela Casey

•  Website: www.brightgirl.com
•  Instagram: @brightgirlskincare

📺 Watch the episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOpw5ui4uxJHx0tLFVtpnfSkpObfc4d-K

You can find Katie at:
website: burntpancakes.com
YouTube: @burnt.pancakes
Instagram: @burntpancakeswithkatie
Email: katie@burntpancakes.com

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Transcript

Katie Fenske

15:35:51

with your introduction.

Dr. Angela Casey, welcome to the podcast.

Angela Casey MD

15:35:57

Thank you so much, Katie. I am thrilled to be here and connect with you.

Katie Fenske

15:36:00

Yay. I'm very looking forward to this conversation. I was just telling you that some friends of mine, we were all talking about what we did for our skin when we were growing up and they have daughters and they're like, I don't think any of that is what.

they are told now. Like, the multi-skin step routines and the this. So, when I booked you, I was like, we need to find out skincare for these teens. So, I'm very excited.

Angela Casey MD

15:36:26

Well, I am so excited to bust some myths and talk all about how you are absolutely right. The pendulum has swung completely in the opposite direction of what we lived.

Katie Fenske

15:36:29

Yes.

Yeah. I'm sure we look back at what we did and you're just like, oh, how do we have skin after that?

Angela Casey MD

15:36:43

Oh, it breaks my heart as a dermatologist to think of the havoc and torture I put my skin through in my own teenage years, so we're doing much better in this era.

Katie Fenske

15:36:49

I — yes.

Yes. Oh, God.

Well, why don't you start by introducing yourself? Just tell us where you're from, how many kids you have, their age, and what you do.

Angela Casey MD

15:37:01

Sure. So I'm Dr. Angela Casey. I'm a double board certified dermatologist and micrographic dermatologic surgeon based in Columbus, Ohio. So I still practice something called Mohs micrographic surgery, which is skin cancer surgery.

And reconstructive surgery that I do in my practice every day. I am the mom of 3 teen and tween daughters, so our girls are 17, almost 15, and 11, so we're living this journey ourselves. I can relate to.

Katie Fenske

15:37:32

Okay.

Angela Casey MD

15:37:33

a lot of your community, and my poor husband is totally outnumbered by all of the girl power. You can relate to the other… you can totally relate to him.

Katie Fenske

15:37:38

I know the feeling. I know the feeling.

Oh, funny.

Okay, what made you decide to create a skincare line specifically for teens and tweens? Because that's…

not who normally came into your office? Or is that who you see?

Angela Casey MD

15:37:58

Not at all. So actually, like, on the opposite end of the spectrum, the majority of patients that I'm treating are older patients. So, you know, anyone from patients in their thirties and forties up to patients that are over a hundred years old.

Katie Fenske

15:38:13

Oh.

Angela Casey MD

15:38:14

These are the patients that are getting skin cancer. Skin cancers rarely occur in children or teens. But what I recognize and what we know well in the world of dermatology is that the skin cancer that I'm treating my office today didn't start.

10 or 15 years ago, it started many decades ago, and in fact, the large majority of sun damage and skin damage is starting in the first two decades of our lives.

Katie Fenske

15:38:40

Oh, wow.

Angela Casey MD

15:38:41

For yeah. So for far too long in health care, we've really overlooked the opportunity to prevent and to educate. And being a mom of three teen and tween daughters myself, I saw this real opportunity in the health care space that we could change the trajectory.

of skin health and skin cancer for younger generations by getting ahead of skin damage in the young years and teaching our teens and tweens to care for their skin, just like they brush and floss their teeth every day.

We can prevent such a large majority of skin damage, so it was really drawing inspiration from my own girls and what we were living in our household, from my patients who every day were telling me, Dr. Casey, I wish I had known how to take care of my skin, and you and I were just.

Katie Fenske

15:39:32

Yep.

Angela Casey MD

15:39:32

talking about that. We had so little information. The information we had and the products we had actually did a lot of harm and irritation to our skin back in our teenage years.

So it's such an exciting time because we know so much more, we understand, and we have the ingredients and the tools, the brands, to really connect with our young people and get them excited about this good, healthy habit.

Katie Fenske

15:39:58

Okay, so as a dermatologist, like, I know when I try and put sunscreen on my kids, they fight, they kick, but hearing how important it is right now, did you experience that with your girls, or were you just like…

Let's throw the sunscreen on you. You're good.

Angela Casey MD

15:40:11

A hundred percent. That's it. Microphone.

Katie Fenske

15:40:11

Why do they hate it so much?

Angela Casey MD

15:40:15

I know, my girls didn't want to listen to anything I told them, and my husband would be there and be like, girls, your mom's a dermatologist, you've got to wear your sunscreen, you can't get a sunburn. Oh yeah, my girls have gotten sunburned on vacation and spring break, like, it's my biggest fail as a mom and as a dermatologist.

Katie Fenske

15:40:18

Nope.

This is what she does for a living.

Mm-hmm. Oh, and so many times I feel so guilty. I see like a, because my kids, my oldest especially, like we burn, like we burn very easily. They'll get this bad burn and I'm like, oh my gosh, like I didn't prevent that.

Angela Casey MD

15:40:42

You're fair.

I know. I know. It's heartbreaking. And I know what's happening at the cellular level when that's happening. And now we're in an era in our family where our girls are teens and tweens. They're not going to let me put sunscreen on them.

Katie Fenske

15:40:50

Mm-hmm.

Yes.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Angela Casey MD

15:41:03

But they do see me practicing what I preach and putting on my sunscreen and wearing my sun protective clothing and sitting under an umbrella at the beach. Or we have this big tent shade thing that we take to the beach with us.

Katie Fenske

15:41:16

Mmhm.

Angela Casey MD

15:41:19

So I think, you know, for parents out there, like we have to walk the walk, first of all, before, and we talk about this a lot, like kids aren't going to do what we say, they're gonna do what we do. And when we model that good behavior, although they may kind of protest and roll their eyes.

Katie Fenske

15:41:25

Yeah.

Mmhm.

Angela Casey MD

15:41:37

It's going to sink in. So we want to empower them. We want to get them excited about putting on that sunscreen and just make it a non-negotiable habit. You know, just do it. You'll feel so much better. Your skin will feel so much better.

Katie Fenske

15:41:48

Yeah.

Angela Casey MD

15:41:52

Unfortunately, it doesn't always deter them even when they've gotten sunburns. I know it hasn't for my girls, but when it happens, they kind of live and learn. It's kind of a once a season thing for them, and then they're like, oh yeah, I need to wear my sunscreen.

Katie Fenske

15:41:56

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

I try and tell my boys like, I'm just going to massage your face. So they hate getting it on their face. And I also heard somewhere, someone gave their little girl like a makeup brush. And so she would dip the sunscreen on and put it on. I'm like, oh, if I had girls, I'm like, I would try that just to make it.

Fun.

Angela Casey MD

15:42:21

There are so many amazing formulations. There are not only the makeup brush, there are powders that are kind of in a tube that's connected to a brush. There are compacts, there are sprays, there's tinted sunscreen, which a lot of our teen girls.

Love and, um, with my skincare line, with Bright Girl Skincare, we, of course, stuck with purely mineral sunscreens, but they are so beautifully, cosmetically elegant. Our teens love to put them on, because it's a very, like, grown-up, elegant…

Katie Fenske

15:42:53

Yes.

Angela Casey MD

15:42:53

products, so it's such a win, because they feel good, their skin looks great with it on, and they're getting that SPF 44. So, you really do have to almost trick them into it, but the… fortunately, we have tons of amazing options, so we're kind of in a day and age where there's no excuse not to.

Katie Fenske

15:42:59

Uh-huh.

Right. Does the powder, the powder sunscreen work as well? Like, I've always been afraid to try it, thinking, like, does that really cover as well as, like, the lotion kind?

Angela Casey MD

15:43:12

Have the sunscreen on.

It does.

any sunscreen is a little bit user-dependent, and with the powder, you can't just lightly brush on a little bit. I mean, you have to kind of get it in there, make sure you're doing a couple passes, but of course, any product that has an SPF rating has been through full FDA-approved studies, so.

Katie Fenske

15:43:25

Okay.

Okay.

Angela Casey MD

15:43:40

They cannot list that on the packaging unless it has been clinically tested. But I'll say the same for a cream sunscreen that comes in a pump. If you do half a pump of sunscreen and you're putting that over your entire face, it is not enough.

Katie Fenske

15:43:45

Oh.

Okay.

Angela Casey MD

15:43:57

You need, with most airless pumps, which is what a lot of nicer facial sunscreens come in, or if you go to the drugstore and you get CeraVe or La Roche-Posay, you usually need 3 or 4 pumps. So we find this across the board, and this is an important message for your parents, that most.

Katie Fenske

15:43:58

Okay.

Hub.

Angela Casey MD

15:44:18

individuals do not put on enough sunscreen to get the SPF rating that's on the bottle. Which is why I always tell them, go with an SPF 50, because you're probably then, even if you're only getting half as much as you need, you're at least getting, like, a 25 or maybe a 30.

Katie Fenske

15:44:22

Come on.

I think I'm guilty.

Ah…

Angela Casey MD

15:44:36

Whereas if you go with an SPF 15 and you're only getting part of that on, you're down to like an SPF 6 or 8. So for your head and neck or face and neck area, you need a full half of a teaspoon. That's a lot when you think about it, half a teaspoon.

Katie Fenske

15:44:44

Okay.

That is a lot, way more than I probably put on.

Angela Casey MD

15:44:54

And for your full body, a full shot glass, one ounce of sunscreen for full body coverage.

Katie Fenske

15:45:01

Wow. Okay, what are your favorite brands? I mean, it's summertime right now, we're all going to the beach, we're going out. What are good brands that you would recommend?

Angela Casey MD

15:45:11

So, well, my favorite, I'm biased, is going to be my own brand, of course, the Bright Girl sunscreens, and the reason is because I know exactly what's in them and what's not in them, and we're paraben, sulfate, phthalate-free, free of all those.

Katie Fenske

15:45:13

Of course.

Okay.

Angela Casey MD

15:45:26

preservatives that your audience members, probably a lot of them, are wanting to avoid. Plus, with purely mineral sunscreens, we don't have the worries of absorption into the bloodstream like we do with chemical sunscreens, and mineral sunscreens have the broadest spectrum UVA, UVB protection. So.

Katie Fenske

15:45:42

Oh.

Angela Casey MD

15:45:44

I know wholeheartedly because I work to develop these formulations, what's in those products and how great they perform. So I'm biased there, bright girl. Other brands I love, Supergoop is fabulous, and they have a number of very elegant mineral sunscreens in their line.

Katie Fenske

15:45:58

Oh, okay. Okay.

Angela Casey MD

15:46:05

And what I love so much about Supergoop is the versatility that they have sprays, and they have creams, and they have facial mists. They have products to go in your hair, like, um, in your part. Um…

Katie Fenske

15:46:16

I have burnt my part before, yes.

Angela Casey MD

15:46:19

So you know, I mean, just yesterday in my practice, I had two patients, two women that are close in age to us, I would say, like in their late 30s. One was in her late 30s, one early 40s.

Skin cancers, right, where their part is, it happens all the time, not only in the part, but also along the hairline, like where your forehead is, because we always miss that with our sunscreen application. We'll put it on our face, but we don't get it.

Katie Fenske

15:46:37

Wow.

Angela Casey MD

15:46:51

right at our hairline, because we don't want our hair to get greasy. So I love Supergoop for that reason. And then for over-the-counter options that you can… well, Supergoop's over-the-counter, sorry, drugstore options that you can get at any drugstore, CeraVe has some really beautiful sunscreens, and La Roche-Posay.

Katie Fenske

15:47:11

Okay.

Angela Casey MD

15:47:11

Um, and then if you want a more upscale brand that are found more in dermatology practices, ISDIN is one of my favorites, I-S-D-I-N.

Katie Fenske

15:47:20

Interesting. What about self tanners? Because I, in, I don't think in high school, college, those were really around. And even my, my son is very fair, my 12 year old. And he goes, mom, how do I get more tan? Like.

how… and I'm like, we're very pale, like, it just… so we tried a self-tanner on him, because he wanted to see what it looked like. Are those safe to use on skin?

Angela Casey MD

15:47:43

Yes, in general, they are very safe. The important message is just making sure that…

Katie Fenske

15:47:44

Okay.

Angela Casey MD

15:47:49

Individuals are not mistaking that self-tan as being sun protective in nature. It's a very different mechanism compared to the protection we actually do get from having a tan, so once our skin has a little bit of color.

Katie Fenske

15:48:01

Mm-hmm.

Angela Casey MD

15:48:04

In it, that pigment, what's called melanin, is actually acting as kind of an umbrella, and it's helping to shield the skin cells below from ultraviolet damage. In no means is it a substitute for sunscreen, but it's giving some protection, so you might notice in.

Katie Fenske

15:48:13

Okay.

Angela Casey MD

15:48:21

the summer season. Once you get a base tan, you're a lot less likely to burn. You probably have that skin type. I have that skin type. The self tanners aren't gonna render that same degree of protection because it's a specific chemical reaction that's happening between kind of a sugar molecule that's in that self tanner and how that's interacting.

On our skin, uh, the danger with self-tanners are the ones that are aerosol or sprays, or if you go to a studio where you're getting the airbrush spray, what we don't know is, as you're breathing in those particles, if there's any long-term damage. They just haven't been around long enough, so I always tell patients.

Katie Fenske

15:48:47

Okay.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Oh.

Angela Casey MD

15:49:02

The self-tanners, as far as we know, are fine. We actually have decades of research on them demonstrating their safety. So they have been around for longer than you think. So since the late '80s, actually, they were just really…

Katie Fenske

15:49:15

Oh my gosh, I'm late to the game.

Angela Casey MD

15:49:18

They weren't around much back then because they were so bad. They literally turned your skin Oompa Loompa orange, so not a lot of people were using them, and obviously they've evolved to be much better. So we do have decades of safety data and no demonstrable effects in terms of any link to skin cancer or skin damage. It's just, again, that.

Katie Fenske

15:49:24

Oh, no.

Angela Casey MD

15:49:40

caveat of making sure you're not mistaking that tan as being protective from ultraviolet.

Katie Fenske

15:49:45

Yeah.

Yeah, interesting. So, at what age would you say kids should start, like, a skincare routine? I mean, I see now on TikTok these teenagers with this 10-step routine, and I'm like, man, I did not do that. I used the apricot scrub, little Noxzema…

And that's about it. What age do you recommend to start? And what's like a good basic routine for tweens and teens?

Angela Casey MD

15:50:09

Well, I would argue that skincare for our kiddos starts from the moment they're born. Because when you think about it, as parents, we are bathing our babies, we are putting lotion on them, we are putting sunscreen on them from the time that they are still infants. Really, they're perfect skin.

Katie Fenske

15:50:14

Okay.

Perfect little skin.

Angela Casey MD

15:50:27

So that skin care journey is lifelong. When do kids really start to develop agency and opinion and some influence from their peers? Studies show that that's usually around age eight, that they are starting to.

Katie Fenske

15:50:41

Okay.

Angela Casey MD

15:50:43

have a little bit more empowerment and wanting to weigh in with those decisions, have conversations, not just always be doing what their parents tell them to do. And you see that with your sons, right? I certainly…

Katie Fenske

15:50:56

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Angela Casey MD

15:50:59

see it with my daughters, there was pushback starting at that age and they were starting to…

kind of hear what their friends were saying, and bring that back. And even some 8-year-olds might have some exposure to social media, that they're on YouTube, or seeing something, and they're curious about it. And they want to also be like their older siblings, or their babysitter, or their cousin, so…

Katie Fenske

15:51:13

Oh, no.

Angela Casey MD

15:51:23

They're absorbing all of that. And there are many great skincare options for our 8 and 9 and 10, so our tweens. It's just our job as parents to make sure we're guiding them in the right direction.

Katie Fenske

15:51:35

Awesome. So what are some mistakes you see kids making when it comes to skincare?

Angela Casey MD

15:51:41

I would say the number one most common, and I don't treat as much acne in as many teens in my practice now, but I did for well over a decade. Really complicated routines is the number one most common issue that I see.

I would have teens come in with literally like a big bag full of like 20 to 30 products and many times they were using 5 or 10 of them at any like one time and then they were switching they do a couple days of this cleanser and then they were moving to this toner and this moisture and serums and.

just kind of mixing and matching so that there was no consistency in their routine. And we know a few things are happening at the cellular level. A, the skin barrier is getting really irritated and broken down. B, you're introducing more ingredients into the mix, so there's a higher risk of an irritation.

Katie Fenske

15:52:30

Oh.

Angela Casey MD

15:52:38

or an allergy. And see, many of those products just aren't meant to play nicely together. If you're layering a retinol and an alpha hydroxy acid and a vitamin C serum and exfoliating scrub, it's just going to do all the things that you don't want to do to your skin. It's going to irritate, inflame, break down that skin barrier.

make acne worse. So that's number one. Number two is that we're, of course, seeing a lot of reliance on social media for information. Social media is not all bad. There's a lot of good information out there. There's a lot of knowledgeable individuals.

But there's also a lot of skincare and beauty that's entertainment value-centered. So these complex routines, these transformation videos, these unshedding routines where they wake up and they've got the silk bonnet and the eye mask and the peel-off mask.

Katie Fenske

15:53:30

Yes.

The headband.

Angela Casey MD

15:53:34

Yes. And you really have to think, are individuals living this way or are they just doing it for the pageantry drama of this to make it a fun and entertaining video? And there's nothing wrong with that, but you just have to see it for what it is.

Katie Fenske

15:53:42

Mmhm.

Now.

Angela Casey MD

15:53:51

I think our young people are not necessarily educated enough to, um, really understand that. And then the third thing I would see, like, that not necessarily that the kids are making this mistake, but the biggest mistake is.

that the parents are making is that they are just hands off, not involved at all, and they're just buying what the kiddos are asking for because parents just don't know. Most moms that we talk to don't know what they should be buying for their children, and it's very confusing when they go out into the beauty retailers and there's.

Katie Fenske

15:54:28

That's…

Angela Casey MD

15:54:28

thousands of options, it's very confusing, so they just take an avoidance stance and just say, I don't know, I'm not gonna deal with it, and we'll just go with what you want.

Katie Fenske

15:54:39

So let's say you have a 13-year-old girl.

would you say she should do every night?

Angela Casey MD

15:54:46

Every night, it's very simple. Wash your face with a gentle pH-balanced cleanser. I prefer, for a 13-year-old, a cleanser that's going to kind of suds and lather a little bit, and not a cream-based cleanser, because 13-year-olds.

are often starting to dabble in makeup, so they might be wearing some makeup. They might have sunscreen on if they're playing sports. A lot of them are active, so they've got, you know, dirt, sweat, pollutants on their skin, so you want a robust enough cleanser to get all of that off the skin, so that the skin can rest and reset.

And then an effective moisturizer, so a moisturizer that is well-balanced with a blend of humectants that bring water into the skin, the emollients that are going to help with repairing and restoring the skin barrier, and those occlusives that are going to keep that hydration trapped in.

you want something that's obviously not too heavy or greasy for our teens. They don't like that. Like, some more mature individuals might want something a little bit heavier. Our teens like lightweight.

Katie Fenske

15:55:43

Hmm.

Hence this face. I'm like, give me all the moisture I can get.

Angela Casey MD

15:55:53

I know, I have, like, just put it all in, because it just, like, I feel like it's constantly getting sucked dry. But for our teens, they like lightweight, easy to absorb, and honestly, just those two things, Katie, is all that they need. They do not need the serums and…

Katie Fenske

15:55:54

lost it up.

Yes. Yeah.

Angela Casey MD

15:56:10

the mists and the sprays and the complicated routines. Not to say that all of those are bad, but if I had to whittle it down to the two essentials, that's what I would recommend.

Katie Fenske

15:56:22

And would, like, a product… is there a difference between girls and boys in terms of skincare, or is it, like, most things are marketed towards girls, but a boy could use that just the same?

Angela Casey MD

15:56:33

Exactly. So in general, their skin is more alike than it is different. The variable, of course, is just hormonal fluctuations. So girls, of course, are going to notice changes with their menstrual cycles and hormones because hormones have a huge impact on the skin.

Katie Fenske

15:56:38

Okay. Okay.

Angela Casey MD

15:56:50

For both boys and girls, testosterone is the most predominant hormone. A lot of individuals don't know that for girls, testosterone is actually higher than estrogen and progesterone. It's just not as high as it is in boys.

And testosterone is the hormone that drives oil production in everybody. And there's a clear correlation with that. So yes, girls and boys are both going to struggle with it. There's a lot of genetics that are involved, of course.

Katie Fenske

15:57:12

Okay.

Angela Casey MD

15:57:21

And then a lot of other lifestyle factors, and that's why you see some kiddos that have that really oily, acne-prone, sometimes very deep cystic acne, and other kiddos that get through their whole teenage year with barely a blemish through their teenage years.

Katie Fenske

15:57:37

OK, so I wanted to ask you about hormones and acne. I had the driest of dry skin, so I hardly ever got pimples, like here and there. My husband in high school, he said he was just covered. But he also has very oily skin, and it's probably hormonal.

two questions, um, can you do anything? Like, if it's hormonal, you can't just wash that away with cleanser. So how do you deal with the hormones and skincare? And two, like.

How do you treat patients that just have so much acne and maybe are, like, super self-conscious about it?

Angela Casey MD

15:58:12

This is a whole nother podcast episode, but I'm gonna give it to you in a nutshell, because it is very nuanced. So, um, a couple of things. We have a lot of studies and research in dermatology that demonstrate the importance of a consistent skincare regimen in controlling acne.

Katie Fenske

15:58:16

Part two.

Okay.

Angela Casey MD

15:58:30

Of all sorts, um, and it's hormonally driven, um, stress driven, how… whatever the factor, the simple act of cleansing and moisturizing your skin, um, every night and putting on sunscreen every morning does tremendous… has tremendous benefits for helping to control acne.

Katie Fenske

15:58:47

Okay.

Angela Casey MD

15:58:49

A lot of that has to do with protecting and restoring the skin barrier. When the skin barrier is intact, think of that as, like, kind of a protective shield that's, um, kind of deflecting and controlling the bacteria, inflammation, and other factors that drive.

Acne. So that's first and foremost. When that in and of itself is not quite enough, we start looking at the causes of acne and those come down to, it's not just hormones, that's just one part of it. Other factors are clogged pores.

Katie Fenske

15:59:07

Mm-hmm.

Angela Casey MD

15:59:23

just general baseline inflammation, so inflammation coming from your diet, from stress, from lack of sleep. Um, there is a bacteria that lives on our skin called cutibacterium acnes that, um, drives it and causes acne lesions to form.

Katie Fenske

15:59:28

Wow.

Angela Casey MD

15:59:40

So, it's really all of these factors that we're looking at, um, and then the fourth factor is oil production, and like I said earlier, oil production is mostly driven hormonally. So, although hormones are.

a… adding fuel to the fire, so to speak, when it comes to acne. It's not the only factor, so you really have to look at the entire picture. If you are just treating the hormone component, and that can be treated, um, for some girls, they're put on birth control pills, or.

Katie Fenske

15:59:59

Okay.

Angela Casey MD

16:00:14

Hormone medications, spironolactone is a common one, that help kind of bind up the free circulating hormones. And the idea with that is you kind of regulate and level out the hormones. That can be beneficial.

for individuals that have a strong hormonal component to their acne. But it really is sometimes not trial and error, but looking at the acne pattern, better understanding what is the predominant root cause, and then making sure that we are addressing that with medication. And sometimes that is a pill that an individual takes.

Sometimes it's a medicated cream, and then sometimes it's treatments like lasers and other in-office treatment modalities.

Katie Fenske

16:00:57

Okay, and that's something that they would see a dermatologist for and get…

Angela Casey MD

16:01:01

Yes.

Katie Fenske

16:01:02

Because I love that it's not one thing causing it, that you're like your diet, your like water intake, your this, your sleep. So are you able to kind of like pinpoint for a patient, like it's probably this that's causing most of it?

Angela Casey MD

16:01:02

Yes.

Generally, yes, but all of our teenagers are sleep deprived. They are all stressed. None of them are eating good diets.

Katie Fenske

16:01:22

Okay.

Probably not eating their bath. No.

Angela Casey MD

16:01:28

None of them are really optimizing all those things. I shouldn't say none. Very few are optimizing all of those things. So, it is important, and this is a good message for your listeners, that we as parents.

are taking the reins there, making them check in their cell phone at 9pm, that's totally reasonable. Giving them healthy, good, nourishing food options, so whole foods.

Katie Fenske

16:01:48

Mmhm.

Angela Casey MD

16:01:55

are so good for our skin health in general, not just for controlling acne. They're great for us as adults. We've actually found studies in dermatology that eating a whole food-based diet actually reverse ages our skin, so it can actually make your skin younger when you are eating a diet composed of.

Katie Fenske

16:02:10

Wow.

Angela Casey MD

16:02:15

fruits and vegetables and good proteins, healthy fats, and not leaning on processed foods. Processed foods are really, really damaging for our skin, and you think about our young people, they're busy, they are doing a lot of food on the go, they're doing a lot of fast food, they're.

going out with friends, so that's the foundation of their diet many times. So as parents, we can provide them with other options and do our best to encourage good sleep. That is, I think, one of the biggest hurdles.

Katie Fenske

16:02:34

Very tough.

Oh.

Angela Casey MD

16:02:48

And it is — you will hear this —.

Katie Fenske

16:02:48

It is so hard though. It is so hard.

Angela Casey MD

16:02:51

It's so hard. Time and time again, you will hear this from any dermatologist. If we have to pick just one thing for skin health, sleep. Getting adequate sleep has the biggest benefit in terms… because it…

Katie Fenske

16:03:03

Wow. But yet we don't listen to them.

Angela Casey MD

16:03:06

bring…

Everything else into check. It lowers our stress hormones, our, um, glycemic index is under better control, our metabolism, and when we are able to bring down our inflammation in our body in general as a result.

Katie Fenske

16:03:09

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Angela Casey MD

16:03:23

It has such a huge benefit to our skin health.

Katie Fenske

16:03:25

Right. Say, your skin will clear up if you go to bed right now. I tell my son, my oldest, he just is a night owl, does not want to, he fights it every night. And I'm like, the doctor told me that you grow when you're sleeping. Like, that's when your body grows. So don't you want to get taller? Go to sleep. And he's like, you know.

But I'm like just sleep. It's better for all of us.

Angela Casey MD

16:03:46

It's really hard because our society is not suited. When you think of how early kids have to get up for school and then all of their activities and the homework, it really doesn't support sleep as a priority.

Katie Fenske

16:03:55

Yep, yep.

Angela Casey MD

16:04:04

We, of course, have cell phones thrown into the mix, which I don't know about you, but I didn't have cell phones when I was younger. I I'm older than you are, Katie, but we didn't have that as a factor. So we were getting lots of sleep when we were teenagers.

Katie Fenske

16:04:07

Yep.

Yeah, I was a great sleeper growing up. I was not a night owl. I tried to stay up later, and I would just crash. So with him, I'm like, it's 10 o'clock. You need to be in bed still.

Restless, does not want to go to sleep. Yeah.

Angela Casey MD

16:04:35

Yeah. It's hard. Their minds are so revved up from everything, and then you throw screens into that, and it just upsets so many things with their circadian rhythms.

Katie Fenske

16:04:39

Okay.

Right.

Right. And you look back at like prior to electricity, you know, all those years, it's like the sun went down and that's when people would wind down. Like you would have to light a candle to be doing anything. So just the, the way society is now, it's just people stay up later and later and.

Angela Casey MD

16:04:59

Okay.

Yeah, we have the ability to do that. Yeah, and it's not good, and they're up early, their days are long, it's a lot. So, I'm a big proponent, I always encourage my daughters, if there's a day they can sleep in, sleep in as late as you can. I don't care if you sleep till 1 in the afternoon, that is.

Katie Fenske

16:05:01

Then we have to get them up for school the next day. Yep.

Mm-hmm.

Angela Casey MD

16:05:20

Fantastic. I will tell everybody else in the household, do not wake up your sisters.

Katie Fenske

16:05:20

Right.

Yes.

Yes. I work with a group of, like, very young moms, new moms that have babies, and I'm like, one day, one day you're gonna have to wake them up in the morning, don't you worry! But they're right now, like, they're getting up at, like, 5 o'clock.

One day, one day they'll sleep.

Angela Casey MD

16:05:39

It all comes full circle.

Katie Fenske

16:05:41

Do you see a lot of clients, like in my husband's case, he said he had really bad acne, but by the time I met him at, I think he was 21, it was pretty cleared up. Like he's a very handsome man now. Like I would never known he had acne. So is that something that's just like a face?

Some kids will go through in their teens and then.

Did they outgrow it, or…

Angela Casey MD

16:06:00

For a lot.

A lot of individuals do outgrow it as their hormonal fluctuations kind of settle out. And you're absolutely right, Katie, that's typically happening in the late teens to early twenties. It's not the case for everybody. Some individuals will continue to struggle with acne through their twenties and thirties.

Katie Fenske

16:06:12

Okay.

Angela Casey MD

16:06:20

Some women will have really sensitive hormonal acne with pregnancies, menstrual cycles, perimenopause, and others will not. So it's not unlike our periods or our pregnancies. You know, some of us have wonder no period symptoms. Our pregnancies were great. We felt wonderful.

we go through perimenopause, it's, like, no problem, and other people, it's such, like, a drag with every step, and it's very challenging. So, yes, the large majority of individuals, though, will outgrow it. However, individuals who have really cystic inflammatory acne.

They can get scarring from acne. So it is really critical if you are a parent of a young person who has really inflamed acne, please, please see a dermatologist. We have so many great treatment options.

And once the scarring is there, we don't have anything to really get rid of it completely. Yes, we have lasers. Yes, we have chemical peels. Yes, we have microneedling. I have all of those at my disposal. I can tell you it's incredibly, incredibly challenging to improve the appearance.

of severe acne. So I really want to get that message through to parents. Don't hesitate if you're concerned about your young person.

Katie Fenske

16:07:36

Bye.

Right.

It's such a tough time being a teen, and having to have acne at the same time is…

It's a lot. It's a lot.

Angela Casey MD

16:07:47

It is. It is. So we really do them such a service for their confidence, their self worth, their interactions with others when we're equipping them with the tools and the support to improve that.

Katie Fenske

16:08:01

Um, last thing, tell me a little bit about Bright Girl and your line, and where we can find all that.

Angela Casey MD

16:08:06

Yeah, so, um, Bright Girl is, as I mentioned, kind of inspired by my own daughters, by my role as a dermatologist. We are a brand that is clean, pH-balanced, clinically proven. We've done full IRB-approved clinical trials in teens, and proven safety and effectiveness.

efficacy, so it's really, really exciting. But I wanted Bright Girl to be the solution for all the parents out there that are like, what in the world do I buy for my teenager? I don't know what to do! There's so many options! And they're asking about this and asking about that.

Katie Fenske

16:08:33

What do I do?

Angela Casey MD

16:08:40

So now you can rest assured with choosing the skincare that was created by a dermatologist for my own daughters that is recommended by thousands of dermatologists nationwide. So you asked where you can find Bright Girl. You can find us in hundreds of dermatology practices across the country.

You can find us at our website, which is just brightgirl.com, and it's spelled just like it sounds, B-R-I-G-H-T-G-I-R-L. You can also find us in Nordstrom, Macy's, Beauty Space by SpaceNK, um, Amazon, TikTok Shop, so…

Anywhere and everywhere.

Katie Fenske

16:09:15

Oh my gosh, that's amazing! And maybe make a line that has, like, a cool boy label, so that the boys…

Angela Casey MD

16:09:21

So I have a really good — for your listeners that want a really good boys line. So Bright Girl, I would argue, can be used by boys and girls. But if your young boy wants something a little bit more masculine, there's a great brand that's also dermatologist founded.

Katie Fenske

16:09:22

You're welcome.

Angela Casey MD

16:09:39

called Strike Club. It's S-T-R-Y-K-E, Strike Club. And then the Best Boys, um, mineral sunscreen is called, um, Skin Metal. So just like S-K-I-N-M-E-T-A-L.

Katie Fenske

16:09:42

Councilman Manley.

Angela Casey MD

16:09:57

They make the coolest mineral sunscreens, the packaging is just, like, very hip, and…

Katie Fenske

16:10:03

Yes.

Angela Casey MD

16:10:04

Yeah. The teen boys love it. It's a very cool brand. Yes.

Katie Fenske

16:10:06

Tailored towards them. Yes, my 12-year-old has recently gotten into Axe body spray, so that would probably be more on his line. It's funny. It's interesting to see what trends are, because for a while, there was, like, cologne, like, the boys would, like, bring their cologne to school, and he'd be like.

Angela Casey MD

16:10:13

Yes, this will go hand in hand with the axe.

Katie Fenske

16:10:22

Hey, so Ralphie shared his cologne with me, and I'm like, okay, interesting. What we're getting into.

Angela Casey MD

16:10:26

So now you can be the cool mom. Yes, be the cool mom. Bring home these brands for them. They can share them with their friends.

Katie Fenske

16:10:30

Yes.

Yes.

Maybe they'll actually wear sunscreen now.

Angela Casey MD

16:10:37

I'm telling you, Skin Metal is making sunscreen cool for the boys, just like Bright Girl is doing it for the girls. Yeah.

Katie Fenske

16:10:43

Love it. I love it. Well, I love everything you're doing, and this was so informative. I'm going to take it to all my friends who we were talking about skincare, like, what do we do with our daughters? This is what we need to do. So thank you so much for coming on.

Angela Casey MD

16:10:47

Thank you.

Okay.

Amazing.

Thank you, Katie.

Katie Fenske

16:10:59

Perfect.

Oh, you're so great. Do you do a lot of podcasts?

Angela Casey MD

16:11:03

I do. Yeah. Thank you.

Katie Fenske

16:11:04

Okay. I'm like, you were great at it. Great.

Angela Casey MD

16:11:06

Thank you.

Katie Fenske

16:11:08

Everything. Okay, so I think your episode is coming out.

I had the date marked, and now I forget. I believe it's end of June, but I'll send you an email ahead of time and just say, Hey, it's coming out this week, and I'll have like a little preview of it. But I can also tag you and make you a collaborator in any of the.

Angela Casey MD

16:11:20

Okay.

Yes.

Katie Fenske

16:11:30

the…

reels that I make. Uh, let me just double check, make sure I have your… do you have an Instagram? Okay, um, Bright Girl Beauty.

Angela Casey MD

16:11:38

Mm-hmm.

Yes.

Katie Fenske

16:11:41

Okay, I'll make sure I tag you in all of those.

Angela Casey MD

16:11:42

Yes, that's perfect, because, yeah, we will post it on ours, because we want to get more awareness for your podcast, too. It definitely will resonate so well with our community.

Katie Fenske

16:11:48

Awesome.

Perfect. Well, I'll keep you in touch. I'll let you know when all of that's coming out.

Angela Casey MD

16:11:56

Okay.

Yes, amazing, Katie. I love what you're doing. Congratulations on your platform. You are helping all of us, one mom at a time.

Katie Fenske

16:11:57

Awesome.

Thank you so much. Oh, thank you.

Ugh!

Trying. We're trying.

Angela Casey MD

16:12:07

We gotta stick together.

Katie Fenske

16:12:09

All right. Have a wonderful weekend.