What Is a Good Skin Care Routine for Anti-Aging?
To keep your skin looking youthful, things like drinking lots of water and eating healthy are a good start. However, having a good skin care routine is also essential. While the process may take a little longer than simply washing your face, it’s worth it to put in the extra time. Many anti-aging products claim to work miracles, but the trick to maintaining youthful skin is more about the elements of the routine than a specific product. Since everyone has different skin, knowing those elements makes it easier to find products that work best for you.
You can take your ordinary skin care routine to the next level by understanding what a comprehensive skin care routine looks like, but also why it works. Here are some tips for finding the perfect anti-aging skin regimen.
Never Ever Skip the Sunscreen
If you’re going to follow just one step from this list, follow this one. Sunscreen is essential for maintaining youthful-looking skin. If you skip using sunscreen, you might as well just give up on trying to keep your skin looking young altogether. Without sunscreen in your skin care routine, you’re asking for additional wrinkles and age spots, not to mention a plethora of other potential skin problems, including increasing your risk of skin cancer.
You can opt for a moisturizer with sunscreen in it. This is great because it means you have to use fewer products on your skin, making your skin care routine a bit more streamlined. It also means you’re less likely to forget to use it. There are also plenty of CC (Color Correcting) creams and tinted moisturizers with SPF in the market. They can achieve three things in one: moisturizing, sunscreen protection, and light makeup coverage.
Mineral sunscreens — SPF with zinc or titanium dioxide — are becoming more and more popular. These reef-safe formulas tend to be gentler on the skin. Plus, they also may provide some protection against more than just the sun’s harmful UV rays. They can protect against high-energy visible light (HEV or blue light). HEV light can penetrate more deeply into the skin to act more potently in causing premature aging, wrinkles and sunspots.
Cleansing Is an Important Part of Any Skin Care Routine
Every skin care routine, including ones specifically designed for anti-aging, begins with cleansing. The cleanser you use is important and will vary depending on your skin type but it is not something that you should ever skip. That being said, using a cleanser that is too harsh or cleansing too often is not helpful either.
First of all, find a skin cleanser that works for you, consult your dermatologist or aesthetician to help you make an informed decision depending on your needs and skin type. Cleansing should never leave your skin overly dry or irritated. If you use makeup, make sure to never skip this step at night. Use an oil-based cleanser to properly clean your face without drying or over-stripping it.
If you have a problem with pimples, the most likely culprit is oil build-up leading to clogged pores. Developing a skin care routine that begins with cleansing is the best preventative measure. Washing your face with just water when you wake up in the morning — if you thoroughly cleansed your skin the night before — and with a cleanser before you go to bed at night is enough, as over-cleansing can end up breaking down your skin barrier and leaving you even more vulnerable to pimples.
The Toner Is Optional
After cleansing your skin, a toner can help you remove the remaining impurities that are leftover. Skin cleansers can throw off your skin’s pH balance. Toners help to bring the skin back to its ideal pH balance quickly.
A good toner can help close your pores after cleansing to prevent unwanted contaminants from entering. It can also give the appearance of smaller pores. Using a toner that contains hyaluronic acid will help maintain the skin’s moisture. For those with oily or acne-prone skin, using a toner with salicylic acid can also help prevent breakouts. But you may end up skipping this step altogether if you find the right cleanser for your skin type and opt to just use a serum after that.
Treat Your Skin With Vitamin C Serum
One of the skin’s greatest enemies is the sun. Another is pollution. A vitamin C serum can counteract the damages caused by both the sun and pollution on the skin. Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that helps to neutralize skin stress caused by free radicals. That way, you can avoid your skin from prematurely aging. What’s more, Vitamin C is crucial for your skin cells’ production of collagen, a protein produced in the body that supports your skin’s structure. Vitamin C serums can also help you with hyperpigmentation and uneven skin tone.
Not all vitamin C skin serums are the same. The good ones use a stable form of vitamin C that can absorb into the skin. Ascorbic acid, which may also be called L-ascorbic acid, is what you should look for in a vitamin C skin care product. Use it after cleansing and toning but before moisturizing.
Moisturizer Is Your Skin’s Best Friend
You absolutely cannot expect to have youthful-looking skin without moisturizing. Hydrated skin is essential to keep your skin barrier strong. One of the primary benefits of using a good moisturizer on your skin is that it makes it softer. Soft skin makes your wrinkles and lines much less apparent.
Most anti-aging moisturizers contain certain ingredients, such as retinoids, peptides, and hydroxy acids, and for good reason. Retinoids (like retinol) are a form of vitamin A that help speed up skin cell growth. When your skin cells are given the opportunity to rejuvenate more often, that can help keep your skin looking young. Retinoids have been known to irritate sensitive skin, though especially prescription-strength retinoids. If you have found this is the case for you, finding other anti-aging ingredients might be a better choice.
Peptides help keep your skin smooth by allowing it more room to stretch when you move. Hydroxy acids, usually alpha or beta hydroxy acid, act as exfoliants that remove dead skin cells and assist the growth of new skin cells. When choosing a moisturizing, pay attention to your skin type. For instance, if you have oily skin, get an oil-free moisturizer to prevent clogged pores.
Find a routine that works for you and your skin type. Remember that using more skin care products — or more expensive ones — doesn’t necessarily add to better-looking skin. Finding the right balance for you is key. Oh, and don’t forget to use sunscreen!
Resource Links:
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.1047.8142&rep=rep1&type=pdf
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/skin-care/art-20048237
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6280109/
https://www.dermstore.com/blog/different-types-of-cleansers/
https://www.allure.com/story/morning-skin-care-routine
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3673383/
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jocd.13252
