As the go-to dermatologist for south Florida dwellers who prefer to look as if their complexions have never been subjected to the Sunshine State’s glorious glare, Miamibased Heather Woolery-Lloyd, MD, has become known for her ability to tackle stubborn pigmentation problems. “The number one complaint from my patients is uneven skin tone, not wrinkles,” says Woolery-Lloyd, who at her private practice and as the director of ethnic skin care at the University of Miami specializes in “multihued skin tones” (a term she prefers to “skin of color” because, she says, it encompasses “people with tan, olive, or brown complexions”). It was this day-to-day observation that led to the development of her new drugstore range, Specific Beauty. “The typical prescription for hyperpigmentation is hydroquinone, but many patients are allergic to it, and its effects can plateau,” she says. “I wanted to offer an over-thecounter alternative that could be just as effective.”
Her own line aside, Woolery-Lloyd’s favorite recent beauty breakthrough is prescription lash-booster Latisse. “I love Latisse,” she says. “I just had a baby, so I haven’t been able to use it, but as soon as I’m done breast-feeding, it’s the first thing I’m going to do. I’m so jealous of everyone in my office who’s using it: Their eyelashes are like tarantulas!” How does Specific Beauty tackle pigment issues in multihued skin? I wanted to mimic what I do in my practice, where I recommend a cleanser, a sunscreen, a lightening agent for dark marks, and a retinoid for night. Hydroquinone works best when combined with a retinoid and a steroid—that’s essentially what the prescription Tri-Luma is—so the Skin Brightening Serum is my own version of that: I used licorice root extract, which is very effective in published clinical studies in improving pigmentation, along with retinol and ginger root extract, an anti-inflammatory.
What’s the most important product a woman should own?
Sunscreen. People come in with uneven skin tone, and the first thing I ask them is, “Do you use sunscreen every day?” and at least 50 percent of them say no. Antioxidants are also very important: I think that within five years, every sunscreen will contain them. An SPF 30 will block 97 percent of UVB, and an antioxidant will prevent free-radical damage from the 3 percent that gets through. I tell patients to layer an antioxidant like green tea or vitamin C serum under their sunscreen every morning.
What beauty myth would you most like to dispel?
That you can’t use lasers on darker skin. You just have to pick the right laser. For hair removal, I use the long-pulse Nd:YAG, because it’s sensitive enough to see the pigment in hair but not in skin. Infrared skin-tightening devices, such as Titan, are also safe for darker skin, as well as those that use radio-frequency waves, such as Thermage.
You treat hair loss with Latisse and Rogaine. How does it work?
People who overuse Latisse sometimes see fine little hairs appear on the upper parts of their cheeks, and people have used it on their eyebrows and noticed improvement, so we have evidence it will grow more than just lashes. It’s expensive— up to $140 for 3 ml—so I compound it with minoxidil for diffuse use. For localized hair loss—like when black women have thinning hair around their temples from wearing tight hairstyles—I have patients apply Latisse directly to the area and then put minoxidil on top. We’ve been doing it for about six months, and I have patients who show significant results.
Have you seen side effects from Latisse such as changes in iris or eyelid color?
The reports of the darkening of the iris occurred in glaucoma patients using a different medication, not Latisse users. Irritation is a side effect in some people, though.
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While environmentally-friendly products have come a long way from the stuff you'd equate with granola-crunching hippies, there's some major news that seems to make the idea of a greener beauty routine more of a new way of life and less of a fad. Procter & Gamble (the company that owns brands like Pantene and Cover Girl) recently announced they'll start changing some of their beauty packaging to sugarcane-derived plastics—a renewable resource, unlike the petroleum-based plastics that are typically used—beginning on 2011. So instead of having to seek out more niche (and sometimes, more expensive) products to reduce your carbon footprint, now you'll be able to do it just by picking up some of your old drugstore favorites.