Skin care needs shift with age. Adding exfoliants, vitamin C or retinol on top of the basics of sunscreen and moisturizer can help.
Article Highlights
- Healthy skin matters more than looking younger.
- In your 20s, focus on the basics. Learn your skin type and build a simple routine that includes cleansing, moisturizing and daily sunscreen use.
- In your 30s, consistency becomes even more important. Consider adding products such as vitamin C and antioxidants, and talk with a skin care professional about whether retinol is right for you.
- In your 40s, it may be time to step up your routine. Retinol, exfoliation and professional treatments like chemical peels or lasers can help address signs of aging and support skin health.
- In your 50s and beyond, personalize your approach. Work with a qualified aesthetician, dermatologist or plastic surgeon to determine which treatments and skin care products best match your goals and skin type.
There's certainly no shortage of skin-care products and advice available these days, but that doesn't mean finding a good skin-care routine is easy.
Plus, your skin changes over time. Doesn't that mean how you keep it healthy will change, too? (It does.)
The reality is that the best skin-care routine in your 30s looks different than it does in your 20s, 40s, 50s and beyond.
Here to help is Annie Christenson, a medical aesthetician who works with ENT specialists at Houston Methodist.
"We want to keep our skin healthy," says Christenson. "It doesn't necessarily have to look young, but we want to make it look as healthy as possible. Skin aging is one of the fears that we may have, but we're going to get old regardless. So we want to just look and feel as healthy as possible. That's the main thing with skin health."
Early on, Christenson says your skin-care routine should focus on wearing sunscreen, learning the type of skin you have and finding a moisturizer that works for it. Those steps will provide the foundation for proper skin care as you age.
Eventually your routine will include exfoliation and more advanced skin-care products, like those containing antioxidants, vitamin C, vitamin A or retinol.
It might sound overwhelming, but Christenson breaks down what your skin-care routine steps should look like in the video above — regardless of your age.
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