We regularly team up with health & well being experts we asked Rachel Hunter, Director of Rachel Hunter Laser Clinic in Liverpool to share her skin care secrets.
Today is the perfect time to get your skin ship-shape.
As Clinical Director and Consultant for Rachel Hunter Clinic in Liverpool and with 26 years in the industry, Rachel has a wealth of experience working with skin. Her passion for skin originated from her own skin issues, developing melasma at the age of 26 initiated a whole host of research into the medical industry and how they treated medical skin conditions.
Healthy - Happy - Skin
With her knowledge, and the bonus of being an independent clinic, Rachel has been able to cherry pick from all the amazing cosmeceutical and leading Laser and equipment brands from around the world. She uses these to create the most efficient treatment plans, with the most impressive results.
Her forte is thinking outside the box and this unique way of thinking helps her create the most effective bespoke programmes for each and every patient she meets. No two skins are the same and no two skins ever get the exact same treatment plan.
She prides herself on being at the forefront of the industry, constantly researching and studying new treatments and equipment that launch. She will only ever recommend and promote protocols to her patients that have been rigorously tried and tested on herself, as she has been dissatisfied with previous suppliers evidence in the past.
All the images you see on her Instagram are her own and are always a true result , with no filters or image trickery. She will only ever promote real results, she will never make unrealistic promises to any patient which is not always the case in the aesthetic industry. Her loyal client base has been with her for a very long time because they know they can trust she will always give the best most honest advice and deliver the best and most effective treatments around.
View Rachel's Instagram here.
Skin Care Rules
1. Protect your skin, SPF every day is my life mantra, If you want to maintain your youthful looks the best advice I can give you is to wear SPF every day from the youngest age. UV is the main culprit that breaks healthy collagen down, and with you not making collagen naturally from the age of 21 it’s essential you protect what you have. Prevention is definitely better than cure. I use SPF 50 every day, I am careful to apply the correct amount, which is the whole length of your index finger! Most people don’t use the correct amount which results in the amount of protection being compromised and questionable. When I apply this my whole face looks white! I leave for 60 seconds and pat the residue into the skin.
2. Next up : cleansing. I absolutely swear by active cleansers and toners with acids. As we age, our skin renewal slows down and can leave skin looking dull tired and feeling rough. Using an active cleansing programme wakes your skin cells up, reactivating the skin cell life cycle, pushing the dead skin cells off the surface revealing your youngest healthiest skin. A must for everyone. And every skin type. All my skincare is applied from the nipple up - the skin on the décolletage is finer than the rest of the body so I treat it like the skin on my face as it ages quicker and is often a dead giveaway for ageing when we get older.
3. Next step for me, and my patients is a powerful antioxidant. There have been massive studies and there is evidence to support that the topical application of Vitamin C is vital for skin health. It is proven to strengthen skin by building healthy collagen. It also neutralises free radicles that break collagen down acting as a protector for your skin. Not all collagen degradation is caused by UV exposure, poor lifestyle choices, stress and sleep debt can play a part too, Using an antioxidant helps reduce the impact significantly.
Skin Care D-I-Y
For anyone who suffers with breakouts and is missing their trips to the clinic for their monthly peel try this DIY Aspirin Peel.
8-12 Aspirin tablets depending on how oily you are.
Crush the Aspirin between two spoons and make the powder as fine as possible, squeeze lemon juice in a little at a time, don’t make it too runny.
Paint it on clean skin and leave it on 15-20 mins; then stand over the sink and gently rub the residue off your skin in little circles, it will be like a fine micro dermabrasion.
Keep working around the face until all the dust has gone and then give then rinse with water.
Don’t forget sunscreen when you go outside as it’s a peel will make u more sensitive to the sun. Repeat up to 3 times a week.
Oral Supplements
I am taking some great skin tablets that have potent amounts of vitamin C A & EA, the most important vitamins for skin health, they also include Diidolylmethane (DIM) which has been seen to be very effective in balancing hormones which have a massive impact on skin health.
Beauty Sleep
My night routine concentrates on stimulating the renewal of skin cells, I alternate from powerful Vitamin A serums (Retinol) and string Glycolic formulations. These are powerful collagen stimulators that will help to maintain youthfulness.