My Top 7 Anti-Aging Skincare Essential Ingredients for Mature Skin

Throughout the years, I have gotten caught up with many skincare products from multi-level marketing companies.  They may have been good products, but they were very expensive, and they always wanted me to be way more involved than just buying the products. They enticed me to become a distributor for discounted rates as well as pushing these products onto my friends.  These companies claim to have that special ingredient found in the ancient jungles of who knows where that only they have a patent on, so I felt like I was wasting my money on products that I didn’t really understand, and I couldn’t help but feel duped. I was on a mission to take control of my skincare routine and determine what are the best ingredients to use without all the extra fluff.  I wanted to make sure that these ingredients have solid scientific research behind them and that they are easily available without all the entanglements!

I’ve always been relatively good about taking care of my skin, although I do have the classic signs of aging (ie., lines, age spots, etc.), but I never really knew for sure what ingredients you needed in your skincare routine.  The beauty industry is wanting you to believe that all these products are absolute necessities. If you aren’t taking them, then you are missing the boat, even though the jury is still out as to just how efficacious some of these products really are. I was surprised that most of the scientifically proven ingredients I will be discussing can be found in very simple and inexpensive products. I will outline all the ingredients I have incorporated in my routine and touch on what each of these does for our skin. Please check out the individual posts on each of these ingredients, where I go more into depth on each. 

Hydration becomes more critical as we age and moisture loss in the top layer of our skin leads to lines, wrinkles, and textural changes.  To address this challenge I suggest switching you facial cleanser from a foaming wash to more of a gentle cream or oil cleanser.  These clean your skin without stripping the moisture barrier.  Finding a good anti-aging moisturizing cream, which includes ingredients like niacinamide, ceramides, and hyaluronic acid will also be very advantageous. These ingredients are commonly found in products, so they can easily be incorporated into your skincare routine.

·       Niacinamide is an anti-oxidant that helps with moisture retention and reduces trans-epidermal water loss.

·       Ceramides help create a barrier and lock moisture into your skin, which helps prevent dryness and irritation.

·       Hyaluronic acid is a powerful humectant that brings moisture to the surface of your skin. 

It becomes more and more important that you protect your skin’s moisture barrier.  I think it is so easy to get excited about a product or treatment and overdue it.  For example, using a physical exfoliator.  We’ve all been there, where we are too aggressive and actually end up with angry, inflamed skin.  Instead of using facial scrubs, it may be time to switch to a chemical exfoliator.  There are two types of chemical exfoliators, AHA (alpha hydroxy acid) and BHA (beta hydroxy acid) that I will discuss.

AHA’s, exfoliate the top layers of your skin and include acids like glycolic acid (stronger) and lactic acid (gentler).  When starting out, you want to incorporate these slowly into your routine and see how your face tolerates it. Rather than buffing off the top layer with a facial scrub, this acid will can penetrate more deeply and produce greater exfoliation over time and gently sloughs away dead skin cells. It also helps to fade any unevenness or discoloration in your skin tone.  

BHA’s, such as salicylic acid, goes much deeper into the pores and removes excess sebum (oil) and reduces sebum production, making it an excellent ingredient for unclogging pores.  You can also use this more to treat a blemish and apply only on that spot.  There’s also AHA/BHA chemical peels that you can do at your dermatologist’s office or at home. Listen to your skin. I tried an at home solution and was able to tolerate it initially but then started having sensitivity to it, so I had to quit using them.  You don’t want to overdo it.  It isn’t helping your skin to add things to your routine that are irritating and inflaming it.  The important thing is to find what works for your skin.  Just because there are these products out there, doesn’t mean your skin needs them.

Antioxidants are another ingredient that you hear a lot about and what they do is prevent and repair the damage caused by free radicals.  You can get antioxidants through your diet, supplements as well as topically.  Some antioxidants you may have heard of are niacinamide, vitamin C and retinoids.  You can find one or more of these ingredients in your moisturizer or you can add them individually.  I really love niacinamide and it is easily tolerated, but there are two that I want to address specifically.

Studies are showing that vitamin C is extremely promising in what it can do for the skin, but there are some stipulations.  It’s very unstable in water solutions and oxidizes when exposed to air.  The pH needs to be correct, and there are many other factors that play a role in whether this is being properly absorbed into the skin.  Also, not all vitamin C products are created equal and some can be very expensive for no apparent reason.

Another ingredient that needs to be taken with a bit of caution are the Retinoids, more specifically Retin-A.  This is scientifically proven to be the #1 anti-aging ingredient.  Retinoids comes in several forms- retinol, retinaldehyde, and Tretinoin (aka Retin-A) to name a few.  Some of these forms are over-the-counter and are more easily tolerated, but they are not as effective as Retin-A.  Retin-A is a prescription and comes in many strengths, so you really want to start off slow with this, because it can be very irritating.  

The final and most important element in my skin care routine is sunscreen.  If I was religious about using sunscreen from the start, I wouldn’t have to worry as much about all the other measures taken now to erase the damage.  UV exposure is responsible for 80-90% of visible signs of aging on the skin.  All the previous steps in my skincare routine are supplementing my skin now that I am older and trying to reverse the signs of aging.  They help to improve the appearance of my skin, but sunscreen is what I need to prevent further damage.  The aging we are seeing on our faces now is from damage that was done years ago, so as we get older we are going to want to prevent further damage.  You need to be aware that some of these ingredients I mentioned will make your skin more sensitive to the sun, so if you are considering adding them to your routine you have to use sunscreen, otherwise you will cause even more damage to your skin. 

Please check out my posts that go into more detail on each of the ingredients that I have mentioned here. Please download my free Anti-Aging Skincare Schedule with both a morning and a night routine on my homepage.