Facial care for 40-year-olds

In your forties, different skin problems can arise depending on your life history. In this guide, we'll look at how to adapt your beauty routine to suit your age and the problems you face.

Hello, beautydecoders, today's topic is skin care for forty-somethings, but not really, because your age is not a skin type. Certainly, I'm going to talk about issues related to midlife, such as anti-aging and combating hyperpigmentation, but also about skin sensitivity and redness. In fact, I see a lot of patients in my consultations, and I can tell you that skin condition and ageing are not really a function of age, but of our lifestyle and skincare routines. And that's normal: the skin is an organ that protects us, but it's also the one most exposed to external aggression.

For example, someone in their forties who has been in the sun a lot will have a very different skin appearance to someone in their forties who has really protected their skin from UV rays all their life. So it's not possible to give precise recommendations for skin care in midlife. However, what I can say is that our collagen has already seriously begun to diminish and our skin type is gradually starting to become more dehydrated and drier.

So I'm going to list three changes you can make to your skincare routine as you get older. The first is to use increasingly gentle cleansers, and the second is to apply increasingly rich moisturizers. Of course, you shouldn't go straight from a very light gel cream to a super-rich cream, especially as there's no rule about how skin condition changes with age. Some people may feel a change at the end of their thirties, while for others it will be in their fifties. And the third recommendation is to incorporate ingredients that boost collagen production, if you haven't already done so. So, I'm going to tell you about cleansers, exfoliants, serums and moisturizers that you can use to treat various problems that can be encountered in your forties.

1) Anti-oxidants are used to fight free radicals

The first fine lines generally appear around the age of forty, and more or less pronounced age spots can appear following pregnancy or over-exposure to the sun. pure vitamin C. It's an extremely powerful antioxidant that fights free radicals, reduces melanin production and promotes collagen production. It's therefore a very interesting ingredient when you're forty, but it's extremely difficult to create an effective vitamin C cosmetic.

2) Glycolic acid for a luminous complexion

Another thing we notice at the age of 40 is that our complexion becomes duller, especially for smokers. One way to restore radiant skin is with gentle but effective exfoliation. Glycolic acid is the most powerful alpha-hydroxy acid, and when used in high concentrations, it can reduce wrinkles and make spots disappear. This is the same active ingredient used in medical peels, but in higher concentrations.

We're now going to talk about exfoliation. I think this is a step that is often misunderstood by beginners, yet it's essential to avoid dull skin and the loss of radiance that can occur with age, as our skin takes longer and longer to rid itself of the dead cells on the surface of our epidermis. When it comes to exfoliation, we need to avoid two extremes: if we exfoliate too much, we create unnecessary irritation, and if we don't exfoliate at all, we end up with rough, dull skin. And it's difficult to give an ideal frequency for exfoliation, as it depends on your skin type and the exfoliant you use, but from my point of view between once a week and 4 times a week seems ideal. In fact, it's important to analyze your skin's condition, understand your skin problems and, above all, adapt your routine according to how your skin reacts. Scientifically speaking, the best chemical exfoliant with the best anti-aging benefits, and the one that has been studied the most, is glycolic acid, which has been widely shown to promote collagen production and get rid of dead skin cells.

However, it's not for all skin types, and if glycolic acid doesn't suit you, you can opt for lactic acid, and if you have sensitive skin, don't hesitate to turn to the PHAs found in the INCI list under the names gluconolactone and lactobionic acid. For glycolic acid, a well-known product at a really affordable price is The Ordinary's glycolic acid solution, formulated at a pH of 3.6, which makes it effective without being too irritating. This exfoliant has a light formula and also contains soothing and moisturizing ingredients such as aloe vera, glycerine, urea, ginseng and amino acids.

This exfoliant will improve your facial radiance and skin texture. At 7%, glycolic acid concentration is medium, making it ideal for use as part of an anti-aging routine. For my part, I prefer the Paula's Choice gel, which contains 8% glycolic acid and a pH ranging from 3.5 to 3.9. It also contains 3 soothing active ingredients: aloe vera, chamomile and green tea extracts, and 3 moisturizing ingredients: sodium PCA, hyaluronic acid and panthenol. The immediate effect of this exfoliant will be to improve skin texture, brighten your complexion and, over time, improve the appearance of wrinkles and spots.

3) Moisturize your skin properly

With the onset of dryness, it's advisable to use a moisturizing lotion to improve the first signs of skin dehydration. This dehydration needs to be combated to avoid the early appearance of wrinkles, and a good way to stop it is to use an effective moisturizing lotion. Here's a moisturizing lotion I can recommend.

4) Cleanse your skin properly

To cleanse your skin, you can use a cleansing oil in the evening in addition to your usual cleanser to perform a double cleanse. As far as the cleansing stage is concerned, I'd of course advise you to incorporate double cleansing into your evening skincare routine, starting with a cleansing balm like Beauty of Joseon's radiance clearing balm. I already talked to you about it a year ago in my video on evening routines, and I still find it just as well-designed. It's fragrance-free, sulfate-free and contains no essential oils. In a different style and for a smaller budget, you have Geek and Gorgeous or Clémence et Vivien's make-up remover oil. The choice of the second cleanser really depends on your skin type and your skin problems. If you have acne and always break out, you might want to consider a cleanser with salicylic acid like CeraVe or The Inkey List. But if you want a gentler cleanser-which I recommend most of the time-you can opt for a creamy-textured cleanser like CeraVe's foaming cream or Dermina's cleansing oil foam, which has fairly mild surfactants as well as moisturizing and soothing ingredients. What's more, the foam's texture is well-crafted and very pleasant to use.

5) Pamper your eye contour area

Over time, dynamic wrinkles around the eyes and forehead start to become more pronounced, which is why it's important to take care of the delicate eye area at an early stage. It needs to be moisturized and protected from external aggressors such as pollution. A product I can recommend:

6) Use a serum according to your skin problems

As far as serums are concerned, we really choose them according to our skin's problems.

Anti-aging:

If you want to improve the appearance of incipient wrinkles and spots on your face, the best option is to incorporate retinol into your skincare routine. A very good option is to start with Paula's Choice retinol at 0.3%, which also contains bakuchiol. If you have sensitive skin, you can opt for The Ordinary's granactive retinol emulsion, which also contains a small amount of retinol. And if you're an experienced skincare professional and want to take things to the next level, Theramide's combination of retinal, retinol and retinol ester is ideal. If retinoids aren't for you because you have very sensitive skin, you can opt for antioxidant serums in the morning like NIOD's Survival 0, resveratrol serums or simply niacinamide serums. In the evening, use serums containing anti-aging peptides or even copper peptide serums.

Skin spots

If your main problem is spots on the face, I recommend using pure vitamin C in the morning, such as Paula's Choice, Drunk Elephant or Geek and Gorgeous, which is unbeatable value. On the other hand, if you're prone to redness or have sensitive skin, I'd advise you to use a vitamin C derivative instead, which will have a spot-fighting action but without the irritation of pure vitamin C. Among the vitamin C derivative serums I can recommend, there's Theramid's which is very well formulated, and there's also NIOD's Ethylated which is very effective. And if you're more interested in a radiance boost with a light-textured serum, Typology's is a very good option. And for the evening, you're spoilt for choice: retinoids are of course effective against blemishes, but you can also opt for other active ingredients.

Imperfections

For example, azelaic acid will act on spots but also on imperfections. There are many azelaic acid serums available these days, and you can go to the best azelaic acid serum section of beautydecoded.com to make your choice. Another option is to use tranexamic acid, an active ingredient that acts on spots and vascular redness, so I particularly recommend it if you suffer from melasma. Vichy's vitamin B3 serum is also very good, containing niacinamide and, in parallel, the peptides present stimulate collagen and elastin synthesis to improve the appearance of wrinkles. Vichy's formula doesn't stop there. A vitamin C derivative, ferments and hydrolyzed rice proteins, ingredients renowned for illuminating the skin, boost the complexion's radiance. Another option is Paula's Choice's discoloration repair serum, which has a sophisticated formula combining 5 % niacinamide, 3 % tranexamic acid and 0.5 % bakuchiol that gently but effectively improves post-acne marques and brown spots. Its fluid texture is very pleasant to apply, and quickly penetrates the skin to diffuse these active ingredients.

Redness

If you suffer from redness or if your skin has become sensitized over time, I would naturally advise you to limit the use of irritating active ingredients, and instead opt for serums with soothing ingredients. For example, if you want to improve the radiance of your skin but have sensitive skin, a good example of a serum is COSRX's Propolis ampoule, for several reasons. It contains 83% of propolis extracts to moisturize, soothe and brighten. It also contains numerous humectants, such as glycerine, betaine, hyaluronic acid and arginine. It also contains panthenol to reinforce its soothing action. The other thing to bear in mind is that this serum contains just 11 ingredients, which limits the possibility of having a bad reaction to any one ingredient. But if you're unlucky and it does happen, it's much easier to find the responsible ingredient when using products with a minimalist composition.

At the age of 40, pigmentation problems and the first fine lines can appear. I've already mentioned vitamin C and glycolic acid, which combat these two problems, but there's another active ingredient that's effective against wrinkles and spots on the face. This active ingredient is retinol, which is very powerful but also very irritating, which is why marques cosmetics don't often promote it.

8) Protect yourself from the sun every day

The sun is the leading cause of skin ageing. UVB rays cause sunburn and skin cancer, but UVA rays go deeper, destroying collagen fibers. This destruction of collagen not only leads to the appearance of wrinkles, but also promotes skin slackening.

Don't forget your moisturizer

When it comes to moisturizers, it's the same: you don't choose them according to your age, but according to your skin type. And if you have very sensitive skin, I advise you to use moisturizers with a minimalist composition. For example, Avène's Tolérance Hydra-10 contains just 10 ingredients. Humectants include glycerine and hyaluronic acid, while emollients include caprylic/capric triglyceride, cetearyl alcohol and shea butter. So this cream is perfect if you have dry, sensitive skin.

If, on the other hand, you have oily, sensitive skin, this cream won't suit you as it contains too many oily ingredients, and I'd advise you instead to turn to the same brand's Tolérance Hydra-10 Moisturizing Fluid. In this fluid, they've removed the shea butter, giving it a much lighter texture. If you have normal skin, I advise you to choose creams with a good mix of humectants and emollients, while avoiding occlusive ingredients if they are positioned at the beginning of the formula.

In the parapharmacy, CeraVe's moisturizing face cream is rather well formulated, or at Sephora you have the super moisturizing cream, which is also relatively well formulated. But of course, there are many other more sophisticated creams for normal skin, such as Bioderma's crealine défensive, Klairs' midnight blue calming cream or Drunk Elephant's protini. If you're feeling a little lost, don't hesitate to go to my website beautydecoded.com and sign up for my newsletter, as I'll be preparing personalized routines and a cosmetic product analysis algorithm based on your skin type. And by subscribing to my newsletter, you'll be kept up to date on the progress of this project, which I've been telling you about for 1 year.

Don't forget to apply a moisturizer, but I won't give you a moisturizer recommendation in this guide, as the choice of cream depends on your skin type. To find out about your skin type and see my product recommendations, you can read my advice on : How to know your skin type

My skincare tips according to your age:

• Facial care 60
• Facial care 50
• Facial care 30
• Facial care 20 years