No matter what skin-related question you have, TikTok’s coolest dermatologist, Aamna Adel, MBBS, has probably answered it at some point. Seriously—if you ever wanted to know why Kylie Jenner uses nipple cream as a lip balm or when you might want to put salmon sperm on your face, the London-based derm can help.
Dr. Adel specializes in skin health and hair loss, and she’s constantly offering up tips on both subjects to her 1.6 million followers. In doing so, she shares a ton of product recommendations that cater to all different concerns: fungal acne, large pores, greasy roots—you name it. But what does she reach for on a daily basis? We chatted with Dr. Adel about her current skin and hair care routine to find out which products she keeps in rotation in her shower and medicine cabinet to hydrate her dry skin and give her wavy hair a boost. Shop her favorites below.
Dr. Adel’s top picks
- Skinceuticals C E Ferulic
- Haru Haru Wonder Black Rice Hyaluronic Toner
- La Roche-Posay Anthelios Tinted Sunscreen SPF 40+
- Elemis Pro-Collagen Cleansing Balm
- La Roche-Posay Toleriane Hydrating Gentle Face Cleanser
- Eucerin Dry Skin Replenishing Face Night Cream
- Dove Body Wash
- Aveeno Skin Relief Moisturizing Lotion
- Nécessaire The Hair Duo
- Dyson Supersonic Nural Hair Dryer
Morning skin care routine
Hot tip: If your face is feeling tight or flaky, you don’t have to wash it twice a day. “I usually skip using cleanser in the morning just because I feel like it dries my skin out,” Dr. Adel says. Instead, she’ll use a cotton pad with warm water or a micellar water, like Bioderma’s Sensibio H2O, to “give [her] skin a quick clean.” After that, she lets her face dry before diving into the rest of her routine.
Amazon
Dr. Adel follows the “thinnest to thickest” rule, meaning she applies her lightest skin care products first and works her way toward heavier ones. “I find layering different types of hydrating products tends to work best for me,” she says. “If I’m wearing makeup, sometimes products can pill underneath. So I find that if I layer with thinner toners and serums and a light moisturizer, then finish with sunscreen, they tend to fit quite well together.”
First up on her serum and toner roster: Vitamin C, an antioxidant that brightens the skin and prevents free radicals from causing premature signs of aging. “My ultimate splurge vitamin C product has to be Skinceuticals’s C E Ferulic,” Dr. Adel says. “It doesn’t pill and it absorbs really easily. As someone who has sensitive, reactive skin, it tends to work quite well.”
If you’re not looking to splurge quite as much, she also loves Drunk Elephant’s C-Luma Hydrabright Gentle Hydrating Vitamin C Serum. “It’s another one that’s really kind and gentle on the skin,” she says.
Sephora
“Then, I tend to go in with K-beauty products—I love the Haru Haru Wonder Black Rice Hyaluronic Toner,” Dr. Adel says. It’s packed with hydrating ingredients, like hyaluronic acid and glycerin, along with soothing ones, like lavender oil and bamboo shoot bark. On top, she applies AXIS-Y’s Artichoke Intensive Skin Barrier Ampoule, which is made with centella asiatica and aloe vera to calm skin down and licorice root extract to improve dullness.
Amazon
Amazon
To seal all of that in, Dr. Adel reaches for Beauty Pie’s Triple Hyaluronic Acid Deep Moisture Miracle Cream. It has hyaluronic acid to hydrate and exopolysaccharides (molecules produced by probiotic bacteria) to prevent signs of aging. She finishes up her morning routine with La Roche-Posay’s Anthelios Tinted Sunscreen SPF 40+ to shield her skin from the sun. “It has a very light, fluid texture, so it goes on pretty well,” Dr. Adel says. “If I’m going to be outside part of the day, I like to reapply some sunscreen, which is why I find the tinted one quite good because it fits well with the makeup I’m already wearing.”
Amazon
Amazon
Nighttime skin care routine
After long hours of seeing patients, running after her kids, and making social content, Dr. Adel washes away the day with an oil-based cleanser and then a water-based one: “I’m a big fan of double cleansing because I think that’s the best way to remove all of my makeup and sunscreen,” she says. “And it definitely makes a difference when it comes to how well all of the other products that I apply afterward absorb into my skin.”