Life marches on, but you can have a radiant complexion no matter what stage you're at.
20's Fresh faced
At this age your skin is pretty much perfect. It's fresh, dewy and plump with collagen. Better still, it has superior restorative qualities, meaning you can get away with quite a lot. "When you're in your 20s you can stay out late, drink a little too much and not suffer the consequences, at least not as far as your skin is concerned," says Dr Amy Wechsler, dermatologist and author of The Mind-Beauty Connection (Simon & Schuster). At this age most women do not have any wrinkles at rest (meaning no lines when your face isn't moving), although you may have a few freckles and possibly the odd sunspot.
Your perfect skin plan:
Rule number one is to opt for oil-free and non-comedogenic products in order to keep pores clean and clear. Also, use a daily sunscreen. "You're never too young to start wearing sunscreen but you must choose the right one," Dr Wechsler says. "It must be broad spectrum and block UVA and UVB," she adds. Dr Wechsler recommends the Invisible Zinc range.
And while anti-ageing products are increasingly pitched towards a more youthful market, they're not necessary. Regular, gentle exfoliation and moisturising is enough. In all likelihood you won't need any cosmetic treatments either. That said, there is a small group of women who will develop a strong forehead line or a line between the brows late in this decade. They may benefit from what Dr Wechsler calls "baby Botox". "You use just a tiny bit and it can treat and prevent lines from getting deeper," she says. One last thing: no smoking. "Smoking is horrible for the skin," Dr Wechsler says, adding that secondhand smoke is equally damaging.
30's Preventative measures
By the time you hit your 30s your skin is less forgiving and your restorative capacities are slowing down. You'll probably have developed lines that show when your face is animated, such as laugh lines around the eyes. You might also have started to develop sunspots or have some blood vessels showing around the nose. At this age skin is beginning to lose some elasticity, meaning it's not as taut as it once was. Unfortunately, it can also become acne prone. It's common for women in their 30s to have to deal with both wrinkles and pimples!
Your perfect skin plan:
You should wear a quality sunscreen all year round. Pride of place in your beauty cabinet should be non-comedogenic products. Use these and you'll avoid blocked pores and breakouts. Diligent exfoliation and moisturising should still be taking place, but now is the time to introduce a topical retinoid product or some kind of topical anti-ageing treatment to your night-time skincare regime.
Dr Wechsler describes prescription-only Retin-A as the gold standard anti-ageing treatment. "Its efficacy has been proven with rigorous studies," she says. "It can prevent pre-cancers and cancers and also treat acne. It effectively treats fine lines, wrinkles and sunspots, plus it thickens the epidermis and the dermis, meaning younger-looking skin."
Many women in this age bracket try injectable wrinkle treatments such as Botox and fillers such as Juvederm. If you're one of them, ensure a qualified professional treats you. "Use wrinkle treatments to soften lines - not freeze faces," Dr Wechsler says. "That's not a good look. Having no expressions is not useful."
40+ Inner glow
It is in this decade that those fine lines turn into honest-to-goodness wrinkles and freckles become sunspots. Unfortunately you're also now even more likely to sport broken blood vessels and skin will have begun to sag a little more due to a loss of elasticity. You won't have that plump fullness to your features any more, particularly if you're thin.
Women who have entered peri-menopause (the period leading up to menopause itself) will also most likely experience skin dryness due to lack of the hormone oestrogen. However, there is an upside to all of these changes: no more pimples!
Your perfect skin plan:
We hate to keep repeating ourselves, but sunscreen remains of the utmost importance. "It doesn't matter how old you are," Dr Wechsler says. "You must still use sunscreen. That never changes." And if you've never used sunscreen before, it's not too late to start. Some women have the idea that the damage has already been done and that it's too late for preventive measures. This is not the case, Dr Wechsler says.
"There is always so much you can do to improve the quality of your skin, no matter what age you are," she says firmly. On that note, women in this age bracket should exfoliate regularly, perhaps daily, in order to keep skin looking fresh. Regular exfoliation also helps skin to absorb your daily moisturiser and night-time anti-ageing products, which should include a topical retinoid if you haven't begun using one already, Dr Wechsler says.
Laser resurfacing is now also an option. Unlike the lasers of old, fraxelated lasers such as Fraxel deliver resurfacing results with minimal recovery time. Injectable wrinkle treatments and fillers can also help to turn back the clock.
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