The Doc is In
In pursuit of great skin, Elizabeth Lee flies to Los Angeles to meet Harold Lancer, who once quipped that he was probably “the last dermatologist on earth”
He is the go-to dermatologist for celebrities such as Beyoncé, Kim Kardashian West and Jennifer Lopez. Victoria Beckham has even attributed her glowing visage to him. “He sorted my skin out,” she said in an interview with a beauty website. The man in question? Harold Lancer, who launched his eponymous skincare brand, Lancer, in 1983. Ahead of the Singapore debut of his brand at multi-label beauty retailer, Escentials, last October, we sat down with the good doctor at his clinic on Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles to find out about his legacy and why industry insiders cannot seem to stop raving about his home skincare routine, The Lancer Method. How did you get your start in beauty? I was and still am a physician and surgeon first, before I did my speciality training in dermatology. Around 1983, I started training in laser work, and soon became well known as the doctor who could use lasers to soften the degree of scarring caused by a car accident or a cancer removal operation. My claim to fame in the entertainment world started with me reversing or softening the scars of elected cosmetic surgery. Today, my office has about 36 lasers, which are used for both cosmetic and medical reasons. Lancer is synonymous with The Lancer Method. What makes it so different from that of other brands? The original concept in the world of home skincare routines has always been cleaning the skin, using a toner and then a moisturiser. But I feel that skin just doesn’t respond naturally to that regime. So in the 1980s, I developed The Method: Polish, The Method: Cleanse and The Method: Nourish based on the true biology of how skin repairs and functions. You always have to start with the polish then rinse, cleanse and rinse, and nourish the skin first, before you can get it to respond
to any additional treatments on top of that. There’s a programme to follow when it comes to skincare. You’ve also developed a full skincare range beyond the three-step method. As the brand grew, so did the number of products, but I only do it when the need arises because patients tell me so. I’ve had people coming into my office saying, “Well, Dr Lancer, the Nourish moisturiser works and I love it, but I think my skin needs something more.” That’s why we created the Legacy range, which has peptides and hydrating components, different plant extracts and is anti-inflammatory. This range isn’t just for older people. There are some in their twenties who need more hydration because their bodies don’t make enough free fatty acids. What are some of the more popular products from your brand? The Legacy Eye Treatment Duo is one. There’s a morning version, which is lighter and more hydrating, while the night programme feels different and has plant extracts in it. The chemistry of those two tubes is complex and they don’t mix well together, which was why a duo was created. The Younger Revealing Mask Intense is hugely popular as well, especially in the entertainment industry. How this magnetic mask works is that it leaves a film of non-toxic retinoid behind so that even with theatrical make-up on top, the ingredients are restoring the skin underneath. The chemistry behind it is just extraordinary. We’ve got to ask: what’s the story behind you saying that you’re probably the last dermatologist on earth? The journalist, who wrote that story, is a patient of mine. I remember seeing a whole row of patients who had weird, stupid things done that day, and I was upset. So, while speaking to her, I said, “Am I the last dermatologist on the planet who takes time to learn about a patient’s history, and actually wants to understand why somebody is seeing me? Or does everyone just want to do injections?” It wasn’t about ego or wanting to make myself look good, but frustration at what aesthetic medicine had become. What’s one mistake people unknowingly make with their skincare? High-quality products don’t work well with low-quality products. I’ll give you an example: if someone who decides to use The Method: Polish and The Method: Nourish with an inexpensive cleanser, the chemical benefit of our products will be ruined. So for the few dollars that you saved on a cheap cleanser, the value of the entire skincare regime is reduced. It’s no bargain. I’ve seen women who have used inexpensive make-up products coming in with a stye in their eye or pimple on their eyelid. These products may clog up your skin, sweat and oil glands, and might even cause your eyelashes to fall out—and it can take up to two years for eyelashes to grow back! There’s an English expression that describes this: “Penny wise, pound foolish.” We’ve heard of teenagers who have started on an anti-ageing skincare regime. How early is too early? You should start in your early twenties. After the age of 20, your body loses its reparative ability by up to 1 per cent each year. One of the trends I’ve noticed is that the younger generation is very aware and in tune with the idea of prevention. They’re willing to spend on skincare because they’re very anti-pain and against the idea of having to wait for scars [from lasers or surgery] to heal. It ruins their social life! So, they’ll do their home skincare routine and are not lazy to maintain it. How important is sunscreen in our daily lives? Every dermatologist always says, use sunscreen. That’s ridiculously boring, but what you need to know is that it’s only part of the solution. Honestly, sunscreen needs to be applied every two hours to be useful, but nobody in the world really does that. Sun avoidance is just as important. So, use a sunscreen daily, but when you must be in the light, reapply. For the rest of the day? Stay out of the sun’s way. Wherever there’s light, there’s bound to be a discolouration effect on the skin. Even if you have a dinner party at night, wear sunscreen under your make-up. What would be your best beauty advice? Have a board-certified dermatologist recommend a skincare programme to you. But never get a treatment—a physical one—on your first visit to a doctor. At a legitimate medical office, you’ll go in and you’ll say, “This is what concerns me”, and the physician will look at you, evaluate you and give you advice. Go home and think about it first before deciding what to do next. That’s very important. Another piece of advice is to stick with your programme. Medical rehabilitation of the skin should always come first, so don’t jump into procedures. If a procedure is the first thing you do, you will have a poor result. For example, if you go into a medispa, and after your first IPL (Intense Pulsed Light) treatment, you take on a package which sounds like a bargain. But if you get burned, then you’ll have a real headache. Or, you finish the five treatments, and then they say, “Well, you need another five more and another few more”—there’s no plan. There’s no menu of where this is going.