'My face was like sandpaper': a 70-year-old man converted to skincare
After 20 surgeries to remove skin cancers from his face, New York-based journalist John Koten decided to start taking better care of it with lotions and potions.
Decades of racing sailboats without proper sun protection took a toll on John Koten's face.
Since independently investigating the benefits of skincare for a Wall Street Journal article, he now recommends all men skip aftershave - "it's terrible for your skin" - and commit to a daily moisturiser.
"You could start when you're 90 and make a difference", he tells Sunday Morning.
John Koten's pre-skincare look.
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While researching his article, Koten spent USD$5,000 (around NZ$8,331) of his own money on skincare products.
"The Wall Street Journal paid me about USD$5,000 for the story, so it's the first time I've written a story just to be paid in skincare products," he joked.
Nine months later, people are commenting on the improved appearance of Koten's skin - and he can see and feel the results.
"My skin is much clearer. It has fewer brown spots and changes in colour from one place to another, much more even.
"But what my wife would tell you, the biggest difference is that it's very soft. It was like sandpaper nine months ago."
The skincare products Koten trialled were mostly from "inexpensive drugstore-type brands" recommended in women's magazines, he says.
Buying luxury products like Auteur Composition No 1 Serum, which retails for around NZ$1200, "you're paying for something else", Koten says.
Because he's proud of his "hard-earned" wrinkles, Koten didn't try and banish them with the skincare products he sampled.
People keen to soften the appearance of their own wrinkles, he recommends products containing retinol - a form of Vitamin A.
As retinol makes your skin very sun-sensitive, he says people trying it out should start slowly with a low-strength product a couple of nights a week.
"You need to be careful because if you just blast your face with retinoids - your face is going to turn red and it's going to burn."
After testing a range of skincare products for a Wall Street Journal article, John Koten recommends those containing Vitamin C, niacinamide and retinol.
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Retinol can also be effective in treating brown spots, Koten says, but the product he found most effective at fading the numerous brown spots on his own hands was Dominas Cream Plus (which contains niacinamide - a water-soluble form of vitamin B3).
"Last night, I had four brown spots on the inside of my arm that I'd never really paid attention to. I put this stuff on, and today you could barely see them."
For Koten, one unexpected benefit of adding a twice-daily skincare routine to his life is "the positive feeling you get from taking care of yourself".
"The routine at night before I go to bed can be very meditative, and it can just help relax me and improve my focus and get me ready to go to sleep.
"Then in the morning when I wake up, I gotta go wash my face and get the gunk out of my eyes, and I'll feel clean and really ready to start the day. Even that can be a little bit meditative."
