Beyond The Hype: A Professional's Guide To Skincare That Actually Works

The quest for healthier, more youthful skin can be overwhelming with contradictory advice and miracle promises flooding social media. Kelli Rogers from Performance Medicine cuts through the noise in this enlightening conversation about what truly works in skincare.

Kelli reveals why your daily skincare routine forms the essential foundation upon which all other treatments build—comparing skincare neglect to only flossing right before a dentist appointment. She expertly breaks down the science behind the two non-negotiable skincare ingredients everyone needs: Vitamin C for morning application and Vitamin A (retinol or tretinoin) for nighttime use. Far from just another anti-aging recommendation, Kelli explains how Vitamin C actively protects skin not just from sun damage but from indoor lighting, computer screens, and environmental heat exposure that most people never consider.

For those intimidated by retinol, Kelli provides a practical, step-by-step approach to introducing this powerhouse ingredient without irritation—starting with lower concentrations used just once or twice weekly before gradually increasing frequency. She dispels common misconceptions about high-SPF sunscreens and explains why physical sunblocks that reflect UV rays offer superior protection compared to chemical formulations that absorb them.

What sets this conversation apart is Kelli's refreshing honesty about skincare marketing hype. "If it's too good to be true in skincare, it is," she warns, encouraging listeners to approach viral TikTok and Instagram products with healthy skepticism. Instead, she details how professional treatments like Ultherapy, Cool Peel CO2 laser, and microneedling work synergistically to address different aspects of aging skin—all with minimal downtime compared to procedures from a decade ago.

Ready to stop wasting money on trendy products that don't deliver? Listen now to discover how to build a skincare routine that actually works, customize it to your lifestyle, and combine it with the right professional treatments for naturally beautiful, healthy skin that truly stands the test of time.

To help you to navigate the home buying and mortgage process, Jonathan & Steve are currently licensed in Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia, contact us today at 423-491-5405 or visit www.jonathanandsteve.com. 

Transcript

Introduction to Benchmark Happenings

Speaker 1 0:00

Do I need to put my headphones on?

Speaker 2 0:03

Yeah, Okay, this is Benchmark Happenings, brought to you by Jonathan and Steve from Benchmark Home Loans. Northeast Tennessee, johnson City, kingsport, bristol, the Tri-Cities One of the most beautiful places in the country to live. Tons of great things to do and awesome local businesses. And on this show you'll find out why people are dying to move to Northeast Tennessee and on the way, we'll have discussions about mortgages and we'll interview people in the real estate industry. It's what we do. This is Benchmark Happenings, brought to you by Benchmark Home Loans and now your host, christine Reed.

Speaker 3 0:49

Welcome back everybody to another episode of Benchmark Happenings, and the star of our show today is Miss Kelly Rogers from Performance Medicine. Hey Kelly, hello Christine, how are you, oh, doing great, doing great. I'm so glad you came in today. Yes, kelly, hello Christine, how are you, oh, doing great, doing great. I'm so glad you came in today. Yes, same here. Always good to see you, absolutely, and we have a little friend with us today. Yes, my son.

Speaker 1 1:16

He's a little furry son a little scrappy.

Speaker 3 1:19

I have one of those too. Oh, they're the best they are and he is so good. He's so good, he just hangs out. He's a precious little boy but a little scrappy, so you can just hang out here and make yourself at home. So, Kelly, you know we did a podcast. It's been a while and I think you know we really talked about things that you're doing at Performance, and you know I love the functional medicine, I love performance, but also I've been coming to you for some aesthetics treatments.

Speaker 1 1:54

Yes.

Speaker 3 1:54

Actually after we did the podcast, right? Yes, so tell me some new cool things that are happening now.

Speaker 1 2:03

So this year I've really been incorporating ultimate duos, which you know we've talked about and we've we did the the cool peel CO2 on you and I tell everybody we did three treatments, one a month, and downtime was practically zero.

Speaker 3 2:26

The recovery time was just, it was so easy and the results were amazing.

Speaker 1 2:35

Yes, and why the downtime is minimal is because we prepped your skin beforehand with good skincare products. We prepped your skin beforehand with good skincare products and that is essential because I notice when people have more downtime or any kind of like weird, you know reaction of any sorts. It's because they're not in good skincare.

Speaker 3 2:55

Right, right, and that's really the sort of the hallmark, isn't it, kelly? I mean, I think we can, you know, maybe have a facelift or filler Botox and all those things which you know they're great. That's what you want to do. But we're kind of forgetting the foundation, right.

Speaker 1 3:17

I was just going to say that the foundation, your everyday routine, is just like with everything Working out. You know people ask me how long will results last? And it's up to them. I mean it's really I can't emphasize enough important. To do your daily routine you have to have your vitamin c because it's going to suppress that melanin in your skin. So once we do these things like co2, laser, old therapy, you want to protect the investment and you don't want those spots coming back up.

Speaker 1 3:50

You know your collagen hanging back down or diminishing, um, and the way to keep that is by doing your vitamin C, your vitamin A and of course you know the fluffy serums like you've got your, your peptides. You know more of the expensive stuff. I meant vitamin C is not cheap. You can get a retinol or tretinoin more on the cheaper side, but I mean it is. It is worth it for sure.

Speaker 2 4:19

And you don't have to.

Speaker 1 4:20

People get afraid of retinol and I think we've talked about this or tretinoin, because they don't know how to use it, and so my job is to teach you that you do not have to use it every night. You can build up to every night if you want Tretinoin, you should not build up every night. Anybody that's on tretinoin every single night it shows.

Speaker 3 4:43

And it makes your skin peel too if you're not used to right. So how do you build up using the tretinoin? Because it's it's pretty affordable if you get a prescription for it and and, um, you know, purchase it from your pharmacist. So how should you apply that retin-a? Because I know that's a, that's a biggie. A lot of people use that. Then, on the downside Kelly, you're the expert. I mean, is there a downside to using the retinol? So how should we build up to using that?

Speaker 1 5:14

So what you want to do is start out with a low-grade retinol so like a 0.25, a 0.3, and start with like twice a week.

Speaker 3 5:23

Okay.

Retinol and Tretinoin Usage Guide

Speaker 1 5:23

I mean I started with once a week because I have really sensitive skin, Um, but I built up to just about every two nights, every other night, Um. But it took me a while to do that and I'm using it consistently because my I didn't have that crazy reaction of like peeling, because I slowly have built up. So once you get you know to where you can use that low grade, like every night, then you can bump up to the 0.5. Then you do the same thing Start out with once a week, build up to twice a week, so every two weeks you want to kind of see how your skin's doing and you know, I mean, if you're like peeling, like crazy back off or apply it on top of your moisturizer.

Speaker 3 6:02

Okay, yeah, so it doesn't. So it doesn't penetrate.

Speaker 1 6:05

Okay, it's crazy.

Speaker 3 6:06

And what are some of the? I mean, you have so many phenomenal products um in your studio. What are some of the ones that we can talk about, the ones that I do, but what are some things that you would suggest for people that you know I'm going to start a skincare regime at home. What should, what should they start using from your product line?

Speaker 1 6:30

So I like to have them start with the essentials, which is the vitamin C and vitamin. A and make sure they know how to use it. You have your vitamin C in the morning and your retin-A at night, okay, or your retinol, tretinoin and I wouldn't use tretinoin.

Speaker 1 6:49

Side note, if you don't have like really terrible skin, if your skin's pretty normal, I would use a retinol. It's just more aesthetically pleasing, okay to the skin, just because it's not super harsh and you're gonna use it more. That's the key you want to like. I ask people, hey, are you a regimen person like, are you a step one, two, three, four, five? And if they're not, then I make it super basic for them. I give, give them one moisturizer, what you know, say you've got to do the vitamin C in the morning, right, right. And then I do have some creams with retinol in it.

Speaker 1 7:25

So, there's a new one from Obagi I really like and you can use that every night just cause it's a slow time release retinol. So it's I kind of feel out what they're going to do versus. You know, I've had people when I first started doing this, you know I would be like, okay, you need this, this, this and you know, load them up with about 20 products and they would return it saying I don't, I'm not going to do this, like.

Speaker 3 7:51

I can't do it. Yeah, it's too much.

Speaker 1 7:53

Yeah. So you really have to fit. You know say what are you going to do? Very important. I mean I've built up to like I'm like 20 step regimen person now, but I mean I get it, people don't want to do a million steps. I mean a lot of people are either morning routine or night routine people, which is interesting to me, but I mean that's important too. So it's like if you're a morning person, you need vitamin c. If you're, you know, more of a, you know, night regimen person, then you've got to make sure they have the vitamin a.

Speaker 3 8:25

Okay, and is it in the summertime? If you're out in the sun a lot, is it okay to still use your vitamin c in the morning?

Essential Products and Customized Routines

Speaker 1 8:32

yes, yes for sure, and actually it's going to protect your skin from heat. Um, so our skin is not just reactive to the sun? Okay, it's reactive to the lights in your house computer screen, your phone heat, wow, so it's basically environmental triggers Interesting, yes which the vitamin C is protecting against. Did not know that. Now, in the summer, you do want to be cautious of retinol.

Speaker 1 9:00

You might want to back off a little bit if you're going to be in the sun a lot because you know it's more, you're more prone to burning, um, but I mean, if you have good sunscreen, that's another key thing. Oh yeah, you gotta have good sunscreen and it should be a mineral based right. Yes, and I like a physical sunscreen instead of a chemical. The physical sunscreen actually takes the rays from the sun and bounces it back off your skin. Chemical absorbs those rays. There are a few, you know, medical grade chemical ones, but I don't like my skin absorbing anything. That's going to age.

Speaker 3 9:38

So what about the physical ones? What's some brands of that sunscreen that people could purchase At?

Speaker 1 9:45

our office. We have Revision, okay, and I love that. It's a tinted moisturizer with SPF 45. And SPF like 30 to 100, it's pretty much going to be the same thing. I'd say like 45, 50 to 100. Gotcha, you don't have to use SPf 100. It's gonna be the same thing as 50, okay, in my opinion, I mean, but you know, because we would carry a spf 100 if that was like necessary it's not, but it's only going to last.

Speaker 3 10:14

I mean, it only lasts for just a few hours, right, don Don't you have to reapply.

Speaker 1 10:18

So, yeah, If you're going to be so, like in the morning, you put your tinted SPF on after your vitamin C and then if you're going to go out later, like say four or five hours later, yeah, you can. You know, I would reapply again just to be sure, but our sunscreens are awesome and I've felt like for myself I don't have to reapply as much, that's good.

Speaker 1 10:43

Yeah, and I've got different sunscreen suggestions based on what you're doing, if you're going to the beach. I like our SkinCeuticals SPF 50. It's really lightweight. I don't know if that's the one you got. I do. I have that one. Love that one and that's what I love during the summer because it's just, it's like nothing on your skin. You know a lot of people don't like the feeling of sunscreen, that heavy, you know, but that one, just I mean it's like air.

Speaker 3 11:15

It is and it goes on really well and it doesn't take much at all. But I use that when I'm out by the pool and stuff.

Speaker 1 11:21

So, yes, that's, that's great. And you want to make sure you get your neck and your decollete, Um, I mean all over really. But, um, I don't love spray sunscreens. I feel like they don't go on right, or you know I you know I'm big into medical grade sunscreens because I burned before off of just over the counter stuff and I've reapplied it like a million times and I apply my skin citicles at one time. Right, I'm good.

Speaker 3 11:52

Yeah, yeah, I mean, that's what I put that on. I don't have any. I don't get any extra sun on my face. You know when I use that Right so, for using vitamin C and sunscreen and the retinol at night, and I know that I've been using, like, the revision boost, yes, yes. So I love the boost and the neck, the neck firming. I think everybody needs a little neck firming A hundred percent and you everybody needs a little neck firming A hundred percent, and you do need a neck cream.

Speaker 1 12:21

I think it's great when people put their skincare products on their neck, but your neck does have a different kind of collagen it is the same as on your eyelids. So you have got to take care of your neck differently than your, your face. But you know, I say this to people like you who are going to do that, people that aren't going to do it just tell them to put their skincare on their neck. You know, Right? I mean, it's all about what you're going to do, because you don't want to waste your money. But those people do eventually end up, you know, finding it's not that hard, Right, Right, it's like brushing your teeth.

Speaker 3 12:57

So I mean, it's like adding the next level of flossing your teeth Exactly you know you don't floss right before you go to the dentist.

Speaker 1 13:06

Okay, I mean, it's got the plaque buildup you can't.

Speaker 3 13:10

You can't remove it If you've not flossed. That's true. It's the same thing with coming to you. I mean, you can look at people's skin and tell if they've had, you know, good skincare and and everything. So what are some other things that that cause you know, to me? I think it's just so confusing. There's so many products out there for people to use.

Speaker 1 13:34

Um, I would be weary of hype, hype products on Instagram, on TikTok. If it's too good to be true in skincare, it is Okay, a hundred percent. I mean, I know the Kardashians look great, but they, I mean, are fed things to promote, sure, great, but they, I mean, are fed things to promote because it's cheap to make and people just flock straight to it. You know you hit that button. No, yeah, just just you have to be. Do your research. Yeah, talk to a professional. Um, don't be Dr. Google, uh, actually, when it comes to those products, maybe, you know you want to, and I've fallen for stuff like that too Google, actually, when it comes to those products, maybe, and I've fallen for stuff like that too. I think that you know, like Gua Sha tools are great, but people think that they're going to buy that and their skin's just going to be completely different. Not the case, right, right. So that's what I would be kind of skeptical of, because there is a lot out there, there is, and it's just.

Sunscreen Selection and Application

Speaker 3 14:43

and it's so enticing too, because when you see those ads, we're all on social media and we think, oh, man, that looks because there's one. She says she's a dermatologist and she has this promise to get rid of your dark spots. You know, and it goes through the, if you listen to the video which I never do cause I get bored- and it's like you know. They just rope you in, you know, and just keep listening, and keep listening. But those products never work, Do they Kelly?

Speaker 1 15:13

No, and you can't promise that. So people will come to me and say, okay, so this product is going to get rid of all of my dark spots? No, it's not. It's going to help and maybe, but you got to use it right and don't expect a miracle out of any product, don't you just? Like I, my thing is I under promise and over deliver, because you don't want to tell people hey, yeah, this is um. You're gonna look like you've had a facelift from this you might but everybody's skin's different, everybody's diet's different.

Speaker 1 15:55

Everything works together.

Avoiding Skincare Trends and False Promises

Speaker 3 15:57

Right, and it's all about a combination of what we do, what we eat, our lifestyle if we're drinking water and I think we talked about that the last time and our skin is going to reflect our lifestyle, and it's a combination of having these facials. And so let's talk about the products we've talked about, but let's talk about some of the procedures. The Cool Peel, yes, which I love. We're going to do Cool Peel again this fall. Yes, Because I really believe it's just consistently having those combinations of treatments, right, kelly Mm-hmm?

Speaker 1 16:36

Yes, you want to do. Yeah, a CO2 laser is always an awesome thing. So that's what the Cool Peel is, without the downtime of a CO2, because the way things, the technology were now, versus 10 years ago, you don't have to have that downtime of swelling and your skin just weeping and, you know, gauze wrapped around it. No, um, so that's the beauty of you. Know what's happening right now with the industry, is you? Know you don't have downtime Um it's great.

Speaker 1 17:07

Yeah, but, like I said, it is about your products you use and and all that stuff. But um yeah, the CO2 is great. I love to combine that with microneedling. Um yeah, so that's one ultimate do that. I love, I like to do all therapy before, so tell us about all therapy.

Speaker 1 17:22

So that is radio frequency and it's going to, excuse me, lift your skin by creating thermal damage. Um, the technology is just to lift and it also helps with texture, um, a little bit, but it's mainly you know to lift, so you don't just want to lift your face, you also want to help with the texture and you know fine lines. So that's where the CO2 and the cool peel is going to come in. So, if you have um, like scarring, uh, like acne scars or um, yeah, I would say, um, just a lot of damage on your skin.

Speaker 1 18:05

Um, I love the microneedling with a CO2 on top. You can even do all therapy, then microneedling and then a CO2 on top. Ooh, if you want, yeah, but you know you want to go to somebody that knows what they're doing Exactly. Um, because old therapy does get a bad rap sometimes because it depends on who does it. So, um, old therapy does get a bad rap sometimes because it depends on who does it.

Ultherapy and Advanced Treatment Options

Speaker 1 18:26

So there are certain depths that can melt fat, which I don't use on people unless they want to melt fat somewhere. So you have to be careful, like I said, about who you go to for it. It's great, though, because there's no downtime, nope, and it's just a gradual lift. It looks natural and it builds collagen. So you always want to be building collagen in your skin, whether or not you've had a facelift or you know whatever, and you can do. There are different techniques with the old therapy that you can do like a lighter version, and you can repeat that every three months, if you wanted to, until you get where you want to be. So I love Ultherapy for, like a lower lift, like if you've got jowls. It's great for that, but the results do. They're over time, but there's now a device that we hope to get, that's almost immediate results using the old therapy technology.

Speaker 3 19:32

That would be awesome. Yes, you showed that to me.

Speaker 3 19:36

You showed me a picture of that, yes, yeah, we're hoping that that will be coming soon. So the old therapy, which I think is great and I think everybody kind of tolerates it differently, right? Yes, I do really well with Cool Peel, I do okay with oil therapy. But one thing I love that you can do is that if you want just a refresher under your eyes, that's the way to go. So they just people come and see you. They don't really need a lot of Botox and fillers and things like that, just come and get a pass of all therapy under your eyes.

Speaker 1 20:13

A single pass of all therapy under the eyes is amazing and you can literally do that every three weeks if you want it to. It's got with puffiness, fine lines and it's got to build collagen. Like I said, building collagen is key because Botox is not building collagen, it's freezing your muscles and so a lot of times people will just do Botox and then they've got terrible skin. And the skin integrity is really important because you can't it's like pinning skin up with a nail. Sure, you want that skin to be strong so it can hold up on its own Right. So if you do get Botox, I highly recommend old therapy and cool. All of it builds collagen, all of it, yeah.

Speaker 3 21:00

And using the good products on top of that. Yes, so well, kelly, this has been so good and I really appreciate I love the analogies that you use, thank you, and just having your expertise in skin care, because I know you do a lot of education and are really big into that and I just so appreciate that. So it's just a comfort level to come to you to say, okay, what do I need? You're a wonderful consultant with skincare.

Speaker 2 21:30

Thank you.

Speaker 3 21:31

So how can people get in touch with you?

Speaker 1 21:34

They can call our Johnson City office, okay, or they can go to our website. They can email me, kelly, with an I at performancemedicinenet. Yeah, just give us a call Instagram all of the above?

Speaker 3 21:51

Yeah, okay, all right, kelly. Well, hopefully you'll come back and bring Scrappy. Yes, I will.

Speaker 1 21:56

Yes, I will and I will see you soon.

Speaker 3 21:58

Yes, absolutely.

Speaker 1 21:59

Thanks, Kelly.

Speaker 3 22:00

Thank you.