Every skin specialist can agree that Retin-A therapy is the gold standard, the cornerstone of good skincare. Maybe you were lucky enough to have started it in your 30s. Maybe you started to borrow it from your acne prone teenager in your 40s or maybe you were that 50-year-old lady sitting in my office asking me what to do for wrinkled, dull, blotchy skin.

The answer is Retin-A, the vitamin-A cream. This cream has been used since the 1980s when Dr. Kligman (in whose lab I worked at Penn) ,who was using it to treat acne, realized something unusual. In treating his acne patients, he would put a dollop of the Retin-A on the back of his left hand and smoothe it onto the patients’ face with his right hand fingers. After awhile, he noticed that the back of his left hand was smooth and bright and that the back of his right hand certainly wasn’t. Thus the idea of Retin-A as an anti-aging cream was born.

Retin-A Cream is famous for causing redness and drying. Thus it can be obtained in many different formulations to decrease this side effect. These fancy creams cost $200 to $300 a tube or more. When I first opened up my practice in 2012, it cost $40 for a large tube of generic Retin-A, which I suggested you mix with your moisturizer for starters. That same tube today costs $300. Now I know co-pays can help, but let’s get real! It’s Big Pharma out to get us again.

I started to search for a generic that I could offer my clients at a reasonable price in a comfortable formulation so that people would use the product. My privately compounded Retin-A is $90.

I also discovered some fabulous products developed by brandMD that will help reverse the signs of skin aging. I now offer, an intensive repair cream, an under-eye cream, an amazing hyaluronic acid moisturizer, and a vitamin C cream for brightening the skin in the summer when you may not want to be on Retin-A. And they all come with a pretty VFA label, no less!

Most important is the availability of Needle Free Serum, the aforementioned hyaluronic acid product. This is a formulation of hyaluronic acid that plumps the skin. They call it Needle Free because they claim its effect is like having a tube of filler injected into your skin with needles. Well, that is the marketing….However, used twice a day, it does attract moisture into the skin, plumping lips and softening fine lines immediately. I think the effects are cumulative and truly amazing. Combining this with the above products can help your skin.

Please see below for my Easy Peasy Skincare Regime. I know it must be fast and easy – or I won’t do it!

I also recommend City Lips to introduce you to a tingly, long-lasting effective lip plumper. It just makes your lips look great. I wear mine all the time.

Another annoying feature of the aging face is the thinning of the brows. To add insult to injury, did you realize that the brows turn grey-white too? Well, I found a way to thicken the individual hairs AND replace the color. Welcome Blinc into your life. This product, which comes in 8 different shades, is used like mascara for the hairs of your brows. No more dangerous, time-consuming brow dyeing sessions. Slowly stroke it on, and your brows return to be seen and admired. NuBrow is a great product that will grow and thicken your eyebrows. NuLash is the sister product that grew my lashes so long that I could not blink while wearing my glasses.

Running out of product and can’t come by? I will mail you your Creams at no charge. Send me a check, and out it goes to you! I can also deliver products too! I often meet clients “for coffee” at KAF…. Just email me Dr.carol@vermontfacialaesthetics.com or give me a call/ text and leave a message about your shopping needs at 802.356.2343