Everything changes with time and your skin is no exception. As you get older, it’s totally natural and normal to experience more dryness, wrinkles, and sun spots than you may have before. Accordingly, you may consider adjusting your routine to accommodate these changes to your skin. Caring properly for mature skin can help you keep it as radiant and healthy as possible.
how does skin change with age?
The signs of aging are largely dictated by a combo of intrinsic factors, such as genetics, and extrinsic factors, like sun damage — which accounts for a staggering 80% of signs of aging. (Excuse us while we reapply some sunscreen!) Here, the key ways skin changes over time:
dryness
While your skin naturally creates its own moisture, that production slows down over the years — which is completely normal and to be expected. The upside? Fewer clogged pores. But skin also becomes drier as a result, and has a harder time retaining moisture. That can make it dehydrated, give it a rough texture, or make it feel uncomfortable (think tight or itchy).
fine lines and wrinkles
A quick crash course in skin structure: Collagen and elastin are two fibers that act as scaffolding within skin, keeping it smooth and supple. Both get damaged over time by two main factors. First, there’s the aforementioned sun damage: sun exposure leads to the creation of free radicals on skin, which are responsible for damaging cellular DNA, breaking down collagen and elastin, creating dark spots, and more.
Repeated facial expressions can also make an impact. As your muscles move in the same ways over and over, helping you smile and squint, they create grooves in skin. (Worth it, in our opinion!) With less collagen and elastin to keep skin firm, skin can in turn develop lines and wrinkles and a crepe-y texture. Skin dryness only makes the look of fine lines and wrinkles worse, whereas hydration plumps skin cells and helps smooth the skin’s appearance.
skin discoloration
In addition to damaging collagen, free radicals can also contribute to dark spots and uneven skin tone. While dark spots can show up due to a variety of reasons — post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation following a zit, melasma, etc. — they can also result from sun exposure. It’s not exactly shocking, then, that they’re often called “age spots” or “sun spots.” Dryness can also make skin discoloration appear more apparent.
how to care for mature skin
moisturize in every step
To tackle dryness, incorporate hydration into every step of your skincare routine. That means cleansing with a nourishing cleanser that won’t strip your skin barrier, like our oil to milk cleanser, and following up with a soothing toner like our rosewater facial toner, which balances and hydrates skin with rose hydrosol. Not only are they good prep for any following products, but together they layer moisture to help offset dryness.
Using an essence like our glow essence with sea grape caviar can also be super beneficial. Essences help boost hydration by improving the absorption of any products you use next - deeper absorption = deeper hydration! Our essence also features sea grape caviar from the Bohol Sea in the Philippines, which helps hydrate skin by using moisture absorbed from the air.
apply (and reapply) sunscreen
Since the sun is such a significant factor in the onset of signs of aging, from dark spots to wrinkles, sun protection is your best defense against it. (In fact, one study found that sunscreen can not only prevent sun damage, but may actually repair it.) Make it a staple in your routine with our daily SPF, a lightweight mineral formula that actually blends in easily.
fight free radicals
Free radicals have nothing on antioxidants, which put them out of commission and help repair any damage they’ve already caused. Vitamin C, green tea extract, and vitamin E are among the most powerful antioxidants out there; it can be extremely beneficial to incorporate them into your routine, especially if you have mature skin.
Our vitamin c serum with sea grape caviar contains one of the gentlest forms of vitamin C, which helps fight oxidative stress caused by free radicals and even out skin tone. Our new and improved matcha face moisturizer, meanwhile, contains antioxidant-rich matcha tea powder and pomegranate seed oil, along with green tea extract to replenish the skin barrier. (It’s also our richest moisturizer, making it ideal for those with dry or mature skin.)
use a retinol alternative
Retinol is considered the gold standard for addressing signs of aging, since it stimulates collagen production and speeds up skin cell turnover (translation: It basically makes skin act younger.) It can also brighten dark spots. However, there’s a downside: It can also be irritating for some, causing redness and flaking.
Try bakuchiol instead, a natural, plant-derived retinol alternative that, according to studies, acts similarly to retinol in the skin — without the usual side effects. Our resurfacing sleep mask uses bakuchiol to promote smoother skin and a more even skin tone while you sleep. Simply apply it to cleansed, toned skin, hit the hay, and rinse it off in the morning.
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