Healthy Skin Ageing: Tips to Share With Your Aesthetic Patients

Read our aesthetic specialists’ top tips for healthy skin ageing that you can share with your patients.

One of the primary concerns you’re likely to encounter as an aesthetic practitioner is healthy skin ageing. Patients often want to look more youthful and rejuvenated, whether this be through injectables or skin treatments.

Even if they don’t cite this specifically when booking their appointment, it’s something many patients ask about once they’re in clinic. From how to improve their skin quality and ‘anti ageing’ advice, to skincare recommendations, preserving youthfulness is a key source of frequently asked questions.

At Harley Academy, our clinical trainers treat, or oversee the treatment of over 1,000 patients each month at The Academy Clinic. In addition to this, they all work in private aesthetic practices, giving them a wealth of insights into what patients want to know.

Read on for pearls of wisdom from five of our faculty, that you can share with your own patients now…

Don’t rely on one single anti-ageing treatment modality

Dr Max Greenfield, Head of Clinical Training and cosmetic doctor at eponymous aesthetic practice and STORY Clinics.

He advises, “Don’t invest your entire anti-ageing portfolio into a single treatment modality. Even if one treatment seems to be working well for you now, keep your mind open to other treatments in the future to get the best results. 

“It’s very rare that just one treatment will do everything. There may be times where you’ll require specific treatments. For example:

• Filler to restore volume loss
• Microneedling to help with fine lines
• Botox to help relax your frown lines
• Chemical peels to help with some pigmentation. 
  

“There is no treatment that will cover all of this, so don’t put all of your eggs in one basket.”

Don’t look for quick fixes - wear SPF daily and have a consistent skincare routine

Dr Teuta Berisha, clinical trainer and cosmetic doctor at Define Clinic in Beaconsfield.

She stresses, “Consistent use of a high-quality, broad-spectrum SPF 30+ on the face, neck, and décolletage is so important. This protects skin and prevents accelerated collagen breakdown, pigmentation, and laxity. I always remind patients to extend their skincare routine to the neck, which often shows ageing first, too.”

“Patients often look for ‘quick fixes’. However, small, consistent habits are more impactful than occasional aggressive treatments. These include:

• Daily SPF use, including reapplications, all year round
• Having a solid skincare routine, ideally including a topical antioxidant and potentially a retinoid
• Maintaining hydration levels
• Eating well
• Getting enough sleep
• Not smoking or vaping
• Avoiding excessive alcohol consumption.

“These steps can provide measurable benefits for skin quality and long-term skin health. I frame it as skin health being a marathon, not a sprint.

“Minimally invasive options such as microneedling, skin boosters, or biostimulators, and energy-based treatments, can gradually improve collagen, elastin, texture, and firmness. I often emphasise that injectables, like dermal fillers or toxin, shouldn’t be rushed into. But when started at the right time and used conservatively, they can help maintain skin quality and slow the development of lines, supporting healthy ageing over time.”

Look for products that promote consistency - and stop smoking

Dr Lindsay Jones, Harley Academy Quality Assurance & Revalidation Lead, clinical trainer and aesthetic doctor at LaserClinics, Brighton.

She notes, “Don't over complicate your skincare! You don't need a 17 step routine to get great looking skin. Try to find well formulated products that do more than one thing, like a moisturiser that has vitamin C in it. 

“That way your morning skincare routine doesn't take 30 minutes every morning and you're more likely to be consistent with it. 

“Equally a nighttime moisturiser with retinol is a great way to simplify things. 

“Also, quit smoking! After UV damage, smoking is the next big cause of skin ageing. This is due to all the harmful chemicals in the smoke that end up on your skin and damage your collagen. Not only is quitting smoking a great idea for your physical health but also to keep you looking fresh.”

Avoid screens before bed and invest in effective sunglasses

Dr Alisha Kotecha, clinical trainer and dentist with a special interest in facial aesthetics, practising at Renew by Dr Alisha in North London.

She says, “Number 1 - avoid your phone screen for at least an hour before bed to get the best beauty sleep.

“Melatonin is a powerful antioxidant that’s mainly synthesised in response to darkness. It helps to protect against oxidative stress and collagen loss. Exposing yourself to the blue light on your phone before you sleep, can delay the release of melatonin. 

“Number 2 - know that not all sunglasses are made equal!

“SPF under the eyes paired with sunglasses is brilliant at helping to prevent crow’s feet and periocular wrinkles. However, you need to make sure your sunglasses have a strong enough UV protection rating. Some may look great but actually have zero UV protection! I advise looking for ‘UV 400’ or ‘100% UV protection’ when shopping for sunglasses.”

Pay attention to your gut health and stress levels

Dr Sunenah Verma, Foundation Year Practitioner at Harley Academy and aesthetic doctor at her own Oxfordshire clinic.

“A healthy gut can equal healthy skin,” shares Dr Sunenah. “Diets high in processed foods, sugar and saturated fats can create imbalances in gut bacteria. These can cause systemic inflammation and accelerated skin ageing. By maintaining a balanced gut microbiome you’ll also benefit from effective absorption of the nutrients that help to keep skin firm, elastic and resilient as we age.

“Chronic stress raises cortisol levels and promotes inflammation. This breaks down your collagen and elastin - the proteins that keep skin firm and elastic. Weird or wonderful, any activity that helps you unwind can keep your skin healthier for longer. So, pay attention to your stress levels and practice regular stress management in a way that works for you so you’ll be more likely to stick with it.”

Building trust through education with your patients

Sharing little tips and insights like these is a great way to demonstrate your credentials and build trust with your patients. 

In this age of social media-spread misinformation, especially when it comes to skincare, patients can really appreciate educated advice from a medical aesthetics professional.

By reinforcing your evidence-based knowledge and being able to offer personalised advice - and even a bit of myth-busting, where needed! - you can elevate your reputation. This, in turn, can boost your business in multiple ways, from word-of-mouth referrals, to product sales and more bookings for skin treatments from your injectables patients.

We’ve previously expanded on the commercial benefits of offering skin services, so do check out our dedicated article if you want to learn more.

Adding skin health skills to your aesthetic services

But how do you gain credible, science-backed skin health information to share with your patients? How can you learn what skincare ingredients will work for their concerns, and which to avoid? 

Harley Academy offers two certified routes for aesthetic practitioners to enhance their injectables offering by learning about skin and how to treat it.

Foundation Training in Cosmetic Dermatology

Our Cosmetic Dermatology Foundation Training course offers a thorough grounding for beginners.

You’ll first complete your in-depth, 50-hour suite of pre-course eLearning. Here you’ll dive into the theory aspects, before spending a full day in clinic. During this in-person time, you’ll recap your online learning, before getting stuck in to skin assessments with real patients.

By the end of this short skin course, you’ll possess highly commercial, in-demand skills. These include being able to:

• Understand skin anatomy, physiology, function, ageing and pathology
• Perform professional skin consultations
• Assess patients’ skin with and without a device
• Identify various skin concerns, including signs of ageing, hyperpigmentation and acne
• Understand key skincare ingredients, what they’re used for and when to avoid them
• Formulate standalone skin treatment plans and multimodal options incorporating injectables
• Formulate bespoke skincare routines for your patients and provide product recommendations based on the actual ingredients, so you’re not tied to a specific brand
• Know what's beyond your scope and when to refer patients for further investigation, including exploring psychodermatological concerns.

Full Cosmetic Dermatology Course

Our full Cosmetic Dermatology Course starts with the above Foundation Training. This then unlocks a wealth of practical training in popular skin treatments and topics.

We focus on ensuring you can safely and confidently tackle:

• Chemical peels
• Hyperpigmentation & Darker Skin
• Microneedling
• Polynucleotides
• Skin boosters and mesotherapy.

You’ll receive certification at the end of each module, as well as a certificate of completion once you’ve successfully finished the course. That’s a lot of credibility to display on your clinic wall!

This is one of our most popular courses, especially when paired with our Ofqual-regulated Level 7 Diploma qualification in botox and filler treatments, through the Level 7+ course. 

Trainees tell us they love it, not just because it allows them to offer popular skin treatments they know are in demand in their area, giving them access to a wider patient base than injectables alone. They also love it because it’s fun!

Skin health is something many of our trainees have an interest in. They share that they enjoy being able to apply this knowledge to their own skincare routines, putting their training into action for themselves as well as their patients.

For more information on adding Cosmetic Dermatology courses to your existing Harley Academy aesthetics course, or if you’re interested in learning more about incorporating this holistic approach into your aesthetic medicine training from the start, book in a chat with our Courses team. They’ll be able to answer all your questions and recommend tailored pathways, based on your specific needs.

All information correct at time of publication