Breaking Down Adriana Lima's Skincare Routine Scientifically

As a doctor, is her routine perfect, redundant or merely placebos? How does each product work, and what benefit does it provide to the skin?

I know for most of you, skincare is more than just skincare, it’s an act of self-love and there are really no rules when it comes to self-love. You just do whatever makes you happy. Many of us look up to our favorite celebrities to draw inspiration from their beauty routines but how much of it is actually works according to science and where can you save your bucks instead?  

To find this out, I’m starting a series where I breakdown the beauty routines of the celebrities and teach you what, how and when is the best time and practice to use certain products.  

Step one  

Adriana starts her skincare routine with a cleanser, I'm a staunch supporter of washing your face after waking up especially if you do skincare and apply makeup to remove all the oils from previous night and to set a clean base for your AM skincare. This will minimize your risk of breakouts.  

I’m breaking down the ingredients in the cleanser that she used and telling you how they actually work in improving your skin. I’ve discussed the main ones, the rest really are just there to sweeten the deal. 

Cleanser: Skin naturally has an acidic pH; a little below 5 around 4.7¹. Higher or a more alkaline pH disturbs the natural microbiome of the skin and makes it more susceptible to acne, etc. Green tea is a proven antioxidant that protects against damaged mainly caused by UV radiations which under normal conditions is a biggest external stressor of skin. Applying it won’t hurt but if you’re serious about protecting yourself from the sun, sunblock, staying away from direct sunlight are your best bets.² 

Ceramides retain moisture so; they prevent the skin from being dehydrated which results in better texture and faster healing.  

Overall, if you’ve an easily-inflamed sensitive skin, this cleanser might be a good option. If your current cleanser is doing the job for you then carry on and maybe treat yourself to this when you can. Remember, A cleanser that makes your skin feel stiffer after you use it isn’t good and drying your skin out. 

Step two 

She applies Avene Thermal Spring Water which is basically spring water and nitrogen. Now, in derma, liquid nitrogen is commonly used in cryotherapy to freeze off warts, etc and otherwise, nitrogen products are vasodilators (they dilate blood vessels). Not exactly sure what nitrogen’s role is here. Spring water itself has a bunch of minerals, if you’re taking multivitamins and using other products, you don’t need this. 

Doesn’t seem worth the money. 

Step three 

She used a mask by 111Skin, it’s a cryotherapy depuffing mask that has caffeine, and some peptides. Now, if you follow her exact same routine, which I think is a bit extreme to do on the daily as someone who does a regular job, you’d notice you’re already getting caffeine from that cleanser (caffeine’s effects are short-lived just like when you consume it), but this does have those additional peptides. Peptides maintain collagen and hence the elasticity and suppleness of the skin.  

I’d say, if you really want to try something, buy this instead of a cleanser because you don’t immediately wash it off so, it actually has some time to sit on your skin and do its magic. 

Step four 

It’s an interesting product with ingredients like Bacillus ferment which lowers the pH of the skin and makes it more receptive, again, this has peptides and growth factors that stimulate the plasma. Now, normally plasma is activated when there’s injury and tries to repair it (this mechanism is utilized in microneedling).  With how expensive this is and how many ingredients it has, I think at the end, it’d be pretty confusing to tell if the plasma is stimulated or not. For plasma to work, your skin has to be receptive, like the product has to penetrate a bit to reach and activate plasma, for that, you’d need good blood circulation to your face so, message before using.  

Then she uses a lotion by this same brand with a lot of bioactives and I’m a bit shy about using so many actives at a same time, it’s a hit or a miss. I’ve a lot to share but for now, this is it. 

Thankyou for sticking by, for similar content do follow along. 

1. Lambers, H., Piessens, S., Bloem, A., Pronk, H., & Finkel, P. (2006). Natural skin surface pH is on average below 5, which is beneficial for its resident flora. International journal of cosmetic science, 28(5), 359–370. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-2494.2006.00344.x 

2.OyetakinWhite, P., Tribout, H., & Baron, E. (2012). Protective mechanisms of green tea polyphenols in skin. Oxidative medicine and cellular longevity, 2012, 560682. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/560682