The Best Skincare Advice For Mature Skin

As skin ages it inevitably becomes thinner, drier, more delicate and less springy. Sounds familiar? Then here’s how to take charge of your aging skin.

Let’s face it, your skin is not what it used to be. When you smiled in your teenage years, there were likely very few fine lines around your eyes, right? And during your 30s your skin was probably way more glowing, firm and plump than it is now (even if you weren’t aware of it at the time!). 

It’s a fact of life, once you hit your mid-40s and beyond, your skin undergoes significant changes that alter its youthful look and feel.

What Happens To Your Skin As You Age?

According to the National Institute on Aging, as skin ages the outer layer gets thinner, paler and less stretchy. This is mainly due to the skin losing collagen and elastin at a rate of knots. As you know, these proteins are vital for maintaining strength, structure, support and elasticity in the skin. You're born with tons of the stuff which is why young skin is so plump and soft. Once you hit your mid-20s, however, most people start to produce 1 percent less collagen every year which results in visible wrinkles and sagging. Cell turnover also decreases, while hyaluronic acid and sebum production naturally slow down, further contributing to the dryness, dullness, uneven skin tone and consequent wrinkling of mature skin.

It's basically all downhill from the day you hit your 21^st birthday!

OK, so it’s not that bad, but in all fairness, time does a real number on your skin. And when you factor in everything else you throw at it, including exposure to UV radiation, pollution, stress and poor diet choices, the health of your skin is going to really feel the hit.

The good news is that if you employ smart skincare practices, skin can radiate with health – whatever your age. Full disclosure: it’s unlikely to look porcelain-clear and as smooth as a baby’s bottom without more serious professional treatments that involve needles and surgery, but if you set yourself realistic goals, you will not be disappointed by what an effective skincare routine can achieve.

Our Essential Skincare Routine For Mature Skin

Great skincare isn’t about erasing every single sign of aging. It’s about keeping your skin healthy, glowing and functioning at its very best. So let’s see what you can do to help your skin be the most radiant version of itself at this ripe age, shall we?

First, Know That Simple Skincare Is Best

Harsh skincare ingredients like denatured alcohol, strong synthetic fragrances and butt-kicking sulfates are mature skin’s nemesis. How so? Because they strip away natural oils and other vital nutrients from the skin’s very important barrier function. Your barrier function helps your skin to retain moisture while protecting it from external aggressors so it’s super important, especially as you age and it naturally becomes compromised.

Stick with kind-to-skin ingredients in your routine and look out for products specifically formulated for sensitive or mature skin as these will contain fewer strong ingredients that have the potential to dry out or irritate your skin. Start right with a super gentle cleanser, but make sure you cleanse morning and night to reduce pore-clogging build-up on the surface of your skin. Our Soothing Cleansing Milk is a must.

Embrace Retinol: The Queen Of Aging Skin

When it comes to ingredients you should look out for, there are many greats out there. Vitamin C, for example, is awesome for improving dull, uneven-looking skin while peptides are fantastic for boosting your collagen and elastin supplies. Niacinamide is a fabulous antioxidant that’s gentle on the skin and helps to strengthen the skin’s barrier. 

But by far the most recommended ingredient for aging skin is retinol. An all-round, skin-improving powerhouse, retinol has been studied for decades. And it’s proven to work. By communicating with your skin at a cellular level, retinol is known to boost healing and rev up the production of collagen and elastin which accelerates cell turnover and strengthens your skin while improving elasticity, suppleness, tone, texture, the works. It even helps decrease acne breakouts. Yes, it’s that good.

We love our Retinol Facial Serum but if you don’t get on with retinol try Rejuvenating Longevity Serum which contains bakuchiol, nature’s gentler-but-just-as-good alternative.

Try A Collagen Supplement

As you will have now gathered, collagen is a major player in the structure and strength of your skin, and a very effective way to help improve depleted supplies as skin ages is with a collagen supplement.

Our Collagen Boosting Skin Supplement is formulated with vegetarian collagen only (that’s important because not all brands are) and safely helps to improve your skin’s natural production of quality collagen. It makes for a great addition to your daily routine and requires zero effort and time. No brainer, right?

Never Leave The House Without Applying SPF

This applies to skin at any age but as you get older sunscreen is absolutely, no questions asked, the most non-negotiable step in your morning skincare routine. In fact, a broad spectrum SPF 30 sunscreen is widely known to be the single most effective product for reducing the visible signs of premature aging.

If you don’t fancy adding another step to your morning regime you HAVE to try our new SPF30 Mineral Sunscreen Facial Serum which is super sheer and goes on before your moisturizer making it the easiest way to safeguard your skin from UV damage.  

Make Moisture A Priority

Skin loses valuable moisture as it ages and its protective barrier gets thinner and weaker. It’s imperative, therefore, to ensure you do everything you can to pump moisture back into the skin. Drinking plenty of fluids is crucial but as is using your skincare routine to layer on hydration.

Look out for ingredients like hyaluronic acid, aloe and glycerin in everything from your toner to your serum and moisturizer. These draw water to the surface of your skin like magnets. Just make sure your moisturizer also contains ingredients that lock all that hydration into your skin. Things like shea butter, vitamin E, ceramides and jojoba oil are your best bet.

Try Vitamin C Brightening Moisturizer which also works to brighten dull, uneven skin with the gentle but mighty sodium ascorbyl phosphate (a derivative of vitamin C).

Boost Cell Turnover With Gentle Exfoliation

Remember all that talk about cell turnover slowing down as you get older? Exfoliation helps to speed things up by actively removing dead skin cells so the newer, fresher ones have no choice but to reveal themselves at a surface level.  

If you’re not already exfoliating, change that starting from today. Begin with once-weekly usage and gradually increase as your skin becomes acclimated. Also, just like your entire routine, choose gentler products that don’t overstimulate or damage the skin.

Our Vitamin C Gentle Face Scrub is awesome if you’re into physical exfoliation but if you’re not keen on using a scrub we can also recommend 6% AHA, BHA + PHA Liquid Exfoliant which uses chemical exfoliants to gentle break down dead skin cells so they slough away naturally. Both are winning choices, even if we do say so ourselves.

Don’t Forget Your Neck

Last but not least, remember that whatever goes on your face should continue down your neck and chest. Cleanser, toner, serum, SPF, moisturizer, the lot. The skin on your neck is thinner than your face so neglect it at your peril.