I’m often asked on the blog and social media about my skincare routine and my secrets to staying and looking younger than my years. At the age of nearly 43 I’m lucky that I sometimes get mistaken for younger – and boy do I appreciate those compliments! – but it’s not purely down to luck. Sure, genes do have a big part to play, but thinking about it there are a lot of factors that have contributed to keeping my skin from being excessively wrinkled.
I’ve gone (almost) bare-faced here to show my skin to you. I’m wearing very, very minimal make-up: Some powder to stop shine, a little mascara and coloured lip balm. You’ll see that my skin isn’t perfect; uneven skin tone is my biggest gripe, and it always worsens in the summer months. I have quite freckly skin and if I don’t take care to wear enough sun protection it explodes into one giant mass of freckle. I love a smattering of freckles across the bridge of my nose but I’m not fond of the brown uneven patches of (what is effectively) sun damage along my jawline and on my forehead.
As well as having a good skincare routine I’m an advocate of a healthy lifestyle – I’m not a saint by any means (I do try and keep away from chocolate cake) – but I’ve changed so many things about my lifestyle in the last decade or so that I think they’ve all helped. I’ve shared my secrets here for you; nothing is rocket science and it may be things you’ve heard before, but this is purely what I do.
At the end I’ve reviewed the Nivea Q10 anti-wrinkle range, so I’d love to know whether you use Q10 yourself… how do you find it? What do you think of my tips and what do you do to keep your skin looking good – do share in the comments!
I drink a lot of water. I believe everything they say about water being good for your skin is true. It makes sense that a hydrated body means hydrated skin, which means plumper looking skin and therefore less wrinkles. For hot drinks I only ever have green or herbal teas or slices of lemon in hot water. I gave up tea with milk about 10 years ago after going on a detox for a month; I couldn’t bear the milkiness of it after that. (I don’t like coffee and have never drunk that either.) Unlike standard tea and coffee, green tea contributes to your daily water intake so it means I’m drinking lots of the stuff.
I don’t smoke, I never have. If you want evidence as to how smoking wrecks your skin, look at this photo of a smoker and non-smoker set of twins. You can nearly always tell a smoker by the fine lines on their top lip from pursing all the time. It’s never too late to give up…!
I use a day moisturiser with a high SPF – even in the winter. I think I started wearing one with SPF15 in my mid 30s, and I wish I’d started so much earlier. To be honest I don’t think any age is too early; we wouldn’t let children go out in the sun without sun protection, so once we start a skincare routine in our teens I think that’s the time to start wearing one with SPF. Yes, they’re more expensive, but here’s another great twin comparison: sun damage does this to you (the twin on the left had long term sun exposure).
I’ve never neglected my décolletage. I’m quite busty and have always been conscious of the skin in that area being dragged down and getting wrinkled by the weight of my bosoms. I swear by a good supportive bra and moisturiser with SPF (again) for the day and thick night cream all over my neck and right down to my bust every evening. I read once that “your face doesn’t stop at your neck” and I’ve always included my neck and décolletage as part of my skincare routine.
I’ve worn eye cream every night since I was about 14 or 15; this alone I think has contributed the most to the good skin around the eye area. What I’ve always used is good old fashioned Vaseline. I used to read a lot of magazines and beauty books growing up during the 80s, and I remember reading that dry skin was more prone to wrinkling. I figured that a thin film of Vaseline round my eyes would prevent this, and I got so used to it that I now cannot go to sleep without a layer of cream around my eyes… it just feels weird. See below for a review of the Q10 eye cream if you’re after something far less greasy – I know petroleum jelly isn’t for everyone.
I could probably count on one hand how many times I’ve not taken off my make-up at night. There’s nothing I can’t bear more than the feeling of getting into bed with make-up on, no matter how tired (or, ahem, sloshed) I am. Thankfully I’ve let my skin recover every single night ever.
This is the one I’m the worst at – I need lots of sleep to function properly but I go through bouts of getting too little sleep. I always look haggered on the mornings I wake up after going to bed late or a bad night. They don’t call it beauty sleep for nothing.
You may or may not have heard about this before, but I have this strange pillow that’s called the Save My Face pillow – it saves your face from getting permanently creased and smushed up if you sleep on your side. It’s double-crescent shaped and supports your forehead and chin only, allowing your cheeks to be smush-free. It’s a strange-looking thing but I highly recommend it – it makes perfect sense that squishing your cheeks into your nose every night for several hours will contribute to permanent creases on your face.
I never did any exercise after leaving school and only walked to and from work until I was about 27. I then took up running and did it on and off till my late 30s, but I now run, workout and walk regularly. An early morning walk almost straight after getting up is the best thing for getting my circulation going, waking me up and making me feel like the day has started. They say that good circulation is vital for healthy skin, and we all know that exercise in general is everything for keeping yourself healthy. Not exercising shows in my face – I will always look tired if I’m inactive.
You’ve heard the old expression with reference to a healthy diet: Eat lots of fruit and veg! That is true to a point, but it’s becoming more well-known that a lot of fruit can be bad for you due to all the sugar fruit contains. Since finding this out I’ve cut back massively on the fruit and upped my veg intake. My diet is pretty healthy: I eat a varied diet that’s also rich in fibre, protein and healthy fats – I just eat the naughty things on top (and would never stop if someone let me). But if I go a day without any vegetables I feel thoroughly vile and unhealthy and know that my skin will suffer with a breakout and looking sallow if I keep it up.
Fizzy drinks (soda) is the devil’s drink to me. I never used to drink much Coke or similar (though I’m still partial to a Dr. Pepper) but finding out a can of Coke has several teaspoons of sugar in it absolutely horrified me, and I haven’t touched the stuff for years. In fact I don’t put sugar on anything any more – once you wean yourself off it you’ll never want to go back, it’ll taste disgustingly saccharine to pour sugar on (or in) your food and drink. Read what Dayle Breault, skincare expert to the stars, said about the effects of excess sugar and how it ages you – you’ll want to put down that Diet Coke straight away (and no, artificial sweeteners are not okay, if anything they’re worse because they keep you addicted to sugar).
This one’s easy: Wear sunglasses and you won’t crease up your eyes or frown as much. I’ve stopped worrying about looking a bit of a twit in the winter with sunglasses on. I find the sky can be so bright even if it’s cloudy, and I can’t bear walking around squinting. No squinting = less wrinkling.
As part of a new campaign that Nivea are about to launch (with the involvement of myself and a few other bloggers), I was sent a set of Nivea Q10 Plus skincare products to review. You’ll get to see the results of that collaboration next week on the blog, but in the meantime here are my thoughts about the Q10 range!
L-R: Eye Cream | Serum Pearls | Age Spot Day Cream SPF30 | Night Cream
Nivea’s results/information listed for each product are:
Age Spot Day Cream SPF30
Night Cream
Eye Cream
Serum Pearls
I’ve been using these products for about a month, and whilst it’s hard to say whether the appearance of my wrinkles is reduced after this amount of time, my skin has been looking pretty good and very smooth these last few weeks. What I like most about the day cream are two things: Firstly, the smell is subtle but really lovely – it reminds me of the sort of foreign sun cream you have to buy on holiday in Greece or Spain when you realise you didn’t bring enough. It’s got that delicious “on holiday” smell.
Secondly, the day cream is a great moisturiser for wearing under make up. It’s not at all greasy – even less so than some I’ve tried that claim to be mattifying – and I don’t get an over shiny forehead come lunchtime. The fact that it has SPF30 is the biggest bonus and the best reason to use it. Never underestimate how much daily sun exposure can damage your skin, and although 20 and 30-somethings may not think to wear anti-wrinkle cream until they’re my age, I can only stress that you start NOW.
I really liked the other products too: unlike some other brands I’ve tried the night cream doesn’t sting my face after cleansing and it’s thick without feeling gloopy or heavy. I use the serum pearls in the morning and evening after cleansing (I love rubbing in the little bobbles of yellow goo) and although I still swear by Vaseline on my eyes, I use the Q10 eye cream when I don’t want over greasy eyes.
The final bonus is that this range is very affordable. With prices between £10-£14 the day cream is worth it for the protection from the sun alone.
You can’t beat regular sleep, exercise and a healthy diet and lifestyle for preventing premature ageing, but I do believe everyone needs a little extra help. Properly moisturised skin prevents dryness, and it’s a fact that dry skin ages far more quickly. The same goes for skin without sun protection – please stay sun safe!
Let me know your skincare secrets and want you want to change about your own routine in the comments 🙂
P.S. Like this post? You might also enjoy 11 Ways to Adopt Healthy Eating Habits!
Linking up to: Let It Shine, Brilliant Blog Posts, Friday’s Fab Favourites, Sunday Funday
I have written this post in collaboration with Nivea. All content is original, however, and opinions are my own and 100% honest.
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