Personal care · lesson 10 of 10
Your personal-care protocol
The few habits with the most evidence, where to spend vs save, and when to see a dermatologist or dentist.
7 min read · reviewed October 2026
Most of the benefit from a few habits
If you remember nothing else from this track: daily sunscreen, fluoride toothpaste twice a day and cleaning between your teeth have the strongest evidence for protecting your health. A retinoid is the best-supported add-on for aging skin. Much of the rest is comfort and preference — fine to enjoy, not worth worrying about.
Your starter protocol
- Morning: gentle cleanse or rinse, moisturizer if needed, then a full dose of broad-spectrum SPF 30+ on face, neck and ears.
- Outdoors: reapply every 2 hours; add shade, a hat and sunglasses around midday.
- Evening: cleanse, one active if you use one (a retinoid is the best-studied), then moisturizer.
- Teeth: fluoride toothpaste for two minutes twice a day, spit don't rinse, and clean between teeth once a day.
- Body: short warm showers, moisturizer on damp skin, fragrance-free if you react easily.
- Once a month: check your skin, including your back and scalp (use a mirror or a partner), for new or changing spots.
- Don't smoke: it speeds skin aging and is one of the biggest risk factors for gum disease.
Where to spend vs save
It's on your skin for under a minute. Gentle and fragrance-free beats expensive.
Glycerin, petrolatum, dimethicone and ceramides are inexpensive ingredients, and pharmacy moisturizers are often just as effective as luxury ones.
Price doesn't predict protection, but texture and feel predict whether you'll wear a full dose every day. Pay for the one you'll actually use.
Pay for a disclosed concentration, protective packaging (opaque, airless or pump for vitamin C and retinoids) and a formula you tolerate — not for exotic extracts.
Modest cost, with trial evidence for less plaque and gingivitis.
Weak or no evidence for people who aren't deficient.
The ABCDEs of moles
Asymmetry — the two halves don't match. Border — ragged, notched or blurred. Color — several shades, or uneven. Diameter — larger than about 6 mm, though melanomas can be smaller. Evolving — changing in size, shape or color, or starting to itch or bleed. Also watch for the 'ugly duckling': a spot that looks different from all your other moles.
In the ABCDE rule, a mole wider than about how many millimeters deserves a closer look?
Somewhere between 1 and 15 mm.
Reveal the answer →
~6 mm (a pencil eraser)
About 6 mm, roughly the size of a pencil eraser. But 'Evolving' is the most important letter, and early melanomas can be smaller than 6 mm. Any spot that's new, changing, or unlike your others is worth showing a clinician.
The levers upstream of your skin
Personal care sits on top of the rest of your health. Smoking speeds skin aging and gum disease. Sleep shows on your face: in a small experiment, strangers rated people photographed after a night of sleep deprivation as less healthy and more tired than the same people after normal sleep (Axelsson et al., BMJ 2010). And skin, hair and gums are built from what you eat — deficiencies such as low vitamin C or iron can show up there.
Which habit has randomized-trial evidence for reducing skin cancer AND slowing visible skin aging?
- A daily antioxidant serum
- Daily broad-spectrum sunscreen
- Collagen supplements
- Monthly facials
Show the answer →
B.Daily broad-spectrum sunscreen
The Nambour trial randomized adults to daily sunscreen and found fewer squamous-cell carcinomas, fewer melanomas in long-term follow-up, and no detectable increase in skin aging over 4.5 years. No serum, supplement or facial has comparable evidence.
Your skin's overnight repair runs on the same sleep that restores the rest of you. The Sleep track covers how much you need and the levers that improve it — and the personal-care shelf is under Personal Care whenever you're ready to shop.