Have Younger Skin

Mature Skin Care

Good news: With the right care, skin that’s late-thirty-something, forty-something or even beyond can look more youthful. Even better, much of the damage we associate with aging skin-roughness, blotches, brown spots, wrinkling-is causes not by the passing of the years but by unprotected exposure to the sun. Translation: A lot of age-related skin damage is preventable.
As you approach midlife, your skin care routine should center on preventing further sun damage and replenishing the moisture young skin has naturally. But it’s also wise to rethink skin care habits you’ve been following for years: You may need to replace an oily skin routine with one for dry skin or intensify the dry skin routine you already follow.
As you will see, gentle care, a daily dose of sunscreen and the right makeup can go a long way toward restoring a woman’s youthful appearance. And if you so desire, a dermatologist can offer even more rejuvenating skin treatments.
No need to buy expensive products that may not live up to their promises. Following these few simple steps can help keep your complexion fresh and lovely.
Cleanse gently. If your formerly oily skin now feels a little dry, switch from a soap, which can be harsh, to a gentle soap-free cleanser formulated for dry skin. Try superfatted bars (beauty bars), or soap free liquid cleansers for dry skin. If your skin is extremely dry, try a tissue-off cleansing cream-the oiliest cleanser of all.
Uncover fresh skin. Exfoliating, or sloughing off dull, dead cells from the surface of your skin, reveals the new, fresh skin beneath. The best way to exfoliate mature skin, says experts, is with Retin-A, the prescription vitamin A cream that unglues dead surface skin cells and stimulates the skin’s production of collagen, the stuff that keeps skin firm and supple.
Never exfoliate with abrasive pads or grainy cleansers. Using these products can dilate the blood vessels in your face. Over time, these vessels will stay dilated, causing reddened, irritated, blotchy skin.
Nourish skin with moisture. Skin produces less oil as we get older. How much oil it produces varies from person to person. Since oil keeps skin soft and supple, locking in your skin’s moisture may be your biggest skin care challenge.
It’s recommended using a light, water-based moisturizer for daytime under makeup, and a heavier, oil-based product, or even plain petroleum jelly before bed.

Ruddy Skin Care

Ruddy skin-that is, a preplexion-has much in common with fair skin. Both tend to be dry, sensitive and prone to sun damage. And like fair skinned folks, people with ruddy skin are more likely to develop rosacea, a chronic but treatable condition that commonly affects the skin of people of Northern European descent.
It’s possible to have a ruddy complexion without developing rosacea. But whether you have plain ruddy skin or rosacea, a gentle skin care routine will help keep your complexion calm.
These tips can help jeep your complexion at its loveliest.
Use a gentle soap. If your skin isn’t excessively dry, choose a soap without added emollients. You may also try a foaming face wash. If your skin is very dry, opt for a soap with added emollients.
Above all, avoid antibacterial and deodorant soaps, as they can irritate your skin.
The right way to wash. If you have ruddy skin, avoid abrasive facial pads or washcloths-they’re tough on your complexion. Rather, massage your cleanser into your skin with your fingertips, then rinse well with plenty of lukewarm water. Cleanser residue can cause irritation. Then gently blot your face dry with a thick cotton towel.
Nix alcohol-based products. If your ruddy skin is normal or dry, avoid toners or astringents. But if you have oily skin or combination skin, with an oily forehead, nose and chin (the T-zone), and feel you must use one of these products, opt for an alcohol-free toner.
Moisturize if you must. The perception is that people of Northern European descent have drier skin. But ruddy skin can be oily or dry. Your T-zone may produce enough oil that you don’t need to use a moisturizer in this area. But with ruddy skin, it’s often necessary to moisturize the cheeks.
Some Do’s and Don’ts for Ruddy Skin
Do…
Use a mild cleanser.
Wear shades of makeup that can help downplay ruddiness.
Camouflage extreme ruddiness by using a green underbase.
Apply a sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or above every day.
See a dermatologist if you suspect rosacea.
Don’t…
Cleanse skin with abrasive products.
Use astringents and toners. If you feel you must use these products, opt for an alcohol-free toner.
Moisturize your T-zone if it’s oily.
Forget to use sunscreen every time you go outdoors.

Oily Skin Care

If you have oily skin, consider yourself blessed. The oil you bemoan now will beautify your complexion later.

Oily skin is more resistant to sun damage, harsh treatment and wrinkles than, say fair or dry skin.

But while oily skin can bounce back from insult after insult, punishing your skin with harsh cleansing products to scrub away oil can leave your complexion dull and flaky. And if you have mature skin, bear in mind that your oil glands produce less oil after menopause. So continuing an oily skin-care regimen out of habit rather than necessity may be hurting rather than helping your skin.

The bottom line? Your natural oil is a built-in lubricant, a beauty oasis. So don’t fight oil-control it.

You scour your face with a harsh soap, use astringent to dry up the oil and then slather on moisturizer to ease the tightness and flaking that the astringent has left behind. That’s the way to keep oily skin in line, right? Wrong: While drying soaps and alcohol-based astringents do cut oil, over time they can damage your skin. And despite what you may have heard, trying to scrub away oil is even worse. Trying to get rid of oil by scrubbing your skin with abrasive facial pads and grainy cleansers is the worst thing you can do-it can actually stimulate your oil glands to produce more oil.

To keep your skin at its loveliest, cleanse with soaps that have been proven to be mild. If you have oily skin, avoid superfatted soaps that contain emollients like cocoa butter, lanolin or olive oil. While they’re gentle, your complexion doesn’t need the extra oil they contain.

You might also try a soap-free liquid cleanser formulated specifically for oil skin. Liquid cleansers are the mildest of all. Look for a clear formula rather than a milky-white or opaque one-a sign of added moisturizers your skin doesn’t need.

Unless you break out, avoid drying antiseptic or antibacterial cleansers. And when you’ve found the perfect product, resist the urge to wash your face ten times a day: Like scrubbing, over cleansing can rile your oil glands into producing more oil. Wash as little as you can-just enough to feel clean and comfortable.

Astringents-commonly formulated with alcohol and little else-remove dirt and oil, temporarily shrink pores and can give your skin a pleasant feeling of tautness. But tightness doesn’t equal cleanliness: Use too much astringent on a daily basis and even the oiliest skin can flake, peel, sting or burn.

If your skin is so oily you feel you must use an astringent, limit it to twice a day. But don’t whip out the astringent every time you feel the oil pooling.

If you have oily skin, reverse astringent for wiping away oil between cleansing or during your workout. Tuck a few astringent pads, into your gym bag and use them during your workout to wipe away oil and perspiration-a mix that can provide a breakout.

Dry Skin Care Tips

Dry Skin Care
If dry skin leads the list of your beauty woes, take heart: Your complexion may not be as dry as you think. While that tight, parched feeling can be aged-related, dry skin may also be caused by a cleaner that’s too harsh, a moisturizer that’s not rich enough for your skin’s needs or rough treatment, like over-scrubbing with a grainy facial cleanser.
So before you cry dry, take a closer look at your skin-care routine: If you have truly dry skin, you’re dry everywhere-your face, your scalp, your body. And cold, dry weather just aggravates the problem.
But relief is possible: An extra-gentle cleansing routine teamed with the right moisturizer can help make even the thirstiest skin lovelier and more supple.
Dry skin tends to be thinner and less oily that other skin types, so it can’t recover from harsh cleansers as easily. It’s important to find a cleanser that removes dirt and makeup thoroughly without hanging your skin out to dry.
Some Signs of Dry Skin
• Roughness to the touch
• Flakiness, tightness
• Occasional itchiness
• Rare breakouts
But don’t turn to soap. Many soaps, especially antibacterial or deodorant soaps, can chap dry skin, leaving it vulnerable to rashes caused by makeup or other skin-care products. Your eyelids are particularly vulnerable, especially if your skin is sensitive as well as dry.
So scrap soap and opt for a soap-free cleanser instead. There are many to try, including superfatted bars (often called beauty bars) with added emollients like olive oil or lanolin, milky liquids or tissue-off cleansing creams. If your skin is severely dry, you might try a cleanser that can be used without water. You can rinse it off if you prefer, and they’re so mild just about anyone can use one.
Oily cleansers, especially the tissue-off kind, can make even the driest skin sprout blemishes, however. So make sure your cleanser is not formulated with ingredients known to cause blemishes (noncomedogenic). But even these cleansers aren’t guaranteed blemishproof, so if your breaking out after two to six weeks, try another cleanser.
Your morning cleansing routine couldn’t be simpler: Just splash or mist your face with water to hydrate it. At night, use your fingertips to gently remove makeup and dirt. Don’t use a washcloth or an abrasive facial pad: they’re too rough for dry skin. Here is a suggested cleansing technique:
If you’re using a lathering cleanser, make suds in the palm of your hand, then transfer the lather to your fingertips or a disposable cotton pad.
Massage the cleanser into you’re your skin, moving fingers or pad in a circular motion.
Rinse or tissue off the cleanser as directed on the label.
Gently blot your face dry with a soft towel. Never rub.
Apply moisturizer while your skin is still damp to seal in the moisture your skin has just absorbed.

Sun Damaged Skin Care Tips

Sun-Damaged Skin
When you were a child, did you get at least one bad sunburn? Were you a sun worshiper as a teenager or young adult. Often baking in the sun bathed in a generous coating of baby oil? Did you regularly play tennis or golf, sail, garden or power-walk in the park without first slathering on a strong sunscreen?
If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, it’s likely that your skin has suffered some degree of sun damage (called photoaging)-even if you don’t use see it yet. That’s because sun damage sneaks up on you like a thief, eventually robbing unprotected skin of its youthful appearance and turning it leathery, yellowed, blotchy and wrinkled.
Happily, it’s never too late to start protecting your skin from the sun or repair even decades of sun damage. And since photoaging is every woman’s concern, it’s wise to add some elements of this sun-damaged home-repair kit to your primary skin-care routine, regardless of your complexion, skin type or age.
Avoiding the sun and using a strong sunscreen every day are the cornerstones of this at-home program. But a dermatologist can offer further treatment options if you need them, or even help you prevent sun damage before it shows up on your skin, says specialists.
The majority of sun damage occurs before your 18th birthday, according to a leading plastic and reconstructive surgeon. Sun damage occurs within the skin very early in life, but you may not see it in the mirror for decades.
What’s more, it doesn’t take much sun to harm your skin. Even two bad sunburns can start the ball rolling. And as appealing as it may look, a suntan is just a slower type of sun damage. Even if you always had a glorious tan, all those golden moments will add up to prematurely aged skin.
Worst of all, sun damage is cumulative. Every minute you’re out in the sun without sunscreen-biking through the park, driving in your car, even walking to and from the corner store-can age your skin. So anyone who’s serious about maintaining youthful-looking skin needs to stop soaking in the sun and start avoiding it. The benefits: a smoother, more lustrous complexion that out-glows any suntan.
If your like many people, you know wearing sunscreen protects your skin-but you keep forgetting to use it. Or you don’t want to add another step to your skin-care routine. Or you just can’t give up that sun-kissed glow. No more excuses: It’s easier then ever to shield your skin from sun damage or give up your complexion the sun-kissed glow you crave.
Simplify your sun protection. Don’t want to use sunscreen, moisturizer and foundation? Streamline your beauty routine by using a moisturizer or foundation with a sun protection factor (SPF) of 15. These products offer you a convenient way to get your daily dose of sunscreen-and you’ll never forget to apply it.
Use a ‘screen’, fake a tan. You don’t have to be a “paleface” to protect your skin: One of the many self-tanners on the market can give you the sun-bronzed look you crave. But self-tanners are absolutely not a substitute for sunscreen. So don’t neglect to slather on the SPF 15 whenever you step outdoors.