On the season premiere of her iHeartPodcast The Martha Stewart Podcast, the icon sat down with her dermatologist, Dan Belkin, MD, to talk about her regime of treatments and skin care. They explain what works for her skin and how she approaches aging, and get real about what treatments haven’t worked for Stewart’s skin and why.
Stewart’s ageless complexion and candid approach to health and wellness have had us breathless for years, and this podcast has all the answers. From scotch tape secrets to filler feelings, Martha Stewart dives deep on skin care, and we are so here for it.
Martha Stewart Talks Fillers and Botox
Stewart reveals she almost never has a plan for treatments to request.
“You’re a pretty easy patient,” Dr. Belkin agrees. “Maybe surprisingly, to some people. But you tend to defer to expertise.”
Stewart agrees.
“Not only expertise, but artistry,” she adds. “I call what you do artistry because you have to be an expert. But if you can’t look at me and see that one little thing is more crooked on one side than the other side, then I don’t want to work with you.”
Stewart has talked in the past about disliking Botox and getting fillers strategically, and Dr. Belkin agrees that while neurotoxins are an excellent treatment for a lot of patients, Stewart didn’t take to them as well in all areas of the face as they would have liked.
“My eyebrows kind of go up in a V and that looks so unnatural,” she says.
“Right, so it’s not really necessary for you,” Dr. Belkin agrees. “So you know, I’ve tried to give you a little lift. It hasn’t really worked that well on the upper face, but I think neuromodulators like Botox have worked really well for you on the lower face.”
When it comes to fillers, Dr. Belkin finds conservative application provides the best results.
“Hyaluronic acid fillers actually have been shown to give you some collagen stimulation,” Dr. Belkin explains. “So when they’re used conservatively and well and smartly, they can be really helpful for long term skin aging. But when they’re overused, and we’ve all seen examples of that, I won’t name anybody…but when they’re overused, you can look very odd.”
Stewart-Approved Treatments and Tricks
Funnily enough, Stewart herself doesn’t actually recall every treatment she’s tried.
“I don’t even know what I’ve had,” she says.
“We’ve done a little bit of skin tightening on you,” Dr. Belkin explains. “We’ve done a little ultrasound tightening I think, a long time ago. We did a little Sofwave, which is an ultrasound based tightening device. And we’ve done a little bit of Ultherapy, which is a great ultrasound based skin tightening that works.”
That said, Stewart isn’t one to go for a chemical peel, which she says she tends to find very harsh on her face.
“I didn’t a surface peel and I hated it so much,” Stewart says. “But, my skin doesn’t require it…I have very smooth skin.”
One Weird Trick
Though younger and younger patients are getting skin-tightening and muscle-relaxing treatments, Dr. Belken recommends his patients begin Botox when they start to see etched lines in their face at rest. And sometimes, what you think are permanent lines at rest, are easily fixed without using neurotoxins.
“Well, quite a few years ago I noticed two lines between my eyebrows, vertical lines,” Stewart adds. “And some doctor said, just put scotch tape on your face every single night between your eyes and you will not have those lines. And I did. I did it religiously. Just put a piece of scotch tape here, and I don’t have those lines anymore, you know. It’s a habit because you’re squinting, right, or if your eyesight is bad and you start to squint, you start to get those lines around your eyes.”
If you’d rather not use scotch tape, Dr. Belken says he recommends silicone patches for overnight wear to reduce movement and erase those seemingly etched lines.
Martha Stewart’s Top Skin Care Secret
“You set me on something I love so much that I will not leave the house without it,” Stewart explains. “You recommended I use tinted Alastin.”
“Alastin Is is a company that a lot of dermatologists really like because they have clinical trials that show whatever they want to show,” Dr. Belkin says. “A lot of these kind of anti aging skin care products there’s no evidence behind them. When I recommend something, I look for things that have some evidence that show that, Okay, if it’s anti aging, is it stimulating collagen, is it stimulating elastin fibers? And so that’s why I like Alastin.”
“No Plastic Surgery Whatsoever”
Previously, Stewart has been clear that while her commitment to health and wellness, including skin care, is a serious one, she’s never gone under the knife. Responding to the speculation that plastic surgery must be behind her iconic Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition 2023 cover.
“Well, it’s not true,” Stewart says. “I’ve had absolutely no plastic surgery whatsoever.”
Even last year, she was upfront that fillers and Botox had been in the mix for her, though she’s personally not a fan of Botox.
“Every now and then there are certain fillers that I can do for a little line here or there, but I hate Botox,” Stewart explains. “It’s a weird thing for me. I really and truly don’t do a lot.”
The truth, Stewart says, is that she lives healthy, freshens up with her dermatologist-recommended treatments, has naturally pretty great hair and skin and keeps up with her skin care routine.