mbg Beauty Director
mbg Beauty Director
Alexandra Engler is the beauty director at mindbodygreen and host of the beauty podcast Clean Beauty School. Previously, she’s held beauty roles at Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, SELF, and Cosmopolitan; her byline has appeared in Esquire, Sports Illustrated, and Allure.com.
Image by Vera Lair / Stocksy
January 17, 2023
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A vibrant, glowing complexion is a worthy endeavor. “The pursuit of beauty is actually very, very functional,” says board-certified dermatologist Ellen Marmur, M.D., founder of Marmur Medical and MMSkincare. She goes on to explain that adopting holistic, healthy habits will not only mean a brighter complexion—but often, better well-being overall.
In this episode of Clean Beauty School, I chat with Marmur all about her beauty philosophy, how she cares for her (very glowy) complexion, and LED therapy—of which she’s one of the pioneering experts in the field: “LED light is the missing link for skin care and wellness.” If you’re at all curious about LED masks (especially if you’re in the market for getting one), it’s worth a listen.
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In the meantime, here are three simple skin care tips from the episode that will lead to glowing skin.
Go by the PET method.
Marmur’s skin care philosophy is refreshingly simple: “Protect, enhance, troubleshoot,” she says. “Protect your skin and your health, that’s the most important thing you can do. Then you can enhance—that may mean makeup for some people, Botox for another. Finally, troubleshoot, which means don’t make your medical decisions yourself, or with Dr. Google or Dr. Reddit. You should visit a professional to make sure you’re troubleshooting correctly.”
Invest in high-quality devices.
The influx of at-home skin care technologies is great: What used to be reserved for spa or dermatologist offices (i.e., LED lights, microcurrents, and the like) can now be used in the comfort of your own home. However, these professional-grade products come with professional-grade price tags.
“You get what you pay for,” she says. “There’s no such thing as a $20 LED device that’s gonna be good for you.” A few things she advises you look out for: FDA-approved, a robust panel with enough lights to be worth an investment, and a brand that prioritizes research (look for clinicals done by the brand).
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Create a sunscreen wardrobe.
By now, you’ve likely heard that you need to wear sunscreen daily. (So, I won’t bore you with that tip.) But I also know that folks won’t use products they don’t enjoy—even if they know it’s vital for their skin health.
This is why Marmur suggests creating a sunscreen wardrobe of products that you can easily fold into your life: “I wear a tinted SPF 20 on regular workdays during the winter,” she explains. “I don’t think that we have to really be like SPF 50 every single moment of every day. I have about 30 different kinds of sunscreens on my shelf, and I pick and choose based on what the day’s gonna be like, how much exposure you’re gonna have, when you’re gonna need to reapply. So there’s no reason anymore for people to say ‘I don’t like sunscreen. I don’t like the way it feels.'”
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