The guest
Dr. Teo Soleymani: A double board-certified dermatologist and dermatologic surgeon trained at Stanford and formerly clinical professor of dermatology and dermatologic surgery at UCLA, known for treating some of the most complex and life-threatening skin cancers in Los Angeles.
What this episode covers
Andrew Huberman and dermatologist Dr. Teo Soleymani cover the full landscape of skin health, appearance, and longevity. They discuss how stress, caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol affect skin via blood flow and cortisol, then dig into cleansing, moisturizing, and the surprising truth that expensive products rarely outperform cheap basics. A large portion challenges conventional wisdom on the sun: Soleymani argues sun exposure has real wellness benefits and that sunscreen has never been shown to reduce the most common skin cancer, while still recommending mineral sunscreens over chemical ones. The conversation also covers prescription retinoids, laser resurfacing, red light therapy, nutrition and the gut microbiome, and common conditions like psoriasis, eczema, acne, rosacea, and vitiligo. It closes with skin cancer surveillance, the rise of HPV-driven cancers, and the future of cancer vaccines.
Recommended on this episode
ProductRecommended
Dove White Beauty Bar (unscented)
Dove
“is amazing it's what we recommend”
“Dove white bar soap is amazing it's what we recommend for newborns and kids with sensitive skin”— Teo Soleymani
ProductRecommended
Cetaphil Cleanser
Cetaphil
“I personally use Cetaphil”
“I personally use Cetaphil that's my face wash I have oily skin I use the one that takes off more of the oil”— Teo Soleymani
ProductRecommended
Tretinoin (prescription retinoid)
various
“everybody should be on a prescription strength retinoid”
“everybody should be on a prescription strength retinoid usually topicals is all you need the most common are things like tretinoin”— Teo Soleymani
ProductRecommended
Gardasil HPV Vaccine
Merck
“I I highly recommend getting the vaccine”
“the gardisil vaccine which treats or builds immunity to HPV covers the strains that cause cancer 16 18 31 33”— Teo Soleymani
The guest's own work
ProductBy the guest
Sun Powder
Teo Soleymani
“Sun powder is a brand it's a product that I helped formulate with one of my colleagues over at Harvard”— Teo Soleymani
BookBy the guestISBN verified
Protocols: An Operating Manual for the Human Body
Andrew Huberman
“it's entitled protocols an operating manual for the human body this is a book that I've been working on for more than 5 years”— Andrew Huberman
Also referenced (named, not recommended)
ProductReferenced
Aquaphor Healing Ointment
Beiersdorf
“when I think about something in a jar think of something like um aquafor or something which is pretty thick”— Andrew Huberman
ProductReferenced
Vaseline Petroleum Jelly
Vaseline
“ointments are greasy they're like petrolatum jelly or Vaseline based those are the best for moisturizing your skin”— Teo Soleymani
ProductReferenced
Polypodium leucotomos (oral sun-protection supplement)
various
“I myself take a product called Sun powder that provides an internal sun shield allows me to be in the sun longer”— Teo Soleymani
ProductReferenced
St. Ives Apricot Scrub
St. Ives
“the good old St Ives apricot scrub that every dermatologist you know frowns upon but ironically I use myself after a heavy workout”— Teo Soleymani
ProductReferenced
Adapalene (prescription retinoid)
various
“the most common are things like tretinoin adapalene or Tartine and there's oral forms”— Teo Soleymani
ProductReferenced
Accutane / Isotretinoin (oral retinoid)
various
“there's oral forms the most common is acutane or isot trein and to a lesser known a lesser known drug called acitretin”— Teo Soleymani
ProductReferenced
Acitretin / Soriatane (oral retinoid)
various
“a lesser known drug called acitretin or sorotan and I usually Reserve that for my high Sun damaged skin cancer patients”— Teo Soleymani
ProductReferenced
Fraxel (non-ablative fractionated laser)
Solta Medical
“non-ablative fractionated laser resurfacing particularly with a device called fraxel actually Cuts your skin cancer risk by 20%”— Teo Soleymani
ProductReferenced
V-beam Pulsed Dye Laser
Candela
“the gold standard is what we call the pulse die laser or the vbeam laser and that is a 595 nanometer laser that targets oxyhemoglobin”— Teo Soleymani
ProductReferenced
Rogaine / Minoxidil
Johnson & Johnson
“if you increase blood flow to the dermal Pilla of the hair it grows new hair that's how minoxidil or rain Works”— Teo Soleymani
Big reveals from this episode
- Claims no randomized trial has ever shown topical sunscreen reduces basal cell carcinoma, the most common skin cancer, or reduces death from skin cancer.
- As a head-and-neck skin cancer surgeon, says he firmly believes sun avoidance is unhealthy and that sun exposure has measurable wellness benefits.
- Reveals most lethal skin cancers he treats arise in sun-protected skin, including a 27-year-old dying of melanoma in non-sun-exposed skin.
- Cites a 2020 study finding chemical sunscreen ingredients absorb into blood at 100-500x the FDA's upper safety threshold.
- Notes chemical sunscreen compounds have been found in breast milk, amniotic fluid, blood plasma, and urine.
- Says everyone should be on a prescription-strength retinoid and that over-the-counter retinol is largely ineffective, possibly by design.
- Reveals he has operated on six or seven patients under 40 in the past month for HPV-driven genital squamous cell carcinomas.
- Notes vitiligo patients, despite losing protective pigment, have lower skin cancer rates due to heightened immune surveillance.
Worth remembering
- The skin completely turns over roughly every 28 days, making it one of the few organs that can fully regenerate.
- Coffee-related facial flushing in rosacea is driven by beverage temperature, not the caffeine itself.
- Studies on transepidermal water loss show drinking lots of water does not measurably improve skin hydration; that is largely genetic.
- Polypodium leucotomos, an Amazonian fern eaten by indigenous fishermen to avoid sunburn, raises the skin's minimal erythema dose.
- Oxybenzone's chemical structure closely resembles BPA, which has been banned from many plastic bottle linings.
- Collagen is built from non-essential amino acids the body can synthesize, so supplemental collagen may work mainly via a water-drawing plasma osmolality effect.
- A Harvard study found non-ablative fractionated laser (Fraxel) resurfacing cuts skin cancer risk by about 20%.
- Penn State research suggests skim and nonfat dairy, not whole-fat dairy, aggravate acne due to emulsifiers with a glycemic response.
- Bob Marley died of melanoma on his toenail; Jimmy Buffett died of Merkel cell carcinoma.
- The US now expects roughly three times as many deaths from squamous cell carcinoma as from melanoma, losing one patient to it every 37 minutes.
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