Our aim is that you know what each product does, what evidence supports it and where its limits are, before you buy it.
Medical skincare
Your skin, on evidence ... what works what does not what suits you
At the Instituto de Cirugía Plástica del Mediterráneo, medical skincare is the part of looking after your skin that happens at home, every day, and that decides much of the outcome of everything else.
Our aim is to support you in maintaining and steadily improving how you look, with non-invasive techniques that are safe and applied by trained professionals.
Every treatment is adapted to your needs to achieve visible, natural and healthy results, always respecting your body and your pace.
Why trust us?
- Signed by the people who operate – Every recommendation in this section is reviewed by the centre’s plastic surgeons, not by a copywriter or by the brand selling the product.
- The formula, not the advert – What a product contains is read from its list of ingredients (INCI). Where the advertising and the literature disagree, the literature governs.
- We also say no – Here we explain just as plainly what a cosmetic product CANNOT do and when the problem has become medical and needs a consultation.
- With the evidence in view – Every claim rests on published trials and reviews, cited in each article so that you can check them yourself.
Skin is looked after daily, not seasonally
An operation lasts a few hours and a routine lasts years. That is why medical skincare is the part of the treatment you carry out yourself, and it deserves the same seriousness.
Medical skincare
The topics, one by one
Routines by skin type
The order matters more than the number of products.
Cleanse, treat and protect. What changes between oily, dry and sensitive skin is what goes in the middle step, not how many bottles are on the shelf.
Retinol and retinoids
It is the active with the most evidence in photoageing, and the one most often used badly.
What it really does, how long it takes to show and why a “1%” on the packaging does not mean what it appears to: in Europe the legal limit is 0.3%.
Vitamin C and antioxidants
It protects during the day and evens out tone, but only if the formulation holds up.
The form, the concentration and the pH decide whether the serum works or has oxidised in the drawer. What is proven and what is claimed beyond that.
Sun protection
The anti-ageing product with the most evidence behind it is sunscreen.
What to look for on the label, how much you need to apply for the factor on the bottle to be the real factor, and why the texture decides more than the number.
Pigmentation
Each depigmenting agent acts at a different point in how pigment is made.
That is why they are combined, and why none of them works without sun protection: without it the mark comes back before you finish the tube.
The skin barrier and sensitive skin
When everything irritates, it is almost never that the skin is “allergic”.
It is usually a damaged barrier, and it is repaired by taking things away rather than adding them. What to stop, how long it takes and how to tell it has repaired.
Exfoliating with acids
AHAs, BHAs and PHAs are not interchangeable.
Which one for which skin, how often you can use it without overdoing it, and what an at-home acid is not going to solve however much you persist.
Skin and surgery
Some actives are stopped before an operation and others help afterwards.
What to set aside and how far in advance, when it can be resumed and what part skincare plays in looking after a recent scar.
All the articles
To read at your leisure
Retinol on the Neck, Chest and Hands
Retinol on the Neck, Chest and Hands
Retinol on the Neck, Chest and Hands
How to Read a Cosmetic Label
How to Read a Cosmetic Label
How to Read a Cosmetic Label
Does Your Skincare Change with Age?
Does Your Skincare Change with Age?
Does Your Skincare Change with Age?
What Niacinamide Actually Does
What Niacinamide Actually Does
What Niacinamide Actually Does
How to Choose a Facial Cleanser
How to Choose a Facial Cleanser
How to Choose a Facial Cleanser
