After 35 Years in Skin Care, Here’s What Really Works
Thirty-five years is a long time to spend in one industry — long enough to watch trends arrive with great fanfare, and long enough to watch most of them quietly disappear. I’ve tried all of it. From the earliest days of basic cleanse-tone-exfoliate-moisturise facials, right through to today’s high-tech fractional microneedling machines, I’ve studied it, trained in it, and practised it on real skin, on real people, for decades.
Some of what I tried was a genuine advance. Some of it was simply a trend, dressed up as one. And after all these years, both in my professional practice and in my own personal routine, three things have earned their place as permanent fixtures. Everything else has come and gone. These three have stayed — because they work, and because they keep working, consistently, over the long term.
That word consistent matters more than any product or machine I could name. Real anti-ageing results, the kind that actually change how your skin looks and behaves over years, not weeks, come from consistency. Here is where I’ve chosen to put mine.
Pillar One: Intentional, Integrative Facial Work
If there is one thing I have found to be truly foundational — the thing that everything else is built on top of — it’s skilled, intentional hands-on facial work.
I’m careful with my words here. This isn’t “massage” in the relaxing, spa-treat sense, though it can certainly feel wonderful. It’s intentional, integrative work: facial reflexology, Japanese facelift methods, and neuroscience-led work that engages the muscles, the connective tissue, the nerves, the circulation, and the lymphatics — all with real skin-science knowledge behind every movement and ingredient.
Done with skill and intention, this kind of work brings blood and nutrient exchange to and from the skin, supports lymphatic drainage, eagles the central nervous system, and helps reshape and lift the underlying muscle and connective tissue over time. It is, in my experience, the single most foundational thing you can do to keep your complexion looking healthy, lifted, and alive.
Everything else I do in my practice sits on top of this foundation. It doesn’t replace it.
Pillar Two: Microneedling, Done with Precision
Secondary to the hands-on work — but still hugely valuable — is professional microneedling, done by someone with education, skill and precision.
I think of it as collagen banked for later. Started in your late thirties, once or twice a year is plenty. As you move through your fifties and sixties, that might increase to three or four times a year. These are general guidelines, of course — every face is different — but the principle holds: when it’s done well, microneedling builds a collagen reserve you continue to draw on for years afterwards. It’s a long game, and that’s exactly why it works.
Pillar Three: A Consistent, Considered Home Routine
The third pillar is the one entirely in your own hands, every single day: a home skin care routine that’s intentional, appropriate for your skin, and — again — consistent.
For me, that means:
- A really good SPF, every day, without exception
- A cleanser suited to your particular skin type, used every evening
- A serum and moisturiser chosen for exactly what your skin needs, not what’s trending
None of this needs to be complicated. It needs to be right for you, and it needs to be consistent.
What I’ve Learned, In the End
Thirty-five years of trying almost everything has taught me that good skin doesn’t come from chasing the newest machine or the latest ingredient. It comes from these three things working together over time: intentional, integrative facial work as the foundation, expert microneedling to build collagen for the future, and a considered home routine practised every single day.
Everything else I’ve tried has been useful to know, and some of it genuinely valuable in the moment. But these are the three pillars I’ve kept — in my practice, and in my own life.
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