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Cynthia Franco is an aesthetician whose celebrity clients include Barry Keoghan and Queen Latifah.
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She said having an effective skin care routine is more important than undergoing treatment at a clinic.
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She shared her favorite anti-aging products, from vitamin C serum to retinol alternatives.
For the ultimate in youthful, vibrant skin, there’s no better way to achieve it than to seek advice from beauty experts who work with A-list celebrities.
Cynthia Franco is one of them. A Los Angeles-based aesthetician specializing in anti-aging skincare, Franco has worked with clients such as Barry Keoghan, Queen Latifah, Ana de Armas, and Cara Delevingne.
But Franco says that while her clients receive in-clinic treatments and facials, the most effective anti-ageing skin care is following a consistent at-home routine.
“You can’t just get one facial a month and be done with it,” Franco told Business Insider. “Sure, you can use microcurrent and cold plasma to tighten and glow your skin, but you have to go home and do it consistently.”
Franco often recommends products for her clients to use at home: With consistent use of quality serums and cleansers, she says, “you’ll see a big difference within two to four weeks.”
Franco shared some of her favorite anti-aging products, from a powerful Vitamin C serum to a retinol alternative for sensitive skin.
Fast-acting Vitamin C serum
Franco said Image Skincare’s Vital C Hydrating Anti-Aging Serum is her favorite product because it uses multiple forms of vitamin C, making it more effective at evening out skin tone and reducing sun damage.
“It also has green tea to plump the skin, reduce inflammation, and has antioxidant properties,” she says. “It brightens the skin and leaves it feeling super hydrated. It has everything we want.”
Moisturizing cleansing oil
Franco previously told Business Insider that double cleansing is a very important part of her anti-aging skin care routine.
“At the end of the day, we have a lot of stuff on our skin,” Franco says, “and the degradation of elastin and collagen is affected by the products we leave on.”
Epicuren Silk Radiance 3-in-1 Cleansing Oil is her “go-to” oil cleansing oil because it absorbs excess moisture and hydrates skin without leaving a greasy residue.
Exfoliating cleanser for a “facial in a bottle”
Franco encourages her clients to get treatments at home in between facials at her office.
For customers who say their skin is “a little rough,” she recommends using Image Skincare Ageless Total Facial Cleanser, which contains glycolic acid, which dissolves dead skin cells and unclogs pores.
“This treatment basically looks like a facial in a bottle,” she says, because the cleanser exfoliates the skin.
For even better results, she said, use a sheet mask after your cleanser so you can feel the full effects of the mask.
“The pro secret is to get a really great glow and then use a little sheet mask afterwards,” she said.
Balancing oil that is also effective against acne
Fine lines may not technically be wrinkles, but rather a by-product of dry skin, but if you’re acne-prone, some moisturizing products may be too clogged.
Franco says that Retrove Balancing Face Oil is “amazing for balancing sebaceous gland secretions,” and that she uses it on clients with all skin types, from cystic acne-prone to dry skin.
A milder alternative to retinol
Retinol is considered one of the best anti-aging products because it helps boost cell turnover and collagen production, but it may be too harsh for some sensitive skin types.
Franco said bactiol is an effective alternative for reducing wrinkles and is the main ingredient in Epicuren Skin Brightening Serum, which also contains niacinamide and tranexamic acid to combat blemishes and discoloration.
Read the original article on Business Insider
