Ever since middle school, I’ve been weirdly obsessed with the texture and appearance of my skin. I could spend hours extracting the itty bitty blackheads from my nose and chin and have caused serious damage (scarring) in doing so. Nowadays, I’ll watch Dr. Pimple Popper‘s YouTube videos to satiate that bizzare-o side to me. So gross, I know. But hey, it beats a meth addiction, right? Right-o.
So when the opportunity to meet a skincare guru presents itself, I’m all over it. The gorgeous Gee Beauty gals (Natalie & Celene) hosted a morning with Beauty Guru and Dermatologist to the Stars Doctor Barbara Sturm and I was most likely the first to RSVP “yes” because Dr. Sturm invented the infamous Vampire Facial (Read: she’s a BIG DEAL) and she’s ridiculously smart, savvy and gorgeous.
For those of you not-in-the-know, Germany-based Dr. Sturm is the leading force behind blood plasma-infused skincare. Yes, she’s known for her ability to harness your own blood’s ability to heal your body — first in surgery, then in facials, and now in skincare. She literally glows from the inside out which brings me to the top takeaways from the morning’s beauty talk which were…
♥ Dr. Sturm is not a fan of retinols. Her mentality is: If it’s not good for your inside, and can’t be good for your outside? That makes a lot of sense if you marinate in it, right?
♥ Instead, she’s a huge fan of hydrating the skin. In fact, if you have a huge zit, she recommends moisturizing it (I love Neosporin) instead using all those drying potions on the market.
♥ Fundamentally, you need to clean, exfoliate, hydrate and protect your skin. She has a less-is-more approach to skincare and her line speaks to this truth. She loves her hyaluronic acid serum and an ingredient called Purslane AKA the “fountain of youth drug.” Purslane activates the immortality enzyme telomerase in our cells and delivers anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory effects to the skin. You glow, girl!
