EPISODE OVERVIEW:

Board-certified dermatologist Dr. Samantha Stoler from About Skin Dermatology shines light on essential skin health practices in this must-hear episode. Dr. Stoler demystifies skin cancers and sunscreen options, revealing why daily protection and regular skin checks aren’t just recommendations—they’re necessities. Tune in for expert insights that could save your skin and potentially your life!

TIME STAMPS:

[4:02] Cancer Awareness

• Skin cancer types 
• Regular skin checks

[12:34] Preventative Care

• Importance of SPF
• Types of sunscreen

[21:06] Skincare Steps

• Essential skincare routines
• Choosing the right products

[41:04] Skin Health

• Importance of vitamin D levels 
• Health for skin appearance 

[55:50] Skincare Treatments

• Prioritizing skincare treatments
• Choosing the right treatments

KEY TAKEAWAYS: 

• Importance of skin health – Discover why your skin deserves top-tier attention in your wellness routine (hint: it’s not just about looking good!)
• The role of skin health – Learn the surprising truth about how daily SPF can halt premature aging and serious damage before it starts
• Regular skin checks that could save your life – Simple skin self-examination techniques that even dermatologists swear by
• Summer skin survival guide – Beyond sunscreen: tactical skincare strategies for your most radiant summer yet
• The long-term effects of sun exposure – Uncover how today’s sun habits become tomorrow’s skin story (and how to rewrite yours before it’s too late)

GUEST INFO: 

Dr. Samantha Stoler, board-certified dermatologist

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• YouTube

RESOURCES:

• Join Betty in a free consultation call for your financial goals
• Subscribe to the Betty’s Smart Friends YouTube Channel
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Betty Wang is an investment adviser representative of BW Financial LLC, a registered investment adviser registered in the State of Colorado. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. The views and opinions expressed are as of the date of publication and are subject to change. The content is for informational or educational purposes only, and is not intended as individualized investment advice. This information should not be relied upon as the sole factor in an investment-making decision. You are encouraged to consult with a financial professional to address your specific needs and circumstances.

TRANSCRIPTION:

Betty Wang 00:00:06 So I don’t know about you, but being a teenager in the 90s, I always wanted to have the perfect golden tan. I laid out with my friends during the summer and use tanning beds during the dark Midwestern winters. Maybe you also remember the coconut smell of Hawaiian Tropic SPF four. Or maybe you remember the Playboy Bunny stickers they gave you at the tanning salon so you could see just how tan you were getting. I think back and wonder what the hell was I thinking? Now, as I approach 50, I have sunspots, age spots, wrinkles, rosacea, melasma, breakouts, and the list goes on and on and on. And this isn’t even addressing the skin cancer concerns from years of trying to get the perfect tan. Today we’re going to talk about all things skin. What you want to know and what you need to know, especially during the summer months. I’m Betty Wang, the host of Betty Smart Friends. I’m a certified financial planner who helps women be more empowered and feel less alone when it comes to their money.

Betty Wang 00:01:05 I’m so, so excited to welcome board certified dermatologist Doctor Sam Stoller. Doctor Sam has been with about skin dermatology and derm surgery since 2011. She is known not only for her medical expertise, but also for her warm and personal approach with her patients. I should know I’m one of them. I’m one of the lucky ones. Also, when you see her in person, you can’t help but notice and be a little jealous of her beautiful and unblemished skin. We’re so lucky to have Doctor Sam here with us today. Please welcome her to our podcast. Thank you. Sam. Yay! I appreciate you. I’m so glad you’re here.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:01:44 Hi, Betty. I’m so happy to be here. Oh, thank you for inviting me. Oh, this is wonderful.

Betty Wang 00:01:50 I have so many questions. I don’t even know where to start.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:01:53 Please. I hopefully have so many answers.

Betty Wang 00:01:56 Okay, so for people like me, I’m sure I’m not alone. Growing up in the 90s, we wanted the tan. We didn’t really.

Betty Wang 00:02:03 We thought we were being healthy by using SPF for so we wouldn’t burn. I myself also used Crisco and baby oil. Not on my face. You know, I was very careful face I use SPF for. Oh, okay. Yeah. What can we do now that the damage is done?

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:02:22 Yes. Okay. First of all, I don’t know anything about those Playboy bunny stickers, so I.

Betty Wang 00:02:28 Well, did you go tanning?

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:02:30 I did not, and I didn’t know I was going to be a dermatologist, but I did not ever do that. My college friends did lie out on, like a black tar roof, of which they tried to pressure me to do that, and for some reason I was too board, too antsy, too hot. I never did so.

Betty Wang 00:02:50 Wow.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:02:51 My sun exposure, which I had some, was just from sports and living, but not purposely tanning. So interesting. I gotta look into those Playboy bunny situations so well.

Betty Wang 00:03:01 They also had hearts, so it just kind of depended how sass.

Betty Wang 00:03:04 Oh yeah, how sassy you were feeling. And then you just like you put it on the same place so you could just see how much damage you were doing to your body.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:03:13 Depends on which place you went to. Yeah. Got it.

Betty Wang 00:03:16 Yeah. That’s true. That’s true too I actually didn’t yeah. My poor parents were like, I don’t understand.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:03:24 Well, when we do procedures in the office we give people these blinder goggles. And so many people are like, oh, these are like the tanning bed goggles. And I’m like, see, that’s why you’re here, you know? So the question of what we can do now. So for everyone and this is sort of a podcast directed I guess mostly at middle aged women, but anybody first and foremost starting to wear sunscreen every single day is number one. Because no matter what damage you got, whether it was on purpose or not. We can’t turn back time. We can only sort of help our skin moving forward. And the less damage that we incur now, the better.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:04:02 So. So. So first and foremost, it is sunscreen every day. And we can talk more about types of sunscreens and which ones are better later. But for any age doesn’t matter who you are every day. And Colorado is beyond. Like we get so much UV daily. So that’s number one. Now I’m a dermatologist and so if there’s any skin concerns, we want you to come see us. And what we do if you make a visit with us is either a, you know, medical visit or a cosmetic visit. And from a medical standpoint, which is really the most important, you know, if you come in for a skin check, we are looking for early signs or any signs, of course, of skin cancer or precancerous. Now, you know there are three main kinds of skin cancers. The one that is the scariest is called melanoma. And we do a screening for that. Now we ask people to also look at themselves. And melanoma looks dark or black. It would be a mole potentially changing.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:05:09 But way more commonly we see basal cell and squamous cell carcinoma. And they’re often pink or scaly or scar like or pimply and may not be obvious. And overall, you know, we assess for just sun damage. And there are things called actinic keratosis which are pre cancers. And there are pink scaly lesions. And if anyone has any one of these things that’s our primary concern in the, in the office is to address these and take care of them as needed. And this is something that we we do all the time and we can pivot into cosmetic things. Now if people have skin cancer, they often have a lot of cosmetic damage and needs as as well.

Betty Wang 00:05:54 So where do you see that most often? I think I’ve been really surprised with friends that it’s it’s in their hairline. Like a lot of times it’s in their hairline.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:06:03 It’s interesting. Yeah. I there are actually I have a couple of women that I can think of in particular that are our age that have multiple basal cell carcinomas in their hairline.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:06:14 And I don’t know if that’s just a susceptible area or you put sunscreen and don’t really get it really close to your scalp. I don’t know, but truthfully, you actually can get it anywhere now. Sun exposed areas are the most common places. So, you know, face the chest really anywhere. But the more sun exposure you’re getting on an area, the higher risk that that area is going to have sun damage and then potentially skin cancer.

Betty Wang 00:06:41 When should anybody, I guess, start getting regular checkups? I know in Colorado it’s recommended to start earlier just because people have been in the sun.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:06:49 Yeah, that’s a good question. So melanoma is a real skin cancer and there is a familial genetic predisposition for melanoma. So if there’s a family member, you know, a parent who has it, and especially if they got melanoma at a young age, then really the answer is any age. But kids start developing moles. And some of that is a genetic thing unrelated to sun. And some people have really atypical moles.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:07:17 And that can also start coming pre puberty and then really accelerate in puberty. So if someone has a family history of melanoma or there is a pre-teen teenager who’s developing moles and if they’re a little bit atypical, then they should come in in childhood. If there’s not really that history, and especially if someone has a little bit darker skin and they don’t have a ton of moles probably in there in Colorado, I would say probably in their 20s. Now, it does depend on how much sun damage they’ve had, and if there really isn’t a lot of damage and not again, not a lot of risky things, you don’t necessarily need to come every year. Once you start seeing, you know, the signs of sun damage and or you’ve had atypical moles or there’s anything precancerous, then at least once a year and sometimes twice a year. And in Colorado, I mean, the youngest person I’ve seen with the basal cell is 18 years old. So there’s not a exact answer. It depends on who you are, your skin type, family history, your sun exposure, and then anything that you’ve ever had personally.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:08:24 So it’s never a bad idea to come in. We have kids that come in because their parents have had something, and sometimes then we just do skin cancer and sunscreen awareness and just educate them on taking care of their skin in general. So and then we see kids in general for acne and eczema and warts and stuff too. So I have a lot of relationships with kids, but from a skin cancer perspective, it’s very dependent on their family risk factors and their exposure.

Betty Wang 00:08:51 So I mean, I don’t want to go down too much of the cancer discussion, but like, what’s the difference between the basil and the Squamish?

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:08:59 Okay. Yep. Squamous. So they come from different cell types. So in my office I tried to draw this really horrible diagram that I probably should just get one that actually looks legit. But my art skills are kind of lacking. But I kind of like to talk as I draw. So in the skin there’s multiple kinds of cells. So the cell origin for melanoma and basal cell and squamous cell are all different.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:09:25 So melanoma comes from a cell that’s called a melanocytes which is the pigment cell. So if you have darker skin you have, you know, more melanocytes, more melanin in your melanocytes, your normal skin cells. So if you like, rub your skin and you get some dead skin, Those are called keratinocytes. Those cells, if they become atypical, it is either what’s called an actinic keratosis or a squamous cell. And it depends how deep that goes in the skin. And then we all have what are called basal cells. And so between the top layer of the skin which is the epidermis. And the second layer it’s called the dermis. There’s a basal layer and there’s cells there. Those are natural and okay. And they’re called basal cells. But if they become cancerous that’s called a basal cell carcinoma. So that cell type is different. So if you have a basal cell it can’t mutate into a squamous cell and into a melanoma. It’s a basal cell. Basal cell and squamous cell can kind of look similar.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:10:21 They can be pink and scaly. We can sort of tell the difference, but sometimes a person cannot. And then melanoma is often dark or black can be pink. It’s called an AML anodic. But essentially the cell type is is different.

Betty Wang 00:10:35 So if you have something that’s like red on your face or wherever on your body. I mean, I’m sure there’s. I’m not the only one who’d be like, oh, it’s fine, we’ll see. Like it’ll go away.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:10:46 Correct.

Betty Wang 00:10:47 How long till you decide that? Should it go away within two weeks. And if it’s not, then come in or.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:10:54 Yeah. So. So the most common times we see that is with a basal cell because they can look like a pimple. So you can get a little shiny bump that’s like oh it looks like a pimple. But ultimately it never goes away. And so, you know, it’s always hard if this is someone’s first time because they’re not expecting it. And, you know, you may not have a dermatologist and you think something will go away.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:11:16 If someone has had a history of a skin cancer, they know better and will come in. But usually I say give it a few weeks and if it’s a pimple, it should evolve or go away. And if it doesn’t. Now, thankfully, basal cell carcinoma is actually really slow growing. So if you waited months even and some people even wait years, it doesn’t usually metastasize, so it’s not life and death. It just would get bigger and at some point you would know it would either bleed or it would just look really weird, or you would have some sign that you need to get it checked out. And squamous cell can be a little more aggressive and they grow a little more quickly. Still not very quickly, but it becomes like more like a bump. So you kind of know that you have like a wound or a bump or something that’s not healing. So if you’ve had it, you’re kind of more in tune to your own skin and, you know, but often, thankfully, it’s not a rush.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:12:04 Now, if you ever see a changing mole or something that triggers your body to think, oh, this looks really different and it’s dark, you do want to try to come in as soon as possible, because for melanoma, time is really of the essence because the deeper it gets in the skin, the more risk it could actually spread through your body.

Betty Wang 00:12:21 And that’s scary. So if preventative care is the SPF, you know, I’ve been reading about SPF layering like and does that work or like do you recommend that.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:12:34 You mean putting multiple things that have SPF on and so SPF, just so people know. Means sun protection factors. So really it means how many times more are you protected at the moment that you put it on versus not wearing it? Okay. And actually it’s done really specifically for the chemical sunscreens, really less for the zinc and titanium. They just extrapolate that. But so if you do SPF, you know, 30 and you actually put it on which most people do not based on the, the recommendations, which is really like kind of heavy and thick at the moment that you put it on, you’re like 30 times more likely or less likely to get sunburned than if you didn’t have it.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:13:18 Okay. So the answer is really, the more SPF you put on, the higher your protection is. It’s not a matter of time though, so if you wear SPF 100, it doesn’t necessarily give you more time if you sweat. That’s going to come off the same as 30 or 50. And so layering is great. So you don’t get a lot of incidental sun at the time that you’re exposed. And then in theory, the one of the most important things is if you are out and you’re sweating or not, it does naturally wear off. So you should reapply. Especially here in Colorado. So yeah. So layering is good.

Betty Wang 00:13:58 So does it matter. So layering is good. Does it matter like between mineral and chemical or.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:14:06 Yes. So. Well yes okay. So we haven’t even talked about cosmetics which is probably really what.

Betty Wang 00:14:12 Oh wait. Yeah. Because once we get there I’m not you’re not going to be able to turn me on.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:14:18 That’s that’s fine. And we’ll pivot into cosmetics which would be treating wrinkles, brown spots, redness you know anti-aging which we can’t anti age.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:14:28 We can just slow aging. But when we get into. Yeah, when we get into that mineral sunscreen is actually way more important. So in terms of cancer okay, it doesn’t really matter. Like first of all, we say that whatever sunscreen you’re willing to wear is the best sunscreen okay. And so the difference is right is chemical sunscreens are, as they say often in America, about five chemicals made up to give you a broad spectrum protection against both UVA and UVB. Okay, individually, some do UVB, some do UVA, some need to stabilize them. And so it’s a concoction to give you a broad spectrum of protection against the the whole UV spectrum that causes DNA mutations, sunburns, skin cancer down the road. Okay. So chemical sunscreens, they do actually do a really good job of protecting you against the DNA damage. And what happens is the UV comes in and those chemicals kind of break it down before you get mutations, okay. What it does not do, and the reason that people like the chemical sunscreens is give you a protective barrier over your skin.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:15:43 And so it still triggers the melanocytes to make pigmentation. you still can damage a little bit of the dermis, which down the road will lead to less collagen and wrinkles. So from a cosmetic standpoint, we recommend the physical blockers which are called zinc oxide or titanium dioxide, at least again here in America. In Europe they have way more chemicals and other blockers. But we’re a little bit limited. So we recommend a daily zinc or titanium base, especially for your face, sunscreen or moisturizer, because you’re going to get a benefit in protecting against browns. And we can talk about melasma and pigment. If you’re out and you don’t want that paste and you’re playing a sport and you want it to rub in easier, then go for the chemical sunscreen again, whatever you’re willing to wear. But cosmetically you’re going to have a lot more benefit downstream by using the mineral sunscreens. And then we can talk about, you know, people worry about, do the chemicals accelerate any hormonal issues cause cancer? None of the data is really that strong for any of that.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:16:50 But people do worry. So the question is like, can we limit the chemicals that we put on our body? And by using the physical blockers that don’t absorb, they just reflect the UV? You’re not technically exposing yourself to as many chemicals. And globally, if we’re all using chemicals and then it gets washed off into the water, like, yes, we’re putting it all back into the environment. So we like physical, but they tend to be tastier, whiter, rub on all your clothing and your cars. And so it’s a it’s you know, it’s a balance.

Betty Wang 00:17:22 Interesting. Yeah. So if you wanted to be super, super careful, would you do a chemical and then a mineral? Or is that just overkill?

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:17:31 If you do a mineral, you don’t technically need the chemical and it stays on a little bit better. You know, some people do both at different times for different areas. Sometimes, I mean, I wear a mineral on my face every day. My neck actually is a little sensitive, so sometimes I’ll wear a chemical one on my neck and then physical on my body.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:17:51 So so people will mix and match. But it depends on what your skin can tolerate, what you prefer. Again, anything is better, especially if we’re talking about skin cancer prevention.

Betty Wang 00:18:01 Can you just give an example of like what’s a what’s a mineral SPF. What’s a physical and what’s a chemical.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:18:09 Yeah. For the mineral sunscreens that you could wear every day, like you really need SPF 30 to 50 as your daily. And there’s some great moisturizers that have that. And we can talk about brands in my office sells a lot of stuff. We like this brand Eltamd, which is sold through dermatologists. Color science makes an awesome tinted one called Color Science Flex and actually tinted. We should talk about. Yeah. Again as we’re going to talk about cosmetics, there is benefit with tint actually in protecting against pigmentation with fluorescent lights and visible light. And there’s something intense called iron oxide. And for people that have melasma or pigment disorders, having a tinted daily sunscreen actually gives them an extra layer of a protection that is kind of in that visible spectrum, which is which is great.

Betty Wang 00:19:01 I just started I just started with the tinted.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:19:04 And then you don’t have to wear as much makeup. It kind of gives you that base. Sometimes it can work as your foundation. And so it’s a nice way to have SPF on every day and not have to think about it.

Betty Wang 00:19:13 Yeah, I still kind of getting used to it. It feels like I don’t usually wear makeup, so it’s just, yeah, I’m always afraid it’s going to rub on something, or when I see it on people’s shirts, I’m like, oh, I know.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:19:25 So it’s like tinted for your face. And then maybe like white or clear for your neck and hands too. That rubs off. But face, neck and hands are super important, like every day. especially driving. If you’re in a job where you have a job where you’re in the car, like you get so much on your left side, your hands get a lot, and then you just get a lot of exposure. So every day, face, neck and hands.

Betty Wang 00:19:48 I’ve never thought about my hands that could explain the age spot on my hands. What about the chemical. So like chemical and physical are different.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:19:55 Yeah. So the chemicals, you know, octinoxate like if you read the labels, you will see.

Betty Wang 00:20:02 But there’s not any way we, we would know, like if we went to target or something.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:20:06 Yes. If you, if you go to target and you look at the label of what’s in it, if it’s zinc oxide or titanium dioxide, it’s physical. If it has anything else, which again, there’s about five of them, then they’re chemical, and sometimes some of them have a mixture, because the mixture will give you the physical protection with a little bit more elegance, where it can rub in a little bit better, like eltamd, for example. The there’s one that’s called UV daily that I’ve loved forever. It has one chemical and physical, and it rubs in beautifully compared to just the pure physical. But yes, if you read the label, it’s easy to see if it’s chemical or physical, if it’s titanium or zinc, it’s physical.

Betty Wang 00:20:48 But there’s no like flashing red sign on the front that says this is physical. It might I don’t know. I mean, I’ve looked I don’t know, I’m just curious for those of us who wouldn’t.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:20:59 Flip it over, put your readers on and see what’s in it.

Betty Wang 00:21:01 Yeah, I know also, I’m holding back on the readers. I’m there, but I just I’m carrying them around. Sounds a little annoying.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:21:09 Yeah. That’s good. That’s that’s the gateway. Just carry them, you know.

Betty Wang 00:21:13 Yeah. Yes. So as we’re switching to the summer months. Like, what do you think about. I’ve read that you should change your face wash, you should change your lotions or blah, blah, blah, like.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:21:26 Yeah. Interesting. So obviously we live in Colorado. So for all the listeners that are not in Colorado, maybe it’s different for you, but dryness is obviously a huge problem here and it’s a little less dry in the summer. I mean, we live in a desert, so it’s dry all the time, but the heat’s not on our house, so using products that hydrate us is going to be important.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:21:48 And I would say really the biggest change would be potentially how much moisturizer and or what moisturizer you need. But otherwise you really don’t have to change much. Now we tell people again you should wear sunscreen every day. If you’re in a good habit. Summer, winter, it doesn’t matter and you don’t need to change. Some people in the winter need to put a moisturizer under their there daily sunscreen that might have a moisturizer in it for an extra moisturizer? Where in the summer you might not have to do that, but your cleansers don’t really need to change. We’ll talk about retinol and retina, which is really important for anti-aging or preventative aging, but people can still do retinol and retina in the summer. You just wash your face and take it off in the morning because it makes you sun sensitive. But really, a good skincare routine can be year round. You just might play with your moisturizers a little bit, depending on how dry your skin is.

Betty Wang 00:22:48 And what is like a good routine. I mean, I’ve read about I mean, I’ve read about the, you know, the ten step that is really popular with Koreans, like in the Korean beauty culture.

Betty Wang 00:22:59 Let’s just go with what is.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:23:01 Let’s go with basics. Yes.

Betty Wang 00:23:03 Yeah, the bare minimum. And then maybe like a couple add ons.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:23:07 Perfect. Okay. So sunscreen okay. But bare minimum. Everyone should wash their face twice a day, okay? And really, the default, unless you’re really oily, would be a gentle cleanser. And again, we can talk about brand names. And to be honest, your gentle cleanser doesn’t really matter. It’s on for your few seconds, so whatever would make your skin feel clean is great. Okay. And washing your face twice a day because at night you get a lot of dirt and oil build up from sleeping. It’s nice to put on your products with a clean face in the morning and then at night, of course, like you wear lotions. And a lot of people were makeup and you get build up through the day and you want to clean your face at night before you go to bed. Okay. So a gentle cleanser or some kind of cleanser twice a day.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:23:55 Okay.

Betty Wang 00:23:56 Does that matter if it’s foamy or not? Because I’ve read, like sometimes the foamy. Okay.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:24:01 No, that would be preference. The skincare companies are really good at saying if this is for, you know, dry to normal or normal to oily. And so you would kind of go with how your skin is and it may fluctuate. You may have both. You know, you may feel oily at night, whereas you wake up dry. Whatever. You can have multiple cleansers, but really that’s just feel. And you know how how like what your skin likes. Now a good moisturizer. Now people want to know, oh, what’s a good moisturizer? And as we age, our skin gets drier. Part of it is our estrogens dropping. We’ll talk about collagen, but we don’t hold water as well. Our dermis is thinning. Again, we’re a lot of sugars in. There are not existing because they’re thin and we don’t hold the water. So a really good moisturizer and these tend to get kind of expensive.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:24:48 Well have ingredients added into them that will help you hold on to the water, not just seal it in. So like if you get a regular moisturizer over the counter, they’re decent, but they’re mostly sealant, so the ingredients will just coat your skin to hold the water from your cleansing. And then as soon as that kind of dries up, it evaporates. A good moisturizer will have something like hyaluronic acid. There’s some other ingredients. That’s the one people nose that hopefully penetrate into your skin and hold on to the water so you stay hydrated longer so that your sealant doesn’t have to be as greasy. Once we start putting greasy things on our skin, it might feel good, but it could clog your pores and be hard to apply things over it. And so a good moisturizer will help your skin feel hydrated at the time and hopefully stay hydrated. So cleanser. Good moisturizer if you need it in the morning, most people do and then you can put an antioxidant on. Now this is not a must.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:25:51 If you want multiple steps, then the morning is a really good time to do something that’s preventative. So we prevent before we go in the sun in the morning. So like a vitamin C serum you would put that on in the morning. Because a vitamin C is what’s called an antioxidant. And when we’re in the sun or getting UV exposure, our body makes oxidative free radicals and antioxidants eat those up. So the best time is to put it on before you’re going to get that exposure. So there’s a ton of different antioxidants, but vitamin C is probably the one that people know the most. So that should go on the morning if you’re going to use one. And then you would put your sunscreen kind of last, especially if it’s a physical, because you’re kind of like sealing it in. It’s a physical barrier. So in theory, if you put your sunscreen, a lot is not getting in over it. And the rule of thumb as we talk about skincare, because people do end up with a million things and they’re like, what order is actually like thinnest to heaviest? So if you have a serum that would go first versus then if you’re going to put some kind of peptide cream or something that goes over it, and then your sunscreen goes last.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:26:59 So the morning if you wanted a good skin, you know, routine would be wash your face. Put some kind of, maybe antioxidant serum on. Put your moisturizer. Put your sunscreen. Okay. If you don’t do an antioxidant. Moisturize sunscreen in the morning.

Betty Wang 00:27:15 And then, Yeah. Before I talk to you, I used to wait right for it to dry because I thought that that’s what you were supposed to do for it to be more efficient or efficacious.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:27:25 Yeah. Efficacious? Yeah. The more people wait, the more they don’t want to do anything. So.

Betty Wang 00:27:30 Yeah, I get bored where I’m like, okay, it doesn’t matter.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:27:35 Just get it on so it doesn’t matter. Ideally, again, as we’re talking about sealing in the water, like putting a moisturizer on when your skin is still a little damp actually is a good idea because it keeps the it keeps the moisture there. But really, I mean cleanse your face kind of get most of the water off. You can put your serum, your moisturizer and your sunscreen right away, and you could just put it on at night.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:27:56 That’s where we want to do our repair. And so the most common thing that we recommend as we age, but really you can start this at any point other than any time someone won’t be pregnant. You can’t use a retinol, but a retinoid is really important. Now retinol is over the counter. It’s a precursor to retinoic acid, which is we know it is retina, and there’s tons of data on that being really good for aging skin. It helps to build collagen. It makes your skin look and feel better. It can minimize your pores, your skin will look more robust. And so being consistent and finding one that your skin can tolerate, and being able to use it every night will give you the best results. So a retinol is a good place to start, especially in Colorado if you’ve never been on one. Because our again, our climate’s really dry. And so retina or retinoic acid or tretinoin that’s the generic like Medicaid medication name can be a little harsh if you first start it. And so using a retinol to kind of get your skin acclimated to it.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:29:00 And then whether you move up to something stronger or not is kind of up to how your skin tolerates it. But if people say, what are the two things I can do? Sunscreen and retinol or retina have the most data on being the best for, again, anti-aging. And then at night it’s really important to use again a good moisturizer. And then there’s other things that if you specifically have brown spots, you can use something for brown spots. And then there are things that have peptides which help your skin rejuvenate. And so there are a million things that you can build on. But the three basics would be antioxidant, retinol and sunscreen.

Betty Wang 00:29:39 And I do recommend that everyone, just like at lunchtime, put on more sunscreen. I mean, I mean, I know that that’s not.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:29:46 A good question.

Betty Wang 00:29:47 If like, a lot of us will be like, no way.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:29:50 But yeah, no, it depends on what you’re doing. So if you’re in your car and actually if you wear makeup or if you wear tinted, there’s some really good powder sunscreens that you can keep in your purse or car that won’t melt, that you can just put on like every few hours.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:30:06 And if you’re going to go out for a walk at lunch, like not a bad idea to just throw it on right before you go out for a walk. If you’re indoors, do you need to reapply? I mean, probably not, but I always reapply, especially in the spring and summer before I get my car to drive home. Just because it feels really intense on your left side and hands like for the drive. So if you’re going to be outside at any point during the day, it’s it’s really good. And if you happen to be lucky enough to get a workout or something during the day, then you should put more sunscreen on.

Betty Wang 00:30:39 Okay, I had a thought, but now it’s just left me.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:30:41 Sorry. What if you think of it? Let me know.

Betty Wang 00:30:43 No no no, I just it’s I have so many questions that I think they all just. I love the way the sun feels on my face sometimes. Right. And now sometimes I’m wearing these big hats And because, you know, now I’m trying to get rid of all these age spots and all these other problems caused by my previous yeah, son loving ways, but sometimes it just feels nice.

Betty Wang 00:31:08 Like, is there any part that’s, like, safe or.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:31:13 Yeah. Well, I guess safe isn’t the right question. You know, from a cancer perspective, like any UV that’s getting through could cause damage. Now, if you were, you know, wearing a coat of sunscreen, would it be completely safe? Yes, probably. But there is a balance. Like I love to be outside, too. I don’t hibernate when people tell me, oh, don’t worry, I hibernate. I never go out. I’m like, well, that’s not good for you. Like, you need to be outside. You know, we need to feel nature. We need to feel the sun. It’s actually really important. We can talk about vitamin D, so being outside is good for us. It is. It is good to feel the sun on our skin. But again, depending on who you are and how your skin has any innate protection, you do need to be wearing sunscreen. So as long as you’re wearing enough that you’re not really causing damage or getting burned.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:32:08 You are safe. Now. Over time, people are going to get tan. Tanning does mean you’re getting exposure and your body’s like, what are you doing? And it’s trying to protect itself. So it is signaling that you’re getting something that your body is trying to protect itself itself from. Now we think that’s pretty and we feel good.

Betty Wang 00:32:30 Yeah, I know it’s so interesting because we’re like, oh.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:32:33 But people do kind of look better because they have a glow. And again, culturally, we’ve decided now in Asian cultures you look better if you’re white.

Betty Wang 00:32:42 My my grandma used to say, why are you so dark? You’re so ugly. And I was like, wow, that’s harsh.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:32:49 So it is cultural, but there is something that does feel good about the sun on us, and whether it is vitamin D production or whether it’s just the sun and the air. I think it’s important to to be outside and actually like talking about tanning beds. There is a study of the addictive nature and not even like how people look, but the way that the UV gives off endorphins to people.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:33:17 Created an addiction that it was good for their mental health that they needed to tan. It wasn’t just, oh, I like looking tanned. So cutting that out was actually something that was like more like treating an addiction than just like reshaping their cultural expectations and like, spray tan wasn’t totally replacing what they were getting from, you know, a tanning bed. So the answer is yes. It’s a balance. Be outside. Wear sunscreen. If you’re getting a lot of, you know, sun, try to reapply. If you’re really getting direct sun and it’s Colorado and it’s July. Like you need to wear a hat. Like you need to wear clothing, because there is probably no amount that’s going to really protect us. The UV index is so high. And so yes, safety wise you can be outside, but it really depends on who you are and time of day and year and where you are.

Betty Wang 00:34:10 Okay. I mean, my hat, like I don’t know how big your hat is, but I feel like I feel like I can’t hear or see anything outside of my hat.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:34:18 Yeah. And there are certain times you can’t wear it, right? If you’re going on a run or if you’re at a sporting event and you don’t want to block people behind you.

Betty Wang 00:34:26 Yeah. No. It’s obnoxious. Yeah.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:34:29 Yeah. I mean, if you’re at the beach and you just, you know, you want the sun, but you’re going to protect your face, like, the bigger the better if you’re gardening. Oh, that bigger the better. Because you just are getting so much. It reflects from the ground. So it’s not restricting the activity and making your activity, you know, less enjoyable than wear it. But otherwise there are times where, you know, if you wear a baseball hat that might be good enough or it’s better than nothing. So you do what you can. Again, it’s within reasons you have to be happy and do your activities and live your life. And if you can protect your skin at the same time, that’s great.

Betty Wang 00:35:09 Hi there! Hope you’re enjoying this episode of Betty Smart Friends.

Betty Wang 00:35:13 I wanted to share a quick money tip with you. The tip give each dollar a job. Give every dollar you earn a job. Some dollars will have the job of paying your taxes. Some dollars will have the job of paying your mortgage, others saving for retirement. But don’t forget that fun self-care or buying your precious time back are valid and important jobs for your money. The key here isn’t to judge the job or how much goes there. It’s to be mindful of where your hard earned money is going and to make adjustments if you discover it doesn’t align with your values and your goals. Hope you enjoy the rest of the episode. And remember, you’re not alone. Now back to the show. Yeah, I feel like I’ve become like a meme where I’m wearing my like huge, huge hat and my weighted vest, walking around trying not to get any sun. And it’s like, ridiculous.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:36:15 Well, there’s a big joke about, like, going on vacation with the dermatologist. You know, everyone else is in their string bikinis, and we’re just like, head to toe, you know, it’s like, got our eyes out, like, okay, this is fun.

Betty Wang 00:36:27 Oh, yeah. Well, I mean, my grandma used to try to put the umbrella over me, like, so that there’s no sun that could get through. That’s funny. I never really even thought about that. Yeah. So do you go on beach vacations?

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:36:39 So the. I’ve had one sunburn in my life, and I was with my.

Betty Wang 00:36:43 In your life? Yeah. That’s amazing.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:36:46 And I know I was also lucky. I actually had really olive skin as a kid. I’ve gotten lighter now just because I’m really not in the sun that often. But I did have really dark skin, and my kids have really dark skin, and so does my husband. And so I did have that genetically. My sister is fair and freckly. She had many sunburns just because she was outside and blisters. So so I never really got it just as a kid running around, but I did back to my college friends who I love. We went on a beach vacation. We were in Florida and they were like, we’re all getting tan.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:37:19 And I was like, I’m not into this. They’re like, just try. So I would be like, all right, who wants to have a catch with me and run around? And they’re like, you’re not trying hard enough. I had blisters on my cheeks, I was swollen, I was I was like, you guys, I am never doing this again. And yeah.

Betty Wang 00:37:36 So but then when it burnt off, were you tan and pretty?

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:37:39 I looked horrible. I don’t even know. No, it was terrible.

Betty Wang 00:37:43 I remember thinking, I mean, because I would blister and even I mean, I’m darker complected, but. So that must be how much damage I’ve done to my skin where I would like to get blisters and burned and. Yeah, and then I was like, oh.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:37:56 I forget what your actual question was, but.

Betty Wang 00:37:59 Oh, just about your beach vacations.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:38:01 Oh yeah. So we go to the beach every year. My in-laws have a condo in West Hampton, and I actually, I love the I mean, I love being at the beach.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:38:08 It’s soothing. I’m not particularly a good swimmer, so I don’t really go in, but I do like the feel of the sand, and I, I like to, I like to be there. I’ll usually sit under a umbrella because I don’t want to burn and I’ll protect my skin, but I’ll go in the pool and I’ll go in the water and I and I will reapply. There’s also this supplement that I recommend called Healio Care, and it’s a pill. It’s actually a plant that is a fern from South America that has created its own natural antioxidants against UV exposure, I guess. Evolutionary. It went from being a water plant to a land plant, and it created protections against the sun, so the sun didn’t damage it. Amazing. I don’t know who decided to eat this and see that they didn’t get sunburned, but this supplement really does help people actually not get sunburned because you you take it. And it’s a systemic antioxidant that’s very specific for UV. So there’s a lot of antioxidant foods blueberries, pomegranates, you know, things like that.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:39:11 But there’s no data that that actually protects against UV exposure. But this fern totally does. And so I’ll take that one. I know I’m going to be out in the sun a lot, and I recommend that to my patients as well. So yeah, it’s yeah. People like you got those yellow pills.

Betty Wang 00:39:28 Oh that’s super interesting. Where can you just get that at Vitamin Cottage or where can you anywhere or Walgreens.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:39:34 We sell it in my office. So you know as a plug for about Skin Dermatology. Anything that we do. Discuss if you want. You can go on our website and order. But I think you can get on Amazon or Walgreens or. Yeah. So.

Betty Wang 00:39:46 Well, now that we’ve opened the door to all the. What’s effective or not, I have my list.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:39:55 Okay. So we need we definitely need to talk about cosmetics and procedures and all that good stuff. So let’s go.

Betty Wang 00:40:02 Well, I mean, like the I think the gateway is you were talking about vitamins.

Betty Wang 00:40:07 Like, does it help? I mean, I know friends who have been taking collagen because it’s supposed to help their skin and their hair. Yeah. I mean, you did mention vitamin D, is that.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:40:16 Yeah. Okay, so so vitamin D real quick. So if you’re really, really religious about sun protection, you should have your vitamin D levels checked. And there’s a range and you really want to try to be in the middle of the range just for mental health. Bone health lots of reasons. So vitamin D is something that we do often have to supplement if we’re really religious about not being in the sun, okay? And most as we age especially, but most women will become a little vitamin D deficient, and our skin is not as good at metabolizing vitamin D through UV exposure as we get older anyway. And so that’s really important. Now skin is the biggest organ okay. So like anything in your body the things that are good for any organ are good for your skin. So good nutrition right.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:41:04 Eating really good foods. Staying away from things that are inflammatory to you. Right. So people ask, well, can I eat dairy? Can I eat gluten? I don’t know if it doesn’t inflame you. Sure. If you if it inflames, you don’t. And if it does, you’re probably going to have some skin issues. Getting good sleep. Exercising, hydrating all the things that are good. Not smoking, minimal alcohol. You know, all the things that are good for everything are also really good for your skin. You get a good night’s sleep. You didn’t drink alcohol. You ate really well. You exercise. Your skin’s going to look really good. If you have inflammation in your body, you might get Rashi, you might get pimply, you might look like, you know, you’re kind of blah. So, so just in general without trying to add anything. Taking really good care of yourself overall will also help make your skin look and feel better. Okay, collagen is an interesting discussion.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:42:00 The data is coming out more and more about whether it’s good for your skin. Hard to know. I actually did start taking it, partly because people asked me and I wanted to see what it does. I think what it has done is it’s made my joints feel better as we get older, in terms of exercise and recovery, and as you and I both like to exercise, like it’s sometimes really hard to recover and then do something else the next day. So I feel like collagen is actually helped. I don’t necessarily know that I’ve seen any hair or nail or skin changes. Now we will see as more data come out. I do think if it’s one of those things where it doesn’t bother your stomach and you know, you could afford it and you, you know, just want to add it in and see how it works for your body. Like do it. I feel like it is kind of harmless unless it upsets your stomach. Do I think alone it does enough to see a difference? I don’t, and people always ask me, are you taking it? I am, but I’m also doing lasers and needling and retinol and everything else and fillers.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:43:09 So like, it’s it’s hard to know. Is this one thing really making any difference?

Betty Wang 00:43:15 So yeah. Like along that line. Like, what about probiotics? I mean, a lot of things I’ve read is like your gut health really translate to your skin health.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:43:24 Yeah. So for talking about me, I’ve been taking athletic greens or ag1 for, I don’t know, 7 or 8 years, which have some probiotics in there. Again, nobody knows. Everybody’s gut is different. I can’t take a pill. Probiotic. It makes me queasy. Athletic greens has been great and it has other nutrients. Do I know it’s the best one for everybody? I don’t. In terms of, you know, gut health, which is definitely an avenue that we are learning more about as being a link for wellness overall and immunity, and probably our skin too. You know, it’s again, it’s hard to know if you have gut health and whether you need it. I feel good taking it. Do I know how I would feel not taking it? No.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:44:10 As long as you have, like, you know, regular bowel movements and your body doesn’t feel inflamed and you’re not feeling bloated. You should do something that you know feels good to your to your gut. So again, not a cookie cutter answer. You’ve got to find what feels feels good to you, at least for now. Until we have better testing to say, oh, you’re deficient in this microbe and you need to supplement this. We don’t right now. So but yes, I take athletic greens.

Betty Wang 00:44:37 So anything else we should be taking or that you take that you think is helpful.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:44:43 Like supplement wise? No. Just eating really well.

Betty Wang 00:44:46 Okay I can’t I have so many questions. I don’t know where to start. So I might just go down my list of, you know, things I’ve heard about. And you can just tell me, like what you think of them, if they’re efficacious and what you recommend or like, what’s kind of just a waste of money, okay. Or waste of time to like some of it.

Betty Wang 00:45:07 Like I understand that some of it is, you know, self care. So is that ever wasted time? I don’t know. Okay. So here my list starts with red light therapy. So I get confused between red light therapy and the LED light therapy because they’re different. Right.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:45:21 Okay.

Betty Wang 00:45:22 So one is I mean because all those masks are everywhere. Like the the ones like the Doctor Christmas, they like you look like you’re a killer and you glow. Yeah.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:45:33 Yeah. Those okay. So, you know, visible light. Okay. So. So mostly we’re talking about actually, like, red or blue. Okay. But it’s in the visible light spectrum, so not UV where UV again is damaging to our skin but kind of in the visible spectrum. Okay. So let’s talk about red light masks because those have a lot of Instagram prominence.

Betty Wang 00:46:00 Yeah. Yeah. They must know that I’m looking because I can’t I’m like oh my god. Stop.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:46:06 Exactly. And now anyone who’s listening will get a mask at least come up on their ads.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:46:11 So there was actually a recent article in our like, Journal of American Academy of Dermatology about red lights, because this is a hot topic. And it does show that if you do it consistently now red light, the masks per se are different depending on which one you get. And again, like skincare and sunscreen, the one that you’re going to use is going to be the most effective. So they come as a mask that you wear. Some of them you lie under. The wands are definitely not as good as like something that you wear. So based on whatever the one that you get, if you do it frequently enough, which is going to be a few times a week, it shows that it may increase the complexion of your skin, it may improve it, it may build a little bit of collagen. So there in theory there’s there’s benefits to them. And they’re expensive ish, you know, between 3 and 400 bucks. Usually I got one sent to me. That was one where I lie under it.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:47:10 I found it really difficult to use. You have to wear these goggles and you really have to, like, cut out for a bit. And I just I couldn’t figure out how to do that, but I guess totally. And like, I don’t know. And if you have a mask that you will wear and you can watch TV or, or, you know, cook dinner and some of them have eye openings that you still could function and you do it. There’s probably some benefit alone. Are you going to look in the mirror and then six months later with a red light mask. Feel like you made that much difference? Honestly probably not. But it it may be something that feels good again. Anything that reminds you to just, you know, you might have to meditate for a little bit to breathe. You’re doing something good for you. And maybe there’s a little bit of skin benefit. Probably is is worth the money if you would use it. Most people buy it. They use it for a couple of months and then they sort of don’t use it.

Betty Wang 00:48:06 Okay. What about microcurrent devices like Nuface? I’ve seen those two a lot.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:48:12 I know, I don’t know that. Honestly, I don’t know that much. I mean, I could probably speak better to the things that we do in my office. That will always go deeper. I could give you a rationale. Why? Moving blood flow and lymphatics and anything like that would be good for your skin. And that’s that’s true for anything. Anytime you’re, you know, you’re doing something that keeps blood flow moving. Which exercise can do that too? Again, probably is good for you. I don’t know that there’s enough to say that that is going to make a giant difference. Data wise.

Betty Wang 00:48:47 So what about like so maybe gouache wise like the same or like facial yoga? Like it’s just moving the blood around ish.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:48:56 Yeah. Yeah. So so here’s the thing. So the way that we build collagen, because as we’re getting older and, you know, as our hormones go down, even if we replace our hormones, most of these anti-aging things, if we’re not talking about, again, brown spots or, or even really, I guess, wrinkles we’re talking about.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:49:16 But as we like, our skin gets more relaxed and we lose collagen. We’re trying to do things that that rebuild that. Okay. And the best way to do that is with devices that create little micro wounds in the skin to stimulate your body’s natural ability to build and repair. And when we have a wound or a cut, we make collagen. And so the devices, the reason the ones in our office are going to be more effective is they can go deeper and they can create more wounds. So lasers do that with light. And there are devices that do that with sound. Those are called radiofrequency devices. And then mechanically you can do that with needles. So microneedling. And so we have different ways that we do things to create these wounds and a wound response in our skin. And ultimately we definitely will see an improvement in our collagen. So anything you do at home, to be honest it doesn’t really hurt is probably not doing that much. Like, it kind of needs to create a little pain so that your body can repair.

Betty Wang 00:50:25 No, I mean, that’s fair. Like, I think that’s what we want to know, right? Like it’s fair.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:50:30 So it’s worth it. It’s worth it to save your money. Every time you see an ad, put it towards something that you’re going to feel like you’re being tortured.

Betty Wang 00:50:39 I don’t know what you’re talking about, Sam.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:50:43 And then you’re going to have a benefit. So every time you want to take all those things out of your cart, take the money, put it in your, your dermatology or whatever fund, and yes, and do something that’s going to create some real benefit.

Betty Wang 00:50:58 Okay. So now that we’re there, like what do you find creates real benefit? Let’s say, you know, like for me so like age spots. Right. And it’s like what do we do for those And the wrinkling, of course. But we have Botox for that. Yeah.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:51:19 Let’s talk about injectables after. But let’s talk about brown spots. So age spots are the medical names called lenta.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:51:25 Those people have freckling discoloration. You know, that is a lot of from a lot of it is from sun damage. Some of it’s genetic, but people will pigment again more as they age and with more sun exposure. So, the best way to get rid of those are with certain procedures. So there are creams that you could prescribe. The main ingredient in the creams are called hydroquinone. They kind of help alone. They don’t really take the spots away. They may help them not get worse, and they may lighten them a little bit. But to really get rid of age spots or brown spots, you’re going to want to do a procedure. Okay. Now lasers. So a laser uses a light to have a targeted end point. So the ones that will help for brown spots have pigmentation as their target okay. And there’s different names for so many different lasers. The most common one that people will probably try first is called an IPL. It’s called intense pulse light. So it’s actually a broad spectrum of light that can target different things.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:52:26 But it really helps for pigment. People have to be really careful with IPL. They are really good for discreet sun spots on fairly fair skin. So skin is graded with a Fitzpatrick scale 1 to 6. I would say an IPL is really good for people that have a 1 or 2, like really light with sunspots because it targets the the brown and it really wants to leave alone the rest. And if you have background pigment and tan, you run the risk that you can hyper hypo pigment the background. So a photo facial or an IPL is really good for people that are fair with sunspots. Okay, if you are darker or have any baseline tan and you have sunspots and you want to do a laser, then there are different wavelengths that will create less energy and a less reactive response to those background, you know, to the background Brown and the laser we have in our office is called a thulium or lace. MD is the brand name. It’s a 1927 laser, and that’s a really good one for actually most people.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:53:32 It makes you feel like you have a sunburn, it can exfoliate your skin. So actually in Europe they use it a lot as a standard for pre cancers. We recommend it for people that have pre cancers and also want to treat their pigment. It’s safe for melasma. It’s really good for anyone who is skin type three and above. You can do it as much as you can handle. And your skin looks and feels refreshed. And it doesn’t go super deep. So there’s not a lot of downtime, but there’s enough that you turn your skin over and you’re building a little bit of collagen a little bit, but it’s really good for background sun damage. And then there’s much bigger lasers that you can combo that will get some browns and then also go deeper. Different target would be water to deal with the wrinkles, because the end point and target for for the laser is different depending on what you’re trying to treat. And some of them will combo it. So you can kind of get everything. But from a brown spot perspective for lasers IPL, if you can do it, this 1927 is really good, kind of as a next step up.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:54:38 And then people do chemical peels. Some people like peels and other people don’t. You can do peels that are safe on all skin types. So that’s a really good way to improve texture, the pigmentation safely. There’s not as much prep there. It’s a little bit cheaper. You can do them at home. We can do probably a little more aggressive peels in our office. If you’re sensitive to chemicals, you got to be careful. Some people get really irritated with chemicals and so appeal may not be the best option for them, but that’s a that is a good way to do a lot of maintenance for pigmentation and brown spots with getting improvement.

Betty Wang 00:55:14 So and how often do you recommend that like should people be doing these things like once a quarter or or hammering it out. Right.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:55:23 Like yeah, I mean in the perfect world, you know, if money and time was no object, you know, we would recommend doing something every 3 to 4 months to keep that turnover and keep that collagen improving. So, yes, in the perfect world, every 3 to 4 months, trying to do something to improve your skin.

Betty Wang 00:55:45 Even like you could do these things even before summer or during summer. Or do you wait?

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:55:50 So some you can do during summer. So you can’t really do an IPL because you really can’t be out. You don’t want to be tan, but anything else you actually can, you want to be sun protected afterwards. And in theory, the less tan you are, the better treatment you’re going to get. But if that’s when you have downtime, then by all means you can do stuff. You can do stuff in the summer.

Betty Wang 00:56:11 Well, and I’ve had friends who’ve done Halo, which apparently I shouldn’t do, but like, their skin looks. Well, one gal her did not react well at first and then, you know, once the healing. But that’s supposed to be very hardcore, right?

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:56:24 So Halo is a it’s a great laser. It’s a combination of what’s called an ablative and a non ablative laser. And so now we’re pivoting for, for kind of wrinkles and more collagen, because that laser goes deeper in the skin to create those wounds.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:56:41 And in ablative laser we’ll actually like kill the skin. So your body is like really recovering from it. And a non ablative will just create a little damage. You will react a the more ablation you get the more wrinkle improvement, but the more pain scabbing downtime you get. So Halo is a really good combo of the mixture so you get benefits for wrinkling and texture without a lot of downtime. And the company that that that the platform that the halo is on is also the same as what’s called the BBL, which is a version of an IPL. So a lot of times we will combo them. So you will get a BBL first to get rid of some brown spots, and then you’ll get the halo on top of it to do the wrinkles. So it’s a very complete session really effective for your time. But you can have healing. You get some swelling like you need to kind of like prepare for it a little bit and then you have to be careful. You can have some acne after, and your recovery is a little bit different than some of the less aggressive lasers.

Betty Wang 00:57:46 The reason why I can’t do it or somebody with darker skin, it’s more dangerous for.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:57:51 Well, anytime you’re going to do something where there’s a lot of heat and you have darker skin, you, you run the risk of, again, hyperpigmentation. And that’s the last thing you want to do when you’re trying to do a laser. And obviously we don’t know if that’s going to happen every time. But the more heat and the deeper you go, the more risk that you’re going to have that you’re going to have that hyperpigmentation reaction afterwards. So so you got to you unfortunately do have to be more careful. Good thing you don’t have a lot of wrinkles.

Betty Wang 00:58:22 Well that covers you. Like then you have Botox. Like can you do these things. Like should you if you’re doing Botox or fillers like how do you plan that with these other things? Because they’re kind of doing different.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:58:32 They’re totally doing different things. So let’s talk about injectables. So now we’ve sort of talked about, you know, we’re kind of into the world of cosmetics.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:58:39 And there’s a million things out there. And they all target different things. And so the truth is like you kind of need them all but injectables okay. So so Botox is a brand name in our office. We use a lot of dysport, which is a rival, just different companies, very similar product, and we call them toxins. People are like, oh, that’s a weird word, but it’s like we don’t always want to use a brand name if we’re using the other. It confuses people. So what toxins do is they they make you not able to utilize a muscle as well, so that when you have a wrinkle and you’re not moving, you’re not reinforcing the wrinkle. And again, as we get older, we lose elastin, we lose collagen. And when we move, our skin doesn’t rebound back. And so the less that we move the less wrinkles are being reinforced by that movement. So so toxins will knock out the muscle movement like I can’t do it that well. If you start young enough where this is true, before those wrinkles are set, then you’re not moving it.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:59:47 So much so that the wrinkles don’t get reinforced. So that’s how it works. Preventatively now.

Betty Wang 00:59:53 So the baby Botox is like or sorry.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 00:59:56 It’s a real thing. And it actually.

Betty Wang 00:59:58 The baby toxins is a real thing. Okay.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 01:00:01 Yes. And they don’t. And when you’re young, I mean, unless you have really strong muscles, there are plenty of 20 somethings that have really strong muscles and they have wrinkles now it’s natural. And if they didn’t move, their skin can look pretty smooth, but they move. If you kind of stop that, they will preventatively have less wrinkles. Down the road now, if you start at 40 or 50 and you’ve already got set wrinkles, even when you’re not moving, Botox or dysport or other toxins can not erase those. You can only soften them. And then you kind of hope to again build collagen with other devices to try to like, improve the look of your skin, but you can’t prevent it once they’re there. So that is that is true.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 01:00:46 Like doing Botox or Dysport or something at an early age. Preventatively will help down the road of trying to fix it later. So the places you do it most commonly are kind of the upper face. So the glabella, the forehead around the eyes, crow’s feet. That’s the most common. Now people do a little bit in the lower face for the chin you can do some toxin right over the lip border. People call that a lip flip. And what it’s doing there, is it making you not able to pull down on the upper part of your lip so that it turns out a little bit? Now it can affect how you say S’s and use a straw. And so the lower face is tricky for for toxin. You’ve got to be careful. And then fillers are totally different. So there’s and there’s all different kinds of fillers. But the the ones that people know the most are what are called hyaluronic acid fillers. And we said we talked about hyaluronic acid earlier. It’s a sugar natural to our skin.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 01:01:43 We lose some as we get older. It holds water. And so the fillers that most people have heard of is a brand name. Juvederm is a bit a brand name. They are gel concoctions of hyaluronic acid and they get injected for different reasons based on the size of the essentially the size of the particles and how how thick they are. So as we get older, we lose volume. So we’re losing fat. We’re actually our bones resorting, our skin is more lax, so it’s falling. And so we use fillers to replace volume. So a common place is mid cheek to kind of lift up. You can kind of do it along the cheek. And out here also to try to support and revolutionize areas that people have lost. And then the thinner fillers. Also a lot of hyaluronic acid fillers can be used in other areas where you have more movement. So in the creases here, sometimes here in the lips for some enhancement to improve wrinkles. But but not really. it’s just to kind of soften the, the, the edges a little bit.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 01:02:55 But those those are fillers. So they’re very different and they stay in your skin. Your body eventually does break them down. It can take months. So you can get six to a year, maybe even a little bit longer of fillers, depending on where you put them and which kind you use. So they are different than toxin. They’re injected and they play a different role than anything that’s trying to improve the the skin. Now that being said, injecting hyaluronic acid into your skin actually because it holds water, can make your skin look and feel better as as well as improving what you’re trying to correct with volume and other things. And then the last thing that is kind of, kind of getting a lot of traction now, not the last thing. There’s a million things, but the one of the things that is getting a lot of traction now is sculpture. I don’t know if you’ve heard of sculpture. So sculpture was actually invented for something called HIV Lipo atrophy. So when HIV medications first came into the market, one of the side effects is patients that were taking those would look really gaunt.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 01:04:00 They would lose all of their fat. And this product was actually developed to improve the fat and the collagen in those particular patients. And then it became purely cosmetic. And it’s a particle that gets dissolved into a liquid and it gets injected and it over time builds collagen. So it is not a volume replacer. You are not putting something in that will stay. You actually put it in. You have to move it around. And over time it stimulates your body to also again back to building collagen. And that’s gaining a lot of attraction recently because people are now not wanting to look overfilled. They don’t want to look like they have so much filler. And it’s fake. People want to look natural, especially in Colorado. It’s awesome. People want to look like they’re well rested and they look good for their age, but they don’t want to look fake. You want people to say, oh, what are you doing? But not really know what you’re doing. And so so that’s that’s our goal actually.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 01:04:59 So, you know, we tell people you should do things that make you look and feel good, but the goal is never that you’re going to look younger. You want to look and feel as good for your age as possible. We cannot we cannot reverse you. We want to slow it down.

Betty Wang 01:05:12 So I know there’s no silver bullet, but like for somebody who has to prioritize, like, what do you think are like the top 2 or 3 things that they should try to do or that you would recommend as like the most bang for their buck or whatever however you want, whatever criteria you you think.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 01:05:32 You know, to be honest, it it would depend on that person’s genetics and what bothers them. You know, I it’s funny, I’ve been I’ve been to many conferences but one of the the the the lectures. I remember, was a cosmetic lecture. And, you know, they say you could look at someone and think, oh, my goodness, I can’t believe you walk around and your your face is all red, for example.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 01:05:57 But what might bother them is something totally else because it reminds them of their grandma and they don’t want to look old like their grandma. And so you may see someone and think, oh, I can’t believe you’re not thinking about fixing this, but it’s this other thing that they they’re thinking about. And so so it really there isn’t one answer from a from a non injectable standpoint. If you’re in your 40s and you could afford to do procedures, you should do something with needling. So like RF Microneedling that stimulates collagen. There’s not a lot of downtime because it’s fairly harmless. It hurts but you’re going to get improvement. It works for everyone. And then texturally and sunspot wise, like, again, if you could do that thulium laser once or twice a year, you’re going to get a lot of benefits, both preventatively and therapeutically in how your skin looks. But again, I say this with privilege that I have access to this and you can do it multiple times a year, you know. And again, from a fixit perspective, doing toxin like early in your life may be a big investment and may feel like a lot of maintenance, but it will pay off when you don’t have wrinkles in your 40s if you can start it.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 01:07:16 So it isn’t one one thing. And it really depends on, you know, again, if you have pigment, then you’re going to spend your money fixing your pigment. If you really are red all the time, then you may fix. Like, we didn’t even talk about lasers for redness, but you may prioritize because you don’t like looking like people think you drink all the time, or you’re always flush and people ask you about it, so that’s going to be your priority. And if you have a lot of wrinkles. You know, again, that that might bother you versus someone else that just isn’t as wrinkly. So the answer is I can’t give you an answer, Betty.

Betty Wang 01:07:49 No no no no, that’s actually really true. You’re right. Because, you know, redness is not I. I but I do have friends who that’s. Yeah. Like, that bothers them. Okay. We’ve gotten really long. Okay. Because I have so many more questions. But before we start wrapping it up, is there anything that you we haven’t talked about that you feel like is important to talk about or want to talk about?

Dr. Samantha Stoler 01:08:08 Try to think.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 01:08:09 I think you did an awesome job of like getting me to. I wrote all my notes down and I think I hit them. I hit them. If people have questions, they can reach out to me. But I think we covered the basics. Wear your sunscreen. If you’re interested in cosmetics, go to your dermatologist. Do something that’s really going to be beneficial and live your best life. Take care of yourself overall.

Betty Wang 01:08:30 Oh, I think that’s all a nice message. Okay, so my closing questions with every guest is, oh, every guest is how do you maintain your own balance and peace? I think we all struggle with that. And you’ve, you know, alluded to the fact that being happy and living your best life is helpful for your skin, too. How do you do that for yourself?

Dr. Samantha Stoler 01:08:51 Yes. So I think, first of all, I am lucky that my job I’ve always worked four days a week. So if anyone’s listening, I think everybody should work four days a week.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 01:09:02 Having a day off during the week will 100% improve any work life balance, because you will have a day to yourself, hopefully to exercise. See your friends, do your food shopping and it just it’s a game changer. Do any appointments that you need to do for yourself. I also do try to leave my work at work. I work really hard during the day. So other people have all of my energy from eight to 5 or 6 sometimes, and then I really try to turn it off and then come home and have whatever few hours at night that I can with my my family or whatever else I’m doing. I am very habit based and routine based. And so I am my happiest when I create systems that allow me to do things to keep this balance. So, as you know, we both like to work out and we have similar likes in how we like to work out. But I will prioritize my workouts and work my appointments around my workouts because again, I need those for my physical and mental health.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 01:10:08 Again, I’m really good at planning. I love planning, so I try to put things on a calendar. When someone says, oh, okay, we should hang out. Okay, take out your calendar. When are we going to hang out? And I put it on the calendar and I kind of do it. Then it happens. I see my friends, I have hobbies, I love my family. I really just try to use my time as effectively as possible. I’m not great with downtime. So as long as and I like to be scheduled. So I schedule things that feel good to me. And being busy makes me feel balanced, actually.

Betty Wang 01:10:44 Well, no, I think that’s, you know, yourself. I think that’s the nice part of where we are in life. You mentioned hobbies. Like what? Other than I mean, we both we both really enjoy working out with. Right. But, like, what else do you like to do? I mean, you would mention gardening.

Betty Wang 01:10:59 I don’t know if you actually do that. No.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 01:11:02 No, I do not garden. I have a non green. Whatever’s the opposite of green.

Betty Wang 01:11:07 Yeah I have.

Betty Wang 01:11:07 A brown thumb. I have a lot of dead plants.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 01:11:10 My husband will leave and be like what are the plants? I’m like oh wait, what? I like to read, I like music, I like to go to concerts, I like to plan events and house things. I like to see my friends. I like to laugh. I like deep conversations. I don’t know is that a hobby? Is deep conversations a hobby?

Betty Wang 01:11:29 No. But that’s that’s also like nice that you know, that you want a real connection, right? Because that’s hard sometimes.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 01:11:36 That’s my hobby. Creating connections. Yeah, I like I like to try new restaurants. But yeah, I would say music, reading, seeing my friends and exercising.

Betty Wang 01:11:46 Oh, I love that. So what’s the best way to find you? I mean.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 01:11:50 Don’t find me.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 01:11:50 I’m very busy. I’m very scheduled.

Betty Wang 01:11:55 She’s very scheduled. Like, just to go to your website at about Skin.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 01:11:59 Com about skin. Dermatology. Yes.

Betty Wang 01:12:02 Or about skin dermatology. I always put in the wrong thing. Yeah.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 01:12:05 Yeah. So. Yes, if you want an appointment. Sorry. It is kind of like a ways out.

Betty Wang 01:12:10 Sam is very hard to get into.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 01:12:12 But it’s doable. It’s doable.

Betty Wang 01:12:16 She’s awesome.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 01:12:17 I know, and I’ve been there a long time, so I’m not young anymore. I’m old. So my website, if you actually want to make an appointment. I don’t know, I’m barely on Instagram. I’m Samantha Stoler. You can find me and message me, but I’m not there that often. You can. I mean, someone could email me. I have an email, Samantha Stoller at gmail.com if you want to ask me questions.

Betty Wang 01:12:39 Well that’s nice.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 01:12:41 I probably would get my phone number out, but not not on a podcast.

Betty Wang 01:12:44 But no no, no.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 01:12:46 Yeah, I don’t know. My office. Find me. Stand outside with the sign and a boom box and you know.

Betty Wang 01:12:52 Oh yes, it’s such a good movie. It’s perfect to watch now in May.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 01:12:57 Oh it is. Yes.

Betty Wang 01:12:58 So what do you think for somebody who’s not in Denver who can’t see you, like, how do they find a dermatologist? That is I mean, board certified, obviously. Right. Like, but is there anything else that they should look for?

Dr. Samantha Stoler 01:13:14 I mean, word of mouth is going to be your best bet because it really is hard to know from like a website or a reviews. But if you really like, if you’re moving somewhere and you don’t know anyone, there’s a website. The American Academy of Dermatology. Adorno. And you actually can go on there and you can put your zip code where you live, and they will spit out a list of board certified dermatologists. And then you’ve got to do your research. Like anything else, you can go on their site.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 01:13:43 You can read reviews of. I hate reading reviews about myself, but you can. But there is a list that you can get from the AAD, but really asking people who they like it ultimately is going to be your best bet. So.

Betty Wang 01:13:58 Well, this is so fun. Thank you so much for spending so much time with me.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 01:14:02 And is there anything, Betty, that you wanted to ask that you didn’t in your in your notes that you. Oh my God. Okay.

Betty Wang 01:14:10 So many, so many. But I, you know, I will be respectful of your time and.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 01:14:14 You can, you can text me. You have my phone number so.

Betty Wang 01:14:18 And I will find you later. Don’t worry. Well, thank you so much for being a part of the podcast and sharing all your great.

Dr. Samantha Stoler 01:14:25 Well, thank you for inviting me, and I’m glad I put it on the calendar. And we had a date, so.

Betty Wang 01:14:32 Well thank you. Thank you for tuning in to another episode of Betty Smart Friends.

Betty Wang 01:14:38 I hope you enjoyed today’s conversation and that you learned something new. You can connect with us on social media to stay updated on future episodes. Share your thoughts and join our community of smart friends. You can find us on Instagram at Betty Financial, and don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode! If you are feeling ready to be more empowered and less alone in your financial life, please schedule a complimentary 15 minutes with me. The link is in the show notes. Please see the show notes for important disclosures regarding BW financial planning and this episode. Until next time, remember you are not alone. We got you.