Tell Me Why everyone is at risk of skin cancer

Gulf News

Dr. Asima Nasir, Medical Director at Orskin Aesthetic Clinic, shares her top summer skincare tips on this week’s episode of the Tell Me Why podcast.   Skin is the largest organ in your body and it reflects everything happening internally, says Dr. Asima   Dr. Asima Biggest mistake people make when it comes to skincare is not wearing sunscreen  50 SPF is the maximum protection a person needs, anything more than that is commercial, says Dr. Asima  Dr. Asima: Stress has a huge impact on skin cancers  See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km  Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV  #UAEnews #podcast #cancer

Transcript

00:00If you just want to keep it simple and you've met an expert and you know that they know what

00:05your skin type is, you don't really need to. It's going to be according, it's not going to be in

00:11your budget budget, but you are going to be spending. But I tell all of my patients, when

00:16you're investing in your skin, it's really going to give it to you. Okay. Sooner or later, it's

00:21going to start showing. Okay, there is that return on investment. It definitely is. Okay, perfect.

00:26We are back. Another episode of Tell Me Why, your weekly podcast from Gulf News. I'm Maria

00:45Botros. And in the studio with me is Dr. Asima, who is a skincare specialist guru. I mean,

00:53she's going to introduce herself right now. So we're going to leave it up to her to tell us

00:57about herself and to tell us about her experience. But the reason why we have Dr. Asima in the studio

01:02is because the summer season is upon us. And the heat is real. And skincare and skin protection

01:11is crucial and often neglected by people. So Dr. Asima, how are you? I'm good. So my name is Dr.

01:18Asima Nasir. So I'm from Kashmir, India. A lot of people don't know that and majority don't

01:24get shocked. I didn't know that. Yeah. So I've been in UAE since 1997. Okay, so pretty long time.

01:31So I've actually seen how the world of skincare has involved in UAE. And I've seen great changes.

01:38And talking about currently, I see the improvement immensely. But still, there are a bit of flaws,

01:44which needs to be corrected and obviously been told. Hopefully, we can get that sorted soon or

01:51later. But yeah, so I've done my schooling in UAE. I have done my university in UAE, everything UAE.

01:58Amazing. I have done my internship also in UAE. I worked in UAE. So basically,

02:03everything UAE. You're a homegrown doctor. Yeah, we love it.

02:07All right. So tell us about your experience. Like how did you get into the field? Why skincare?

02:12Why skincare? It's a very personal story. So I was really small and obviously not a med school

02:19or med student. So my mom had this pigmentation. So she was really worried about her pigmentation.

02:25She was like, I'm trying so hard, but the pigmentation is not going. And obviously,

02:30she had other symptoms also. But the pigmentation was the most she's worried about. As usual,

02:35she's a lady, she wants her skin to be flawless. So she went to a dermatologist and the dermatologist

02:40was like, everything seems to be fine. But do you mind doing a urine test? And she was like,

02:46why? She's like, I just want to know. So my mom was like, all right, I'm going to do a urine test.

02:50And turns out to be that she had later diagnosed as renal chronic renal failure. So other two

02:58doctors which she previously visited, and they were like, she's completely fine. And she wasn't.

03:03So this dermatologist actually saved my mom's life in the near future. So it became a bit personal.

03:09And not only that, it was my dad's dream. So my dad and my mom, they've never been to school,

03:15like my dad's been great till grade seven, but my mom has never seen school. So my dad goes like,

03:21I'm going to have a lot of kids. And all of my kids, if they're girls are gonna become doctors.

03:25So we are three doctors in the family. Amazing. And one of them, the fourth one, she was like,

03:32you know what, I can't do it. Like the three of them already, if something goes wrong,

03:36I have to handle it. So she became a lawyer. So my brother, so he was like, listen, dad,

03:41if there are doctors, there's a lawyer, somebody needs to understand money, because doctors don't

03:46understand finance. So he took care of that. Nice. Oh, that's amazing. You made him proud.

03:52I love that. And going back to your mom's story, isn't that fascinating that skin can be an

03:59indicator for so many other diseases in your body? Definitely is a huge indication. So you have to

04:06make sure that you need to take care of it because the largest organ in the body, right? And

04:11it does reflect whatever happening inside internally. So it's a huge, like, it's really

04:16big, like you need to understand like, like such small thing like pigmentation, she had a swelling

04:22of these eyes, like a little bit of edema around her eyes. So he was like doing the math, and he

04:26understood. And then he was like, let's do it. Like, if my mom did not meet him, you know, like,

04:33it's a silent killer. Like, how would she know? She wouldn't. Wow. And it could have led to a lot

04:38of unfortunately, but thank God for whatever happened. And it made you who you are today.

04:45I mean, it got you to where you are. My mom still does not believe me. She's like,

04:50she doesn't. Well, I hope she's listening to this. And now she can actually believe you.

04:56And so we often neglect our skin health. And like, we often don't prioritize skin protection.

05:05I mean, I'm guilty of that, too. And by the way, my mom was worked as a clinical pharmacist in a

05:11dermatology clinic for 15 years. And the amount of times that she has nagged me about putting on

05:19sunscreen, making sure I don't walk outside, you know, in the peak hours, at least avoid those

05:26peak hours, not sitting on the beach for hours and hours, you know, in the peak of the heat and

05:31the peak of the summer. And, you know, it's just something that we tend to neglect. Can you tell

05:37me some of the biggest mistakes people do when it comes to skincare or skin protection?

05:41I mean, the biggest, the most major sin in aesthetics or dermatology is not wearing the

05:48sunscreen at all. The second is not reapplying at all, or the amount, because the amount is a

05:55huge indication and reapplying the sunblock. I have patients which come to me, they're like,

06:00listen, I need to get, you know, my skin looking good. I want to look young. I have pigmentation,

06:05I have freckles. I look, you know, a certain way, like, what can I do? So when I start taking the

06:11history, I'm like, do you wear sunblock? They're like, sunblock? No, not really. Like, sometimes

06:15I'm like, okay, there's some patients, they're like, we do apply and then we go to the beach. I'm

06:20like, then do you reapply? They're like, we're supposed to reapply? I'm like, yes, you need to

06:25reapply it again. And there are some patients when it comes to sunblock, the amount, you need to

06:32understand sunblock, you have to be really generous. So the more you apply it, I mean, you don't want

06:37to look white. But I mean, I would recommend three fingers or two, if you understand. Three with the

06:43neck to just the face, but obviously neck is really crucial also. Yeah. It's, these are the

06:50simple basic steps which they miss out and it has a huge impact. So I mean, there are a couple of

06:56studies which have shown, I'm sure they're on TikToks, on Instagram, there are pictures of people

07:00who don't wear sunscreen who wear, and you can see a difference. The biggest difference, I mean,

07:05for all the ladies out there, it's really great anti-aging. Amazing. You know, so it's like a

07:11big factor. So I have patients coming, I want to do fillers, I want to do Botox, but they don't apply

07:16sunblock. Yeah. So I'm like, just like the basic, the very basic step. And there are a few other steps

07:21which go wrong in like the retinol. Okay. All right. So people who wear retinol, but they don't

07:29wear sunblock. People who do vitamin C, and they think that the vitamin C is going to give them

07:35the glow, but they don't wear the sunblock. And how do you layer that? So do you put the vitamin C

07:40first, and then the sunblock, or the other way around? So I have like a morning and an evening

07:44routine. It's very simple. I don't like to give so many products. And especially for the men patients

07:50of mine, they're like, we can just do one thing, you know, just don't give us so many things. So I

07:54have simplified it for both females and male to be very simple. So in the morning, cleanse your face,

08:00very important. But before cleansing your face in the morning, please have your night routine fixed.

08:05Okay. You can't be sleeping with makeup on in the nighttime and waking up, and then do your skincare

08:09routine. No. So in the morning, cleanse your face, a little bit of vitamin C and sunblock, basic.

08:16And this is personally what I follow. Evening, cleanse your face. You can now, it depends on like

08:23what type of age you are, and what type of is your skin type is very important to know.

08:28But if you start with retinol, so like let's say 13 and above, you're starting retinol.

08:33I have patients applying retinol as much as your palm, the size, and that is not the way to do it.

08:40So you first put the moisturizer, then you put the retinol, a very tiny amount, all right.

08:46And then you apply the moisturizer again. And then you go to sleep. That's the night routine. That's

08:52a night routine. But make sure you wait till the moisturizer like soaked up your skin. Don't go

08:56directly in the bed, you understand? Because that your pillow is going to have that moisturizer.

09:00It's going to absorb everything. Yes. And obviously the under eye cream, very important.

09:06And in the morning, I would really suggest you wear the sunblock on your lips also.

09:10So there are brands which actually now have SPF 15 for your lips. I mean, before I didn't have,

09:16I would actually put the sunblock on my lips also to prevent, you know, further damaging. And it's

09:21really big because it's really basic, but long term, it has a lot of effect. Right. So, you know,

09:29talking about SPF, because like, I think this is something that has confused people years and years

09:35on end. So a lot of people have said anything above 50 is not, I mean, there isn't such a big

09:41difference in the in terms of protection. Is that true? Or is that a myth? FDA, it's like definitely

09:46saying the same thing. Okay. So 50 SPF, like 30 to 50 is like crucial, you have to. I personally

09:53like the 50 because it's a one percent chance. Like it's like 97 to 98 percent. You understand?

09:59But I like the more protection. 50 SPF is the one. More than 50 SPF, I feel like it's more like

10:07commercial. Right. It's not really going to do much for you. And I mean, even for your kids,

10:14you understand, like there is like 100 percent SPF, your kids to be all safe and everything. No,

10:2050 is basic or even 30. It depends on like, obviously, we live in UAE, 50 is ideal,

10:26of course. And is there a difference between adult, you know, sunscreen and like sun protection and

10:32children's? I mean, there is a bit of difference. You understand? I mean, there are some block,

10:37which are like, you know, specifically designed for the kids. So, for example, like kids have a

10:45very soft skin. You understand? Like while adults, we've already been through that soft

10:50area. Now it's a bit harsh. Right. They're not that harsh. They're more fragile. So we need to

10:56take care of that. And we need to apply on our like, for example, my daughter, who's three,

11:01like I have made sure like whenever she steps, like the first thing in the morning, she's going

11:05to apply some block. OK, no matter what. And then she reapplies it at midnight, like not midnight,

11:10sorry, afternoon, midday. Yeah, midday. It's very crucial. So when she comes back from nursery,

11:15I'm like some block. I'm like this crazy mother. But at the same time, it's very important. It can

11:20really affect her. And she does have eczema also. So I have to lotion her up. I mean,

11:26it depends on your kid. Every kid is different. So you need to know and understand what skin type

11:31they have, what kind of issues they have. And obviously, the expert, the doctor will tell you

11:36exactly what to do. No, I applaud that because you're instilling in your daughter such positive

11:42behavior and good habits for her to keep, you know, for the rest of her life. I mean,

11:48if she's not used to it as a child, it's more difficult to get into that habit.

11:52As you get older, I was really like affected by my mom because of the pigmentation she had.

11:57So when I was like 13 or 14, she's like, did you put the sunblock on? I'm like, why, mom? She's

12:01like, because you see my pigmentation? And she would scare us. But then it's actually right.

12:08You know, pigmentations happen due to not doing protection on your face. So it's very crucial.

12:15Okay, so you mentioned skin types. And that was my next question. How do you know your skin type?

12:22So there's skin type. And then so skin type can be a combination dry and oily. All right,

12:28then there's skin type. So there's 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Now, if you're confused what type of skin

12:35you are, obviously, you have to go to the expert, you know, because skin type and it's very crucial

12:40when it comes to skincare, because we don't have the same skincare at all. So the oily skincare

12:45will be a bit different, a dry will be a little bit different and combination will be much more

12:49different. And once you know what you have, what skin type you have, it's actually better for you

12:56to choose your products. You understand? Because I have a lot of patients, they're like, I don't

13:00know what products do I use, but my skin type, I'm not really sure. So when you come to the clinic,

13:06obviously, where I work or any expert, matter of fact, they'll actually tell you what type of skin

13:11type you have and what type of skin you actually have oilies, combination or dry.

13:16So it's good to see an expert or a specialist to actually tell you what kind of skin type

13:21because it'd be difficult for us to determine it on our own. Yeah. Okay, perfect. So I want to go

13:28get into a bit of a more serious note, you know, we want to talk about skin cancers,

13:32and we want to talk about the different types of cancers. There are three types. And you mentioned

13:38them earlier. And I want you to mention them again, and to explain to our listeners what they

13:43are and the difference between them. And how can what are some of the indicators of these

13:48different types of skin cancers? So skin cancer, I mean, we actually have a history.

13:54So my grandmother had a skin cancer. And you really need to be aware and you need to be smart

14:02enough to like diagnose it earlier. The earlier you know, the better the outcome. So we have

14:09the three known skin cancers. So there's basal squamous and melanoma. So now the difference

14:14between all three, I'm going to keep it simple. So the basal one is the most common one. It's

14:19basically like, let's say pearly, or it's like, like a dome shape, and it blends in with your

14:24skin. All right. squamous, I'll go with an SS, it's a bit scaly. All right. And you can feel

14:31it's a bit rough. All right. The melanoma, so birthmarks. All right. So I'll give you a little

14:37bit of trick when I tell all of my patients. So from A to F, all right, so the asymmetric,

14:44right, the borders. And then we have the C, it's for the color, D for the diameter, E for the

14:54elevation. All right. And then F funny looking. Okay, so these are like the indicators, what you

15:02look for. So what you look for. So I kept it very simple. Now, I don't want people to go out there

15:07and start looking at their moles. Not really. Yeah. So you need to understand, like, if you

15:11have a family history, like such as I, I need to be aware. All right. Now, you need to understand

15:16your body, you need to, you know, once in a while, just examine to see, because sometimes,

15:22you never know, you know, God forbid, anyone can have it. And the climate is changing. All right.

15:28So the weather is unpredictable, as we know, I mean, recently the event, but the weather,

15:33you can see it's getting really hot. Sun, if you're not doing protection for your skin,

15:39obviously, there are higher chances of you having skin cancer. Right. I want to ask you,

15:45the next question I want to ask, I honestly have heard it from several specialists. I don't know

15:51if there's any truth to it. But are certain skin pigments more prone to skin cancers than others?

16:00Uh, definitely. Yeah. So obviously, the skin type one to three, definitely. But regardless,

16:07you never know, like me, my grandmother, she's skin type four, which is like, what are the

16:12numbers? So it's one to six. So one, it's like, you know, the red hair are extremely fair.

16:19So the second is, you know, a little bit, it depends on like, I mean, to explain to you,

16:25there's already a, there's a scale. But like, for example, you're a skin type, let's say four.

16:31All right, I'm a skin type four. So is it uncommon for us? No, it's not. But one, two,

16:38three, like, the more fair you are, the more higher risk, but it does not write that skin

16:42type five or six that are going to have it, right? You never know that if there's a family history.

16:47And now we live in a very stressful environment. Stress is a huge impact in skin cancer. Also,

16:54everything is like, like, let's say, it goes together. So you need to understand everything

17:04combination can cause, you understand? So it's not only one factor. There are multiple factors.

17:10Okay. Okay. So just to recap, because like, there's so much that was said, there are six or

17:17seven skin types, six skin types. And it just means that some might be more prone, but everyone

17:25is at risk. Everyone is at risk. You have to understand, for example, like, my grandmother,

17:31like, she's not skin type one or two or three, you know, she's skin type four. And she just called

17:37me one time and she was like, listen, I feel like my mold is changing. You know, I'm like,

17:43what do you mean your mold is changing? She's like, it's not the same like it used to be.

17:47My grandma, she's quite smart, actually. She had breast cancer. So I mean, she had a bit of

17:53everything. I mean, cancer in my family. It's okay. Everybody has something or the other. So

17:59she was like, No, I feel like it's different. So I was quite small back then. So I was like,

18:04Grandma, you're just, you know, you're overthinking. There's nothing to worry about. She's like, no,

18:09it was smaller. Now it's bigger. And it's a bit irregular. And then I'm like, okay, she's quite,

18:16you know, she's noticed quite a lot. So we took her to the dermatologist. And the dermatologist

18:23was like, we're glad that you got her quite early. And she does have melanoma. And we're like, oh,

18:30you know, like, but we thought it was only the white, you know, in the white community. They're

18:34like, No. Wow, it can be with anyone. Wow. Okay. That must have been an eye opener for you as well.

18:41It was definitely so now I have to take care of myself, my daughter. I mean, as I mentioned,

18:47my grandmother had breast cancer. She had skin she had, you know, thyroid also, my aunts also,

18:54so I really need to be updated. Yeah, I mean, as you mentioned, there's so many factors as well,

18:59like stress, environment, you know, climate change, the food we consume, I mean,

19:05there's so many factors that affect you know, those those diagnoses. Okay, so, you know, it's May.

19:14I mean, June is around the corner, which means summer is, is here. I'm not gonna say it's

19:20approaching, it's already here. So what are some of the tips you have for people to protect

19:25themselves throughout the summer season? Like top three tips? I know, we mentioned sunscreen and

19:30sunblock. But like, what are other practices that people should keep in mind, especially with

19:36children? So with children, like for me, personally, it's a big no, like, especially those harsh hours,

19:44like from 10am to like, even like 3pm, I feel like it's too hot. Okay. So I wouldn't want my child

19:52to be in that outside and this hot because obviously, you have chances of, you know, stroke,

19:58you know, you have chances of like, heat stroke, you have chances of dehydration. And I would avoid

20:05I would completely avoid for children to be out there in this heat, unless there's a shade,

20:10you understand? Okay. People going for tanning. I do not recommend that at all. Okay. All right,

20:17because it's really hot, like, you know, early in the morning, around eight, you want to go out,

20:21have a little bit of sun, you know, it's quite normal. But like, after 10, I feel like you should

20:28it's better to stay maybe indoors or to be under a bit of shade, you understand? Not directly under

20:34the sun, you're asking for trouble, I feel. Okay. Okay. And hydration, I'm assuming. Hydration is

20:39very important. Like I carry water with me, you know, for myself or my daughter, for like anybody

20:45who's like with me, like I have carry separate, yeah, with me in the car. Yeah. I don't recommend

20:50to put the water in the car. Of course. Yeah. I mean, keep it with you at all times. But yeah,

20:55if you're in the car with the water, keep it there. I feel like hydration is it does wonders

21:00for the skin. I mean, skin, hair, nails, we always hear about that. But I've experienced it myself.

21:07Like water is one of also another underrated and neglected practice that we I'm personally bad at.

21:13Yeah. I mean, we try we buy these fancy water bottles to drink more water. But yeah, I mean,

21:19we do our best at least. Okay. So we spoke about skin types. And we spoke about, you know, sunscreen

21:27and sunblock. But then, you know, I feel like we're all bombarded with all these like TikTok

21:33videos and like Instagram reels about like, all these skin routines, people spending a fortune,

21:38you know, on products on on, on lotions on serums. I'm guilty. Okay. So is there is there a use to

21:47that? Like, do you need to spend a fortune for your skin to be that healthy? You don't really

21:52need to spend a fortune unless a procedure has gone wrong. Okay. So I do have a couple of patients

22:00from UAE from outside and they have a couple of problems, you know. So I mean, a recent patient

22:06of mine, I think she came from Italy or from Paris. I don't remember. But she had done a laser

22:13treatment there. And they ended up burning her. So she went there for this glamorous look and

22:19ending these patches on her face, pigmentation. So then you do spend a fortune. But if you just

22:26want to keep it simple, and you've met an expert, and you know that they know where your skin type

22:32is, you don't really need to, it's going to be according, it's not going to be in your budget

22:38but you are going to be spending. But I tell all of my patients, when you're investing in your skin,

22:44it's really going to give it to you. Okay. Sooner or later, it's going to start showing. Okay. There

22:48is that return on investment. It definitely is. Okay, perfect. My next question has to do with

22:54that as well. Hyaluronic acid, like I feel like everyone is talking about it. Everyone's putting

22:59hyaluronic acid on their on their face and like their skin. What's the big deal? I'm just, I'm

23:06actually like interested to know. Hyaluronic acid, now there are types. Okay. All right. So we have the

23:14skin boosters and we have for the volume lost. Okay. Can you explain that? Yes. So whenever you

23:20hear hyaluronic acid, automatically start thinking about fillers. Yes. All right. And living in UAE,

23:26the amount of lip fillers I've done, that's been a lot of lip fillers. All right. But no, hyaluronic

23:33acid, it's there's non-cross-linked and there's cross-linked. All right. The non-cross-linked,

23:38it's the one which is for the hydration. It's one for the youthfulness. The cross-linked one,

23:44it's the one which is for volumization. So for example, you're very beautiful. All right. So when

23:51I see you, you just mentioned you're not, you drink water, but sometimes you don't really drink water.

23:57Right. And you just want to hydrate yourself. I mean, you do drink a lot of water, but how do you

24:03give water directly to your skin? Okay. And that's when you add hyaluronic acid, the non-cross-linked.

24:10I'm not going to name the brands, but we do have amazing brands, fillers, sorry not,

24:18skin boosters, which has hyaluronic acid with peptides and amino acid, which is great. It

24:23hydrates your skin very beautifully and you just feel so hydrated. But again, everybody asks me the

24:30same question. Is it permanent? Nothing is permanent. All right. Now coming back to fillers.

24:36Fillers, I don't really like doing fillers unless it's absolutely important. I do have patients

24:41which completely come to me. They're like, no, I do want fillers. I'm like, okay, where do you want

24:45fillers? They're like, I want lips, you know. Okay. But for me, fillers is something I really love and

24:51have a huge passion about. So when I have patients coming up to me and telling me, doctor, what do

24:56you think? And I sit back and I'm like, all right, let's start. Okay. So I look at you and I analyze

25:03you and I tell them, I'm going to start pinpointing at things which you've probably never noticed,

25:08but don't start adding fillers there, but I'm just going to explain to you. Okay. So for example,

25:13chin filler. It's really like not, like you don't hear about it so much in UA. You hear about lips,

25:20you know, but it's very important because chin can actually enhance your profile.

25:25Oh, you understand? Interesting. So it can really make a huge difference, but obviously the right

25:31amount. We don't want like a huge amount or that Latin chin, you know, a little bit,

25:36which can hydrate you at the same time, give you a little bit of volume, set your profile really

25:41right. Then you come back to lips. So as we get older, the lips tend to, you know, become really

25:48small and then you start like, okay, I feel like my volume has lost and I need to do something.

25:55That's when you add fillers. Okay. All right. And then when you talk about like chin fillers,

26:00cheek fillers. All right. So as we get older, or I say younger to my patients,

26:07there's subcutaneous fat, which kind of goes down due to gravity. So just to get that youthful look

26:13back, I like to add a little bit amount just so that it can give you that nice hydration,

26:18plumpy, youthful look. Okay. You understand? And we can never forget the temples.

26:24Now that you mentioned that you can pinpoint stuff on a person's face. I'm actually interested to

26:29know, like when you look at my face, like for instance, do you see dehydration? Do you see

26:33like certain things? That's like for me. All right. So I need to be as candid as possible.

26:40Okay, I need to first ask your age. Okay, 32. Not ashamed. Not ashamed. Are you using any like,

26:47do you do any skin boosters? No. I mean, I use the usual stuff, which is sunscreen.

26:54I mean, a toner every once in a while just to like cleanse skin cleansers. All right. So let

27:00me just tell you. I mean, you've heard it probably so many times, I'm gonna say it again.

27:05So when you turn 25, or actually earlier, your collagen drops. Okay. All right. Now,

27:10how do you stimulate your collagen is very important. I'm not a fan of like taking the

27:16collagen. Okay. At all. Because it does not do much. So let's do the math together. You take it,

27:23it goes into your digestive tract, right? And then start distributing. All right. Now, skin is on top.

27:30So how much can collagen reach to not that much, very minimum. So I'd rather inject.

27:36Oh, you understand? So now, I'm not talking about you can inject every day. No, I'm talking about a

27:43monthly basis, you have a yearly plan. Okay. So whenever my patients come up to me, I tell them,

27:48let's have a yearly plan, like around three injectables in a year, you should be great

27:52to go or four depending on each individual. For you personally, I would say minimum of three.

27:59Oh, wow. It will really hydrate you at the same time stimulate the fibroblast,

28:04which will give you the collagen. And this is something least spoken about in UAE, I believe,

28:10because it can really prevent you from aging. Okay. All right. So obviously, if you do like

28:16three injectables in a year, you can delay your aging. Okay. Okay. And I personally do it for

28:22myself. So I do. I like to say I don't look like my age. I mentally feel like I'm really old.

28:32But it really helps. It really helps. If you're really scared about like this hyaluronic acid,

28:39you can do your own product. Okay. In our clinic, we do something called plasma gel,

28:44or biogel. It's your own plasma. Or you can do the PRF, which is I mean, your own product again.

28:52But sometimes I tell my patients that age is a big factor also, because your age gives out your

28:57plasma. You understand? So sometimes you need a little bit of boost. And that's when you use

29:01a hyaluronic acid. Okay, fantastic. Now we know what the hype is about. Yes. Okay. Exfoliation.

29:08My next question. Exfoliation. It depends on your skin type. Okay. All right. Now if you're oily,

29:15you can do twice a week or twice a week. Okay. If you're dry, I would suggest once. Okay. Or

29:21combination. It really depends on how and what type of skin you have. But I do not recommend it

29:27on a daily basis. I had once a patient who had rosacea, and she was exfoliating her day on a

29:35daily basis, which was disaster. Right. All right. So rosacea is like this blushy red.

29:42It looks beautiful, but sometimes if you exfoliate like on a daily basis, it can get worse.

29:47So it was a complete disaster when she came to me, and she had also acne breakouts on top of that.

29:55It was just a mess. It over exfoliating. It does. I mean, your skin needs to keep that moisture in.

30:02Yes. You don't want to scrape your skin off. Exactly. Understand? You want to keep that

30:06hydration locked in. Yes. For an oily skin type, I would recommend a little bit more,

30:11but again, it depends. And if you are not sure of it, like this patient was, she's gone to someone,

30:18and they recommend it on a daily basis, and it made her skin worse. Okay. And obviously,

30:23she came back to me, and she was like, nothing is working. I spent so much money,

30:28and I need a, you know, I need a solution. And I just told her very simply, stop.

30:33And immediately, like, she came back to me after two weeks. She's like, I feel already,

30:36there's a changes. I'm like, I told you so. Yeah. Yeah. And sometimes your face, like the oils,

30:42your face oils are actually good for you, like to keep some of that. Some of the moisture. Exactly.

30:48But again, not that you go out in the outside, and you keep that oily face on and go back to sleep.

30:54You need to like cleanse your face a little bit. But not exfoliate. Not exfoliate like that.

30:59Exfoliation, as you said. It's like once in a week, I like it. Yeah. Not. It eats away from

31:05your skin, like it scrapes, you know, layers of that, that you. And I wouldn't recommend in

31:10summer to do so much. Oh, because your skin is more sensitive? Yes, it is extremely sensitive.

31:16At the same time, like the crucial heat, we don't want pigmentation also. Okay, interesting. Well,

31:21that's good to know. Okay. Dr. Asima, I can talk about this all day, honestly. And I told you this,

31:27I have so many questions. But, you know, your time is precious. And we're not going to take

31:31more of that. But my last question, just advice, general advice, top three tips.

31:38The top three tips I would give you is that if you are above 25, I highly recommend you start

31:48using an expert advice. But if you're younger, sunscreen is absolutely a must. All right.

31:56And make sure you don't forget your eyes. All right. Eye cream is absolutely very important

32:01because the skin around your eyes is quite thin compared to your face. And we tend to forget about

32:07your eyes and you, you know, focus more on your lips or your, you know, face more than you

32:13completely forget about your eyes and then have people for under eye fillers, completely different

32:17topic. We're not going to talk about it today. But just keep it simple. But make sure you're

32:24doing on a regular basis. Don't skip a day because that can really do an impact. Like,

32:29for example, imagine today, I don't put some block and I go outside. And let's just say I was

32:36on the bus stop for 20 minutes, 30 minutes, like around 1 p.m. You know, I'm going to increase the

32:41chances of me having pigmentation. Maybe if it's on a regular basis, I keep on forgetting I can

32:46have skin cancer, you know, so like these small, small things can make a huge impact for you.

32:52And just keep yourself hydrated, very crucial. And just listen to your expert, because they

33:00really have to say a lot to you. Dr. Asima, thank you so much. Thank you for joining us. And thank

33:04you for your time. And we will talk about more with you, especially eye fillers. Now that you

33:10mentioned it, because I have so many friends doing it right now. So we will have you back to talk

33:14about a lot of stories. I have to tell you. It's lovely to have you. Thank you. Thank you so much.

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