If you don’t know Biba de Sousa, I don’t blame you. She’s self-admittedly “inconspicuous” even though she counts celebrities such as Billie Eilish and Miley Cyrus as clients. She’s been a practicing esthetician for over 20 years and operates out of a small Beverly Hills studio. She also has a namesake product line.
As a beauty editor, I’m always excited to chat with skin experts like de Sousa—those who are extremely knowledgeable about the body’s largest organ and passionate about helping people care for it. So when I was offered a chance to connect with de Sousa, I jumped.
One thing became clear from the start of our interview. De Sousa doesn’t follow fads. (Being in the industry for over 20 years is bound to make one immune.) She operates from a scientific and factual approach, and she’s not afraid to call out ineffective and unsubstantiated trends. Ahead, de Sousa shares her most underrated skin tips as well as the overrated ones she thinks you should avoid.
Esthetician Biba de Sousa.
(Image credit: Biba de Sousa)
Underrated: Knowing Your Skin Type
De Sousa’s first piece of underrated skin advice? Know your skin type. I’m not talking about in a self-assessed “I have sensitive skin” kind of way. (Fun fact: She says everyone thinks they have sensitive skin.) I’m talking about in an “I went to a skin expert to find out” kind of way. It’s only through accurately knowing and understanding your skin type that you can curate the best, most effective skincare routine.
“I believe, as a facialist, that a person needs to really understand their skin type and their concerns, and they will, according to that, choose a proper cleanser, serum, and moisturizer,” she says. “That’s the skeleton. That’s the minimum, but then I definitely would always encourage people to get a toner, an eye product, a lip product, and definitely sunscreen.”
Oh, and I wasn’t going to let the moment pass without asking de Sousa for her SPF recs. “Our sunscreens in the United States are kind of tragic,” she says. “There are very few good ones, and if they have good ingredients, they’re comedogenic, so not everybody can use them. Sometimes, they’re so expensive.” Luckily, she had two recommendations.
De Sousa’s Recommended Sunscreens
EltaMD
UV Clear Broad-Spectrum SPF 46
Round Lab
Birch Juice Moisturizing UVLock SPF45
Underrated: Toner
If you think all toners are the same (think the harsh, astringent toners of yesteryear), you’re wrong. De Sousa says they can be incredibly effective when it comes to hydrating, balancing, and treating the skin. They even remove minerals left behind from tap water, so in a way, they’re like a water filter for the face.
“Toner is a very particular product,” she says. “It will not only remove the remnants of [anything] that’s still on the skin after washing, but it will also remove the detergent or soap. It will remove the calcium and chlorine deposits from the water. They are also treatment products, so they will have ingredients that will address certain concerns. If the skin is dehydrated, there are humectants and moisturizers. If the skin is oily, there’s something for oil balancing and exfoliating in a gentle way. I think toner is absolutely underrated.”
biba de sousa
The Hydrating Toner
biba de sousa
The Glycolic Lactic Toner
Underrated: Lymphatic Drainage
De Sousa is a big proponent of lymphatic drainage as well as fascia release and acupressure. The former can be done via simple exercises, whether that’s jumping on a trampoline or using a gua sha tool. “Lymphatic drainage is very underrated. It’s the best service that somebody can provide to their clients,” she says.
De Sousa says we have two parallel circulatory systems. One is the cardiovascular system, which has a pump (the heart), and the other is the lymphatic system, which doesn’t. “The lymphatic system is the system that carries the waste into the lymph nodes and then into the spleen and kidneys,” she explains. “It eliminates the toxic waste from the cells. It’s that intracellular liquid that is sometimes stagnant, and it’s full of dead skin cells, metabolic waste, sometimes viruses, and bacteria.”
She says activating the lymphatic system is not only important for health purposes, but it also has aesthetic benefits, including reducing facial puffiness and boosting the skin’s glow. It takes all of five minutes, and “you get that rosy complexion,” she adds.
When a skin expert combines lymphatic drainage with fascia release, the results are even better. Fascia is connective tissue that’s found all over the body. De Sousa describes it as cellophane wrap, as it can bunch up and change shape. “You gently stretch the fascia, and then it will go back where it’s supposed to be. You just stretch it gently, right, and it reshapes the face,” she says. “People say, ‘I don’t look like the same person.'”
Overrated: Double-Cleansing
This one is controversial. De Sousa says double-cleansing is incredibly overrated. Yep, that’s right. She says you should put down those oil cleansers. “If you feel that you must double-cleanse, your cleanser is not cleansing,” she says. “It’s not doing the job. What else do you clean with oil? Do you cleanse your hair with oil? No. Do you cleanse your hands with oil? Do you wash your dishes or laundry with oil? It’s not a cleanser. It leaves residue and makes the skin vulnerable to bacteria.”
What’s worse, de Sousa says using a pure cleansing oil on dry skin can actually make your skin—wait for it—drier. Why? It signals the skin to stop producing oil, thinking there’s an excess of it already. “The skin says, ‘We have too much oil on the skin. Stop making oil.’ And guess what happens now? You have a gunky layer attracting bacteria. Your skin is not protected. Irritation starts—redness, itching, all kinds of problems. Your barrier gets disrupted.”
To put it simply, de Sousa says oil belongs in an emulsion so it will rinse off the skin, not in pure form: “I always say using neat oil is like using oil without vinegar for your salad. You need to use vinaigrette, which is an emulsion.”
biba de sousa
The Daily Cleanser
biba de sousa
The Mandelic Cleansing Gel
Overrated: At-Home Chemical Peels
De Sousa says at-home chemical peels are not just overrated. They’re also dangerous. That’s because they’re often used incorrectly with little to no skin assessment. “People go home, and they peel themselves. That’s something I would prohibit. It’s so acidic that it’s not something people should be using at home. … Twenty years ago, when chemical peels were en vogue, we saw so much melasma and pigmentation as a result,” she says.
The same goes for other popular at-home skincare treatments, like derma-rolling and dermabrasion. For the former, de Sousa says proper precautions should be taken, including an application of numbing cream. “[These treatments] excite melanocytes, and skin damage will happen,” she explains.
biba de sousa
The Mandelic Scrub
Overrated: Coconut Oil and Other Pore-Clogging Ingredients
Last but certainly not least, de Sousa says popular pore-clogging ingredients, like coconut oil, are overrated. “Acne is a chronic skin disease that’s not curable, but it is controllable,” she says. “In some people, it resolves, but I’m seeing more and more acne—probably because of the pollution and stress that we’re exposed to.”
One of the best ways to control acne is to avoid pore-clogging ingredients, of which there are many. To help her clients sift through them all, de Sousa created a tool on her website called The Pore-Clogger Checker. “Clients will just copy and paste their products, and it will blurt out the results. It’s clean. It’s not clean,” she says.
Shop More Biba de Sousa Products
biba de sousa
The Plant Stem Cell Peptide Serum
Cyrus is a fan of this peptide- and antioxidant-spiked serum.
biba de sousa
The Daily Moisturizer
Both Eilish and Cyrus use this to prep their skin while on tour.
biba de sousa
The Zinc Mask
With zinc, bentonite clay, and goji berry, this mask deeply cleans the pores.