This is where Dr Sarah writes about skin the way she talks about it in consultations — honestly, specifically, and without the wellness fluff. No miracle ingredients. No treatment trends dressed up as science. Just what's actually happening in your skin and what's worth your attention.
Updated when there is something worth saying.
THE SKIN TRUTH
Glass skin. Vampire facials. Skin boosters. They're everywhere — but what actually are they?
Walk into any clinic in this country and you'll be offered something called a glass skin facial. Or what's marketed as a vampire facial. Or a skin booster. Or a bio-rejuvenation treatment. Or a collagen-stimulating cocktail. Or whatever this season's marketing department has decided to call it.
Ask what's actually in it. Ask what the active ingredient does. Ask what the evidence says. Ask why it's being recommended for your skin and not someone else's. Most of the time, the person selling it can't tell you.
Photobiomodu-what now? Light as medicine
Photobiomodulation. I know. Bear with me — this matters, and I promise it’s worth your seven syllables. There are clinics in this country selling ‘LED therapy’ with devices that don’t deliver enough light, of the right kind, to do what they’re promising.
A red light is not a red light is not a red light. The wavelength matters — that’s the type of light. The dose matters — how much of that light actually reaches your skin.
What an actual medical consultation looks like (and why most aesthetic ones aren’t one)
Are you interested in an aesthetic consultation and not sure what to expect? Read more about how Dr Sarah assesses your skin and addresses your concerns.
Your Skin Is Not A Meal Order
I don’t do menu medicine. Aesthetic Medicine is medicine — and the proof is in where these aesthetic treatments came from. Every treatment that gets ordered off a menu today started somewhere far more serious. Here’s where.
There are laws against advertising prescription medications in Australia.
This is medicine. Not retail. There’s a law against advertising prescription medications in Australia. Yet social media is flooded with posts alluding to these treatments — glamourising aesthetic medicine quick fixes with a polite little sub-note: consultation first. I don’t do this. Why?
Why I started writing — and what I'm actually going to say
Straight talk about skin from a doctor who has spent her career in surgical theatres, skin cancer clinics, and aesthetic medicine. Clinical thinking written in plain language. The kind of information I'd give you in a consultation, made available before you book one.
Why the $15 moisturiser isn't doing what you think it is
Is all skin care the same? Why is some more expensive than others? And why do I only have a response for a short period of time. Read on for the break down on the pyramid of skin care and why buying from a Medical Aesthetics clinic will provide you with the best outcomes.
Your skin barrier is the whole game. Here's what's breaking it down.
Skin is our protection against the world. So how exactly does this work and what causes it to break down? Let me explain.
Yes, you still need sunscreen in winter. Here's why most people get this wrong.
Ruffled a few feathers with this one. Sun protection is needed all year round. Read more to find out the importance of sun protection even in winter. SPOILER: It won’t make you deficient in Vitamin D.