Fantasia Salon / Spa and Wig Specialists

Most of us never start any kind of skin care until we begin seeing things in the mirror which disturb us. Perhaps you were fortunate to have a mother with beautiful skin who passed along her secrets. Better still, perhaps you were wise enough to listen to what she had to say.

As you age, your skin care protocol will change, at least it should change and evolve. Obviously a 20 year old skin needs far less maintenance than  50 year old skin. Typically in your 20s, the issues you are most likely to face are some acne and some discoloration from sun damage. The most important thing you can do is protect your skin with sunscreen, daily. And, don’t neglect your neck, chest and hands along with your face. A good regimen to follow in your 20s would be to use a light moisturizer containing sunscreen which provides UVA and UVB protection. Chose a product containing zinc oxide or titanium dioxide. Remember, sun can cause premature aging and you don’t need to look like you are 40 something in your 20s!

If you are one to stay up all hours of the night drinking, smoking, partying, you should be aware that it will take its toll on your face (skin). You may want to kick start your anti-aging program now by applying a serum at night that contains Vitamin C. SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic Serum would be an excellent choice for you as it will help fight the free radical damage your lifestyle is causing. You will also need a good light moisturizer.

In your 30s, you may still be dealing with discoloration caused by sun damage or melasma (which is caused by birth control). Both are big skin care challenges. Now is a good time to start exfoliating regularly because skin only exfoliates naturally every 35 days as opposed to every 14 days as it was doing when you were in your 20s. A good regime at this stage of your life would begin with a good cleanser. If you were using a foaming cleanser in your 20s, you may want to switch to a non-foaming, non-drying cleanser. You should use a daytime moisturizer before applying your sunscreen product. Preferably use one containing antioxidants as there are studies suggesting that antioxidants act synergistically with the sunblock to help guard against photodamage. And, this can correct “old” damage!

Add a retinoid such as SkinCeuticals Retinol to help improve the overall texture and tone of your skin. The highest strengths of retinoids are prescription only, but, unless you have some major issues and are working with a dermatologist, the over the counter will be a good close second. Retinoids are applied at night, and caution- do not apply them to your upper eyelids as they will be too irritating.

If you feel like your skin doesn’t need additional moisture after applying the retinoid, use a basic moisturizer that does not contain additional retinol. No need to “over treat” your skin.

So, we’ve talked about the 20s and the 30’s. If every woman followed the above discussed protocols, they would look alot better in their 40s, 50s and beyond. We will talk about these age groups in our next post!