A Highly Credentialed Derm Says to 'Save your Money' Rather Than Use These Trendy Skin-Care Ingredients

Welcome to “Face It,” in which practitioners, dermatologists, facialists and other beauty experts answer our rapid-fire questions (quicker than you can say “just a few more units, please?”), revealing their hottest takes, most controversial opinions and the hard truths they wish their clients could come to terms with.

I like to call New York City’s Upper East Side the Dermatologist District because it’s so chock full of experienced, well-credentialed experts. And perhaps no one embodies that last descriptor more than Dr. Macrene Alexiades, a double-board-certified dermatologist in both the U.S. and EU who also holds three degrees from Harvard University (a B.A./M.D. and a Ph.D. in genetics). She’s also a patent-holding research scientist, fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology and American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery, the author of two textbooks and a lead investigator in lasers, dermatology and genetics for major aesthetics companies including Allergan/Abbvie, Candela Lasers, InMode, Lumenis and Surgivance.

Oh, and Dr. Alexiades somehow also found the time to become a beauty founder: Her eponymous Macrene Actives brand aims to replace the very procedures and in-office treatments she’s helped pioneer with the use of “‘clean’ active ingredients sourced from medicinal botanicals and marine plants.”

Photo&colon; Courtesy of Macrene Actives

So naturally, Dr. Alexiades is a wealth of information — and lucky for us, she’s all about sharing said info for the greater skin good. Fashionista recently took the opportunity to quiz her on her hottest aesthetics takes, from her thoughts on GLP-1-era skin care, treatments that leave you “swollen like a blimp” and the trendy, increasingly common skin-care ingredients she thinks you should skip and “save your money.”