Is "cleanse, tone, moisturise" and outdated concept?

In this episode, Dr. Stefanie, a no-nonsense dermatologist claims that the age-old routine of cleanse, tone, and moisturise is outdated. Dr. Stefanie shares her expert insights, emphasising that while cleansing remains a crucial step for healthy skin, toning is generally unnecessary today. She discusses how toners might even harm the skin barrier for some users, making them more of a marketing ploy than a skincare necessity.

The conversation takes an even more controversial turn when Dr. Stefanie questions the universal need for moisturisers. Join us as Dr. Stefanie provides a clear roadmap for a streamlined skincare routine. Don't miss this episode if you're eager to modernise your skincare regimen and keep your skin radiant and healthy.

Dr Stefanie Williams is a renowned dermatologist and the medical director of Eudelo Dermatology & Skin Wellbeing, a multi-award-winning skin clinic in Central London. With over 28 years of practice, Dr Stefanie is an international key opinion leader in cosmetic dermatology and aesthetic medicine, having authored two Amazon No-1 bestselling books. 

Eudelo (www.eudelo.com) offers a comprehensive range of treatments for both medical and aesthetic skin concerns, combining the latest scientific advances with a personalized approach to skincare. The clinic's commitment to excellence has earned it accolades such as "Best Clinic in London" and "Best Dermatologist" in the Marie Claire awards. 

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Disclaimer: The information presented in 'Dermatology Debriefs' is for educational and informational purposes only. The content does not constitute professional medical advice. Stefanie Williams and/or Eudelo do not establish a doctor-patient relationship through this content. Always consult a licensed healthcare professional for personalized medical advice specific to your individual health needs. The content represents personal opinions and perspectives of Stefanie Williams, and may not reflect current medical consensus or standard medical practice. Content may become outdated and should not be considered current guidance. By listening to this content, the listener acknowledges and agrees that: i) The information is provided 'as is' without warranties. ii) Stefanie Williams and Eudelo bear no legal responsibility for any actions taken or omitted, based on this content. iii) Stefanie Williams and Eudelo bear no legal responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, or special damages arising from or related to this content. iv) Individual health decisions and medical conditions require personalized professional medical assessment and treatment. Listeners should never use this content to diagnose, prevent, treat, or manage any health condition.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Dermatologist debriefs. Join no-nonsense dermatologist Dr Stephanie Williams as she debunks myths and shares her professional insights, separating facts from fiction in just a few minutes about the cleanse, tone, moisturize mantra.

Speaker 2: 0:24

My question today is is this still good advice? My answer is no. Let me explain. Let's start with the first step, which is cleansing. Is that still relevant? Yes, absolutely so. Cleansing twice per day, every day, is very important and should not be skipped, and this removes dirt and cell debris from our skin. It also prepares the skin for application of subsequent skincare products. It enhances the penetration of active ingredients from our skincare. So cleansing is definitely a must twice per day. However, the second step toning is, in my opinion, an outdated recommendation.

Speaker 2: 1:18

So the concept of toners was originally invented to remove soap residues from the skin and correct our skin surface pH after using alkaline, lye-based soaps. The high pH of soap-based cleansers harms the skin's natural acid mantle, and removing remnants of those soap cleansers definitely makes sense. Moving remnants of those soap cleansers definitely makes sense, but we're not using soap on our skin any longer. We are using soap-free, ph-balanced facial cleansers, and once you rinse them off with clear water, there is generally no remnants left on the skin like with the old soaps. So toning is really not needed for the vast majority of skin types these days and, in my opinion, toners are primarily marketing-driven today. The only exception may be very oily skin, where a special sebum-redu reducing toner can make sense, but the vast majority of normal skin types, and certainly also dry skin, does not need toners today, and toners can even potentially compromise the skin barrier. So I do not recommend using a toner routinely.

Speaker 2: 2:43

That brings us to the last three-step routine, which is moisturizing. Moisturizing, in my opinion, is also not mandatory. It's very individual whether you need a moisturizer or not, and if you're using, for example, a sun protection cream on a daily basis to slow down the skin's aging process, then you definitely don't need an additional moisturizer in the morning, unless you have very, very dry skin. And that's because most SPF products do moisturize the skin at the same time. So to add an additional moisturizer would just overload your skin.

Speaker 2: 3:31

You may ask what's the harm in using an additional moisturizer. So what over moisturizing can do is to prevent dead skin cells coming off naturally. To prevent dead skin cells coming off naturally, so we keep sticking them down with additional moisturization, and even more so if we use lipid-rich or silicon-rich moisturizers. And then the horny layer, also called stratum corneum, which is the outermost layer of our skin consisting of dead skin cells called corneocytes, will get thicker and thicker, and this leads to dull skin and potentially even congestion and breakouts.

Speaker 2: 4:16

In my clinical experience, overusing moisturizers can also make your skin lazy in a way, and that gets you into a vicious circle that we really want to avoid. There is, of course, one group of people where very regular moisturization with lipid-rich moisturizers is very important, and that's the people with truly dry skin, for example. If you have a tendency for atopic eczema, no-transcript. So the vast majority of people can skip an additional moisturizer underneath their sun protection product.

Speaker 2: 5:07

What is, however, very important and should be applied every single day straight after cleansing the skin, is an antioxidant serum. So that might contain vitamin C, for example. So that might contain vitamin C, for example. And what antioxidant serums do is they protect the skin from harmful oxidative stress. So oxidative stress is generated from environmental influences like UV light and urban pollution, but even our own cell breathing is generating free radicals that can harm our cells on multiple levels, including our cell membranes and even the DNA. So a daily antioxidant serum I highly recommend, and the order I would apply, that is, to cleanse your skin, then apply the antioxidant serum and then your SPF. So, in summary, the old cleanse, tone moisturize mantra is definitely outdated and has to be adjusted to modern skincare. Cleansing definitely yes, toning no, and moisturizing depending on the skin type and depending on what other products you apply afterwards. I hope this makes sense. I speak to you again soon. Bye-bye, thank you.