From Retinol to Sunscreen: 1 Year of Dr Sam’s Skincare!

1 year. 1 crazy/turbulent/life-affirming/downright-dramatic-but-ultimately-fulfilling year. Starting my own skincare brand has been a goal for so long that I forget how many twists and turns the...

What Not To Use When Starting Actives

Active skincare causes anxiety - the popular belief is no pain, no gain. And this is backed up by a survey of our ultra-informed Facebook group - out of over 350 respondents, 40% were worried abo...

Starting A Retinoid - The Golden Zone!

Welcome to Cycle 3 (which I consider week 12 and beyond ) - this is the delightful period of comfort and escalation. If you’ve been able to follow the programme so far, you’ll be entering the go...

Why I Developed A Serum For People Confused By Serums

Meet Flawless Nightly Serum! If you’re reading this blog, you probably already know that Active ingredients (+ sunscreen!) are the key to solving the 2 biggest concerns in skincare today – prematu...

Starting a Retinoid - The 2nd Skin Cycle

Congratulations on completing your Tough Love phase. You’ve had faith that the good stuff lies over the hill... and you’re near the top! Typically, if you’ve gotten through your Tolerance phase, a...

Retinoid Struggles - The Early Days

So you’ve got your retinoid. You’ve got your technique down. Now what? So I think the key questions are very simple. Decide how much. And decide how often. Then assemble your support products and...

My 10 Top Tips for Retinoid Beginners!

Retinoid Struggle - It’s clear this is ‘a thing’. Nearly 200 of you in our Facebook group reacted to our post about retinoids and their naughty challenges. So I thought that this week I’d do a ve...

Retinoids? Retinol? A Derm’s Guide to Retinoid Mastery!

Retinoids are a category of skincare ingredients derived from vitamin A. Words like ‘powerhouse’ and ‘superstar’ abound because they influence so many darn aspects of skin function. They are the ...

Niacinamide And Its Benefits For Skin

If you saw last week’s video, you’ll know that I’m focused on prepping skin for a dry spell. Nearly everyone this week had noticed some new challenges with their skin hydration upon entering autum...

Spironolactone - The Alternative To Roaccutane For Acne You May Not Have Heard Of

Think you’ve tried everything for acne? That may not be true, especially if you live in the UK where Spironolactone has yet to be widely adopted as a mainstream treatment for acne. Allure magazi...

Can I Use Retinoids In Summer?

Can I let you into a surprising secret? I use my retinoid right through summer. No interruption in service. People who reside in hot countries make it happen so why should we abandon all of a su...