Jennifer Valentyne On Self-Care Resolutions And A New Tool That Measures Your Skin Health And Age

Best known for her roles on Breakfast Television in Toronto that spanned more than two decades, Jennifer Valentyne has redefined herself with the help of her daughter, Georgia. These days, the mother-daughter duo is hard at work on their social platform and YouTube channel, Mother Daughter Date.

Style and beauty expert Liv Judd sat down with Jennifer to talk about aging, New Year’s skin care resolutions, sharing products between mother and daughter—and their “age,” according to Shoppers Drug Mart’s new Virtual Skin Analysis Tool, which identifies your skin’s age and addresses skin concerns in real-time.

Liv Judd: What have you been doing to keep yourself busy?

Jennifer Valentyne: Like so many mothers and daughters around the world, Georgia and I have spent a lot of time together recently. We decided that for 2021, we would use some of that time to take better care of ourselves. This led to a partnership with Shoppers Drug Mart, which has really helped us understand how important self-care rituals are—especially during challenging times like these. So, our New Year’s resolution is to give our skin care routine a makeover.

Liv: Do you need a skin care makeover? I hear you are looking 38 these days. What’s that about?

Jennifer: Well, I actually do look 38—but we all know I am a little older than that. Shoppers Drug Mart launched a Virtual Skin Analysis Tool this January. It means you can have your skin analyzed from the comfort and safety of your own home. It’s a sophisticated but simple-to-use diagnostic tool that analyzes your skin in real time and rates your skin age while also identifying skin care concerns like moisture, wrinkles, texture and redness. And did I mention it’s free? My age was rated at 38. In addition to receiving targeted information about the health of my skin, I also got some personalized product recommendations to meet my individual needs and achieve my skin care goals.

Liv: Georgia did this too, right? Are you guys sharing the products recommended to you both as part of your new commitment to skin care this year?

Jennifer: Georgia used the virtual tool and her age was completely bang on at 19. Here’s what’s interesting though—not only are Georgia and I at different phases in our skin are journey, we also found that we should NOT be sharing the skin care products recommended to each of us. We spoke with a Shoppers Beauty Pro who explained that products for me with retinol, for example, can just sit on younger skin and go nowhere because it’s not needed, as you may already know. So, it’s potentially not a good investment of both money and product. We’ve also been told that products designed for aging skin can cause breakouts on younger skin.

Liv: What were your and Georgia’s favourites?

Jennifer: I really liked the Silk’n Titan. It’s an anti-aging device. You use it on your neck to encourage more collagen production. The energy it creates works to bond connective tissue under the skin, and this helps lift and tighten the skin. I also used Neostrata Triple Firming Neck Cream to help reduce some fine lines and wrinkles. It can also help with uneven skin tone.

And for Georgia, she is all about trying new products and routines. She is way more into skin care than I ever was at her age, and that’s a good thing. She and so many of her friends are also interested in more natural products. Georgia likes a new range out of the UK called ZERO by Skin Academy; it just launched in Canada this past fall. It’s 100 percent natural, plant-based, vegan, cruelty-free and best of all, it’s super affordable. The Night Cream contains sweet almond oil, shea butter and coconut oil that makes it really nourishing and perfect for winter.

Liv: Did you learn anything else from the Shoppers Beauty Pro?

Jennifer: I learned that with people spending more time at home these days, delivering skin care expertise on a virtual platform makes perfect sense.

We also learned that Shoppers Drug Mart undertook a survey to better understand the skin care concerns of Canadians and how they may have changed during 2020. Almost a third of respondents (31 percent) said everyday lifestyle changes in 2020 affected their skin. Additional stress (46 percent) and wearing a face mask (29 percent) were the leading factors in why skin had worsened in 2020. But at the same time, many people, like Georgia, saw that their skin improved last year because they spent more time taking care of it. The survey showed that, for those who saw improvements in their skin, spending more time on skin care (44 percent), along with wearing less makeup (22 percent) were the main reasons why.

But some people, like Georgia, did spend more time on their skin last year. The survey showed that, for those who saw improvements in their skin, additional time spent on skin care (44 percent) followed by wearing less makeup (22 percent) were the reasons identified.

Liv: Any surprising results revealed by the survey?

Jennifer: Yes, well over half of respondents (68 percent) said they do NOT wear SPF in the winter. I am guilty, as I don’t do that consistently, and the Shoppers Beauty Pro told me that I absolutely need to if I wear any products with retinol because it makes skin more sensitive to the sun.

And Georgia was shocked that one third (33 percent) admitted to NEVER cleansing their face before bed. It is very shocking, but I won’t tell her I am guilty of that on the rare occasion. Aren’t we all? I guess I’ll work on that in 2021 as well.