Industry Voices With Chelsea Dill Of Lotions and Potions

Today, we have the privilege of sitting down with Chelsea Dill, a remarkable individual whose journey with skincare and dermatology has been deeply intertwined with personal experience, familial predispositions, and professional exploration. From an early age, Chelsea has navigated the complexities of skincare due to a congenital nevus, a constant reminder of the importance of diligent sun protection to mitigate the risk of skin cancer. Raised in a family prone to moles, She learned firsthand the significance of proactive skincare measures to avoid surgical interventions. Though Chelsea has transitioned from active involvement in the industry to becoming an avid consumer, their wealth of experience and insight continues to shape their approach to skincare and wellness. 

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you got started in the world
of skincare?

I was born with a congenital nevus on my neck the size of a dime, so as long as I can remember skincare, especially sun block to mitigate my skin cancer risk, has been part of my routine. While I’ve thankfully not had any family members who have experienced melanoma, we are prone to moles and several family members have had removals over the years. Having a large mole on my neck due to the underlying anatomy made it tricky to remove and the few doctors I saw as a child really reinforced being diligent with sunscreen was my best course to avoid the need for surgery. My father’s side of the family is very acne-prone, so in my tween years I also had acne vulgaris to deal with and began experiencing the whole spectrum of acne breakout types: comedones, papules, pustules, nodules, and cystic, painful breakouts. From a professional standpoint, in my late teens and early 20s I worked in spas and salons and have a makeup artistry diploma from Marvel College. I attended the Calgary location back in the early 2000s. I had the opportunity to go to many industry conferences, as well skincare and aesthetic training courses as both a learner and a model in Vancouver and Calgary. Now though I am simply an avid consumer and have not been in the industry for many years!

What sparked your interest in skincare, and how has your own skincare
journey influenced your content?

​Those early experiences with my mole and acne got me hooked on the caring aspect of skincare. How do I keep my skin healthy and, more than anything, comfortable. I was not at all focused on the anti-aging aspects that we are hearing so many young people are already concerned about today... When I began my skincare journey it was the late 1990s and pretty much everything consumers were told about acne care was wrong. Products had far too high concentrations of active ingredients plus incredibly abrasive physically exfoliants that only made my skin sensitized in addition to sensitive. I tried everything including a lot of “natural”
products. Pure Tea Tree Oil undiluted directly on acne is just as bad as say benzoyl peroxide on a cotton pad applied to a breakout, and while one seems ‘natural’ and therefore safer, it is not. I grew up in a small town and we didn’t have a lot of retail skincare options available either. When I was 14 my family doctor tried to help, prescribing antibiotics for a time to no avail… finally at 16 we moved to a new town and our new doctor, a general practitioner from South Africa who, lucky for me, was quite knowledgeable about dermatology, put me on birth control and RETISOL-A® cream (Tretinoin) which after a few very painful months, totally resolved the acne and essentially resurfaced the skin on my face and neck as I had no acne scaring once I finished the treatment. If all my years of painful skin and experimentation can help others to find what works for them more quickly, and navigate the absolutely saturated market we have now with millions of skincare
products, advertisements, influencers, user generated content, etc.. and get them feeling good in their skin, then that makes me glad. This was a big motivation for why I created @_lotionsandpotions on Instagram. I also saw and knew a lot of peers getting injectables and not wearing sunscreen which drove me nuts so
needed to get the word out about the importance of UV protection because without that any skincare or treatments is just a waste!

What are some of your all-time favorite skincare products, and why do
you recommend them?

As strange as it sounds, I rarely recommend my favourites to people. Skincare is entirely personal and so specific to what one’s skin needs that day, especially for women as our hormones cycle throughout the month and our external environment cycles with seasons. I am reluctant to recommend people my favourite products because they may not work for them. I usually ask people, what’s your skin type, what are your skin concerns and goals, what is your current routine, what is your budget, where do you live and what’s the climate, humid, or arid? Do you use injectables, have you had laser or microneedling, what kind etc? Then once I have all my inputs, I can start to think about what products might work for that and recommend something personalized.

Can you walk us through your daily skincare routine? Any must-have
steps or products?

For me, I have oily, hyperpigmentation prone skin and it’s maturing as I’m 38 and starting to develop some laxity. I live in Victoria, BC right now which is quite humid. I’ve been getting Clear + Brilliant laser treatments for the last three months, so I factor all these things in and am keeping it very simple at the moment. My
essentials are:

Morning
1) Splash of cool water – I don’t cleanse in morning. I want all the benefits of the
natural oils our skin produces overnight while we sleep.
2) Vitamin C or Antioxidant Serum.
3) Tinted mineral sunscreen - this is essential for those with melasma as the skin
needs protection from both UV and visible light.

Throughout the day
1) Sunscreen reapplied as frequently as I can manage, usually three times a day. Let’s be honestly who can reapply every two hours!?

Evening
1) Cleansing balm – tinted mineral sunscreen is stubborn and needs a double cleanse to remove fully.
2) Very watery gel cleanser – just to get rid of the final residue but not to strip the skin of natural oils.
3) Pigmentation management product.
4) Vitamin C or Antioxidant Serum.
5) Rich nighttime moisturizer applied thick like a mask – I learned this from my Grannie. She’s 86 with barely any wrinkles (genetics definitely plays a factor here for her and me despite our diligence with product). She also has long preached the gospel of sunblock for decades!
6) Humidifier on a low, warm setting at my bedside overnight for hydrating beauty sleep.
​
When I am not getting laser treatments, retinol is a must in my routine and goes before
my night cream.

What skincare trends are you currently excited about, and do you think
they are here to stay?

​Indie, small-batch, and Canadian products! Highlighting the great homegrown brands we have here was another reason why I wanted to start an Instagram account. When the pandemic hit and international travel halted, supply chain and shipping made it challenging to online shop… I had really bad FOMO as I no longer could pick up interesting launches in other countries and I think Health Canada can be a bit slow to keep up with cosmetic innovations globally. In any case, necessity meant I needed to focus on my own backyard and since then I have discovered favourites like Riversol (BC), Build Skincare (Ontario), Dear Lucy (BC), Phytosurgence (BC), Nordora (Quebec), Cheekbone Beauty (Ontario) and realized global brands like NudeStix (Ontario), Ilia (BC) and RMS Beauty (Rose-Marie is from Vancouver so I’m counting this…)! I definitely think
Canadian brands deliver a huge impact on the beauty and skincare markets globally for our size and with MAC in Canada’s beauty DNA, it is no surprise. Our products have to be great to compete with our American neighbour which has the economy of scale and pushes out far more products than we could at such low price point… I’m also very excited about newer ingredients/mechanisms like ectoin and exosomes trending in skincare formulations and as treatment add-ons right now. I tried an exosome serum and really liked it although the price tag was eye watering even for me who spends quite a lot on skincare. Ectoin is on my ‘to try list’ and definitely more affordable. Unsure if they will stick around as they seem to just be breaking into the market.

Can you share any upcoming projects or plans you have in the skincare
and beauty space?

 ​Just more of the same really! I have a day job that is not related to cosmetics so my #skinstagram is a fun outlet for me. I very much enjoy learning and sharing with fellow skincare enthusiasts and love when people say their skin has improved (by whatever their measure) after following some of my suggestions. Perhaps I will get out to a few more events this year. Always adding more spas and new treatments I want to check out on my “to try” list.