Skin In The Moment — Episode 1: The Essentials

After 22 years in the treatment room, here's something I've learned that never stops being true: your skin isn't static. It's not the same skin it was last season, and it won't be the same skin next year. So the care can't be static either.

I hear a lot of talk about "anti-aging" like it's something you start doing at a certain age, or a routine you build once and repeat forever.

That's not how I approach it. My philosophy is simple — protect the skin, stimulate its natural abilities, and do that based on what the skin is actually asking for right now. Not last year's plan. Not a routine copied from someone else's face. Today's skin.

Here's the part people miss: treating your skin's needs in the moment IS the long game. When you calm inflammation today, you're preventing the breakdown that inflammation causes over time. When you hydrate a barrier that feels tight and stressed this week, you're protecting the collagen underneath it that you'll want in five years. There isn't a separate "now" routine and "later" routine. It's the same work, just understood in two timeframes at once.

That's what this series is about. I'm calling it Skin In The Moment — a look at the ingredients I use and recommend most, broken into what they do for your skin today, and why that same action is quietly setting you up for tomorrow.

Episode 1: The Essentials

These five show up in some form in almost every routine I build, because almost every skin — no matter the age or concern — needs some version of what they do.

Hyaluronic Acid

Right now: calms and re-hydrates skin that feels tight, stressed, or dehydrated.

Long term: plump, hydrated skin ages slower. Moisture is the foundation that collagen needs to keep doing its job.

ALICIA'S PICK

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V'Lume | Beauty by Alicia

Our new breakthrough product V’Lume is a unique topical face filler that smooths, hydrates and plumps areas like crow’s feet, under eye hollows, lip lines, lip fullness and nasal labial fold. V’Lume contains superstar ingredients such as volufiline, argireline, vassopeptides, squalane and hyaluronic acid.DIRECTIONS: Apply V’Lume after skincare with our convenient roll-on applicator anywhere volume is desired.V’Lume is especially effective on and around lips and under your eyes. Not intended for use around your upper eyelids. Ingredients:Volufiline: Stimulates and promotes lipid storage which helps to plump lips, smooth skin, improve skin elasticity and reduce the appearance of wrinkles.Argireline: A peptide that has been shown to promote collagen production keeping the skin strong, firm and youthful.Vassopeptide: A proprietary blend of nourishing vitamins and firming peptides for optimal skin radiance.Squalane: Hydrates your skin while supporting its natural moisture barrier. It can enhance the absorption of other active ingredients driving them deeper into the skin for improved efficacy.Hyaluronic Acid: Helps with soft tissue growth and prompts your body to make more collagen and elastin. It keeps your skin moisturized, boosts elasticity and reduces scarring.

Niacinamide

Right now: evens out today's redness, oil, and congestion without stripping the skin.

Long term: a steadier barrier over time means fewer flare-ups and more resilience as skin matures.

ALICIA'S PICK

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Daily Eye Serum | Beauty by Alicia

Gold Serum hydrates and firms delicate eye and mouth area using plant placenta RNA and DNA, nature's building blocks. It also heals and repairs skin, and is great for use after skin laser treatments chemical peels. Best for: Fine lines around mouth, saggy and loose skin around eye area, skin post laser resurfacing Directions: Use 2 times daily to tighten and reduce wrinkles Active Ingredients: Organic Aloe Juice, Glycerin, Vitamin E from Natural Mixed Tocohperols (D-alpha, D-beta, D-gamma tocoperols), Hyaluronic Acid, Arginine, Cucumber, Vassopeptides, Carbomer, Germall Plus

Vitamin C

Right now: brightens dull, tired-looking skin and fights off today's environmental stress.

Long term: consistent antioxidant protection is one of the quiet keys to preventing long-term sun damage.

ALICIA'S PICK

www.beautybyalicia.guru

Hyaluronic C Serum | Beauty by Alicia

Hyaluronic C Serum is our deeply moisturizing collagen-building treatment. This serum contains hyaluronic acid (15%) for deeply penetrating moisture and high-potency vitamin C, which is essential for the synthesis of collagen, a key structural protein of the skin. When infused together, hyaluronic acid and vitamin C work to improve skin texture, deeply hydrate the skin and stimulate collagen production for a dewy, healthy glow. What is a serum? Serums contain highly concentrated ingredients chemically formulated into molecules much smaller than those in creams, and are thus absorbed quickly and more deeply into the skin for a highly intensive effect. Best for: Dry aging skin, dull, sallow or papery skin texture, fine lines and wrinkles, sun damaged skin. Works for all skin types. Directions: Apply a thin application to skin in PM three to four days per week. Spot test application before full application. Avoid contact with eyes. For external use only. Ingredients: Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe) Leaf Juice, Vegetable Glycerin, Sodium Hyaluronate (Hyaluronic Acid), Ascorbyl Palmitate Vitamin C Ester, Carbomer, Cucumber Extract, Calendula Officinalis (Calendula) Flower Extract Silk Protein, L-Arginine, Germall Plus

Retinol

Right now: speeds up cell turnover so today's texture and congestion clear faster.

Long term: this is the ingredient most responsible for the collagen production that keeps skin firm for years.

ALICIA'S PICK

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Reveal 10 | Beauty by Alicia

1 oz One of our all-time most popular products, Reveal 10 is a potent combination of alpha hydroxy acids (glycolic and lactic acid) that exfoliate to create a smooth, vibrant complexion and plumps the look of fine lines to reveal brighter, renewed skin. How Alpha Hydroxy Acids Work:The main benefit of an alpha hydroxy acid is its ability to exfoliate the skin. They essentially remove the “glue” from the upper layer of skin that holds onto the old, dead skin cells. By effectively removing that top layer of skin, the alpha hydroxy acids serve to help new skin grow.Alpha hydroxy acids reduce the look of wrinkles, help to reduce the likelihood that winkles will develop, make skin smoother and (with months of daily use) can help skin that’s uneven and hyper pigmented become smoother and more even.In addition to helping new (younger looking and fresh) skin to grow, alpha hydroxy acids also stimulate the growth of elastin and collagen, both of which become depleted with age.

Ceramides

Right now: repairs a barrier that feels reactive, dry, or sensitized in this moment.

Long term: a protected barrier is what allows every other ingredient — and every future treatment — to actually work the way it should.

ALICIA'S PICK

www.beautybyalicia.guru

Vital Restorative Elixir 1oz | Beauty by Alicia

Snail Mucin + PeptidesNourishes. Protection. Rebuilds

Healthy skin is a journey, not a quick fix. Every face tells a different story, and that story changes. My job isn't to hand you a routine and walk away — it's to keep listening to what your skin is telling me, appointment after appointment, and adjust from there.

Next up in the series: Episode 2, where we get into the ingredients that handle renewal and texture — the ones doing the "clearing away what's in the way" work. Follow along, and I'll keep building on it.

— Alicia

Beauty by Alicia · Old Town Scottsdale