Skin Care Secrets: Looking Ageless in your 30s, 40s, and 50s

These days, looking your best doesn’t have to mean looking years younger than your age. It means looking ageless. As in, your skin looks amazing, but you can’t really place a number on it. But don’t be fooled, agelessness is not effortless! Making sure your skin is as radiant, supple, line-free and damage-free as possible takes work. A combination of in-office skin care treatments as well as diligent at-home skin care will deliver the best results. When you prioritize your skin, it will thank you with years and years of ageless beauty. And it will never give away how many candles are on your next birthday cake.

Here, we asked Schweiger Dermatology Group’s licensed esthetician Jessica Larroy to weigh in on the best skin care treatments to help your skin look its most gorgeous in your 30s, 40s and 50s.

Skin Care in Your 30s

In the Dermatologist’s Office:
When you hit 30, your skin holds onto dead skin cells longer than when you were younger. This means that in order to help reveal the brighter looking skin hiding under those dead cells, you’ll need step in and remove them with an exfoliating treatment–either chemical or manual. “Monthly microdermabrasion treatments alternating with light chemical peels like glycolic acid or lactic acid help to exfoliate the skin, keeping skin fresh and pores clean,” says Larroy. “This will brighten your complexion, stimulate collagen and keep your texture smooth and soft.”

At Home Skin Care:
In your 30s is high time to add a hard working moisturizer into your skin care routine along with an broad-spectrum SPF 30 to protect your skin and keep fine lines and wrinkles at bay. “Moisturizing twice day and using daily sun protection helps prevent aging and sun damage,” says Larroy.

Skin Care in your 40s

In the Dermatologist’s Office:
Now is the time to start correcting some of the previous damage that may have occurred during your 20s and 30s. Along with Botox treatments to help ease fine lines and prevent future expression lines, you should be going into the office for light laser treatments. “Laser facials, such as Laser Genesis, are a great way to keep skin looking youthful and diminishing the appearance of fines lines,” says Larroy. “Minor extractions with the Laser Genesis laser treatment immediately following helps reduce redness,  stimulate  collagen and gives an overall glow and brightness to the skin.” Chemical peels can be done to target sun damage.

At Home Skin Care:
Thanks to the hormonal changes that start to happen in your 40s, you may begin to notice more brown spots popping up on your skin.  A decline in estrogen directly affects the role of melanocytes in the skin. When you hit 40, melanocyte cells start to decline by about 10%, which results in pigmentation issues on the skin. With regular use of a vitamin C serum, you can help brighten your skin and help fade those brow spots. Vitamin C can irritate some skin types, so if you have sensitive skin, try and find a serum that uses a non-acidic form of vitamin C, such as the ingredient magnesium ascorbyl phosphate, which is also happens to have skin lightening benefits. Vitamin C also helps fight free radicals, so using it under your sunscreen will give you the best protection against the sun’s damaging rays. The best combination is a serum that also has hyaluronic acid in the mix, which can help keep skin hydrated.

Skin Care in your 50s

At the Dermatologist’s Office:
When you get into your 50s, it’s time to consider heavier chemicals like the Vi Peel, which can be used to help shed excess dead skin, lighten hyper-pigmentation, shrink pore size and tighten skin. “The Vi Peel stimulates collagen production and is a great anti-aging method,” says Larroy. “Your skin will look clearer and tighter after even just one Vi Peel treatment.” Rather than undergo a full on facelift, there are newer, non-invasive options for tissue tightening, such as treatments like Thermage and Ulthera that will definitely  boost collagen production, tighten skin and restore skin elasticity.

At Home Skin Care:
It’s crucial to begin using gentler skin care products. Any product that uses harsh detergents or is overly fragranced will cause the skin to feel and appear drier. In your 50s is also the time to begin regular use of a retinol product during your night time skin care ritual. “Retinol can help skin cell turnover and with fine lines and wrinkles,” says Larroy. There are many moisturizers that now contain retinol, so you can multitask.

Jessica Larroy, is a licensed esthetician who has many years of experience helping her patients achieve ageless looking skin. Jessica treats patients from our Midtown Manhattan dermatology office location.