Dr. Doris Day

At the heart of the Upper East Side in New York City is the pristine, private practice of board-certified dermatologist, author, radio talk show host and medical journalist, Dr. Doris Day. Always on the cutting edge of new laser technologies, aesthetic treatments and medical innovations, her passion and goal is to enhance every patient’s natural beauty and create a warm and enriching experience. Dr. Day believes aging successfully and gracefully is dependent on a balanced treatment plan that addresses the entire face and skin. “My role is to create an aesthetic blueprint for each patient to help them age beautifully and naturally,” says Dr. Day. “The amazing technology that exists today allows us to make subtle adjustments that can provide patients with transformative results that leave them looking their absolute best.”

What is unique about your approach?

I find that I am really a doctor of self-esteem, and oftentimes I have to dig deeper and go “under the skin” to really understand what motivates a person’s visit in order to best help them achieve their goals. I’ve learned that it’s not always what it looks like in the mirror—there may be more behind their “area of concern” than what can be seen with the naked eye, and in order to best rejuvenate them, it helps to have them see themselves in a more balanced light.

Why is a skin-care routine so important?

Each patient leaves with the best regimen for them, whether it is drugstore, designer, or from my own line, Esteem Skin Care by Dr. Doris Day. Using the right ingredients can help your skin look and feel its best and also enhance the in-office treatments I provide. Additionally, I work in product development so that I can understand the scientific background. 

What is ageless beauty?

I help naturally enhance your best features so that you look and feel like your best, most beautiful self at every age. That’s ageless beauty. It’s all about the right treatments and proper care. Thanks to advances in science and aesthetics, we now know how to restore and enhance the skin so that it always looks youthfully radiant. 

How do you achieve a global aesthetic in facial rejuvenation?

I create a unique treatment plan for each patient using the most advanced devices and treatments available. Achieving a global aesthetic is really about rejuvenating the whole face to enhance your overall beauty balance. My goal is for each patient to leave looking natural, beautiful and youthful today and for years to come. 

What do you like most about your job?

The relationships with my patients. Some of them have been with me since I opened my practice 15 years ago. I get to be there for them and have an impact on them throughout so many of their lifetime milestones. I feel so grateful and blessed to get to do what I do.

How is education important to you?

I teach, I learn and I continue to grow and improve my craft so that my patients’ results are natural, beautiful and look like they’ve had nothing done, but they just look great.

1. What i love most about my profession
   Being able to have an impact on my patients’ health and well-being while helping them look like the best versions of themselves
2. What sets my practice apart
   I specialize in tailored, personalized treatment plans that introduce the newest technologies and tried-and-true rejuvenation techniques. It’s amazing what natural-looking results can be achieved with Botox alone
3. The future of my field
   Patients are looking for holistic care and a more natural-looking aesthetic. As physicians, we have to expand our efforts to address integrated needs
4. My most memorable patient reactions
   Patients are looking for a more natural-looking aesthetic and holistic care. We are constantly expanding our efforts to address these integrated needs. My favorite reaction is when a patient looks in the mirror and says ,“Wow! I love it. I look just like me and I love it!”
5. My ultimate skin-care advice
   Whether it’s from a drugstore or my own line, skin care is always important. You can’t go wrong with a vitamin C serum, a retinol and a broad-spectrum sunscreen
6. The project i’m most excited about
   My goal is to never stop learning and evolving. My latest project is a book called Skinfluence that explores the connection between our total body health and the impact it has on our skin
7. My definition of beauty
   To celebrate and enhance your own unique and special features so you look like the best, most youthful and beautiful version of yourself without ever looking “done”
8. My philosophy
   To help my patients age gracefully, not helplessly, by offering the best techniques, the most advanced care and a great in-office experience
9. What new services are you excited to offer?
   I’m excited to offer platelet-rich plasma (PRP) treatments for the scalp to help stimulate hair regrowth. Our hair is so tied to our self-esteem and I’m encouraged by the results I’m seeing in my patients. I am also excited to offer Juvéderm® Vollure and Silhouette InstaLift, adding to our palette of treatments for a combination approach to aesthetic restoration and enhancement for lasting, natural-looking results
10. Why is skin care so important?
    Proper skin care is essential. It helps maintain and enhance our in-office procedures. Each patient leaves with the best skin-care regimen selected just for them, whether it’s drugstore or designer brands, or from my own skin-care line. The right ingredients will help you maintain your skin’s best appearance
11. What are you best known for?
    My philosophy is grounded in the idea of ‘aging gracefully’ and embracing the beauty that exists without chasing lines and wrinkles
12. My motto
    Every decade can be more beautiful than the last: older is better!
13. What i can’t live without
    Sleep! When I have a good night’s rest I look better, I think better and feel better
14. Three words that best describe me
    Healer, artist, educator
15. Why is a long-term treatment plan important?
    Our skin continues to change and evolve as we age. What your skin needs at 20 is not what it needs at 45. Long-term treatment plans help us maintain a conversation through each milestone and make sure we’re aligned with your goals and needs
16. The most unique aspect of my practice
    Comprehensive, personalized care using the most cutting-edge tools to help you look and feel your best. I have more than 20 lasers and devices and the latest fillers and neuromodulators. I travel the world lecturing and honing my skills so I can offer my patients the best, most advanced care
17. The accolades that mean the most
    I am honored to be on the board of the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery and to continue my lectures around the world. Taking care of my patients is my number-one priority and being a key opinion leader and supporting future physicians in the field is a great privilege
18. How do you show patients you care post-treatment?
    We review and create a special skin-care regimen and blueprint for every patient to complement and enhance their treatments
19. What new projects are you working on?
    I’m very excited to be working on several multidisciplinary projects on wellness and beauty, combining the best treatments along with diet, supplements and skin care for a holistic approach to health
20. Most memorable thing i’ve learned
    Patients are looking for a more natural-looking aesthetic and holistic care. As an aesthetic dermatologist, I also consider myself a doctor of selfesteem. I always work to address my patients’ integrated needs. My father was a physician and he taught me that while science has some of the answers, paying attention to subtle cues and the details your patients share is what makes the biggest difference
21. How can you help control how your skin ages?
    Aging beautifully means learning to see your unique beauty and looking genuinely like yourself with radiant skin and features. Reaching this goal means using the best tools available—including a skin care program created specifically for you that utilizes devices, fillers and neuromodulators as needed to look authentically youthful and even better with every decade
22. What one holy grail product do you recommend for aging skin?
    Prevention is still the holy grail but along with sunscreen it now also means adding in growth factors and antioxidants as well as nutraceuticals to help your skin and body maximize it’s rejuvenation potential. Having worked in a research lab and having developed several skin care lines over the years, my passion is in achieving healthy, beautiful skin with a mostly holistic approach
23. What cutting-edge treatment do you think yields the best results?
    With the addition of threads— from EuroThreads™ and Silhouhette InstaLift™—used off-label I can now erase acne scars, cellulite and crepey skin on the arms and legs. I often combine this with skin tightening devices like Ultherapy® and Thermage® for lasting results
24. What is the core message of your book?
    Beyond Beautiful is my vision for true beauty, whether or not you have any treatments done. I show you the connection between what you see in the mirror and what is happening on a deeper level so you can unlock your own beauty power and potential, age beautifully and make sure any treatments you have work better and last longer
25. Why do you employ a combination approach?
    Skin ages in a multidimensional way and needs a multidimensional combination approach for naturallooking, authentic results. I feel strongly that one size fits none. Each and every person deserves a unique rejuvenation program designed solely for them
26. What innovations are you most excited about right now?
    Silhoutte InstaLift and EuroThreads are innovative and offer a unique option for nonsurgical rejuvenation. My patients are loving the results! They help smooth lines on the face, neck, arms, knees and tummy. They can also lift, soften or erase acne scars and improve cellulite. They are a great addition to fillers and devices for smoothing, tightening and lifting with very natural-looking results
27. What is the best way to noninvasively lift and tighten skin?
    For the face, a combination approach of devices such as Ultherapy and Silhouette InstaLift with small amounts of discreetly placed filler give a very natural, rejuvenated and youthful look with lasting results and very little downtime
28. Why is a combination approach important?
    As we age, we see changes in more than one dimension, so the treatments must match the need. We now have devices to help stimulate collagen, lift and tighten; fillers to restore balance and replace lost fat compartments; threads to lift and smooth; and lasers to resurface and reduce redness and dark spots. Combined, this leaves your skin looking younger, softer, healthier and more naturallooking so at every age you can look and feel your most beautiful
29. What one skin care product do you think everyone should own?
    Sunscreen—it’s the single most important product everyone should be using, followed by retinol and growth factors. Proper skin care, which includes cleansing, exfoliating on a regular basis, sun protection and antioxidants, will go a very long way in keeping your skin beautiful and healthy for decades to come
30. What treatment do you think everyone should try once?
    When it comes to aesthetic treatments, one size fits none. Every patient I see gets a personal treatment plan designed for their specific skin needs
31. What is the best firsttime laser treatment?
    When it comes to aesthetics, I always say one size fits none. A trained and qualified board-certified physician, trained in aesthetics, should evaluate and assess your skin to determine a treatment plan that is right for you. It helps to bring in photos from your 20s and 30s to help your doctor understand your balance and aging process. Lasers I often use for sun damage include Clear + Brilliant, Fraxel and Fotona®
32. What is the best way to treat thinning hair?
    Our hair is very powerfully tied to our self-esteem. I create a personal and unique comprehensive hair regrowth program for each patient, which includes at home regimens, as well as in-office PRP treatments. We have had outstanding results
33. What are you most proud of?
    Being able to help my patients see, celebrate and enhance their beauty, health and well-being
34. What is the latest innovation you’ve been using at your office?
    A series of treatments that combine the best of different technologies for better results than either treatment alone. Using Sculptra and growth factors with microneedling or laser resurfacing not only speeds healing time, it exponentially accelerates the rejuvenation effect, enhancing collagen, plumping the skin, evening out skin tone and sculpting your features
35. At what age do you recommend using neurotoxins?
    I use Botox, Dysport, Xeomin and now Jeuveau to help retrain and adjust facial muscles without freezing the face. This makes it a great tool for preventing aging of the skin in a natural and authentic way. There are some who need the treatment as young as in their 20s while others who don’t need it even as they approach their 50s. Each and every patient needs to be assessed and treated on an individual and personalized basis
36. Of all the advice you have given, which one has resonated most with the public?
    One is, “nothing looks more beautiful in your 50s (and up) than sun protection in your 20s.” Another is, “no matter how much sunscreen you use, if you tan, the tan still counts!”
37. How should one’s approach to aging change each decade?
    The best way is to start today with a great skin care routine and sun protection. Then see your board-certified dermatologist for a treatment plan and strategy to have small interventions over time to make it so you don’t fall behind and have to catch up later. With all the tools we have available and our understanding of the aging process, there is much we can do that is minimally invasive and nonsurgical to rejuvenate and restore in a holistic way. This helps you look like the best version of yourself at every age and better with every decade. My new favorite line is “older is better!”
38. Which procedures are currently trending at your office?
    I’m so happy that the biggest trend right now has been towards a natural, rejuvenated appearance where, you maintain and enhance your beauty—but don’t change it. My goal is for you to always look like the best, most beautiful version of yourself
39. What is the biggest beauty myth out there right now?
    That you don’t need to see a trained aesthetic physician for your treatment. It’s important to have a boardcertified physician trained in the core four specialties who can properly assess and treat you to minimize risk and optimize results.
40. What are your favorite procedures to combine?
    It’s very important to address the signs of aging at the source. This means using a combination of devices, neuromodulators and fillers to restore balance and enhance beauty
41. Which new skin care products do you find most efficacious?
    There is a new ingredient that is not a hormone but it can help restore the estrogen receptors in the skin. This helps with collagen production in the skin and makes every treatment I do work better. I combine it with growth factors and retinols for beautiful, healthy, rejuvenated skin

1. Which new body-contouring treatment are you excited about?
   What our experts say:

   The noninvasive body-contouring tool I have been waiting for is finally here! FDA-approved Vanquish uses multipolar radio frequency to help get rid of stubborn fat and works especially well on the belly and love handles. There is no pain or downtime, and the device doesn’t even touch the skin during the treatment. Patients have told me that they can now wear clothing that they hadn’t been able to wear for more than 10 years, which makes them (and me) so happy. 

2. How can you use fillers to make your patients look more beautiful and rejuvenated?
   What our experts say:

   I think it’s quite magical that by injecting filler like Juvéderm Voluma (which I love), in just the right spots, I can make the eyes appear more open, add a lifted appearance to the corners of the mouth, and make the overall face look completely revived. With precise placement of filler, I can rejuvenate the face to look so natural, that oftentimes I have to show patients both sides of their face because they can’t tell the difference—they just know they look better. When I show them one half of their face compared to the other, they see the “magic trick” that rejuvenated their face without making it look “done.”