Skincare at Nova
The right few products, chosen after looking at your skin, not a shelf of everything.
Skincare at Nova starts with a consultation, not a basket. We look at your skin in good light, ask what you already use and what it did, and build a short routine of three to five products around the one or two things that bother you most: pigmentation and sun damage, rough or dull texture, blemish-prone skin, dryness, or skin starting to lose its firmness. We stock the Obagi range in clinic and online, and we only sell you what your skin has a use for.
This is for adults who want a routine that does something and will give it 8 to 12 weeks. It is not a replacement for treatments: skincare keeps the surface in good order and supports what IPL, peels, microneedling or skin boosters do; it does not do their job for them. Where pigmentation is stubborn, a prescription option exists, discussed at a face-to-face consultation and never sold off the shelf.
What happens at your appointment
The consultation is free and takes about half an hour. We go through your skin concerns, your current products, how reactive your skin is, whether you are pregnant or breastfeeding, and how many steps you will realistically do morning and night. We photograph your skin so the review has something to compare against.
You leave with a written routine, not a bag of everything. Most people start with a cleanser, a morning vitamin C, a night cream or retinol, a moisturiser and a daily SPF, and we introduce the actives one at a time so that if your skin reacts we know which one did it. We book a review at 8 to 12 weeks, when we look at the photographs together and adjust. If your skin needs a prescription product, that is prescribed after the face-to-face assessment, never online and never before we have seen you.
What results to expect and how long they last
Texture and brightness change first, over the first few weeks, because vitamin C, gentle acids and retinol speed up the turnover of the surface. Pigmentation, sun damage and fine lines take longer: allow 8 to 12 weeks of daily use before judging, and longer for deep or old pigmentation. Firmness products improve how the skin looks and feels; they do not lift it.
The results last as long as the routine does. Skin drifts back over a few months if you stop, and pigmentation returns quickly without daily sunscreen, whatever else you use. Results vary with your skin, your sun exposure and how consistently you use the products, and they cannot be guaranteed.
Who it suits and who it does not
It suits adults with uneven tone or sun damage (Nu-Derm Fx, the staged system used in order), dull skin that wants a morning antioxidant (Professional-C serums), texture and fine lines (Obagi Retinol + PHA Refining Night Cream 50ml), skin losing firmness around the eyes, neck or jaw (the ELASTIderm range), dehydration (the Hydrate moisturisers), blemish-prone skin (the CLENZIDERM M.D. range), thin lashes and brows (the Nu-Cil serums, which can darken the skin around the eye, change eye colour and hollow the area around the eye, so they are supplied only after a consultation), and everyone who needs a sunscreen they will actually wear (Sun Shield SPF). The whole range is in our Obagi shop.
It does not suit anyone who wants a result by the weekend, anyone who will not wear sunscreen daily, or anyone expecting a cream to do what a treatment does. If you are pregnant, planning a pregnancy or breastfeeding, retinol and some other actives are left out and the routine is built around gentle hydration, vitamin C and SPF. Very reactive skin, rosacea or eczema needs a slower start, and we say so rather than sell you a system.
The honest limit
Skincare supports treatments; it does not replace them. No cream lifts loose skin, fills lost volume or clears deep pigmentation on its own, and anything that promises to do that in a fortnight is marketing. A real routine takes 8 to 12 weeks to show, needs daily sunscreen for the rest of its life, and often brings dryness and flaking in the first weeks while your skin adjusts. Retinoids are not used in pregnancy or breastfeeding. Results vary.
Prices and risks
Skin consultation and written routine: free
Obagi products and systems: priced on each product in the Obagi shop
Review at 8 to 12 weeks: free
Prescription skincare option: consultation required
Products are bought individually or as a system, in clinic or online, with UK delivery or collection from East Finchley.
Risks
Dryness, flaking, redness and stinging are common in the first weeks with retinol and acids, and settle as the skin adjusts; we tell you how to slow down if they do not. Overusing actives, especially on darker skin, can irritate the skin and darken pigmentation rather than lighten it. Acids and retinol make skin more sensitive to the sun, so daily SPF is part of the routine. An allergy to any ingredient is possible, so tell us about past reactions. Retinol and some actives are avoided in pregnancy and breastfeeding, and we ask before we recommend anything.
Common questions
Do I need a consultation before buying skincare?
Not for a sunscreen or a moisturiser, which you can buy from the shop. For anything with an active ingredient, and for any system, we ask you to have the free consultation first, because the wrong active on the wrong skin wastes money and can set pigmentation back. There is no obligation to buy.
Which Obagi products should I start with?
Fewer than you think. A cleanser, a morning vitamin C, a daily SPF and one night product chosen for your concern is a complete routine for most people. We add a second active only once your skin is settled, and the review at 8 to 12 weeks decides what comes next.
How long before I see results?
Brightness and smoother texture in the first few weeks. Pigmentation, sun damage and fine lines need 8 to 12 weeks of daily use before you judge them, and deep pigmentation takes longer. We photograph at the start so the review compares like with like.
Can I use Obagi while pregnant or breastfeeding?
Some of it. Retinol and some other actives are left out, and we build a routine around a gentle cleanser, vitamin C, hydration and mineral SPF. Tell us at the consultation, or message us before you buy, and we will check each product.
Will my skin peel?
Often, a little, in the first weeks with retinol or acids. It is dryness and flaking, not the peeling you get after a chemical peel, and it settles. If it does not, or if the skin stings and goes red, we slow the routine down.
Do you sell prescription skincare?
A prescription option exists for stubborn pigmentation and for persistent breakouts, and it is discussed at a face-to-face consultation after an assessment. It is not sold online, not named here, and not something we hand out on request.
Can I use skincare alongside peels, IPL or microneedling?
Yes, that is how it works best. A routine prepares the skin before a treatment and keeps the result afterwards, especially sunscreen after IPL. Actives are paused for a few days around each session, and we give you the exact dates.
Is it cheaper to buy Obagi online elsewhere?
Sometimes, and sometimes what arrives is old stock or not genuine. Our products come through Obagi's official UK distributor, you can collect in clinic or have UK delivery, and the consultation and the review that come with them are free.
Related
Nova is at 260 East End Road, East Finchley, three minutes on foot from East Finchley station on the Northern line. Most of our skincare clients come from Hampstead, Hampstead Garden Suburb, Muswell Hill and Highgate, and we are a short drive from Finchley, Golders Green, Crouch End, Whetstone and Barnet. Products can be collected in clinic or posted within the UK.
Book a free skin consultation, or WhatsApp 077 21 400 600 with a photo of your skin in daylight and what you currently use.
This page is information, not medical advice. What suits your skin depends on your own history, your medicines and whether you are pregnant or breastfeeding. Book a consultation before starting any active product.