Biohacking Beauty: Award Winning Aesthetician & Founder Dr Sophie Shotter Talks Collagen, Cold Showers and Confidence

My interest in skincare started…

In my teens, and always tried to do my best for my skin health. Then in 2012 I trained in aesthetics and fell in love with what I can help people to achieve – a more positive approach to well ageing and bringing back confidence. After a few years, I was so conscious that patients were coming in to see me with external concerns but so often these were linked to things going on internally. I flew to the US to train in bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, and from there my interest just grew and grew. We introduced this to my practice, and also with time brought on board a private GP and nutritionist to offer a holistic, 360 approach to inside out health and ageing. My personal interest just grew alongside this and my own understanding of biohacking evolved, as did my personal biohacking practices. And now I marry all of this in my personal and professional life, and with time and an evolution in the treatments we have available and the science of skin, I coined the term skin biohacking as we are truly changing the health of the skin through so many of the products and treatments we use. 

Dr Sophie Shotter

A wearable I can’t live without…

I’d probably say my Oura ring – it holds me accountable for everything from sleep to activity. I find the data really useful for myself, and also think it makes people realise the importance of sleep quality rather than just quantity.

Apps and tools I find useful…

I love my Apollo wristband, I have a Sensate which I love, I have various breath work apps like Respira and Breathpod which are amazing, Calm has some amazing Binaural beat tracks which are incredible for wellbeing, I love my Eight Sleep which is a pod that goes over my mattress and links to an app to optimise my sleep quality, I have a Dermalux Flex and a Current Body LED face mask both of which I love, I think Zoe has fantastic information in it for gut health, I have a Heart Math device which is again phenomenal for promoting heart brain coherence, I have a Lumipod cold plunge, a Current Body Infrared Sauna Blanket, and a Higher Dose Infrared PEMF mat. I don’t use many of these on a daily basis, but they’re all great components of my routine.

My morning routine…

I use amazing skincare – in the morning Verdilab Cleansing Balm, Revision C+ Correcting Complex, Revision DEJ Daily Boosting Serum, Alastin HA Immerse, Alastin Ultranourishing Moisturiser, Meder Blepharolight Eye Cream, Intradermology Synergy 6 Suncream. I have a decaf coffee, and then do breath work or a meditation, followed by a cold plunge. I then exercise before I start my day properly. I do take a lot of supplements, but I genuinely believe this has to be bespoke to the individual.

When it comes to sleep…

I try to stay off screens after 9, I then like to remove my make up again using Verdilab’s cleanser, apply the same serums as I do in the morning, followed by Skin Repair Night Repair Therapy and Clinical Skin Ultra Rich Eye Cream. I sometimes do a little more breath work or meditation. I take some more supplements at night as well. And then as I get into bed I put my Apollo on my wrist which helps to soothe me to sleep.

Red light masks, lymphatic drainage and nootropics…

I love red light (as I said above), although many masks aren’t brilliant as they’re just not powerful enough. Also love lymphatic drainage and am a huge fan of Flavia Morellato for that. Nootropics again I’m a huge fan of, although it’s not a one size fits all. I also have to say functional mushrooms are impressive and I think we are only just beginning to understand their power.

If I could invent a beauty tech product…

I think there’d be real scope for a small skin-patch scanner that scans the local skin barrier in real time (hydration, pH, sebum, inflammatory peptides ). This would then connect to an app that interprets the data against your environment (UV index, pollen, stress-sensor feed); and micro-doses actives – think niacinamide, ceramides, hyaluronic acid – through dissolvable microneedles on demand. This could then advise you on what products/active ingredients to use on your skin. Today we guess which product to layer and hope for the best. This patch would give skin care the same real-time feedback that continuous-glucose monitors brought to nutrition – eliminating the trial-and-error shelf of half-used serums.

Cold plunges and infrared saunas…

I cold plunge most mornings and I love it – it really makes me feel alert and energised, and also helps me with post workout recovery. I have an infrared sauna blanket and I do find the convenience of this much easier for me than going to an actual sauna, and I find I have a deep sense of calmness afterwards . There’s some science behind both showing good health benefits, although the studies are small.

An overhyped beauty-tech trend…

For me, AI selfie “skin-age” apps are the most over-hyped beauty-tech trick of the moment. They promise dermatologist-level diagnoses from a phone photo, but in practice they’re little more than glorified wrinkle-counters. The algorithms are trained on limited, often light-skewed datasets, so results swing wildly with lighting, makeup, or ethnicity. They can’t see below the epidermis, where pigmentation and collagen loss actually start. The “personalised routines” they spit out are generally recycled product pushes, not medical advice. Fun to play with, yes – but no substitute for a proper consult or evidence-based skincare plan.

I’d say my non-negotiables are Vitamin D3 with Vitamin K, Magnesium, Omega 3s, a good B Complex, Vitamin C, Nuchido TIME+ to boost my NAD levels, and a good hydrolysed collagen supplement. I take a lot more than this but it’s all bespoke to me. I’m good at taking supplements and so taking lots of them is fine for me. But for many people it isn’t. I will split what I take between morning, lunchtime, dinner and then before bed.

My go-to brands…

Revision Skincare, Clinical Skin, Alastin, Verdilab and Murad. They’re all fantastic, rooted in science and give results.