Summer Skincare Secrets from ReVive’s Dr. Gregory Brown

As temperature rise, we’re bound to show more skin. But many fail to realize that how we treat our skin now will affect how we age. Renowned plastic and reconstructive surgeon Dr. Gregory Brown experienced the effects from his patients who requested invasive cosmetics procedures for skin that only needed a rejuvenation to regain its radiance, inspiring him to create RéVive. Glam recently got a chance to sit with the good doctor to chat about how to keep skin healthy and flawless during the long days of summer and what’s in the future of skincare.

What are some of the habits that can cause bad skin?
Sun and smoking are the two worst things. A lot of people think smoking doesn’t affect your skin, but it really does. It actually shunts blood away from the skin, so that’s why a heavy smoker will have a different color to their skin. So if you’re shunting blood, the little vessels in the skin go into spasms, so it literally pushes blood away.

So what are the best habits to pick up to better your skin?
Of course, sun screen, not smoking, [and] low glycemic index diets, those sorts of things. High glycemic index really does affect your skin over time. All the things that make the body go are proteins and enzymes. And if they get a lot of sugar molecules on them, it’s like if you take a glass rod and bring it across this rug, it’ll go very smoothly. But if you wrap Velcro around it, it won’t. And that’s kind of like what wrapping sugar molecules around an enzyme are. So, if you have a high sugar diet – and I don’t just mean white sugar, I mean simple sugars – then over time, that’s aging.

We know that you’re never too young to start an anti-aging regimen, but when should we start?
For RéVive, I think somebody in their late 20s. Most people – 28, 29, 30, it varies genetically – will start to show some subtle signs of aging, especially around their eyes. And they don’t need anything but an eye cream, maybe a night cream. The one product that I recommend for everybody that uses RéVive is our Moisturizing Renewal Cream.

What products would you recommend to prevent aging?
Sunscreen. I know I harp on it, and it’s simple, and it’s intuitive, but you see people getting tan. There’s nothing that ages you quicker, so sunscreen and then simple moisturization. People in their 20s can be dry, [but] dryness in and of itself can be aging. Our sunscreen [Filtre de Soleil Visage SPF 45] is unique in the sense that it’s a combined physical and chemical block. I did that so that it would try to eliminate the negative qualities of a physical, meaning no sunscreen smell. It’s not oily, it doesn’t get in your eyes, all of those things that a lot of sunscreens do. So, it was a difficult product to make, but I’m proud of it.

With all of the technological innovations out now, what do you think the biggest skincare issue will be in the future?
It’s probably going to be related to the environment. It may not be sun damage, but it’s going to be noxious gases, free radicals. It’s going to probably be things like: discoloration, living in an urban environment, things that cause toxicity. I believe the environment’s changing, [and] it’ll be from those kind of consequences. I do think people are trying not to get as much sun exposure but we still have to, so there’s going to be some degree of that, but it’ll also be free radical formation from a lot of different sources. The planet’s just more toxic. We don’t quite know how it’s going to manifest, but I think it’ll be in the skin.

RéVive is available at Barneys.com for $65 -$1,500.