Take Five With Dr Anita, Founder Of Decree Skincare

As a medical doctor specialising in dermatology for over 18 years and the founder of Decree, Dr Anita Sturnham has a real passion for helping her patients achieve their healthiest skin.

With a genderless, ageless approach, Dr Anita wanted to create a skincare line that anybody could use at any point in their skincare journey with one shared goal: to achieve healthy skin, long-term.

Multitasking ingredients for an easy-to-use routine

Having previously created a line of 32 products for her patients to use, Dr Anita soon realised that she was using the same active ingredients time and time again, and that it was time to simplify her range. "There are many multitasking ingredients in skincare," Dr Anita says, "for example, vitamin C and retinoids can be used on teenage skin, acne prone skin, pigmentation, inflammatory pigmentation, and fine lines and wrinkles. I took all the active ingredients of the 32 products I was using and put them into a concise collection of nine."

Separated into a Daily and Weekly regimen of products designed to deliver consistent, therapeutic doses of synergistically formulated skincare, Decree is a British skincare brand specially designed work in sync with your skin’s 24-hour circadian rhythm. "Your skincare is like your breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the day." Dr Anita says, "feed it the right ingredients and you’ll get to your skin’s optimal health."

Winner of our Face The Future Staff Choice Award

Thanks to its simplified approach and powerful, effective, active ingredients, our FTF team collectively crowned Decree as the winner of our Staff Choice Award at our Face The Future Beauty Awards ceremony held in Leeds in December.

Today, we're going to tell you a little more about the collection, and the amazing doctor behind it, as we take five to ask Dr Anita some of yours (and our) burning questions on all things skincare.

Take five with Dr Anita Sturnham, Founder of Decree

1. What's the biggest skincare mistake we make?

"90% of the skin complaints I see at my clinic are self-inflicted and usually down to overuse. The trouble with skincare is that the more you love it, the more you tend to own." Dr Anita says. She explains that layering too many products and using too many products in the wrong order is a big one. "Your skin is a clever organ – it will rebel if you’re overloading it."

2. Day or night cream?

“Both are really important, and both contain the same active ingredients so I’m getting the same skin benefits day and night." Dr Anita says. "I’d choose Peptide Emollient Veil and use it both AM and PM. It contains hyaluronic acid to boost the skin barrier, and botanical peptides to firm and plump the skin.”

3. Moisturise or brighten?

"Moisturise. Everything about skin health is about moisture content, so if I moisturise regularly, my skin will look brighter anyway.” Dr Anita explains.

4. How much moisturiser do we need?

Sometimes it can be tricky to know how much product we actually we need to use, but lucky for us, Decree skincare is carefully dosed with instructions on exactly how much our skin needs. “For Peptide Emollient Veil + for example, you’ll need two pumps." Dr Anita says. "As a guide to help application, I like to put two dots on my forehead, two on my cheek, three along my jawline, then the rest goes onto my neck."

5. Vitamin C or retinol?

“Both are my top picks," Dr Anita says, "but if I had to choose, I’d choose vitamin C as I can apply this twice a day, whereas retinol can only be applied in the evening.”

6. Your two Decree Holy Grails?

Dr Anita: “Protect Elixir and Treat Tincture Serums for AM and PM. Both work on the skin from a deeper level and contain active ingredients to enhance collagen production, deeply hydrate, and protect and rejuvenate your skin.”

7. How can we tackle winter skin?

Usually in the winter, our skin is much more sensitive and prone to redness. The sudden changes in temperature as we go from the cold outdoors into central heated homes can play havoc with our skin and add to us losing vital moisture. So, what can we do to treat our dry skin? "If you're struggling with dryness and sensitivity, cut back on strong exfoliating fruit acids and concentrate on nourishing your skin." Dr Anita says, "I recommend using Light Cleanse that I like to call 'strong but gentle', it's really nourishing.

Follow with Protect Elixir serum that's got four active ingredients from our old clinical line in one, including antioxidants, niacinamide to brighten and protect, panthenol, ferulic acid, vitamin C, magnesium, and copper.

Decree Protect Elixir

Dr Anita tells us to think of our winter skincare just like we would our winter wardrobe. As soon as the weather gets colder, we begin to layer up to keep ourselves warm and protected from the elements, and that's exactly what we should do with our skin, too. "You need to layer up and use a thicker layer of moisturiser to keep the moisture in your skin. Follow with Peptide Emollient Veil which is nourishing but silky."

8. A final piece of takeaway advice?

“Go see an expert - a specialist in skin." Dr Anita says. "Once you know what your skin likes and needs, it becomes easier to look after it.”

Take our Online Skin Test

If you're unsure of where to start with your skincare routine, our incredible skin experts are here to help you. Complete our realtime skin test online, or opt for a personalised skin consultation to learn which products we know you and your skin will love.

Want to learn more about the range and discover some of our FTF staff favourites? Discover 5 Must Have Decree Products You Need To Try This Month.