At BrilliantRead Media, we always strive to bring meaningful and inspiring stories from India and around the world to empower and motivate our growing community. As part of this endeavour, we invited Dr. Sanchi Gupta for an exclusive interview with us. Dr. Sanchi is a MD Dermatologist and Founder at The Derma Clinics. Let’s learn more about her inspiring journey, teaching philosophy, and valuable insights.
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Dr. Sanchi:
Can you share your journey into dermatology? What inspired you to specialize in skin and hair care, and what led you to establish The Derma Clinics?
Skin has always fascinated me because it is the one organ we wear in public; it carries our stress, our sleep, our grief, and our joy, often long before we say a word about any of it.
Early in my training, I noticed that patients didn’t just want a diagnosis; they wanted to feel like themselves again. That realization drew me deeper into dermatology, the opportunity to treat something visible, something a person encounters in the mirror every single day.
The Derma Clinics was born out of a simple frustration. I kept meeting patients who had either been persuaded into treatments they didn’t need or discouraged from treatments that could genuinely have helped them, simply because the advice they received wasn’t tailored to them.
I wanted to create a clinic where every protocol begins with listening, where skin is treated as part of a person’s complete story rather than as a problem to be fixed on an assembly line. That philosophy remains at the heart of The Derma Clinics.
Dermatology today is a blend of medical science and aesthetics. How do you strike the right balance between treating skin diseases and helping patients achieve their aesthetic goals?
I don’t actually see it as a balancing act between two competing things. I see it as one continuous act of care.
Whether someone comes in with cystic acne that is affecting their confidence or simply wants their skin to look more rested, the underlying question remains the same: What does this person need to feel at home in their own skin?
However, I will never allow aesthetics to override medicine. If a patient asks for a procedure that isn’t appropriate for their skin, my responsibility is to tell them so gently, but honestly, even if it isn’t what they were hoping to hear.
Ethics comes before everything else at the clinic. The science has to hold up before the outcome is ever allowed to look beautiful.
Social media is flooded with skincare advice and viral trends. What are the biggest skincare myths you wish people would stop believing?
There are several myths that come up in my clinic almost every week.
One of the biggest is “more is better.” Layering ten active ingredients every night isn’t necessarily good skincare. In fact, overloaded and inflamed skin has become increasingly common, often because people are over-treating their skin with the best of intentions.
Another misconception is “if it burns or tingles, it’s working.” That sensation is very often a sign of irritation rather than efficacy. Real results don’t necessarily announce themselves loudly.
There is also the belief that “natural means safe.” Some of the worst reactions I see come from raw, unformulated natural ingredients such as lemon juice, baking soda, and undiluted essential oils.
And then there is the idea that one influencer’s skincare routine will work for everyone. Skin isn’t a trend; it is biology. What works for another person’s skin barrier, hormones, and environment may actually harm yours.
Perhaps the biggest myth I wish would disappear is the idea that skincare is about achieving perfection. Skincare should be about protecting a living organ patiently over the years, not about winning a 30-day challenge.
Acne, pigmentation, and hair fall are among the most common concerns today. What lifestyle habits do you believe have the biggest impact on maintaining healthy skin and hair?
If I had to identify the single biggest factor, I would say sleep and stress in that order.
I see the same pattern repeatedly in my patients: a stressful few months, cortisol quietly increasing, and suddenly acne starts flaring, hair begins shedding, or pigmentation becomes more pronounced. The skin and scalp are often the last places where stress manifests and the first places where people notice that something is wrong.
Beyond that, three habits matter more than almost any product on a shelf.
First, consistent sunscreen use. It is one of the most protective things you can do for your skin, particularly when it comes to pigmentation and premature ageing.
Second, maintaining a balanced diet that doesn’t constantly spike your blood sugar.
Third, giving your scalp the same attention you give your face. Many hair concerns begin with an unhealthy scalp environment rather than with the hair itself.
Laser treatments and aesthetic procedures are becoming increasingly popular. How can patients distinguish between treatments that are genuinely beneficial and those driven purely by marketing?
I would encourage patients to ask three questions before saying yes to any treatment.
First: Is this treatment actually being recommended for my skin, or is it simply the clinic’s most-promoted package at the moment?
A good practitioner customizes the treatment. A marketing-led approach upsells.
Second: Am I being told the realistic number of sessions and the actual downtime, or am I only being shown the highlight-reel result?
If a procedure sounds too fast and too painless to be true, it usually is.
Third: Would this treatment still be recommended to me if budget wasn’t a concern?
If the recommendation changes depending on which package is being promoted that week, that should be considered a red flag.
Genuinely good treatments are usually explained patiently, including the why, not just the what.
If a consultation feels more like a sales pitch than a conversation, trust that instinct.
Every patient’s skin is unique. Why is personalized skincare more effective than following generic routines or influencer recommendations?
Because two people can appear to have exactly the same concern, for example, “dull skin” while having completely different underlying causes.
One person may be experiencing barrier damage, another may have early pigmentation, while another may simply be dehydrated. If we treat all three people in exactly the same way, we may help one while potentially setting the other two back by months.
A generic routine treats the label of the problem. Personalized skincare treats the person underneath it.
That means considering an individual’s skin type, history, hormones, environment, and even how realistic the routine is for them to follow consistently.
That is the kind of skincare I believe creates results that actually last.
What are the most common mistakes people make when trying to achieve glowing skin, and what simple daily habits would you recommend instead?
One of the most common mistakes is treating glow as something you can simply buy in a bottle rather than something you build through consistency.
People often chase another serum when what their skin may actually need is better sleep, consistent sunscreen use, or simply giving the skin time to recover.
My honest, uncomplicated daily non-negotiables are:
> Cleanse gently; never strip your skin.
> Moisturize while the skin is still slightly damp.
> Wear sunscreen and reapply it, rather than applying it only once in the morning.
> Give your skin a night or two away from active ingredients each week so that it can simply recover.
Glow is rarely dramatic. It is usually the quiet result of not damaging your skin faster than it can repair itself.
Looking ahead, what emerging innovations or trends in dermatology and aesthetic medicine excite you the most, and how do you see the future of skincare evolving over the next decade?
What excites me most is the movement toward genuinely personalized medicine.
We are seeing increasing possibilities around skin diagnostics, ingredient formulation, and treatment planning that respond to an individual’s actual skin biology rather than simply categorizing people into broad “skin types.”
We are moving away from one-size-fits-all skincare toward care that can be as unique as a fingerprint.
I also believe the next decade will belong to skin longevity and true rejuvenation, not chasing quick fixes, but preserving skin health over a lifetime. That means protecting the skin barrier, respecting collagen and cellular turnover, and focusing on ageing well rather than fighting age itself.
The future isn’t necessarily about looking different overnight. It is about having healthier skin for longer because it was understood correctly from the beginning.
And that understanding is where I would ask patients to place their trust: in knowing their own skin, rather than following whatever happens to be trending on Instagram that week.
A viral routine is built for an audience, not for you. Your skin has its own biology, history, and needs. No trend, however beautifully presented, can substitute for personalized medical care.
I would also say this to every patient reading: please don’t treat ChatGPT or Google as your dermatologist. I understand the instinct: you want an answer immediately, sometimes late at night, and you want it to be accessible. But your skin deserves an actual diagnosis rather than a guess assembled from generic internet information.
A search engine cannot examine your skin, take your complete history, or take responsibility for what happens next. A doctor can.
Trust your doctors not because you should blindly accept everything you are told, but because genuine medical care is something you deserve.
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