How Do You Improve Upon Perfection? Lancer Dermatology

Face Values

Hi guys, I am back from a quick jaunt to Los Angeles where I was fortunate to meet with the famed dermatologist, Dr. Harold Lancer.

This man is the brilliant mind behind Lancer Dermatology–the skin care products that he sells at his swank Beverly Hills office on Rodeo Drive. The airy clinic, punctuated with innumerable works by Gustav Klimt and other painters, is where art meets science.

Having tended to the complexions of countless famous faces, from Oprah Winfrey to Kim Kardashian, Dr. Lancer is dermatologist to the stars. In the lobby I shared space with a famous musical legend who Dr. Lancer treats in his fabulous clinic. Yet despite his own fame, Dr. Lancer and his staff value every face as though it belongs to a celebrity.

I first heard about Dr. Lancer, pictured above with staff members Kat, left, and Natalie, right, from an actress friend of mine who told me of his skills, and I met with him a few years later. I was excited to see Dr. Lancer again, right before the launch of his reformulated skin care products at Harrod’s in London. Some of the improved products are available now in the United States at Nordstrom stores and nordstrom.com.

Kat Rudu, and Other Things of Beauty

As part of my visit I received a facial by the skin savvy Kat Rudu, pictured above. Kat, a svelte willowy beauty who could double as Kate Moss, is a European-trained esthetician who works in Lancer’s clinic.

Kat customizes every treatment for the individual client. She began my facial with a diamond peel tip exfoliation and cleansed with a placenta facial cleanser before nimbly performing conservative yet thorough extractions.

“I’m a perfectionist when it comes to extractions,” she said, which she told me comes from her extensive European training, adding “and I’m obsessed with liquid nitrogen after extractions.” Kat said that liquid nitrogen closes the pores and is very healing, reducing inflammation.

She then added oxygen to the skin, and performed a light, hydroquinone-free peel to improve texture.

Lastly, she massaged the skin for circulatory benefits while drenching the epidermis with several layers of antioxidant-rich moisturizers from Dr. Lancer’s line–Eye Bright and the cult beauty product, Nourish. And finally, Kat ended the facial with a generous slather of Lancer’s vitamin C sunscreen.

“Your beauty is my life,” Kat stated plainly, and after her incredible facial, my skin emerged as smooth, radiant and glowing. A facial like this can range in price from $250-$600 in the clinic, but Dr. Lancer’s products guarantee that you can maintain that kind of glow at home.

Only in Threes

The structure of Lancer’s at-home skin regime is based on a trinity of products: Polish, Cleanse and Nourish.

Step one: Lancer’s philosophy is to begin with the scrub, Polish, $75. This is a unique method of skin care, because it involves exfoliating first, before the cleanse. This scrub is unbelievable because it oxygenates and rejuvenates with Magnesium Oxide crystals, preparing skin for the cleansing step. When you exfoliate the skin first, it increases the cleanser’s performance and penetration of active ingredients.

Polish resurfaces with natural sea minerals which work as a manual exfoliant while fruit enzymes bromelain (pineapple) and papain (papaya) fur­ther the exfoliation process.

As Polish gently buffs the surface of the skin, the pineapple and papaya enzymes play Pac Man on your pores, eating away dead cells and clearing the path for Lancer’s cleanser which will detox, hydrate and oxygenate the skin.

Step two is Cleanse, $55. This is a beautiful foaming cleanser that doesn’t strip the skin of its natural moisturizing factors. You need only a pearl-sized drop to produce a rich lather which contains more of the same fruit enzymes to further exfoliate.

Both Polish and Cleanse contain Lancer’s own CRT Oxygen Technology Liposome Complex that aids in oxygenating the skin while providing potent antioxidant protection. They perform at their absolute best when left on the skin for one to two minutes so that the natural enzymes can work at their peak.

Step three: Once skin is prepped to receive beneficial ingredients after a thorough exfoliation and cleansing, that’s when Lancer’s Nourish moisturizer, $125, comes into play. I am in good company when I say I love this product. Victoria Beckham has tweeted about this moisturizer, and Nicole Richie named it as one of her beauty must-haves.

The aptly-named Nourish is spiked with all kinds of yummy skin treats, such as green tea extract (a potent anti-irritant, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory), and vitamins A and E. It also contains longchain poly-peptides to restore skin firmness and is ideal for all skin types.

After I use these products, my skin glows and is velvety beyond belief. The trinity of the Polish, Cleanse and Nourish products are the foundation for beautiful skin.

More Admirable Epidermal Things

Because exfoliation equals younger-looking skin with increased vitality due to the building of collagen, Dr. Lancer also prescribed to me his Glycolic 15% Cream, which furthers cell turnover via additional fruit acids. The cream contains vitamins A, C and E and green tea extract to nurture and soothe the epidermis.

His nourishing Vitamin C Cream feeds the skin with a patented polymer matrix system to deliver the benefits of pure vitamin C. Vitamin C, or Ascorbic Acid, is a potent skin firmer that also lightens pigmentation and refines texture. Squalane and Dimethicone moisturize the skin for a radiant glow.

The Eye Bright Illuminator fights wrinkling around the eye area with a hefty dose of collagen-building peptides. In addition, chelators, antioxidants and a special binding moisturizer guarantee that with continued use, dark circles and puffiness will be a thing of the past.

I also picked up Lancer’s proprietary blend of .1% retinoic acid for my nightly regime, and because retinoids sensitize the skin, I am using his Vitamin C Antioxidant Sunscreen SPF 30.

Every woman who cares about her complexion should incorporate sunscreen into her regime, and this one contains 7% of the physical blocker, micronized zinc oxide, combined with the chemical blocker Octinoxate for winning, broad-spectrum protection.

The rumors are true that Dr. Lancer has reformulated his exceptional products and I am so excited to try them because I can’t imagine how he could improve upon them. They are the ultimate in complexion perfection.