We Sat Down With Dr Fiona McCarthy, Medical Director of The Bronte Clinic, To Chat About Winter Skin & Treatments She Rates
As the colder months set in, our winter skincare routines often need a rethink. We caught up with Dr Fiona McCarthy, Founder and Medical Director of The Bronte Clinic. As an NHS consultant physician with over 25 years of medical experience, Dr Fiona is a keen advocate of a measured and evidence-based approach to aesthetic treatments. She sees patients looking to improve their skin across both her London and Surrey clinics.
Do you change up your skincare routine when the temperature drops?
Cold weather, wind and central heating can affect our skin barrier function in winter months and this can lead to dryness and irritation. There is no need to totally overhaul your skincare routine but a few simple tweaks can optimise your skin barrier function and ensure your skin stays healthy over winter.
1. Consider switching to a richer moisturiser. People tend to use more lightweight serums and lotions in the summer but winter skin often requires thicker and more hydrating formulations. Look for cream moisturisers with ingredients such as ceramides, glycerin, shea butter or hyaluronic acid, which attract water to the skin.
2. Use a gentle cleanser that can support (rather than strip) the skin barrier. A firm favourite in our clinic is CeraVe hydrating cleanser. Don’t forget to use SPF! UVA rays (which cause skin ageing & pigmentation) can penetrate clouds, so it is still necessary to wear an SPF in the wintertime.
3. If your skin is dry or irritated, this is the time to be sensible with your use of active ingredients. I always talk of achieving good skin being a marathon rather than a sprint, and if your skin is dry or irritated, holding back on actives for a little while and just focusing on gentle cleansing, hydrating with a rich moisturiser and protecting with an SPF is a sensible approach.
Firm favourites in our clinic are:
What are your cold-weather heroes?
I have a few firm favourites that I add in every winter:
1. I use Ameliorate Transforming Body Lotion daily to tackle dry skin on my body. It contains lactic acid, which is a very gentle exfoliator that improves skin texture but also hydrates.
2. I love Flexitol foot cream, not very glamorous, but it really works! It contains 10% Urea, which is a great ingredient for hydration as it attracts water to the skin.
3. Aquaphor Lip Repair Ointment is my go-to for dry, cracked lips.
4. La Roche Posay Cicaplast Baume is in every bathroom in our house; we cannot do without it! As well as adding hydration, it has antimicrobial and prebiotic ingredients, so it is multi-purpose and a godsend for dry and irritated skin.
Are there any common mistakes people make with their skin at this time of year?
Yes! The two commonest mistakes are:
1. Stopping their SPF use. It is key to continue this in the winter months to protect against UVA-induced skin ageing and hyperpigmentation.
2. Persisting with active ingredients like Vitamin A or exfoliants even though their skin may be dry or irritated. It is far better to stop your active ingredients for a little while and focus on hydration and protection with a good moisturiser and SPF than continuing to use actives on irritated skin.
If you had to narrow it down, what are the three products you always buy on repeat?
The three I will always choose are the 3 with the strongest clinical evidence:
1. A broad-spectrum SPF 50 with both UVA and UVB protection.
2. An anti-oxidant (L-ascorbic acid, aka Vitamin C, is the best known) – This targets pigmentation, stimulates collagen and protects against UV damage.
3. Vitamin A. Retinol is a derivative of Vitamin A. – It increases skin cell turnover, increases collagen production, reduces fine lines and wrinkles and targets pigmentation.
To be honest, my skincare routine is pretty simple as I don’t have time to layer lots on my face!
What’s the most common skincare concern people come to you for help with?
The commonest complaints when people come to see us in the clinic:
1. People say their skin is dull and lifeless.
2. They have lots of pigmentation from sun exposure in their youth.
The good thing is that these are both easy to treat, often just with the right skincare! Patients are always surprised when I recommend adjusting their skincare routine rather than jumping in with treatments, but within 2-3 months, they come back to the clinic and are delighted with the results of some simple tweaks to their skincare routine. We can then use in-clinic focused treatments like Broad Band Light (BBL) to improve pigmentation or deliver glowy, dewy skin, but, as I say to patients all the time, it is what you do at home daily that will have the most impact!
I had the BBL treatment with Fiona to help with rosacea, and instantly saw reduced redness, plus it really helped with getting rid of red spider veins . My skin was glowing and so many people commented on how fresh I looked!
Elly, Founder & CEO
What’s your #1 affordable beauty buy under £15?
Always always always SPF! It has the ultimate impact on skin health and ageing, and you don’t need to spend lots of money to find the right one for you. The ones we recommend most in the clinic are actually in Boots for £20:
1. Eucerin Oil Control SPF
2. Beauty of Joseon SPF 50
I also love BeautyPie Featherlight SPF! Expensive does not mean better when it comes to skincare (despite what the beauty companies may say!)
Is there anything you think is overrated?
So much in skincare is hugely overrated!! Current skincare fads like snail mucin and topical collagen have no sound clinical studies supporting their use. Oral collagen supplements are also hugely overrated in my opinion. The clinical evidence supporting their use is not robust, and I advise my patients to save their money to spend on things that actually work: Vitamin A, SPF and Vitamin C; not new and shiny but the most effective!
Is there a new product, treatment, or ingredient you’re genuinely excited about right now?
I am really excited about the advent of regenerative aesthetic treatments, which are very much in keeping with the way we practice at The Bronte Clinic. We want any treatment you have to be beneficial to your long-term skin health and not just a “quick fix”. The treatment I am most excited about is a long-lasting collagen biostimulator called Julaine. We are one of the first clinics in the UK to offer this. It works by stimulating your own cells to produce the essential structural proteins needed for firmer, more robust skin. It helps with skin laxity, jowling, nose to mouth lines and skin texture- basically everything our patient demographic experiences as we hit our late 30s onwards!
The results are incredible and leave patients with natural results and firmer, younger-looking skin.
For more information, visit @thebronteclinic @drfionamccarthy and thebronteclinic.com
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