Hannah Gay met with dermal clinician and TikTok star, Jayde Taylor to chat about all things skin, the scalp, and navigating beauty BS.
Jayde Taylor is an Australian dermal clinician, having this year earned her stripes as a go-to skin guide on social media. Jayde takes on a strictly “no BS” approach to beauty, debunking common skincare myths to her 146.9k TikTok followers. Despite her popularity online, Jayde’s content is backed by research and industry experience, having studied the skin of clients in salon and clinic settings for the last decade.
Jayde commenced her career as a beauty therapist. She underwent a further four years of tertiary study to qualify as a dermal clinician, completing a Bachelor of Health Science at Victoria University. “I hated doing facials!” Jayde laughed, joining Professional Beauty for a glass of bubbles at Sydney’s QT recently. “They were fluffy and didn’t do anything.”
She admitted connecting with the right teacher helped to change her perspective, where Jayde developed an interest in the anatomy of the skin. “It’s the difference between doing a fluffy facial and actually having someone come in with a skin condition and saying, ‘I can manage this’ or ‘If I need the doctor, I can get them’ and I can because that’s our role. Our role is to fill that gap between the nurse and the derm; we were invented to take the load off the derms.”
Conversation quickly turned to the scalp. Skin professionals globally are increasingly turning their attention to hair and scalp rejuvenation solutions to keep up with consumer demand for longer, thicker, healthier hair. Despite the scalp serving as a kind of extension of our face, it comes with its own set of needs and indications.
Jayde noted, “There’s two kinds of dandruff: an oily dandruff and a dry dandruff.” Like the skin on our face, factors like the weather, stress, and our histamine responses can impact the condition of the scalp. The products used on our scalp, Jayde argued, should similarly vary based on what our body is doing at any given time. “In general, I don’t really care what you use as long as your skin’s happy and healthy.”
Jayde started losing her hair in 2020, onset by the stress she experienced caring for her terminally ill nan. The issue persisted and after seeking advice from a dermatologist, was diagnosed with telogen effluvium. By definition, telogen effluvium is excessive shedding of resting or telogen hair after some metabolic stress, hormonal changes, or medication. 1
These days, Jayde proudly promotes Neutriderm’s line of skin and scalp products, having experienced results using the brand over the course of three years. “When you go in to see a dermatologist, they’re recommending ranges that are basic with basic ingredients, like sodium PCAs, glycerin, vitamin D, colloidal oatmeals… they’re just basic ingredients that are tried-and-tested, and that’s it.” She vouches for the Neutriderm Moisturizing Lotion because it is non-occlusive and beneficial for redness and rosacea sufferers.
She referred to current research that points to a few key ingredients understood to support hair health. “Saw palmetto helps [hair] breakage by 90 per cent,” Jayde said. “It inhibits 5α-Reductase,” much in the way (if not more so than) prescribed medicines like Finasteride and Minoxidil work to treat men’ hair loss. Jayde also credited the inclusion of Pro Vitamin B5 in the Australian brand’s range in assisting with hair breakage and its ability to “strengthen the hair cortex.” The addition of zinc is said to help regulate oil flow.
Jayde noted that when opting to work with a brand, she insists on trialing the product for a full three months prior. “I’m no bullshit, no judgment, I’ll tell you the truth, and I have integrity,” Jayde said. “I want [consumers] to understand it, and it’s easy to understand.” It’s this approach Jayde has consciously carried through to the content she creates on TikTok. “My purpose is to make sure that consumers know what they’re doing… because I’ve been taken for a ride.”
With the consumer mindset so often confused by misinformation available via social media, Jayde recognises the value in “stripping back” a client’s skincare routine straight off the bat. The overuse and incorrect use of acids is one such cause for an impaired barrier in her clients. “I don’t want to take everything off the table and then [have] you buy a whole new range, because that’s irresponsible,” Jayde explained. “No one should be doing that or selling that because that’s ridiculous.”
Her recommended at-home protocol will typically include a gentle cleanser aimed to increase water levels in the skin, followed by a hyaluronic acid serum or mist. A vitamin C will be re-introduced to those lacking in oil, followed by a “benign moisturiser”. “I’m always telling everyone to double moisturise, double moisturise!” Actives are later brought in once the barrier is repaired.
“What I hope is that people understand how to read a box,” Jayde said. “I hope that they know that if they see a label that’s promising something that looks a bit too flashy marketing-wise, that they can see through it; that they understand that that study had less than fifty people.”
Cost and brand names aside, Jayde is far more considerate of the presence of a specific ingredient in a product when prescribing a solution onto a client. “I’m constantly thinking about the chemistry of it. I’m not thinking about the branding.”
Catch up on Jayde’s no-BS approach to beauty over on her TikTok channel here.
1 Elizabeth C. Hughes; Dahlia Saleh. Telogen Effluvium, last updated May 29, 2023.
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