What skin care regimen should a woman in her 30s follow?
This simple 4-step process is going to hit all your skin’s needs: cleanse, nourish, hydrate, protect.
- Girl, wash your face. You’ve heard this a million times, from Rachel Hollis, your mother, and every glossy beauty mag. Washing your face is a no-brainer. You must wash off makeup at the end of every day. Even if you don’t wear makeup, a nighttime cleanse will wash off the daily grime (think excess oil, air pollution, etc.). This step preps your skin to absorb all the good-for-you ingredients in steps 2-4.
- Nourish that skin with a serum. Women in their 30s want to brighten + even their complexions, so a vitamin C serum is key. (Even skin = youthful skin!) Use this serum in the a.m. because vitamin C also protects against free radicals (nasty microscopic particles in the air that disrupt + damage your skin). Women in this age range are also all about fighting fine lines and wrinkles, and that’s where a vitamin A comes in clutch because it promotes faster cell turnover. Speeding up cell turnover means more collagen, which plumps up those fine lines and wrinkles. Vitamin A = retinol and retinoids, so look for those on the ingredient list of your serum. Use this as part of your nighttime routine because sunlight breaks down Vitamin A and makes it less effective. (No use in slapping something on your face that won’t work! Protect that product investment.)
- Hyrdate to lock it all in. Moisturizer is so important! It’s constantly losing moisture, so adding it back in as a skin care step is a must. But moisturizer also acts as a locking step; it provides a barrier for the ingredients in your serum(s), so the good-for-you ingredients sink into your skin rather than evaporating away. You want elements like vitamins C and A to penetrate the skin in order to see results, and moisturizer helps with this.
- Protect your skin investment. There is also no sense in spending money, time, and energy on a skin care routine if you aren’t going to protect your skin at the end. This means SPF every day of the year (no matter the season, the weather, or if you aren’t going to be outside that much– UV rays pass through windows in your car, house, and office!) each morning to finish off your regimen. Read more about how important SPF is right here. And while you’re at it, make sure you’re dragging that SPF application down onto your neck, chest, and the backs of your hands. That skin sees daily exposure, too!
Note: if you are pregnant or thinking of becoming pregnant, check with your doctor before switching up your skincare routine to make sure the ingredients are safe to use during pregnancy.
What order should you apply skincare products after washing?
After washing, you want to apply thinnest to thickest. Products like serums are going to be thinner than moisturizers, so serums come before moisturizers.
Always finish with SPF (if it’s not included in your daytime moisturizer). A powder SPF (like this one!) is brilliant for finishing over makeup + touching up throughout the day. That SPF you put on your face in the a.m. is not going to protect you on your commute home from the office, girlfriend– gotta reapply!
What are the best anti-agers?
In your 30s and wondering what anti-aging ingredients are the best for you? Look for vitamin C and vitamin A (also called retinol or retinoids). These are the powerhouses of the anti-aging product industry, and the science on the results they deliver is time-tested.
As much as I love a new anti-aging ingredient, the reality is the science can be lacking, relatively new, or the results haven’t even been tested at all. With the ingredient below, these are known to deliver the results they promise:
Vitamin C: brightens and evens the complexion, giving you a youthful glow. It also protects from free radicals– bonus! Use in the a.m.
I have been using the Vivier C E peptides serum in the morning lately. I love the smell (apples!) and the way my skin drinks this stuff up. The glow factor is real.
Vitamin A: speeds up cell turnover (which slows down as we age), plumping up those fine lines and wrinkles. Use in the p.m. before bed because sunlight degrades the effectiveness of vitamin A.
I love the Avene product line, and this retinol cream is a new favorite. It’s gentle enough to use every day and it goes on smooth before my evening moisturizer. Now that I’ve blasted my sun spots and fine lines with BBL and Halo, further refining my skin’s texture and tone is so key! A retinol is the way to do it.
What about extras? Eye cream? Toner? Neck cream?
The skin care routine outlined above will totally deliver glowing, youthful skin– but sometimes a girl wants some extra perks, am I right? Once you have the basics down, feel free to add in some skin care extras.
Eye cream is a great addition to help with dark circles, fine lines and creases, undereye bags, etc. I love this one! It’s good for all skin types and is really hydrating without leaving the eye area greasy.
Toners/astringents should be reserved for people who have oily skin; it’s too drying for most skin types. I like to spritz on this rose water + glycerin combo in between my cleansing and serum steps because it hydrates and refreshes (without the alcohol).
I preach this all the time, so stop me if you’ve heard it before: anything you do to your face, you should do to the neck, chest, and backs of the hands. This skin is just as delicate as the skin on our face but doesn’t get nearly the same love + attention. (These areas actually have fewer oil glands than our faces, so they’re even more prone to aging.) You can add a neck cream to your regimen; this one from Neocutis is bomb because it has a tightening effect and is full of glycolic acid (to even tone and reduce age spots) and vitamin C (to brighten and reduce wrinkles).
If you want to keep your routine streamline, just use a little extra serum + moisturizer and bring those products down your neck and chest to get similar results.
What is one thing every woman in her 30s should do for great skin?
If you can only do one extra thing for your skin in your 30s, use a vitamin A (retinol, retinoid). It’s one of the best anti-agers available! The science is solid and adding vitamin A to your skin care routine is the first thing you should do when looking to boost your anti-aging regimen.
