Dr. Antony Nakhla Shares His Top Beauty Products

Photo: Sophie Sahara/Courtesy of Dr. Antony Nakhla

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When high-profile dermatologist and Eighth Day founder Dr. Antony Nakhla, 44, signs onto our Zoom call from his home in Newport, California, he has just finished a workout and his skin is quite literally glistening. Not in a sweaty way, though; in the way mine (sometimes) does after my 20-minute-long nighttime slug of serums, creams, and oils. How does this man have better skin than me? I thought. His secret, I soon learned, is a short but consistent routine and treating his skin from the inside out.

“I’m committed to using SPF, retinoid, and serum. Guys really suck at skin care. I’m on the extreme end because getting three products in as a guy is a lot,” Nakhla, who specializes in reconstructive work on skin-cancer patients and people with complex facial wounds, says. “When I’m not keeping up with my routine, I can tell. I look tired. When my skin is well kept, it makes a big difference.”

Along with using his own Eighth Day products, Nakhla is a big believer in popular wellness trends like saunas and cold plunges, as well as supplements to support everything from heart health to hair growth. He says his holistic approach to health, wellness, and anti-aging — combined with high-quality, science-backed skin-care ingredients — is the key to his glowing complexion. Here, he dives deep into his routine — what can only be described as the gold standard of bro-beauty routines. So send this to your dad, your guy best friend, your boyfriend, your husband… really, any straight man who will listen.

I’m a big cold-plunge, sauna, and steam guy. I take a vitamin-D supplement, CoQ10, and Berberine. But the most important part of my routine is taking Propecia and oral Minoxidil for my hair. It’s still hanging on, so that’s good. I also take Metformin, which is a prescription medication for blood sugar. It’s for people with type-2 diabetes, but you can also take it for anti-aging because it has longevity and health benefits.

Hyperpigmentation is the main skin concern for me. If I get a tiny blemish, that thing will take three months to go away. So I’m really nutty about SPF. That’s first and foremost. I love the SPF we made, because it’s pure zinc. There are no nanoparticles, no titanium dioxide, and no chemical filters. It’s also blended with some pigments so it looks tinted, but it just disappears on all skin types.

Oh, and I’m about to change your life — you ready? Orgain Protein Shakes. Remember when you were a kid, how delicious the milk tasted after you finished your Fruity Pebbles? That’s what this tastes like. It has 30 grams of protein, less than 1 gram of sugar, and it’s only 160 calories. It’s amazing. I drink three per day, so I’m basically fasting the whole day, and then I eat one substantial meal at night.

I’m definitely not the type of guy who uses a bar of soap on his face, but I just use whatever cleanser I have in my shower at the time. Cleanser to me is like short-contact therapy. I just care about it not being too harsh, and I like products with some gentle exfoliation. I don’t want a cleanser to strip my skin, but I want it to get rid of dirt and dead skin, that’s the goal. For hyperpigmentation, I use prescription-strength medication if I need it. I’ll use hydroquinone to spot-treat. I also use the Eighth Day Regenerative Serum followed by the Eighth Day Night Cream Treatment (which is formulated with retinoids) every night. If I can get a patient to use retinoid every night and SPF every morning, I’ve solved 90 percent of their problems.

As for my shower routine, the body wash I use varies, but I always use Loprox Shampoo, which is a prescription that you can get from your dermatologist. It reduces yeast on your scalp and helps promote hair growth. I want a lot of things to keep my hair from falling out.

I had been using prescription-strength Tazorac, which is Tazarotene, for the past ten years. I did it so I could practice what I preach and have the nicest skin I could for my age, the tender age of 44. But my skin just felt like shit every day; I don’t know how to explain it any other way. It always felt irritated. The area right around my eyes always felt bad. The skin around my nose would crack some days. Other dermatologists I talked to would also say, “We practice what we preach, but we can’t use retinoids every day.”

We developed an extended-release, micro-encapsulated retinal in our new night cream treatment with all of the peptides and growth factors that are in my other products. It’s now my new favorite product. I can use it every night because it’s also moisturizing. My skin feels great in the morning when I wake up and doesn’t feel irritated anymore.

I do yoga three days a week, HIT training usually three or four days a week, and then rucking one or two days a week, which is basically just hiking with a weighted backpack. Weighted vests are good for working out, but weighted backpacks are better for hiking because they put pressure on your core. Most of the stuff I do now is all about not getting injured. The goal is prevention and longevity. I’m a big believer in Zone 2 training because I can get my heart rate up without being too hard on my joints.