Mom Life: The Dermatologist’s Condensed Skincare Routine

In honor of Mother’s Day this year, we’ll be profiling mothers who inspire us. In this #momlife series, we’ll navigate beauty routines, advice and more!

Long Island mother of three, Kavita Mariwalla, knows a thing or two about skincare. She’s a dermatologist with her own practice and an assistant clinical professor of Dermatology at SUNY at Stonybrook. With three little boys, this busy mom keeps her routine streamlined yet efficient. Ahead, she dishes on her regimen and the best advice she’s ever gotten.

Did your skincare regimen change when you were expecting? Yes, drastically. During pregnancy, there were a lot of restrictions and products I couldn’t use. It’s important to avoid all retinols and retin-A, salicylic acid and benzoyl peroxides. The key thing during pregnancy is to keep it simple. In the morning, I’d use Dove soap, a few drops of Skinceuticals CE Ferrulic serum and Anthelios Tinted sunscreen (to prevent melasma as my last pregnancy was during the summer). In the evening, I used Dove soap and if I had a breakout I used a dab of Finacea. I felt my skin before pregnancy was good and during pregnancy I had that glow which was great because many of my patients get acne and red bumps and broken blood vessels.

How’d your routine change post partum? The glow of pregnancy gave way to the fatigue of early motherhood. Post partum, everything fell apart. Due to anemia from childbirth I was super sallow looking, pale and the dark circles under my eyes increased tremendously. For the first month I basically washed my face with Aquaphor baby shampoo and wiped my face at night with a baby wipe. No joke. To splurge when my skin was dry I used a sheet mask for hydration once a week as my 5 minute calgon take me away moment. About three months later I realized that I had to get my act together so I did a mini-lent. I gave up the baby wipe for a true skin routine. Instead, I used Hydropeptide gentle cleanser ($44; amazon.com). Then, I’d apply half a dropper of Skinceuticals CE Ferulic serum ($130; amazon.com) and one pump of SkinMedica HA5 Rejuvenating Hydrator ($87; amazon.com). I top it off with La Roche Posay Anthelios sunscreen ($30; amazon.com). At night, I’d cleanse again with Hydropeptide. Then I use a half dropper of Skinceuticals Phloretin CF serum ($130; amazon.com). I splurged on SkinMedica TNS serum ($168; amazon.com) and an eye cream by Revision to help with the dark dark circles. I did a hydrating sheet mask once a week and I saw a major difference. I actually took pictures before and after for 40 days so I could show my patients that topical skin care really does make a difference.

What’s your beauty secret weapon? I rely on hydrafacials, sheet masks (the Peach&Lily Reset Button mask, $6; peachandlily.com), Shangpree gold black pearl hydrogel eye mask (I mean what is in that? I LOVE it), $60; peachandlily.com, and Skinceuticals CE Ferulic serum. Also, let’s be real, the second I stopped breastfeeding, I did botox- just having a clear tight forehead seemed to make me feel better. Side note, if I never heard the sound of a breast pump again I would be fine – at one point I was so tired, I swore my breast pump was talking to me saying “help me, help me, help me!”

How do you feel in your skin since having your children? I look back and always say, knowing what I know now I would have rocked bikini’s a lot more and been much less conscious of my body. The part that bums me out post pregnancy is my stomach. Three c-sections gives you a “stomach butt” as I affectionately call it. No amount of dieting or exercise can rid that apron that occurs due to cutting of the muscles during the surgical procedure. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my three children and I wouldn’t change a thing but it is really a big bummer to suddenly have a double stomach. Along with my age (going to be 40 this month!) I found post pregnancy, losing weight was harder as I got older. So put it all together and I think post pregnancy, the body issues compounded. Now that my youngest is 20 months I feel like my skin is finally back to being what it was but I really did need to do a routine and some procedures to get it back to looking youthful. At the end of the day running around after children and going to work is a herculian task. I came to learn that indulging on some procedures and cosmeceutical products was really an investment I was happy I made because it made me happier to look in the mirror.

What’s your advice for other moms? For other moms, the best piece of advice I got and give to others is this: don’t sweat the small stuff. That first birthday is as much a celebration of the child as it is a celebration that you, as a mom, made it. My mom (who is a pediatrician) told me this: there will be many, many, many things for you to feel guilty about when raising a child and working but try to limit your daily guilt to one thing. Two of my kids still sleep in my bed, which I know experts say is terrible, but you know what, it works for us so we move on.  

What is your favorite thing about motherhood? I love watching my kids grow and play together. They are like puppies and those squeezes (hugs) are what I live for.