Kate and Bryan’s advice

Kate’s skin protocol: age 30, skin measured at 21

Kate Tolo is 30, and a skin scanner puts her skin at 21. She helped Bryan Johnson build his health protocol, then applied it to her own skin. Her secret is a five-step method: treat, build the basics, measure, target, re-measure. 🧴

Updated November 7, 2026 · By Julien Rayes · Version française

The video

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Who Kate Tolo is

Kate Tolo works with Bryan Johnson, the American entrepreneur known for Blueprint, his protocol that tries to slow aging by measuring everything. Five years ago, she says, she ate at McDonald’s, had had acne for years and did nothing special for her skin. While building Bryan’s protocol, she applied the same logic to herself: measure first, act second, then check.

She says she got her results without fillers or Botox.

What “skin age 21” means

🔬 Kate says it herself: she doesn’t claim to look 21, or that her whole face is 21. The number comes from a VISIA scanner, a multispectral imaging device found in many dermatology and aesthetic medicine clinics. It measures eight markers and compares them with people of the same age and skin type:

• Spots.
• Pores.
• Wrinkles.
• Texture.
• UV spots, invisible to the naked eye.
• Brown spots.
• Red areas.
• Porphyrins, residues of acne-related bacteria.

What the scanner can’t see

VISIA doesn’t measure collagen, skin elasticity, bone or facial fat, yet these matter a lot in aging. As for the numbers, Kate’s skin measured 26 when she was 27, then 21 at age 30. So she gained five years while three went by. The “9 years” in her video’s original title (“I reversed my skin age by 9 years”) is the current gap between her age and her skin age.

Her real secret: a five-step method

Kate doesn’t advise copying her list of treatments. The most useful thing she learned, she says, is the approach, far more than the choice of laser, supplement or cream. If she started again today, she would do this:

• 🩺 Treat skin diseases first. Acne, rosacea, eczema, psoriasis, melasma: these are medical conditions, not vanity. Each has its own treatment, to be decided with a doctor.
• Master the basics: avoid UV, cleanse and moisturize daily, sleep better, eat better, move. It sounds boring, and it carries the most weight.
• Measure: get a VISIA scan at a clinic and keep the results. Each marker comes out as a percentile: 55% for redness means your skin does better than 55% of people your age on that point.
• Target: instead of chasing “better skin,” go after the weakest marker. For wrinkles, for example, tretinoin; for UV spots, sun protection first. Always with a doctor’s input, ideally a dermatologist.
• Re-measure: repeat the scan and watch the numbers move. It’s the only way to know whether a treatment really works.

Everything she used

Kate rushes through her list, which she considers secondary. Here it is in full, grouped by type.

⚠️ Medical treatment: a micro-dose of isotretinoin (Accutane), 40 mg once a week, under medical supervision, for her acne. She says it changed her life. It’s a prescription drug with side effects and a serious risk during pregnancy: never take it without a doctor.

• Active ingredients on the skin: BHA (salicylic acid), niacinamide, azelaic acid, tretinoin.
• Supplements: hyaluronic acid, vitamin C, omega-3, copper, vitamin D, then collagen and carotenoid antioxidants for the more advanced.
• In-clinic treatments: microneedling, IPL or BBL (intense pulsed light), Sculptra, 1,550 nm laser, Sofwave (ultrasound that firms the skin), 595 nm pulsed dye laser.
• At-home device: red light therapy (LED).
• Lifestyle: avoiding sun and UV, sleeping better, eating better, exercising.

Blueprint products

🛒 Kate also mentions Blueprint products, the brand of Bryan Johnson, for whom she works. She says herself that these are “their” products and you can find the equivalent elsewhere. Read this part as an interested recommendation.

The links go to Blueprint’s official store, which ships to France. Prices checked on November 7, 2026, in dollars, before shipping:

• Collagen Peptides, powdered collagen: $45.
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil: $39.
• Longevity Mix, a powdered supplement blend you mix with water: $49.
• Omega-3: $39.
• Advanced Antioxidants: $49.
• Essential Capsules, vitamin and mineral capsules: $49.
• SFC Facial Serum, the serum: $59.
• SFC Facial Moisturizer, the moisturizer: $69.
• Gentle Facial Cleanser, the cleanser: $39.
• The easiest way: put all nine products in your cart in one click, about $437 in total. You can remove anything you don’t want before paying.

Bonus: the sun

☀️ For Kate, sun protection is the best starting point in almost every case: sunscreen, covering clothes, a hat, a parasol, a face veil, even tinted car windows. It is also the anti-aging treatment with the best evidence behind it.

What to take from it

The strength of her account is the method: treat a skin problem like a health problem, and judge a treatment by measurements rather than the mirror or advertising. Kate is blunt about it: the beauty industry sells a lot of things that don’t work.

The limits are real. This is the result of one person, with extraordinary resources and about twenty treatments at once, so there is no way to know which one mattered. Sculptra is an injection, even if it is neither a classic filler nor Botox. Lasers, isotretinoin and tretinoin are decided with a dermatologist. And some of the products come from her own brand.

💧 The most transferable part comes down to three habits: daily sun protection, a simple morning and evening routine, then a single active chosen for your weak point.

What the scan looks at

The GlowUpTogether scan isn’t a VISIA: it has no UV light and no special sensor. It spots what shows on the skin in your photo (acne, scars, dark circles, spots, redness) and rates its quality. Your plan then suggests the most useful treatments for your case, in order, and you can redo the scan to track progress, in the spirit of Kate’s method.

Source: Kate Tolo, “My Science Backed Skincare Routine” (originally titled “I reversed my skin age by 9 years”), YouTube, November 6, 2026. Personal experience, not medical advice, as she says herself.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kate Tolo’s secret for her skin?

A method more than a product: treat your skin problems first, build the basics (sun, hydration, sleep, diet, exercise), measure your skin with a scanner, target the weakest marker, then re-measure.

Did she use Botox or fillers?

No, according to her. She does mention Sculptra, an injected product that stimulates collagen production, several lasers and a micro-dose of isotretinoin.

What is micro-dose Accutane?

Low-dose isotretinoin: 40 mg once a week in her case, for acne, under medical supervision. It’s a prescription drug that must not be taken during pregnancy. 💊

Where can you get a VISIA scan?

At a dermatology or aesthetic medicine clinic that has the device. Search “VISIA scan” and your city. Keep your results to compare with the next scan.

Do you need to buy the Blueprint products?

No. Kate says herself you can find the equivalent elsewhere, and it’s her employer’s brand. A drugstore sunscreen, gentle cleanser and moisturizer cover the basics.