Dr. "Pimple Popper" Sandra Lee shares her tips for dealing with troubled skin
I Didn’t Wake Up Like This is Yahoo Life’s beauty series in which experts, influencers and celebrities share their approaches to skin care, from their favorite products to the daily routine that keeps their skin healthy and glowing.
Sandra Lee, MD — best known as "Dr. Pimple Popper" — is perhaps the country's favorite dermatologist and skin care expert. As a doctor, her job is to help people understand what their skin condition is and why it's happening, then identify and explain the treatments that will help. And she’s great at this. That’s why millions of people love to watch her treat patients online and on her TLC show, Dr. Pimple Popper.
Lee even created a product line, SLMD Skincare, to help more people benefit from an expert derm's know-how and care. So we were thrilled when Lee sat down with us here at Yahoo to talk.
What did we want to know? What Dr. Pimple Popper uses on her own skin! Here she shares the essentials that make up her morning routine — including her own SLMD products that can help you love the skin you're in!
The first thing Dr. Lee does in the morning is give her face a swipe with the Mount Lai De-Puffing Rose Quartz Facial Roller, to "wake up" her skin. "It helps to minimize the swelling, and just makes me feel ready to face the day," she says.
After that, instead of washing her face with soap ("I do my major cleanse at night"), the doctor uses La Roche-Posay Micellar Cleansing Water to clean her skin. Micellar water is a gentler option than tap water in most parts of the world, especially for dry skin, which Lee has. To further help her dry skin, Dr. Lee opts for Neutrogena Hydro Boost Gel-Cream: "This has hyaluronic acid in it, and it has a cooler temperature to it...so it's really nice to apply. It gives me a little bit of a wake-up, and it will really seal in that moisture."
If she senses blemishes coming on, Lee applies SLMD Acne Spot Check Patches; they contain salicylic acid, which helps pull the gunk out of pores (better than picking at pimples, which could lead to scarring).
Another fave of Lee's is the Rakel Esthetics Jelly Mask, in Provence Lavender. It comes in a powder form; mix it with water and it takes on a jelly-like consistency, which you can apply to skin, as a mask: "I'll put this on my face...and just sit there for maybe five minutes or so, and your skin feels so nice after it."
Of course, one of the most important items in skincare is sunscreen. Dr. Lee uses the SLMD Dual Defender Sunscreen, which she likes in SPF 30. Some wisdom from Lee:"The higher SPF you get into, the more risk you have of clogging your pores and causing more problems like acne." The Dual Defender sunscreen offers lightweight moisture — ideal for acne-prone skin — plus broad-spectrum sunscreen protection.
For makeup, Lee likes to start with the Tarte Creaseless Concealer — "I stay away from powder foundations and makeup because my skin is dry," says Lee. She opts for liquids instead, blending gently outward for a natural finish. For eyes, Lee likes Ardell Naked Lashes 422, which can be found at most drugstores: "Once I get a lash on, I feel pretty good," says Lee.
Then it's time for another sunscreen — this one is the Color Science Brush-On SPF 50, a powdered sunscreen that Lee says is great for when you have makeup on. In fact, it can be used to set and mattify makeup, while it protects skin.
Dr. Lee also has a hot tip while we're still in masks (not the jelly kind, the Covid kind). She spritzes a bit of SLMD Salicylic Acid Body Spray on the inside of her mask, waves it dry and then puts on her mask. It helps to keep mask acne away. So brilliant!
Video produced by Kat Vasquez.
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