Carla Pooran: Twenty Years of Real Skin in a World Full of Influencer Advice
Carla Pooran, advanced aesthetic skin specialist and founder of SkinRenewal Clinic in Colchester, on twenty years of Harley Street training, midlife hormones, and the one rule she never breaks: never putting a treatment on a client she hasn't tried on herself first.
Let's be honest: most women don't think about their skin until something feels off.
Until what used to work suddenly doesn't. Until your reflection looks a little more tired than you feel. Until you catch yourself wondering whether everyone else can see the thing you're trying not to fixate on. At that point, skin stops being a background detail and becomes something you negotiate with daily.
For women navigating skin changes in their 40s and beyond, that negotiation gets more complicated. Hormones shift, sleep changes, and the skincare advice flooding every platform rarely accounts for what's actually happening at a cellular level. Smooth, glowing skin is held up as the effortless baseline, even as the conditions that produce it keep changing. The message is subtle but persistent: keep up.
For Carla Pooran, this disconnect between what women are told their skin should do and what it actually does has been central to her work for more than two decades.
Long before founding SkinRenewal Clinic, Carla was paying close attention to the emotional side of skin as much as the physical. To how confidence shifts when skin changes. To how often women blame themselves when routines fail. And to how little space there is in the industry for patience, genuine expert education and long-term thinking.
That perspective, shaped through lived experience working on London's Harley Street, led her to build her own clinic in Colchester and later create 40+ Skin Bootcamp: a six-week online programme for women who want real expertise, not another influencer's routine.
What Carla has built isn't about chasing perfection. It's about learning to work with your skin, not against it, and reclaiming confidence as life, priorities and bodies change.
You've struggled with your own skin. How much does that shape the work?
CARLA: As someone who personally struggled with acne throughout my teenage years and into adulthood, I know firsthand just how deeply skin can affect self-confidence. This isn't just my work. It's my passion, my purpose, and something I truly understand.
The one thing I always come back to is that no two skins are the same. That friend who's getting great results with retinol, but you try it and it makes your skin worse? That's why. Following trends and other people's routines doesn't mean it's right for you. Be patient and consistent, and it will pay off.
You trained under Dr Carl Thornfeldt in the US. Why was that a turning point?
CARLA: Dr Carl is the founder of the Epionce skincare range. Its concept is to strengthen the skin barrier, and by treating the skin barrier to achieve good skin health, this became the foundation of everything I do. It's why my clients achieve long-term, visible results rather than short-term fixes.
Do you think real experience is being undervalued in the age of algorithms and influencers?
CARLA: Yes. Social media has many positives, but also negatives. I've noticed that many clients feel totally overwhelmed by what they should and shouldn't be doing to their skin. Having hands-on experience, seeing skin every day and treating different concerns and conditions is invaluable when it comes to educating others. No algorithm can replace that.
What made you want to build your own clinic?
CARLA: After years of building a client base and training other professionals, including doctors, nurses and aesthetic therapists, I followed my lifelong dream and launched SkinRenewal Clinic. I wanted a private, boutique space in Colchester where I could deliver advanced treatments, personalised one-to-one care and truly expert advice. I also wanted flexibility for my family, and a business built on passion, integrity and results.
What did you have to unlearn when you went from working in established clinics to running your own?
CARLA: That I had to market myself. That never came up in someone else's clinic. Learning about social media and putting myself out there didn't come naturally to me at all, but it's such a big part of running a small business now. My job never stops. I love it, but having your own business is hard work. The rewards are amazing, but the responsibility sits entirely with you.
SkinRenewal launched during the pandemic. How did you adapt?
CARLA: I pivoted quickly. I began offering virtual skincare consultations and partnered with GetHarley, a platform that allowed me to recommend and deliver skincare globally. I built strong relationships with beauty bloggers, local communities, and clients who wanted not just products, but the right advice for their specific skin.
You were the first clinic in Essex to introduce the Byonik Laser and Sylfirm X. What drives those decisions?
CARLA: I always research thoroughly and listen to my clients' needs. I don't follow trending devices or skincare. I choose results-driven, safe, clinically backed options. And I would never bring something into the clinic that I hadn't trialled on myself first.
Both are award-winning with strong safety data. Being first in Essex to offer them meant clients could access treatments locally that they simply couldn't find elsewhere.
Your work has increasingly focused on skin changes in midlife. What were you noticing in your clients?
CARLA: The majority of my clients are over 40, and many, including myself, were noticing hormonal fluctuations affecting their skin. It would feel dry one day, then break out the next, with more inflammation overall.
It made me realise how important education is at this stage. People can feel more self-conscious and start buying every anti-ageing product they see. We're bombarded with images of celebrities and influencers looking younger than their years, and that pressure affects confidence in a real way.
I wanted to educate people without overwhelming them, helping them understand skin health from a 360-degree approach rather than offering quick fixes. That's how you get long-lasting, natural results.
What led you to create 40+ Skin Bootcamp?
CARLA: It was really driven by conversations with clients and friends of the same age. The general consensus was that people felt overwhelmed by information online and weren't sure what they should be doing for their skin during this stage of life.
My clients were getting this advice from me in-clinic, but many people either can't afford treatments, don't feel comfortable with them, or are too busy to visit regularly. So I thought: let's bring the education to them.
It's a guided six-week programme led by me, not an influencer, with over 20 years of hands-on experience behind it. It covers things people are genuinely confused about, collagen being the big one. With so many brands out there, how do you choose? Instead of constantly switching products, you get an online consultation and a digital skincare plan you keep. Six weeks of support, at an accessible price, from someone who has treated real skin every day for two decades.
Boundaries came up when we spoke. How are you thinking about that going into 2026?
CARLA: Boundaries are something I'm not the best with, but I'm working on it. It's been an extremely busy period: launching a second business while studying to further my qualifications. You need supportive people around you who believe in you. My family and friends have been amazing.
How has your definition of success changed?
CARLA: With age, your definition changes. I feel successful when my clients are happy and see results. That brings me joy.
I care deeply about what I do. I want to make a difference, not build a chain of clinics.