Are you over the age of 30 and on a mission to delay the signs of aging? You're not alone. The anti-aging industry is the largest in the US beauty market and the fastest-growing in Asia Pacific (1).
Yet aging is inevitable, and as we've seen in celebrity magazines, the more we try and delay the imminent through cosmetic procedures, unconventional methods, or intense skincare, we're often left looking worse than if we had just left our skin alone.
In this article, I'll be discussing our obsession with youth and why we need to normalize aging; and I'll show you some skincare tips for aging skin, to enhance your beautiful self.
Society is Obsessed with Youth
Let's discuss the obsession that we have with looking young. The lengths that people go to to avoid the imminent end—particularly now that we have the wonders of science and technology at our disposal—are truly mind-boggling.
Where do we draw the line?
As a woman in her mid-thirties who also works in the beauty industry, I decided a long time ago that I wouldn't succumb to the societal pressures that women are put under to look young and youthful 'til their old and gray. But, let me tell you, it's been a challenge. Most of my friends have dipped their toes—and their faces—in the Botox® and fillers pool. I spend most of my day on social media, so I constantly see perfection.
The pressure I feel is indirect, yet it's everywhere. It makes me feel downright crappy about myself some days. And I know I'm not alone in feeling this way. There are documentaries based on this phenomenon, and it's the main reason why beauty brand Lush recently took down their social media accounts.
I think it's essential for professionals in this industry to educate their audience on the beauty of aging—because it is. Aging is beautiful. Every wrinkle you have is one that you have earned. So let's normalize getting older, and let me show you how to use beauty products to enhance your natural, beautiful, aging self.
Beauty Tips for Mature Skin
As we get older, one of the best pieces of advice I can give you is: less is more. Consider using high-quality beauty products that offer hydration and are applied minimally and naturally.
Let's first look at a skinimalist ritual. As we age, our skin becomes drier, and over time our skin cells start to flatten out, giving our complexion less plumpness and elasticity and a thinner, more crepey appearance. Cell renewal slows down, so our skin can look dull and tired. So you want a ritual that will help with resurfacing the outer layer, which also nourishes and protects your skin.
Cleanse
Oil cleansing is a must. Everyone should be doing it, especially those with drier or more mature skin. Oil cleansing reinforces our skin's protective barrier without stripping away any of the vital oils on the skin's surface.
It works by emulsifying dirt and debris built-up on the skin. The molecules in the oil trap foreign particles within, and when you wash it off with water, it takes those particles away and leaves the skin feeling cleansed, soft, and supple.
Oil Cleansers I love:
Three Ships Nourish Lavender + MCT Cleansing Oil
This is a minimal formula with floral notes, thanks to the geranium and lavender oils.
Earth Harbor Sunshine Dew Antioxidant Cleansing Oil
A protective oil with citrus notes containing varying citrus peels and papaya.
I always recommend you follow with a second cleanse, especially if you've been wearing makeup all day. You can perform a second oil cleanse or use a cream cleanser, as this will effectively cleanse and balance your skin's pH without damaging your protective barrier.
Cream Cleansers I love:
Honua Skincare Pa'akai Cleansing Cream
With Hawaiian sea salt, rose petals, and hibiscus, this cream gently cleanses and resurfaces the skin, leaving it feeling fresh.
Earth Harbor Ahoy Love Nourishing Cleansing Cream
With natural oils like olive and coconut, hibiscus, seaweed, and neem, this cleanser keeps skin protected while emulsifying debris and balancing the skin.
Toner
Using a toner is a beautiful way to boost hydration in the skin. You can also get active toners to help brighten and tone the skin. Choose ingredients like rose, lavender, aloe, and glycerin.
Toners I love:
Earth Harbor Tidal Rose Crystal Hydration Toner
It contains rose water, white tea, and vegetable glycerin to boost hydration and protection. You can also use this to set your makeup.
Three Ships Calm Lavender Hydrosol Toner
I love this toner as an evening toner to calm the senses before bed. Lavender evokes calm and stillness, while aloe and glycerin hydrate the skin.
Treatment
Our skin's cell regeneration slows down as we age, so we need to treat our skin using serums every day, exfoliation, and masks at least once a week. For the serums, choose antioxidant-rich formulas. Berries and algae are key ingredients. For exfoliation, opt for glycolic or fruit enzymes. And for a mask, something nourishing and protective.
Serums I love:
Earthwise Beauty Nap in the Meadow Face Serum
This serum is formulated with an incredible array of botanicals, like turmeric, elderberry, chamomile, and yarrow oil, to soothe, brighten, protect and regenerate skin cells.
Earth Harbor Helios Anti-Pollution Youth Ampoule
Give skin a boost of antioxidants with this serum. It contains red algae astaxanthin, berries, fruit stem cells, and other incredible natural ingredients.
Three Ships Dew Drops Mushroom Hyaluronic Acid + Vitamin C Serum
Boost your complexion with this vitamin C serum. Hyaluronic acid draws in moisture to the skin, while maple bark brightens and smooths the skin's complexion.
Exfoliants I love:
Honua Skincare Hawaiian Beauty Water
This can be used a few times a week in place of your toner. The papaya enzymes gently melt away dead skin from the surface, revealing fresh new skin underneath.
M.S.Skincare Enlighten Retexturizing Glycolic Treatment
With herbs that have been used in Ayurveda for centuries, like neem, turmeric, and red seaweed, this exfoliant gently but effectively removes dead skin cells.
Masks I love:
Three Ships Soothe Rosehip Vitamin C Clay Mask
This minimal mask removes dead skin and boosts the skin's protective barrier with green tea, known for its antioxidant properties.
Earth Harbor Blue Crush Marine Perfecting Mask
Boost skin's complexion, protect, nourish, and hydrate the skin with blue-green algae, indigo root, bentonite clay, and coconut milk.
Earthwise Beauty Catharsis Face Mask
Aloe hydrates and soothes the skin, while spirulina, neem, and chlorella protect and nourish the skin.
Pro tip: use a serum to mix your mask to give your skin an added boost of nutrients, and spritz with toner or water to stop the mask from drying out. This ensures the ingredients continue to work while the mask is on, as drying out slows or stops ingredients' efficacy.
Moisturize
A ritual isn't complete without moisturizing. Use a day cream, a night cream, an eye cream, and an SPF. This seals in all of your other products and gives skin a protective barrier to the elements.
Try these:
UpCircle Beauty Cream with Maple and Coffee
Use an eye cream that supports the thinner skin around the eye area. Grapeseed oil, maple bark, and coffee extract improve the appearance of fine lines, dark circles, and puffiness.
Three Ships Radiance Grape Stem Cell + Squalene Day Cream
For the morning, use a day cream that contains squalene and shea butter, rosehip, black raspberry, and argan oil to hydrate, nourish, and protect.
Earth Harbor Eclipse Sheer Mineral Sunscreen
This SPF30 contains non-nano zinc oxide to protect the skin from damaging UV rays without absorbing them into the skin.
UpCircle Beauty Night Cream with Blueberry Extract
Use a nourishing cream with antioxidant-rich blueberries, castor oil, rosehip, shea butter, and jojoba oils at night.
Makeup
As we age, we get wrinkles and sagging skin. I was taught as a makeup artist to use nourishing and hydrating formulas on skin with visible wrinkles. Here are some things to remember when doing your makeup on mature skin:
- Always complete a hydrating skincare ritual before you apply makeup.
- Use matte eyeshadows, as opposed to shimmery eyeshadows.
- Use liquid foundations that are not mattifying.
- And avoid dark eyeliner, eyeshadow, and powder under the eyes.
Let's dive in a little more with these tips and products:
Foundation:
This formula contains oils like sunflower seed, grape, and olive, to complement the skin's natural oil content. It gives a natural, luminous finish, perfect for mature skin.
Pro Tip: If you have a foundation at home that you need to finish, but it feels a little heavy, add some of your moisturizers to dilute the foundation.
Blush:
Āthr Beauty Charged Cheek Palette
This blush contains natural ingredients, like honeysuckle and rose canina oils, which won't dry the skin. Using a light application, starting from under the outer corner of your eye on the cheekbone, tap a little blush onto the brush and swipe into the hairline.
Highlight:
Brighten your complexion by strategically placing highlighter on your eyes' inner and outer corners, on your brow bone under your eyebrow, on Cupid's Bow on your top lip, and above your blush on the cheekbone. Balmie highlighters are made using oils and butters and come wrapped in paper.
Lips:
As mentioned before, less is more. Adding a hint of hydrating color to your lips will keep your complexion light and dewy. These lip balms are made using all-natural ingredients, like cocoa and mango seed butter. They also come in six subtle colors, Rouge being my favorite.
Eyeshadow:
Āthr Beauty Joshua Tree Palette
As mentioned above, avoid shimmery, shiny eyeshadows, as they can make wrinkles appear more prominent. This palette has 12 matte finish eyeshadows; all of them can be layers and blended beautifully. Use the color Poppy over the entire lid, add a dark color, like Agave or Mesquite, on the outer third of the lid and crease, and blend into Poppy for a simple two-step eyeshadow look.
Eyeliner & Mascara:
Zerra&Co Zero Waste Eyeliner and Mascara
A face is not complete without liner and mascara. Apply a fine liner line across the top lashes, from the middle of the iris and out to the outer corner, tapering off at the end. Finish with mascara on the top lashes. Keeping the bottom lash line open and free from makeup keeps eyes looking bright and awake. Zerra&Co's best-selling eyeliner and mascara are both formulated with minimal natural and harmless ingredients like carnauba and candelilla wax to help them stay on all day.
As women, we should feel beautiful at any age, but sometimes we don't know how to do the basics in skincare and makeup to make ourselves feel good. I hope that you'll be looking and feeling your most radiant with these beauty tips.
Emma Jade has been a trained esthetician for over 15 years. She is a sustainable skincare writer, educating and building awareness around proper skin health that doesn't cost the Earth.
Some of the products promoted in our blog are from our online store. Many others are brands we have researched and found to be great examples of sustainable, ethical, and innovative brands in their field, and we don't profit from mentioning them in our blog. #CollaborationOverCompetition
Resources
1 https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/anti-aging-market#:~:text=Market%20Overview,6.1%25%20over%20the%20forecast%20period.
