Figuring Out Skin Care as a 30 Year Old
I am very grateful I have a mom who constantly harped on me about taking care of my face (in a good way). I was constantly told to put on SPF, wash my face and we went to the dermatologist any time I requested it. When you grow up with serious acne, it helps to have a parent who is as neurotic about skincare as mine (again, in a good way). As I’ve gotten older, I have other concerns, mostly looking as young as possible for as long as possible, so my skin care routine constantly evolves. One of my gals asked me about what I do and I wrote her a novel length email, which I will now include here in case anyone else wants to know where to start to get their skin’s act together.
Three things I’d start with as essentials: sunscreen, vitamin C serum + a retinoid. If your current regimen is wash and moisturize, with really two, maybe three products you can start to see a big difference with daily use. From there, as you get more comfortable with a product line, budget, and impact you can add where you think your skin needs some additional love.
As for the thing I get professionally done, we’re looking at Botox, peels and facials. Botox I maintain quarterly – it might last a little longer for you when you first start. Find a nurse practitioner you trust and who doesn’t look insane when you roll in. You’ll usually start focused on forehead or the 11 between your eyebrows, Botox can be an awesome tool for prevention too so make sure you discuss your ideal budget (usually looking at $10-15/unit) with your practitioner because I’ve found the longer I do it, I tend to add incrementally. Even if you do add to the number of units – it’s not crazy, most people start out with “baby Botox” just to see an initial difference, for example I think the first time I did it 5 years ago or so I got 14 units and now I’m up to 20 something because I’ve started doing my crow's feet.
I’ve also done a handful of peels, these can be really helpful for treating discoloration or really difficult breakout areas (for me it’s my jawline). Peels are really just intense exfoliations using chemical exfoliators (acids) to reset the skin and accelerate cellular turnover (it’s not like your whole face will be insanely red like Samantha on that episode of Sex and the City). These I don’t do on a regular cadence, I could maybe do every 6 months to maintain the effect of limiting breakouts. With peels, make sure you also discuss starting slow with your practitioner especially if your skin is reactive. A lot of med spas/estheticians will also run specials on packages so that helps to keep you on a cadence and save dough.
I try to get a facial every 4-6 weeks. It’s really helpful because it keeps your skincare on a calendar, and an esthetician is the only person who should be doing extractions for you if you do have a breakout. I also recommend seeing the same esthetician regularly, because someone who knows your skin can be a huge resource to make recommendations for new products/processes specific to your skin. Find someone you like because they can also be an awesome skin educator.
Here are all the products I use on a regular basis, it’s a handful so take or leave what you think is helpful for you and how much time, effort and money you want to invest. I think the essentials are going to be a good gel cleanser, vitamin C serum, good eye cream, a retinoid and SPF (not from your make up). I’ll list the ones I like below. If you want to add from there, hyaluronic acid is great for additional hydration, I like salicylic acid treatments for breakouts, and I also like to dermaplane at home (basically shave my whole face once a week – use these razors and be gentle, I try to do it every Sunday night so I’m somewhat consistent).
At our age, we need to accelerate the gentle exfoliation process and turn over more cells more quickly – without using harsh physical exfoliators (scrubs). Also remember to adjust this by season/what treatment you’re doing. You’ll be able to turn up and down the nourishment to balance what’s going on with the weather or treatment you’re working on and if you add some products don’t panic if your skin has a bit of an adjustment period, lots of these things might kick your skin into a purge mode at first as it’s adjusting to new products.
Order of application:
AM:
1. Cleanser
2. Toner
3. Vitamin C
4. Serum
5. Eye Cream
6. Moisturizer/SPF
PM:
1. Cleanser
2. Toner
3. Vitamin C
4. Serums
5. Eye Cream
6. Retinoid
7. Moisturizer/oil
Product recommendations:
Cleanser: I like a gentle gel cleanser because my skin is a combination of break out prone and normal, rarely dry. I like these to get make up off without feeling like my skin is too tight. It’s also a good idea to double wash (mostly at night) to get everything off your face and then out of your pores on the second round (Fresh, Mario Badescu, lots of people like Purity but it’s not my personal favorite)
Toner: I generally don’t use a toner unless I am breaking out and then I like to use these kind (M61), they’re also great for evening out skin tone. If I need a little more refreshment or moisture I like a facial spray (Mario Badescu)
Vitamin C: A Vitamin C product is going to help protect against the day to day damage our skin endures, I like these products a ton (M61, they also have liquid serums I like, skinceuticals, I haven’t tried this one but I’ve heard it’s amazing Obagi Medical)
Serums: Skinceuticals – the blemish/salicylic acid one, Skinceuticals – the hyaluronic acid one
Eye Cream: I’ve never really found one I love, the key is to be consistent about it and wear big sunglasses to protect our crepey eyeball skin from wrinkling any further. I use this one (Neocutis)
Retinoid: I have to keep looking to find one I absolutely love here too, but it’s worth looking around some options and see what your skin reacts to, you might have to work your way up (alternating nights that you put it on at first) before you use it nightly. I also might recommend asking your dermatologist for a rx one they think would be a good fit for your skin. Here are some good over the counter ones (Drunk Elephant, Retivance)
Moisturizer/Oil: I like a lot of the M61 products, I like this Mario Badescu one, and love Marula Oil and the Vitner’s Daughter oils if you need a little extra at night. When I’m doing a lot of treatments and need to sleep with a layer to lube my skin back up, I like to use Weleda. I am also a huge fan of their lip balm and skin food for my hands during Chicago winters
SPF: SPF is a game changer especially as we age – make sure you’re using an SPF specific product, make up does not have nearly enough SPF in it to be using it as your only source, I use this PCA Skin sunscreen as my make up now and love Elta MD for a plain version
Spot Treatment: I like a salicylic acid base – these drying treatments are great to sleep with (Mario Badescu, M61), I also use this cleanser on tough breakout areas + my body if I get workout breakouts – so cool that that is still happening at this age.
Other resources who know more than me:
Jordan Harper – I love following her on Instagram to learn more about our specific age group skin care
I go to SpaDerma in Chicago – look for a facility with similar functionality in your location to find a practitioner you like!
Also shop around on a lot of these products – sooo many places are doing sales right now and different providers can send you the same products with different discounts, Ordinary and Mario Badescu are my favorites for high quality, low price point products.
I am now a beauty blogger, thank you for the promotion.