good morning little nerds I’m Dr Shireen Idris a board certified dermatologist based in New York City and welcome to my YouTube channel where every Saturday morning we do a pillow talk durm and we cover various topics cosmetic industry skincare concerns ingredient stories medical conditions or even life and I just want to say thank you to the million of you who have now joined me on your Endeavor to empower yourself because an educated nerd is an empowered nerd and the sky is the limit when you
reach that level so so without further Ado if you have not liked this video yet like it subscribe to my channel and if you’re too impatient to wait to find out what this video is about let me know below what you want to learn about next week and maybe we’ll cover it then for those of you who have just joined me a question that has come up much more so in recent months is discoloration and hyperpigmentation and how to address it I can’t control the traffic in New York City thank you I did that telepathically
so we’re going to address that today and I think it’s important to take a step back and just appreciate how your skin tone can affect the aging process so for those of you knew I’ve been practicing cosmetic Dermatology for 10 plus years now in New York City and I will tell you guys firsthand that it’s often times people come in more often than not for a fine line on their face but it’s really not that that is aging them and it’s important to look at your face as a forest and to take a step back and to
observe the forest and not hyperfocus on a tree because people are focusing on the time trees when you have to look at the forest as a whole and that’s why I don’t know if you guys saw my video last week I did a little tour of my office I made a painting when I first opened this office and it’s at the reception desk of a pixelated face where it looks like a bunch of dots cuz if you hyperfocus on the dots that’s all you see but when you take a step back you see the face and that was supposed to represent
subconsciously for patients not to focus on the dots although ironically they keep asking me about the dots so it’s super important that you take a step back and You observe your skin tone as a whole and very personally again very quickly cuz there’s a lot of new patients people here patients nerds I had melasma I have malasma I went through IVF so I had a lot of hormonal injections to get my babies and it was with my son my second one that it erupted overnight and I look like the cryp keeper and the psychological burden
of looking all of a sudden Ruddy or tired can really affect your mental well-being and that’s when I had now a personal connection to the discoloration aspect of things because I’ve been lucky where my skin tone has appeared even most of my life but when that happened it was like boom everything came out and I really had a better understanding of how people are psychologically disturbed by looking older but they can’t fully pinpoint why that is and so I’m here to tell you guys I would say eight out of
10 times nine out of 10 times it’s your skin tone that is making you look more tired and aging you and when I say skin tone I’m talking about your brown spots your freckles that were once cute starting to mesh together and look messy and underlying redness that is creeping through through sun damage and broken blood vessels and once you have that perfect storm of all of this going on it’s very easy to get confused and hyperfocused on a line because that’s your background and that’s your canvas but the reality is the canvas needs to
be evened out and so this is why I created my skincare line now before I jump into this video I’m going to use my products throughout this video to explain how pigment is produced the importance of each ingredient and to incorporate other ingredients which are not in my product line because when you’re attacking discoloration and hyperpigmentation there’s no Silver Bullet ingredient it is a multi-ingredient approach because you have to attack it through the surface of the skin the melanite where pigment is
made within the melanite and outside of the melanite how pigment is distributed and so I’m going to use my products because I not only created them to simplify your routine but I created them to give you the biggest bang for your buck in terms of ingredients and percentages to attack this issue but also to simplify your lives so I’m going to obviously use them that being said you can use whatever you want and whatever combination of ingredients that you want to do but I’m going to use them as the pillar of this video that we can
work off of okay so starting with how pigment is produced within the top layer of skin also known as the epidermis you have pigment producing cells known as melanocytes and melanin is produced within those melanocytes and there’s an enzyme known as tyrosinase which is a key enzyme within the melanocyte that makes melanin now once melanin is produced it gets put into tiny little Parcels known as melanosomes that then get distributed throughout your epidermis and this process is a very simplified broken down explanation of
how pigment is made and you can attack this process through several different layers first way of attacking this process is through sunscreen and I don’t want to sound like a broken record but the reality is the following if you’re going to invest time effort energy and money into your skin and to evening out your skin tone you’re wasting all of the above if you’re not protecting your skin on The Daily because you don’t want to further worsen the damage that’s already been done and the damage has been done
before you’re actually 20 years old yeah it has nose is leaking again my allergies are bad FYI how cute is this my Derm warned me about you it’s in our limited edition breakup kit anyway my Derm mourned me about you the Sun so the sun and the damage is usually done before you are 20 years old and it’s creeping underneath the surface of the skin and further UV exposure can cause that to appear faster as you get older and not only that if you have active acne inflammation on your face it can worsen the post-inflammatory
hyperpigmentation because it activates the melanocyte while you have that inflammation so that dark spot stays on your skin longer so sunscreen sunscreen sunscreen not only when you’re young because when you’re young it’s going to minimize any sort of damage that you’re going to get later especially if you’re before 20 years old but throughout your life to prevent further worse ing of the damage that’s already underneath the skin or further amplification of that damage that’s already underneath your
skin let us then go in back to our pigment pathway FYI this was very disturbing my husband made this as a joke when I turned 40 but the joke fell short cuz it should have been 40 over 40 not 40 under 40 um but I never actually made that list and seeing my own face is really just not my vibe I might have to move that but okay let’s talk about the product so Dr Idris is my skincare line it was formerly known as Pillow Talk dur we had to Rebrand it’s a story that you guys can find on a live below I will link it
below there are three main steps to simplify your routine there is the exfoliating flash mask which we’re going to talk about in a second there is the PowerHouse major fade Dr Idris hyper serum which we will talk about next and there is the last step the Dr Idris active seal okay these are three steps that contain over 10 active ingredients once we’re done talking about these I’m going to talk about the additional ones you need starting with number one The Flash mask this is an exfoliating flash mask
which has Alpha hydroxy acids like glycol like glycolic acid and lactic acid glycolic being the strongest one and the smallest one so it goes the deepest and does the most work lactic helping with hyperpigmentation and discoloration but it’s also married to tranexamic acid which is not an exfoliating acid tranexamic acid is something we prescribe in our practice for people with melasma but I Incorporated it in here in this step specifically because tranexamic acid is a very interesting ingredient that has
some suggest the ability to slightly turn off your melanocyte by attacking the melany stimulating hormone receptor but also by inhibiting plasmine which helps reduce melanin production and decrease hyperpigmentation it has also been shown to inhibit the activation of certain molecules involved in the UV induced pigmentation process remember how I said that the sun can cause your pigment to appear more pronounced than the damage that’s underneath the skin so it does provide a slightly protective effect
against sun induced darkening of the skin and it has anti-inflammatory properties so if you somebody with who’s breaking out you’re going to put this on it’s going to help to minimize the appearance of those breakouts it’s very important because you’re attacking the skin from the top but you’re also so attacking the melany from underneath then we have our hyper serum the hyp serum is an important step in the routine because this is really attacking the melany from within and this particular product has a couple of key
ingredients that you would probably want to incorporate in your routine as well alpha arbutin alpha arbutin is a very interesting ingredient because it inhibits the activity of tyrosinase it is a cousin of hydroquinone but it’s not and it converts into hydroquinone but it is not hydroquinone a lot of people ask me if it safe in pregnancy or not the reality is Alpha arbutin gets converted after it gets absorbed Through Your Skin so depending on your body surface area how much you’re using and how much actually gets
converted The Logical answer is probably not enough to be dangerous but nobody’s ever going to do a test on a pregnant person to prove that so you make what you want out of that personally I used Alpha arbutin when I I was pregnant with my daughter I did a much better job with my son my melasma was kept under control and then literally it creeped up that ninth month in pregnancy and if I’m being very Frank I think that Alpha arbutin and all of the products I was using I wasn’t using my products at the
time helped suppress it but were not strong enough and so when it erupted it was bound to erupt and it was only after the fact when I went back on stronger stuff that it got better I would so you guys just speak to your OBGYN if you’re nervous about using it the second ingredient is coic acid and koic acid is a key ingredient that you have to incorporate in your routine it is primarily functioning as a tyrosinase inhibitor and so it reduces the conversion of tyrosine into melanin and it also has antioxidant properties this
also has niacinamide now niacinamide is something you’ve probably all heard about but higher than 5% it can be inflammatory so this is at 5% so it’s non-inflammatory and it can inhibit the transfer of melanin from melanocytes to keratinocytes as well as inhibit tyrosinase and have anti-inflammatory effects additionally there is licorice root licorice root is something that is used in various different cultures throughout the world for its anti-inflammatory tyrosinase inhibitor effects as well as anti antioxidant
effects and it also has glycerin and gabin effects which is another compound found in licorice that has been studied for its skin brightening effects so this is a Powerhouse of actives that Target your tyrosinase enzyme as well as your brightening properties I do use at FYI under my eyes so last within the three-step routine is the active seal and this is a gel moisturizer which is our vitamin C moisturizer it’s not the active form of vitamin C though it is Tetra hexal desilus corate which is the
Ester form of vitamin C because I want you guys to use this twice a day why do I want you to use this twice a day because it also has four butal resource in all which which is also a great tyrosinase inhibitor that does help and make codc acid and alphar abutin work better plus it has hexapeptide to which helps to minimize the look of fine lines and hydroly Brasa Napa seed cake extract which also helps to diminish the look of stubborn spots I laugh because I can never say that word without reading it
it just doesn’t stick so now we’ve gone through ready 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 10 11 different ingredients within a three-step routine that are going to help your discoloration so why do we need more great question the one ingredient which is a must especially if you have melasma is hydroquinone hydroquinone is the gold standard it used to be available over the counter but it got pulled when it was available over the counter it was available at 2% which quite honestly was too low of a percentage but nice to have
if people didn’t have access to a dermatologist or a doctor in order for it to truly be effective it should be anywhere between 4 and I would say maximum 8% above 8% you run the risk of getting osis which is a permanent discoloration and staining of your skin and that cannot be reversed and if you overuse it long term that risk of osis can actually become more enhanced when I say overuse it I mean use it continuously without taking breaks but above 8% is when it has been really documented below 8% with brakes you’re
safe and that leads me to the safety record of Hy H quinone hydroquinone has a bad rep okay the certain groups out there want to demonize it but it is one of the if not the best topical ingredient that we have to help you brighten and even out your skin tone the reason it has a bad rep is because there are two studies that they’re basing their poor judgment on one is a study that was done on mice where mice a tiny mouse was given systemic amounts of hydroquinone through systemically through their veins and the mice
developed cancer I think it was renal cancer if I’m not mistaken but obviously if you gave me shitloads of I don’t know aspartame into my veins I might develop some other kind of cancer but that’s not how we are using it or ingesting it topical hydroquinone has to first of all get absorbed and when you’re talking about topical hydroquinone you’re usually probably talking about your face you’re not using it all over your body and this is 3 to 5% of your body’s surface area so again put things into
context look at the forest don’t focus on the tree the second study that was done was just a faulty study it was a study out of um I believe South Africa where hydroquinone was contaminated with Mercury which is very toxic so just be very careful about where you’re getting your information from and make sure you’re never buying hydrocone from Amazon because those can be contaminated with Mercury why do they put mercury in it because it really does get give a brightening effect very fast so people
think oh wow wow wow wow wow I look more even I look more even I look more glowy and the reality is you’re just basically killing yourself so be careful where you buy your hydroquinone from let it always be prescription and that leads me to other important ingredients that are very important for you guys to have in your routine other than hydrino I did not incorporate retinoids into my major fate system because it’s so important for you as a consumer as a patient as a nerd to know the type of renoid that you’re
using and the strength because you don’t want to just throw retinols in there and then all of a sudden you get reactive and you don’t know to what you’re reacting to and it might be too strong for your skin because it is known that retinols can be irritating but retinols retinoids are great if you have discoloration and especially melasma because they help with cellular turnover accelerating it and making sure your skin stays more fresh on your face you have less buildup it looks less Ruddy but it also helps with melon regulation
by influencing the activity of melanocytes plus the bonus that everybody loves it has collagen stimulating properties the third ingredient that I did not incorporate is aoic acid aoic acid is one that is prescribed at 15% and available over the counter anything from like 0 to 10% it is extremely hard to formulate aoic acid and things can pill very fast with aoic acid which makes it a not elegant experience and nobody wants to use it on their face if they’re going to have peeling right afterwards my products
have high concentration of actives and so when you have a lot of actives together once the water component of your moisturizer sort of dries out sometimes you might have that plying so I didn’t want to emphasize anything with aoic acid which would become then Super pronounced but aoic acid um a 15% prescription is a beautiful adjunct because it has not only anti-inflammatory effects not only does it normalize cell turnover it has the ability to help with Mel melanin dispersion once melanin is made and
thrown throughout your skin it helps to break it up and to even out your tone so that you don’t have clusters of melanin leading to post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation so ayic acid is great for that and then topical cystamine topical cystamine is one that came out on the market with a huge bang in 2020 it inhibits melanin synthesis through camine hydrochloride which is a metabolite of lyine and this works through three ways by inhibiting tyrosinase and peroxidase by chelating iron and copper ions and by increasing
intracellular glutathione it is a tricky ingredient for many people and it can be very irritating it can cause redness dryness and itchiness as well as burning um products on the market that contain cystamine are like sispa and urban skin RX also has a cystamine pre-cleanse treatment so you have to use it before you even cleanse your face it’s an extra step in your nightly routine again if if you are desperate go for it and then last I think there are people who are really talking about intravenous
glutathione apparently it’s really big in the Far East it is extremely controversial glutathione because it is a tyrosinase inhibitor but there’s a huge question mark surrounding not only its safety profile but also its regulatory concerns where the f are they getting it how are they regulating it what dose are you getting how much is being inserted into your veins and then Can it have systemic effects I.E are your kidneys going to shut so just be careful about that so those are all the topical products so the biggest ones I
would incorporate as an add-on to the Dr Idis major fade line if you have melasma hydroquinone if you have really stubborn spots hydroquinone I think as a general rule of thumb for anti-aging retinols but also to help boost that extra oom for skin color as well azolic acid I think is great if you have active inflammation like acne and you’re using this it’s going to help minimize any residual effects of your acne and then the other two is really just up Step Above and Beyond because you are a honor
rooll student and you just want to go wild and this leads me then to laser treatments which we’re not going to fully dive into but the way I view laser treatments are like a boost to your skincare routine if you’re not doing the essentials every day and militantly so there’s no point in getting a laser treatment because you’re not going to be able to maintain those effects it’s almost like saying I got myself an eight pack through a machine but I’m never going to go to the gym and I’m never going to use the machine again there’s
no point in getting the eight pack through the machine right I’m talking about your abs like those like uh M sculpts or acit like if you’re not going to the gym don’t do it it’s not worth it you’re wasting your money if you are going to the gym and doing your skincare routine every single day you’re a step ahead and the lasers are great boost to get you to where you really want to be but you have to maintain that and remember what I said the damage is done before you’re 20 and the damage is under
the surface of your skin so you really want to make sure that you are addressing it consistently over time that is the name of the game consistency over intensity we can do a whole other video on laser treatments but I hope this video was helpful if you guys have any questions comments concerns whatever it is let me know below and I will see you guys next week have a beautiful Saturday
