When it comes to best anti-aging skin care ingredients, you need to break it up into the different issues you’d like to target. Check out our complete guide to the skin care ingredients everyone in their 40s, 50s, and 60s should know about.
It’s no secret that as we age, our skin goes through a multitude of changes. From crow’s feet to sunspots, it’s hard to figure out what works. Articles tend to focus on the preventive measures and not so much what to do with what’s already there. We decided to change that. We’ve compiled common skin care issues for those in their 40s, 50s and 60s and the best ingredients to combat them. Here’s everything you need to know.
If you want to get rid of sunspots . . .
When you’re strolling around in the sun, you’re usually not thinking about the damage it may cause. But over time, your past sun exposure starts to show on your skin. This comes in the form of wrinkles, fine lines, and sunspots. When you’re exposed to UV rays, your skin produces pigment, AKA a “tan.” But in reality, your tan is actually damaged skin. Continuous sun exposure leads to sunspots. These are small circular spots of pigment that appear on your face or body. They can show up in your 40s and become more widespread in the decades after.
To combat sunspots, you should choose products that contain vitamin C and use ample SPF protection. Vitamin C is a powerful ingredient that protects us from UV photo-damage, increases collagen production, and reduces hyperpigmentation. Despite the name difference, sunspots and acne marks are both forms of pigmentation. As a result, they can be treated with the same brightening products. Thankfully, the Cosrx Triple C Lightning Liquid is packed with 20.5% of pure ascorbic acid, the most potent form of vitamin C. Because of the high concentration, the vitamin C gets to work quickly. It targets pigmentation and evens out your skin tone.
Vitamin C may be effective but it’s rendered useless if you’re not protecting your skin from sun damage. It is crucial that you wear sunscreen every single day if you’re going to be in the sun. This means in the winter and even on super cloudy days. If you tend to avoid sunscreen because of the smell and greasy texture, we get it. It’s not fun. But there is a sunscreen out there for you! The Missha Mild Essence Sun Milk SPF 50 provides protection without the greasy texture or ghastly white cast. With regular use of SPF and a vitamin C serum, your spots should fade in no time.
If you want to target crow’s feet . . .
They always say “the eyes are the first sign of aging.” This is because they’re prone to crow’s feet, which are V-shaped wrinkles that surround the eyes. These form over time because of movement like squinting, smiling, etcetera. Wrinkles that form this way are dynamic ones. Dynamic wrinkles appear when you use your muscles to make facial expressions. Usually, these wrinkles smooth out once you stop moving your face. But, if they don’t, that means they’ve now become static wrinkles. As we age, the loss of collagen and elasticity plays a part in the formation of wrinkles, moving them from dynamic to static.
Some people might think you need to stop smiling or laughing so you can avoid wrinkles. But, please don’t do that. Instead, combat crow’s feet by keeping your delicate eye area as moisturized as possible. The more hydrated your skin, the less noticeable the wrinkles. Some of the best ingredients to do that are snail mucin and ceramides. Ceramides are excellent ingredients that feed your skin with moisture-rich lipids. They lock in long-lasting hydration, and as a result, smooth fine lines and wrinkles. Snail mucin provides just as much hydration, but it also firms the skin, boosts collagen production, and minimizes wrinkles.
If you want to add ceramides to your routine, the Cosrx Honey Ceramide Eye Cream is for you. It contains skin-soothing honey extracts to calm tired eyes and ceramides to infuse your skin with hydration. These ingredients nourish your delicate eye area and combat crow’s feet by flattening wrinkles.
The Botanic Farm Salmon Egg Hydrogel Eye Patch is another option to treat your eyes. These cooling hydrogel eye patches are formulated with salmon egg extract, snail mucin, and aloe vera. The salmon egg extract fights dark circles and de-puffs the eyes while snail mucin gets to work repairing skin damage. At the same time, aloe imparts deep hydration. Adding nourishing ingredients like snail mucin and ceramides to your routine will help to plump wrinkles. With continued use, they will leave your eye area looking smoother and more youthful.
If you want to smooth wrinkles and deep lines . . .
Much like crow’s feet, wrinkles and deep lines appear over time. From facial expressions to lack of sun protection, there are many reasons why wrinkles occur. The main ones tend to be sun damage and a natural loss of collagen and subcutaneous fat. Together, these effects can leave you with wrinkles and deep-set lines that you want to get rid of. While there’s no miracle cure to get rid of wrinkles completely, you can smooth them out and reduce their appearance. Some of the most well known and effective ingredients to do this are retinol and EGF.
Retinol is also known as vitamin A and it works by speeding up cell turnover. As a result, retinol sloughs off dead skin cells, reduces hyperpigmentation, and increases collagen production. The increased collagen helps smooth wrinkles. This new collagen will help to plump those lines and decrease their visibility. The Missha Time Revolution Night Repair New Science Activator Ampoule contains retinol, along with a slew of other anti-aging ingredients that will help repair the skin. This popular serum is a dupe for the well known Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair for half the price. It’s formulated with Bifida ferment lysate, a fermented yeast that visibly reduces signs of aging. Meanwhile, retinol improves skin elasticity and repairs damaged skin. These ingredients work in tandem to fight wrinkles at their source.
EGF is another excellent ingredient if you want to combat wrinkles. EGF means Epidermal Growth Factor. These growth factors are proteins that promote cell regeneration, smooth wrinkles, and brighten skin. The Easydew EX Repair Control Active Soothing Serum contains 3ppm of medical grade EGF. It also contains hyaluronic acid, allantoin, and panthenol to soothe and moisturize the skin. This intense treatment will reduce the appearance of wrinkles and leave your skin looking smoother and younger-looking. You can use this on its own or in combination with the Missha serum to intensively combat wrinkles and deep-set lines.
If you want to fight dryness and dull skin . . .
Typically, our skin renews itself every 30 days. This process moves new cells from below the skin up to the surface where it sheds the dead ones. This is what gives our skin that luminous glow. But as we age, the renewal process takes longer and longer. As a result, your skin is left looking dull, dry and tired. When you’re in your 40s, 50s, or 60s, hydration is going to be key to fighting the signs of aging, especially because the skin tends to get drier as we age. To fight this, you’ll want to add ingredients like peptides and chemical exfoliants to your routine.
Your first thought might be to exfoliate and moisturize the skin more. While this is true, you still want to make sure your hydrating products contain powerful ingredients that help to combat a variety of issues. This is where peptides come in. They are building blocks of proteins. They’re important because the body is made of proteins, like collagen. As I mentioned earlier, as we age, collagen production starts to slow down. This results in thinner skin and loss of elasticity that makes wrinkles more visible. The Hanskin Bio Origin The Ampoule Serum is formulated with saccharomyces ferment filtrate, peptides, and adenosine. These ingredients work together to nourish the skin, smooth out fine lines, and improve the skin’s elasticity.
Another way to combat dullness is, of course, to exfoliate. For aging skin, you’ll want to stick with gentle exfoliants that you can use on a regular basis without irritating your skin. A great way to include them is by using an exfoliating toner or essence. The D’Alba Piedmont No-Sebum Balancing Toner and Botanic Farm Rice Ferment First Essence are both good choices. The D’Alba Piedmont No-Sebum Balancing Toner gives you the best of both worlds with BHAs to exfoliate and peptides to nourish the skin. It also contains pearl extract, white truffle extract, hyaluronic acid and niacinamide to brighten and hydrate the skin.
On the other hand, the Botanic Farm Rice Ferment First Essence is formulated with fermented rice water and licorice to banish dry, dull skin. It also contains lactic acid, which is a chemical exfoliator that hydrates the skin. Using a combination of nourishing peptides and exfoliators will help to slough off dead skin cells and reveal brighter and healthier skin.
Bottom Line
There is no one miracle ingredient or product that can solve all the skin issues that come along with aging. Hopefully, this guide helps you choose the best ingredients to combat your skin issues.