Interview drs. Ludy Holst with BeautyJournal on ZO Skin Health skincare

It’s Dr. Zein Obagi’s promise: “I can make your skin tight again!” But how do you do that… make sagging skin firm again? I talked about it with Ludy Holst, cosmetic doctor KNMG and owner of the Van Lennep Kliniek, with locations in The Hague, Wassenaar, and Oegstgeest.

The botox and filler specialist

De Van Lennep Kliniek is known as the botox and filler specialist of South Holland. I ask Ludy Holst if this automatically makes her the botox and filler expert. She smiles: “I do indeed apply botox and fillers, with which I can relax and firm the skin. But I have many more tools to make skin firmer and more beautiful. Like collagen stimulation with Sculptra and the skincare of ZO Skin Health.”

Healthcare provider with a holistic approach

Ludy calls herself a health care provider with a holistic approach. “I am a health care provider. I want to help people create a look that matches how they feel. In doing so, I don’t just look at injectables and skincare, but also get involved in lifestyle and makeup. Sometimes I see young girls in the clinic who look at least ten years older because they are wearing a thick layer of foundation. I say something about that and let them experience that a thin layer of mineral foundation with SPF not only gives a more beautiful effect but is also better for the skin.”

Your skin should last a lifetime

Many clients initially come to the Van Lennep Kliniek because they are bothered by, for example, an angry or tired look due to a frown, or bags under the eyes. People are often less aware of the condition of their skin, according to Ludy. Yet the condition of the skin is very important. Ludy: “Your skin has to last a lifetime and the better the quality, the better a cosmetic doctor can work with it.”

Every skin ages and slackens

Unfortunately, it is a fact that every skin ages. Ludy: “When the skin ages, irregularities, spots, dilated pores, and a coarse skin texture appear. All signs that the skin is sagging and drooping. Even people who have had brilliant skin all their lives and have never suffered from skin problems, such as acne or rosacea, at some point get thinner and less resilient skin.”

Effective active ingredients can tighten the skin again

Ludy has been working with ZO Skin Health’s skincare protocols for years to great satisfaction. The effective ingredients and excellent delivery techniques enable her to achieve wonderful results. Ludy: “For me, the most relevant ingredients and delivery techniques in skincare are. Retinol, Vitamin C, Salicylic Acid, and antioxidants for example. They must be present in high concentrations in the products because I want to be able to make a difference for my clients. I can do this with ZO Skin Health. The latest development that I am really excited about is the ZO serums accelerated that can be added to salon treatments such as micro-needling and HydraFacial. With this, a real boost can be given to the rejuvenation process of the skin.”

Doctor Zein Obagi as a skin guru

Ludy continues: “In addition, I have learned very much from Dr. Zein Obagi, founder of ZO Skin Health and ZO Medical. He is my skin guru. As a doctor, you learn mainly about skin diseases, less about reconditioning the skin and making it more beautiful. Dr. Obagi has more than filled that knowledge gap.”

“The battery of your skin”

Getting the skin back in shape (and keeping it there!) is surprisingly similar to recharging the battery of an electric car, Ludy explains to me. “Antioxidants have a signaling function, transmitting signals deeper into the skin. They tell the skin to store active ingredients, just as a battery stores energy. Once the skin’s battery is properly charged, your skin functions best. Just like a car gets the farthest on a full battery. If you stop replenishing the actives, the battery will drain again and the condition of your skin will deteriorate and become saggy again.”

Tight skin and the prevention of skin cancer

As the skin ages, the skin cells on the surface forget what they are supposed to do. Ludy: “You need to rejuvenate the skin to restore skin functions to normal. Think of moisture retention, good circulation to bring in nutrients and get rid of waste products. But also think about the skin’s natural protection mechanism against the sun. The thicker and firmer the skin, the harder UV radiation can penetrate the skin. So you can say that tight skin contributes to the prevention of skin cancer.”

ZO Skin Health can also be very gentle

According to Ludy, ZO Skin Health products sometimes have the negative reputation of being aggressive, incorrectly: “ZO Skin Health can also be very mild. For example, the products from the Daily Skin Care Box. That is a nice and mild introduction to ZO Skin Health, where you work on restoring the protective layer of your skin. After that, it is possible to add more powerful products, for tightening the skin. Radical Night Repair or Wrinkle + Texture Repair for example. Doctor Obagi calls these his ‘heroes’ and they are.”

Professional guidance is a must

Ludy says that using ZO Skin Health always needs professional guidance. Ludy: “If you don’t have guidance and you randomly pick out products without the proper knowledge, chances are pretty good that you’ll start flaking, or get a bright red head. That’s how the brand gets a bad name. I also always look at my clients when deciding on a protocol. Some, for example, are willing to flake. In consultation, we can then decide to go for a more challenging protocol with faster results.”

Removal of sebum

Central to all of ZO Skin Health’s protocols, from mild to challenging, is the removal of sebum. Ludy explains why: “For a long time we thought sebum was good, like sebum on a bird’s plumage has a protective function. But humans are not birds, after all, we are descended from monkeys. And sebum in monkeys has the function of keeping the hair supple, not the skin. And our face is no longer hairy either.”

In fact, sebum is a waste product of the skin, which you would rather get rid of. Ludy continues: “The presence of this waste product causes the skin to age faster. Sebum also inhibits the absorption of the active substances in your skincare. So it’s best to make sure that sebum leaves the skin as quickly as possible. You can use the Oil Control Pads or Complexion Renewal Pads from ZO Skin Health for this purpose. Two more ‘heroes’ from Dr. Zein Obagi and from me.”

Dead skin cells are also something you’d rather get rid of

Just as sebum reduces the effectiveness of professional skincare, dead skin cells also reduce the absorption of active ingredients by the skin. Dead skin cells are therefore best removed (or let professionally be removed) on a frequent basis. And that is possible with the HydraFacial treatment with boosters by ZO Skin Health. Ludy: “You can undergo this treatment at the skin therapist. For acne and rosacea, the treatment is even covered by reimbursement. With light acids, the dead skin cells are sucked from the skin with a special disposable vortex attachment. As a kind of gentle car wash for your skin. You leave the clinic with a healthy glow and without excess dead skin cells.”

“Gunky”

Ludy gives me another interesting look behind the scenes. She tells me that everything that is removed from the skin during the HydraFacial treatment (dead skin cells, sebum, and make-up residue) is collected in the capsule in the appliance, also known as the ‘gunky-jar’. Ludy: “It is always special to see how the contents of the gunky-jar become cleaner and cleaner the longer customers use the ZO Skin Health products. That really shows me a lot about the effectiveness of the brand and is addictive.”

“If something is good, it sells by itself.”

Besides being a doctor, Ludy is also a born entrepreneur. She started out as a one-person business and now has a thriving clinic. The team of the Van Lennep Kliniek consists of about 25 employees, from consultants to skin therapists, from store assistants to plastic surgeons, and there is a back office. In addition, Ludy is a trainer of cosmetic doctors and the clinic offers internships to skin therapists in training. Because of her feeling for marketing and sales, Ludy can assess the treatments and the ZO Skin Health products from different perspectives.

Ludy: “It’s wonderful to be able to do business. And if a brand comes along, like ZO Skin Health, then as an entrepreneur you can only squeeze your hands. The products take care of their own sales and marketing. Customers who have experienced the results of ZO Skin Health once, never want anything else. If something is good, it sells by itself. And that’s what ZO Skin Health does.”

For advice for treatments and products that meet your skin needs,  let us advise you. Make an appointment at the Van Lennep Kliniek.