Derm Hacks for Melasma & Anti-aging: How NOT to Age Like a Prune | Dr. Idriss

0:00 Welcome back, little nerds. It is July. It is officially melasma awareness month. And today, we are going to cover the messiest skin condition that ever existed. Melasma, because she is a And if you have mealasma, you know exactly what I'm talking about. But we're going to cover more than what mealasma is. We're going to talk about little hacks to help you get through those flare-ups and to minimize them. Now, if you don't have mealasma, this video still applies to you because discoloration under which sunspots, freckles, even melasma fall under. Hi, Mimi. My daughter just walked in. But basically, melasma is one of those things that is extremely difficult to um control. But if you don't have melasma, this video still applies to you because sunspots, discoloration, brown spots, etc. fall under the umbrella of discoloration, which makes up for 90% of visible aging on your skin. And I will tell you this, if you're looking to age

0:45 like a prune and not a shriveled up old raisin, then a prune and a raisin are not the same fruit. But you get what I'm saying. If you want to age like a grape and not a shriveled up little raisin, this video is for you. So, what is melasma? Why does it suck? Before we get into the hacks, let's break it down. Melasma is a chronic skin condition. It is an inflammatory skin condition where you have these brown patches that appear on your cheeks, on your forehead, on your upper lip. Makes you look like you have a mustache out of literally nowhere. And from one day to the next, you look like a crypt keeper. And it can have a huge emotional toll and psychological impact. But mealasma is one of those things that is extremely poorly understood even amongst the dermatologist. Not only does it flare up with hormones like birth control, your period, pregnancy, menopause, but it can

1:30 also get triggered by heat. Heat alone without the sun. Like I'm talking sauna, hot showers, steam, hot yoga, heat, obviously the sun, UV rays, stress can trigger it as well. And so there are so many different factors that come into play when we're talking about mealasma that it's really truly not a one-sizefits all. and summer. It is basically the perfect storm of heat, UV rays, and one would argue stress if you don't like wearing shorts or a bathing suit in public. So, melasma isn't just cosmetic. It is truly much deeper than just cosmetic. It implies your whole physiology and it can affect your psychology as well. And let me just tell you this, maintaining your skin if you have mealasma is a full-time job. I

2:16 myself have not had any sort of laser treatments since September of 2022 for my skin tone. You guys see me here every week. I would be very honest and you would see it on my face if I did, but I have not. I have not done anything since 2022 because I felt the need to do something before I launched the skincare line. Truly, it was not necessary. And I've been able to maintain my skin tone just with over-the-counter skincare products and occasional prescriptions, plus all the hacks I'm going to talk to you guys about today. And not to mention sun protection. But it's not just sun protection in the form of sunscreen. It also comes in the form of got your UV visor. Now I have been a fanatic of UV visors for years. This is me throughout the years in various different UV visors that I myself have even launched. This is the latest one. It is a beautiful

3:02 white-on-white tennis chic UV visor. But forget the fact that it looks good. It is going to protect you. Think of it as sunglasses for your face. You don't want to go buy the cheap sunglasses that just have a black lens because then your little tiny pupil is going to dilate and you're going to get all the UV rays into your eyes. You want the sunglasses that protect your eyeballs from UV light. Does that is that clocking? Is that clocking? Is that clocking for you? I don't know if that's what Justin Bieber said, but you know what I'm saying. Um, basically, you want to make sure that you are protecting from UV rays, not just for your eyeballs, but also for your skin. And so a real UV visor is going to block both UVA and UVB the same way a high quality eyeglass lens is going to block UVA and UVB or sunglass lens rather. And therefore these UV

3:49 visors are the real deal. The other reason why I love UV visors is because it protects not just your upper part of your forehead like with a baseball cap. And a lot of people say I'm wearing a hat, but then you look at the side of their face, it's all sun damage, especially the side of their necks. A UV visor protects your whole money maker, your face, neck, and the upper portion of your chest. Plus, it is adjustable, so you can look like a welder. You can scare strangers off. You can choose to wear it at night as a protective gear. I may or may not have done that. And you will occasionally make an unwanted friend from this UV visor because they will come up to you and ask you about it, but then you'll realize, oh, you have a lot more in common than you thought. So, I would highly, highly suggest you guys invest in a UV visor, especially if you have melasma, because it is passive protection. You're not going to always be thinking about walking in the shade. You're not always going to be thinking about reapplying

4:34 your sunscreen. And therefore, if you're spending the day outside, it's a great add-on that you don't have to even think about. But sun protection doesn't just stop at UV visors or sunscreen. It can also come in the form of clothing. I've also been a huge fan of UPF clothing throughout the years that I would wear to the beach. I always take two where I swim in one, once it's wet, I take it off, then I apply the dry one. UPF rash guards are to protect your skin from UVA and UVB, but I do not like wet material on my skin. So, this year we have launched our own very special edition UPF rash guard in honor of our brand colors and it is a beautiful lavender tone rash guard. The reason why I loved this particular rash guard and it took me a while and I decided actually to make it

5:20 is because not only does it protect your neck, it has an easy zip in zip out feature. I do not like putting things over my head, especially not at the beach. I just want to zip in and zip out, but it also protects your hands with a thumb hole right over here. So, it reaches the back of your hands. Chic, it is form fitting. It makes you look more snatched. If you are concerned about sizes, I say always size up because you'll never go wrong in that case. But if you're looking to have a more snug fit, then I would say go for the size that you think you really are. I absolutely love them. the major shade multiplay UPF50 rash guard. I will link it below for all of you guys. Um, and if you guys know, you guys know that this is perfect not just for the outdoors, gardening, tennis, hiking, but it can

6:06 take you from the outdoors to the pool. Literally, just as I used to do and like I do and I've done with this particular one. Um, I have gone kayaking. I have fallen accidentally in the Long Island Sound in it. I have gone hiking and I have even done some gardening with this plus some power washing over the July 4th weekend and I have no burn or tan. I have bronzer on my face as you guys can tell, but there's no burn or tan on my skin. Um, so that is great. I always take two like I said, one for the beach and one for the dry, one for the water and one when I'm out so I can wear a dry one. Let's get into that because when we are at the beach, it's not just the sun. You could be sitting under a parasol. You could have a massively gorgeous wide-brimmed hat. You can be wearing the UV visor. You can be doing all of the things, but if you're getting hot, the

6:52 heat itself can trigger melasma. Which leads me to my trick number three. I love to stay cool. And I have been targeted by so many ads on social of these sweaters that cool you from inside out. Um, where you put a fan inside your sweater, but you look like a puff ball. I don't know if I want to walk around looking like that. So, instead, I have a UV neck fan. Now, this is not mine. It is just perfectly matched to my brand, but I bought this one on Amazon and I will link it below. You turn it on right over here and it has three different settings in terms of cool air that comes out. And you guys can hear it, but you apply it underneath your neck and it just cools you. Especially if you're waiting for the bus or if you're walking outside or you're taking a little walk. I absolutely or you're

7:38 gardening or if you're taking a nap in the shade, it will cool you and it is very very very um just lovely. Not to mention the sound is like white noise so you can drown out all the noise of all the little children around you when you're trying to find your peace and relaxation. But this is a very very very very easy one to incorporate into your routine whether you are in the city or on vacation. So that's my ultimate sun protection fit which is not just a UV visor. I had a momentary lapse of words. It is also a UPF rash guard as well as a neck fan. Now my fourth hack is let's say you are in the city. You're not going to wear the neck fan. You're not going to wear the visor. You have to

8:24 wear normal clothes cuz you're not going to wear the rash guard and you're running around from you're you're you're a business person. There are some men who watch my show, but you are a business person. You're running from building to building. You have your makeup on. You're looking perfection, but you are now realizing that your sunscreen is no longer working because it's been 5 hours since you've applied it and you have to walk outside at 1:00 p.m. and you need to reapply sunscreen. But how are you going to do it with your makeup on? Well, this is where you have reapplication hacks. One is a sunscreen powder just like this one over here where I believe with sunscreen powders something is better than nothing. We know that sunscreen powders do not give you the protection that is fully labeled on the sunscreen powder itself because nobody's applying nearly that much

9:09 powder to their face unless you want to look like a cakey mess. But something is better than nothing. And if you're going to be out for like 10 minutes just crossing the street getting to the next meeting, this is a great way to reapply sunscreen. SPF SPF sprays are also in the same vein. Unless you are directly spraying the spray in your hands, patting your hands, and putting it on your face to get the adequate amount, you spritzing your face is not going to be giving you nearly as much as you need. Not to mention, it's going to make your face wet, maybe make your makeup runny. But SPF sprays are a good way to reapply if you are somebody who uses minimal makeup, but still has a little bit of something. You don't want to put a powder because you look dry with a powder. So you can spritz the spray on your face, even on the top of your head if you are someone who has a lighter hair density. Again, something is better than nothing. And then my last hack,

9:54 which is the hack that I do, is take a beauty blender, a dry beauty blender, and I put an excess amount of sunscreen on the back of my hand and I dab that beauty blender and I tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap all over my face. And honestly, my makeup stays intact. It's important you find the sunscreen of your choice that you are trying to um that you the texture of which you enjoy and the finish of which you enjoy because that is the finish that's going to sit on your face. I obviously go for my own sunscreen, the disco block. I like to look a little bit dewer. So, it does give you that beautiful dewy effect while giving you that protection. And to be honest, it's I think with this particular hack, whether it is my sunscreen or any other sunscreen, because you're using so much more sunscreen on the back of your hand before you dab it with the beauty blender, you're probably getting somewhere close to the actual protection that you need, especially for

10:41 reapplication. But all of this is great. At the beach, none of this applies. You want to be reapplying correctly with the adequate amount of sunscreen. If you're using a powder, you should not be. If you're using a spray, you need to be spraying it into your hands really to be getting the right amount and then applying it on your body. And if you are using a regular cream traditional format, you want to make sure that you are putting this on your body with the right amount. Now, bonus tips for melasma. Avoid heat exposure beyond the sun. We talked about the neck fan itself, but you want to also avoid saunas, steam baths, hot yoga, because all of that can trigger your melasma. If you're going to be wearing a hat, wear a widebrimmed hat. A baseball hat does not count. So, I see you, my patients who come to my office. I see patients every day of the week. They're always like,

11:27 "Oh, I have my hat." It's not a hat. It's a scalp cover. That's literally all it is. And so, you need to be wearing a 3-in widebrim hat that ideally has a material that blocks UV rays because a straw hat does not. And you also want to be make sure that you're wearing UV protective sunglasses because sunglasses will protect the corner of your eyes. One thing about sunglasses, anything with a metal rim I don't love because that metal rim can get hot and I've noticed that heat sometimes triggers the melasma right on the edge of the rim. Side note, hot tip. I think this is the first time I've ever said that. Skip waxing where you have melasma. If you have melasma on your upper lip, definitely do not wax, especially not in the summer, especially not with hot wax because that can wake it up and flare it up. You might want to instead prefer threading or shaving or pre-treating the area with hydroquinone and going in for

12:12 laser treatment that you spread out very much so you're not accumulating too much heat. And if laser is not for you or you've tried it and you don't think it has worked or your melaza has flared and it drives you nuts, maybe even electrolysis, you want to be very consistent with an over-the-counter skincare routine with brighteners like triangic acid, kic acid, licorice root, nyinomide, vitamin C, retinols because these ingredients are going to be the counterpart of the prescription hydroquinon which is the gold standard for treating melasma. But you can't be on hydroquinon forever. So, you must be on these ingredients to make sure that you can continue the effects of hydroquinone once you are done using it. And check your medications. If you are on birth control pills, if you are on hormonal medications, those can definitely make your mealasma worse. So, check with your doctor on what you can avoid. So, there you go. Summer survival

13:00 mode. This has been your melasma survival guide. And don't just rely on sunscreen. You got to layer up, cool down, and stay shady, which all sounds like oppositions of some sorts. But the real the reality is they're breathable, you can stay cool, and you can stay in the shade. Comment below with your favorite summer hacks. Let me know if this has worked for you. And otherwise, I will see you guys next week. Have a beautiful, beautiful meal-free summer. I'll see you guys later. [Music]