By: Susan Kirchdoerffer, D.O.

Skin care for your 20’s, 30’s, 40’s, and beyond…

Ok, Halloween can be scary enough, but we shouldn’t be frightened of our skin. If you don’t want to look like an evil witch by the time you are 40, here’s a few tips to keep you looking like a girl and not a ghoul.

The biggest thing you can do for your skin no matter what your age is stay out of the sun. No, that doesn’t mean you need to be a vampire and hide during the daylight; just throw a hat on and wear a sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or higher. See no garlic, no coffins, easy. The sun as we all know ages our skin, predisposes us to skin cancers, and can lead to those ugly age spots. Freckles were cute on Jan Brady, but they aren’t so sexy as we age.

The other universal thing we can do for our skin, is hydrate it from within. Translation, drink water! Dehydrated skin looks dull and lifeless, like the crypt-keeper if you will. Just like your doctor wants you to drink eight glasses of water a day, so does your skin.

Now, let’s get specific for the ages. Ok, you lucky twenty-somethings, you have no idea how good you have it. No visible sun-damage, good elasticity to your skin. On second thought, forget it, we don’t like you. Go ahead, use the baby oil. Ok, ok, I’ll play nice. Sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen. Need I say more?  Oh yeah, and you don’t look sexier with that cigarette in your mouth. Nicotine can produce free radicals that can lead to skin cancer. I would also recommend regular exercise and a good diet (why does it always come down to this?). I would also recommend changing your regular make-up to a mineral based make-up. They contain sunscreen and generally are healthier for your skin. You should also start to use a moisturizer with an alpha hydroxyl acid. This helps exfoliate the skin as it moisturizes. Enough of you girls, let’s move on to the women.

Well, the 30’s hit us like a truck. In addition to the tricks already mentioned, it’s time to wear your vitamins. What? Topical vitamin C is extremely helpful in preventing and correcting skin damage. I would recommend Skin Ceuticals CE Ferulic. It’s been proven to help fight free radicals that lead to skin cancers. You may want to consider getting some chemical peels and microdermabrasions to increase the exfoliation process. This will improve the clarity of your skin while leaving it smoother and allowing your expensive lotions and potions to penetrate the skin better. Your late 30’s would be a great time to start using a retinoid product to increase cell turnover. The Obagi Nu-Derm System is a complete skin care regimen that improves the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles and lightens some of the ugly freckles that you borrowed from Jan Brady.

Wanna be 40 and fabulous? One word girls, BOTOX. Some women may start using Botox in their 30’s, but if you haven’t tried it by 40, you are missing out. Botox relaxes the muscles that cause many of our wrinkles. Botox works on dynamic wrinkles. Those are the wrinkles that are present when the muscles contract. Examples would be the mean scowl, the lines of the forehead, or gulp, the crow’s feet. Starting Botox early may help prevent these lines from becoming deep and furrowed. It can also give you a lift to your brow line amongst other things. What about the lines that are there all the time? Those static wrinkles are best dealt with fillers. Unfortunately, as we age, we start to lose some of the fat in our face. This loss of fat causes the cheeks to drop leaving lines next to our nose and mouth for example. Products like Juvederm and Restylane are just two examples of the many fillers that are available. I would also continue to get regular peels and microderms and to really start looking at the products you are using. By the 40’s, you should incorporate a topical vitamin C, a retinoid, an AHA product, and of course sunscreen. A beach umbrella and a wide brimmed hat should go to beach with you as well as that copy of US Weekly.

Follow my leads and you can avoid that witch’s wart on your nose and you won’t have to look like the bride of Chucky. Skin care shouldn’t be scary. Let’s all be the beautiful princess this Halloween.