Take Five With Dermalogica's Senior Educator, Maddy Essex

Join us as we chat to Dermalogica's Senior Educator, Maddy Essex, about the brand's expert skincare collection that's trusted by over 100,000 professional therapists around the world. With an extensive range to treat all skin types and skin conditions, from skincare for acne to anti ageing skincare solutions, Dermalogica can help you to achieve and maintain beautifully healthy skin. 

Our Brand of the Month, Dermalogica skincare is sought-after by dermatologists and our Face the Future customers alike. Today, Maddy's telling us all about what makes Dermalogica so unique, along with why Dermalogica became the industry's go-to skincare brand. 

FTF: What makes Dermalogica’s formulas so innovative and unique?

Maddy: At Dermalogica we believe that your best life is lived within your healthiest skin, which is why we focus on quality ingredients that work. We offer professional-grade formulas along with education to deliver personalised results for every skin. Our purpose is to empower you with knowledge and bring you skin confidence.

FTF: What’s the main thing our customers should know about Dermalogica?

Maddy: Dermalogica was founded by a professional skin therapist on a mission to elevate other professionals within the industry. Education is our legacy and upskilling skin therapists to provide the best professional treatments and advice to their customers continues to be our mission. We strive to not only provide customised, professional-grade skin care solutions, but to share our expertise to help customers understand and feel empowered in their own skin.

FTF: What are your top three Dermalogica products for combatting the signs of ageing?

Maddy: An absolute must for combatting, but also preventing signs of ageing is SPF. UV exposure is the number one cause of premature ageing and that’s not just on those hot summer days, skin damage can occur all year round. Dermalogica has multiple SPF options based on your skin condition and product preference, but personally I love the dual action of an SPF moisturiser. My go-to is Dynamic Skin Recovery SPF50. On top of the environmental protection this peptide-rich formula boosts hydration, radiance, and firmness.

Next would have to be the icon Daily Microfoliant. Exfoliation is an essential step for maintaining a healthy and hydrated skin, but for those concerned with ageing it’s critical. As we get older our natural skin renewal process slows down leading to a dull, lack-lustre appearance. Regular exfoliation is key to keep skin ticking over. Daily Microfoliant contains gentle exfoliating agents and brightening botanicals to slough away dead skin cells, revealing a radiant, youthful glow.

My final recommendation is the Dynamic Skin Retinol Serum. Retinol is the go-to ingredient for reversing signs of ageing. Our unique, 3.5% multi-retinoid formula accelerates cell turnover and collagen production, dramatically improving skin texture, tone, and pore appearance.

FTF: What’s the one thing we should all be doing to achieve/maintain healthier skin?

Maddy: Although some of us might love an 8-step skin care routine, healthy skin doesn’t have to be complicated. The key to maintaining healthy skin is consistency. We recommend following 3 simple steps of prep, treat and glow.

Skin prep includes the Dermalogica double cleanse and regular exfoliation to keep skin clean, smooth, and glowing.

Treat is where we target key skin concerns with formulas like serums and masques. These formulas are packed full of the most active ingredients to treat any challenge.

The final step is to layer moisturiser and SPF (in the mornings) to leave you with the signature Dermalogica glow.

FTF: Tell us about the new Dermalogica Phyto Nature Oxygen Cream – what can we expect from it?

Maddy: Phyto Nature Oxygen Cream is a daily liquid moisturiser which firms, lifts and revitalises through premium hydrating and oxygen optimising phytoactives. Our skin needs sufficient oxygen to maintain vitality, however as we get older that oxygenation declines, resulting in tired looking skin. This transformative moisturiser utilises the bodies current oxygen sources to quite literally, breathe new life into the skin! Clinically proven to give 4 years back with skin looking firmer and more lifted after just one week!

FTF: Inflammaging is still a hot topic, can you tell us how we can try to improve this?

Maddy: Inflammaging is the term given to the cycle of skin ageing associated with skin inflammation. When skin is irritated, the natural inflammatory process leads to breakdown of integral skin components such as collagen. As we age, skin sensitivity increases so it becomes a viscous cycle. Environmental assault or ‘oxidative stress’ is a big contributor to inflammaging which we can defend against with antioxidants and daily SPF use. If you experience skin sensitivity, try UltraCalming Serum Concentrate to reduce irritation and build your skin's tolerance.

FTF: Can you tell us something that we might not have heard about the brand before?

Maddy: Dermalogica’s name came from the brand founder’s vision to create a product line that was serious about skin health and results. Named using the Latin terms for ‘skin’ and ‘logic’, Dermalogica launched in 1986 with it’s minimal, (now iconic) grey and white clinical packaging. A real contrast at the time when the industry was dominated by neon, perfume, and frilly packaging. By elevating the importance of healthy skin over beauty, we quickly became the industry’s go-to brand.

FTF: What is your holy grail Dermalogica product? 

Maddy: For me, it has be to be Daily Microfoliant. As I mentioned earlier, exfoliation is key to reawakening the skin and getting your glow back. Not only that but it helps clear congestion, smooths the skin, plumps, and hydrates…I’m yet to meet someone who doesn’t love it! A true icon and Dermalogica hero.

We'd like to give a huge thank you to Maddy for telling us more about Dermalogica's fantastic range today! Want to discover more products from the range? Click here to read All You Need To Know About Dermalogica.