BEAUTY
Age gracefully...
Elsa Krüger, Shape Magazine
Posted Tue, 01 Apr 2008

There's no need to hide your head in the sand at the first signs of wrinkles, every decade has a host of beauty secrets designed to keep you sparkling and sexy. All you need is the know-how.

The same skincare routine and products that you've used in your 20s will not deliver results when you are in your 30s, 40s, 50s or beyond. Choosing the correct skincare routine and treatment for your age is crucial to maintain beautiful, youthful looks into your mature years.

These are the signs to look for and the steps to take in each decade of your beauty life…

Your 20s

These are your glory years. Your skin is at its most beautiful, resilient and elastic. However, even though wrinkles are almost non-existent, this is when the ageing process begins. You have to start with protective and preventive skincare now — and reap the rewards in later years.

What to look for:
Your skin will be firm and have good elasticity. There is very little evidence of crow's feet or wrinkles. Though some may have spots, skin tone on the whole is even. The first signs of ageing occur in the second half of your 20s. You will start to notice it around your eyes and lips, especially if you are a smoker or spend a lot of time in the sun.

What to do:

• Wear sunscreen of at least SPF15, every day, during winter and summer.


• Exfoliate gently once a week.


• Use a skincare range with antioxidants to prevent premature ageing.


• Start having regular facials, at least once every two months.


• Make eye and lipcare part of your routine.

Your anti-ageing shopping list

SKINCARE: Exfoliator, antioxidant moisturiser, eye cream, mask.

WE LOVE: Estée Lauder Nutrition range; Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturising Lotion; RoC Hydra+ range; Dermalogica Skin Hydrating Mask.

SALON TREATMENT: Hydrating facials. Try Matis Face Print treatments, tailored to either rehydrate, sooth or purify the skin.

MAKE-UP: Treatment foundations, if you suffer from oiliness or breakouts; tinted moisturisers instead of foundation for normal skin; exciting lip colours for your lips, which are the fullest they will ever be.

Your 30s

The fun you had in your 20s — parties, sunbathing, drinking, smoking — starts to show on your skin. Your skin is changing and it begins to thin. It also becomes more vulnerable to the environment. This is also your career-building, child-rearing decade so skin may suffer the ravages of too-little sleep and added stress.

What to look for:
You are developing your first wrinkles, the cracks are beginning to show! Skin cells gradually lose elasticity and moisture, the surface of the skin becomes drier. Cell turnover slows down and the complexion is less toned and uneven. You'll notice light wrinkles on the forehead, laughter lines and crow’s feet and under-eye puffiness in the mornings.

What to do?

• Step up your skincare routine and use richer cleansers and moisturisers to combat dryness.


• Focus on protective skincare during the day, and a repairing and nourishing routine at night. Look for a night cream with retinoids or alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs) to encourage cell turnover.


• Use an anti-ageing eye cream.


• Wear sunscreen every day.


• Have a light peel or micro-dermabrasion once a month.

Your anti-ageing shopping list:

SKINCARE: Rich, creamy cleanser; moisturiser; night cream; eye cream; mask.

WE LOVE: Elizabeth Arden Intervene range; Clarins Multi-Active range; Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair; Clinique All About Eyes Rich; Lancôme High Resolution Intensive Recovery Anti-Wrinkle Cream.

SALON TREATMENTS: Guinot Masque Beaute Neuve; Mary Cohr Aromatic Beauty.

MAKE-UP: Light-reflecting foundation to give skin lustre, highlighters.

Your 40s

The battle begins — it is getting hard to just get out of bed and look really good. Wrinkles are now in full force and making themselves at home on your forehead, around the mouth and eyes while bags have taken up residence under your eyes, accompanied by dark circles. Skin gets lazier and starts to lose its ability to regenerate by itself, needing stimulation to do so.

What to look for:
Fine lines are getting deeper and skin shows the first signs of sagging. You'll notice that overnight pillow creases last longer because skin loses the ability to plump back up due to the breakdown of elastin and collagen. Cell renewal slows down and if you are peri-menopausal you will notice your skin becoming much drier.

What to do?

• Use retinoids to stimulate and increase cell turnover and new collagen formation.


• You may need lightening and brightening skincare formulas to even out skin tone and make your complexion radiant.


• Moisturising serums and firming masks should now be part of your skincare routine.


• Home peels or microdermabrasion should now be done once a week.


• Photo-rejuvenation should be done to correct the effects of sun damage.


• Regular salon rejuvenating treatments.

Your anti-ageing shopping list:

SKINCARE: Moisturiser; night cream; rejuvenating serum; mask.

WE LOVE: RoC Retin-Ox range; Nivea Visage DNAge Cell Renewal Anti-Age System; Elizabeth Arden Prevage; Olay Definitive range; Skin Doctors Eye Tuck Anti-Bag Technology; Clarins Extra Firming Neck Cream; Gatineau Melatogenine Turn Back the Clock range.

SALON TREATMENTS: Lifting facial like Guinot Hydradermie Lift or Matis Caviar Facial Treatment.

MAKE-UP: Foundation with more coverage, concealer, blusher.

Your 50s and beyond

Fifty is certainly not old, and famous beauties like Isabella Rossellini, Sigourney Weaver, Catherine Deneuve and Susan Sarandon have set the example of how to grow older with grace and real beauty.

You are in or past your menopause, which means hormonal changes are affecting your skin dramatically. The decrease in oestrogen production causes your skin to thin because it produces less elastin and collagen.

What to look for:
Skin begins to sag, the jowls and jaw line lose firmness. Your face becomes 'flatter' as it loses volume. Lips are thinner and your neck starts showing discoloration and wrinkles. Facial skin becomes dehydrated, loses elasticity, is less dense and brown pigment spots appear on the surface.

What to do for firming?

• Retinoids may become too drying for your skin — switch to a moisturiser with hyaluronic acid.


• Try skincare ranges that target sagging and loss of facial volume.


• Use an anti-ageing serum every day.


• Have rejuvenating facials once a month.


• Talk to your dermatologist or aesthetic physician about in-room, non-surgical tightening and lifting treatments; it may be time to call in the heavy artillery.

Your anti-ageing shopping list:

SKINCARE: Moisturiser with hyaluronic acid; night cream with calcium; firming and nourishing neck cream; eye cream; anti-ageing serum.

WE LOVE: Babor High Skin Refiner Lifting Cream Rich; Lancôme Absolue Ultimate Bx range; Estée Lauder Re-Nutriv range; La Mer The Eye Essence; Decléor Experience de L’Age Triple Action Cream; Maria Galland Profilift Firming Cream. If you are in your 60s, you might want to replenish the calcium content of your skin. Both Lancôme Platinéum and L’Oreal Age Re-Perfect Pro-Calcium (with Jane Fonda as the 'face' of the range) focus on this youth-replenishing ingredient.

SALON TREATMENTS: Firming and lifting facials like Matis Time Defying treatment; skin brightening facials like Elemis Tri Enzyme facial.

MAKE-UP: Skin tone fades — you need a brighter shade of blusher. Eyelashes and eyebrows look sparse — define them with dark mascara and eyebrow powder