Skincare in your 40s

As the candles on your 40th birthday cake are extinguished and the last ‘hip hip hooray’ rips around the room, your skin is actually entering its fifth decade. What’s going to be different? How will you change your skincare routine?

For 40-something skin, life is still pretty peachy. You’re probably not even at the half-way mark of your story on this planet. You might not have the freshness of your 20s any more, but with the right makeup and lighting you can still pass for 30-something.

The trick with entering a new decade is to recognise that, little by little, your skin’s needs are changing. Even if you’ve been a devoted follower of ‘cleanse, tone, moisturise, sunscreen’, a close look at your skin will reveal wrinkles starting to form, areas of enlarged pores, and less firmness around your jaw and eyes. There’s no point getting despondent about these changes; they happen to everyone. The way forward is to understand what’s happening and manage any risks that are in your control.

Risk 1: Slower skin turnover

Skin turnover is the process of shedding the thin top layer of your skin, exposing fresh skin underneath. When you were a teenager, your skin renewed itself about every 28 days. By the time you’re 50, the skin renewal process can take up to 84 days. We say ‘up to’ because it varies from person to person. If you can introduce some practices that speed up skin renewal by removing the dead cells on your epidermal surface, you’ll be rewarded with more youthful-looking skin.

• - Use a gentle, natural exfoliator twice a week. It boosts cell turnover and can help to reduce the appearance of age spots caused by sun exposure and hormonal changes.
• - Have a regular micro-dermabrasion facial or professional peel, which hurries up the process of cell renewal by exfoliating more of the top skin layer than you can achieve at home. Once a month is enough for this type of treatment.

Risk 2: Less-than-optimum nutrition

In your 40s your nutrition habits are probably quite ingrained, but that doesn’t mean you can’t change. A smart approach is to introduce one new concept a week until you’ve spring-cleaned your eating habits. Your focus is to squeeze more antioxidants, quality protein, fibre, healthy fats and vitamins into each meal.

• - Eat at least five portions of fruit and veges every day and try to eat a rainbow of colours. For example, have a banana and a kiwifruit with your breakfast, a red-cabbage and carrot salad as part of lunch, and ratatouille of tomatoes, eggplant, onion and yellow capsicum with your dinner. Base your meals around plants, with protein, carbs and fats on the side.
• - Don’t yo-yo diet. Losing and gaining the same 10kg isn’t good for you in the long run. It takes a toll on your skin and your muscle-to-fat ratio. Instead of ‘going on a diet’, focus on identifying your bad habits, then fixing them one at a time.
• - Eat nuts for specific nutrients. Brazil nuts give you selenium; walnuts are rich in omega-3; almonds are rich in vitamin E, magnesium and riboflavin.    

Risk 3: Dehydration

Remembering to drink enough water is a challenge when you’re on the go with work, running a household, DIY projects, kids after-school pursuits and all the other things that 40-something women cram into their weeks. With so much going on, there can be a tendency to gravitate to wine rather than water at the end of the day!  If you need some incentive to review your drinking habits, check out our blog about ‘wine face’.

• - Try to drink 1.5 litres of plain water every day, in addition to tea and coffee.  You can make sure this happens by filling a large water bottle at the start of each day and keeping it handy. No bedtime until the water is gone.
• - If you exercise in a way that makes you sweat, add another 500mls of water to your daily intake.
• - If you’re not keen on plain water, use fruit or herbal tea bags to make a big pot of tea. Drink about four large mugs of this a day and you’ll hit your target.

Risk 4: Inappropriate skincare

It’s easy to arrive in your 40s still using the type of skincare you were fond of in your 20s. By this we mean harsh foaming cleansers, alcohol-heavy toners and oil-free moisturisers. For 40-year-old skin, you’ll notice great results by switching to an all-natural regime that cleanses deeply, protects your skin barrier and provides nutrients that fight ageing.

• - If you’re not yet double-cleansing, now’s the time to start. In the evening, cleanse first with an oil-based cleanser, then follow-up with a water-based cleanser. You can read all about it on our Daily Ritual page here.
• - Use a mist toner to correct pH, then apply an oil-based natural moisturiser that’s rich in antioxidants. For daytime, you can mix a little pure ascorbic acid powder into your moisturiser (find one that’s especially for skincare).
• - Use a purpose-built night cream that’s intensely hydrating.
• - Get everything you need with our radiant skin gift box. It’s the best skincare buy you’ll ever find.

Risk 5: Too much sun

Few Kiwi women make it to 40 without a certain level of sun damage. It’s a side-effect of our outdoorsy lifestyle and New Zealand’s high UV levels. Changes related to sun damage include wrinkles, age spots, loose skin, spider veins and red blotchy areas. The paler your natural skin tone, the more your complexion suffers. While you can’t entirely erase the havoc caused by UV, you can minimise further damage by making sunscreen part of your daily routine. Look for a product that uses a physical barrier, rather than chemical filters.