As we age, our skin changes and starts to require different types of skincare attention to look its best. This is common sense – someone with skin that's been around for decades needs different lotions, serums, or moisturizers compared to someone with the youthful skin of an 18-year-old!

But what are the best skincare regimens for your age, and how do skincare regimens differ as you get older? 

On this page, we'll explore both of these questions and showcase some example skincare routines that should work for you depending on your age and common requirements. Let's get started.

Skin Age Affects Your Ideal Routine

Your age will naturally affect what type of skincare you should focus on. That’s because, as we get older, our cells become less efficient at maintaining the same levels of collagen and elastin – key compounds that determine how flexible and regenerative our skin is – as they did before.

Furthermore, issues with cell replication and reproduction continue to accrue as we collect years. This means that our skin becomes progressively more likely to suffer from aging spots and other blemishes as we get older. To make matters more difficult, older skin also tends to dry out a little more easily than younger skin. This can lead to irritation, cracks, and more wrinkles.

There is a bright side to getting older, however – those with older skin usually experience progressively fewer acne outbreaks. That's partially because our hormonal levels balance a bit more as we age, resulting in fewer acne outbreaks of that kind.

But our faces also become less oily and less hydrated. This does lead to the above-mentioned dryness problems, but it also means our pores get clogged with excess sebum, dirt, and dead skin cells over time.

Ultimately, each general age bracket needs a slightly different skincare routine to accommodate the varying needs or skin conditions common with those age groups. 

Let's break down the ideal skincare regimen for different ages.

Young Skin: Ages 18 - 29

When you have young skin, it’s easier than it will ever be again to maintain radiant, smooth-looking skin that’s incredibly soft to the touch. Your skin is at its most hydrated during this age bracket. While moisturizer is still necessary, it’s a little less so compared to later ages.

An ideal skincare routine will include:

• A facial cleanser. A good cleanser can wash off surface-level dirt and debris
• A toner. Facial toner can perform a deep cleanse of your pores, scooping out dirt and debris, and excess facial oil, that the cleanser leaves behind. This is incredibly important for younger skin since those who have it are more likely to suffer from acne outbreaks due to clogged pores
• Moisturizer. Since you’ll use a toner, you should always moisturize your skin after application to prevent your skin from drying out and losing moisture throughout the day.
• Serums. Facial serums include vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that help your skin cells regenerate properly and will improve the look and feel of your skin.
• Masks and peels. These products can remove toxins or other impurities from your skin and feel excellent, too.
• Exfoliators. These products, either chemical or physical, can remove dead skin cells and bring new, radiant-looking cells to the surface. Doing this once or twice a week will ensure that your youthful skin stays looking its best for as long as possible.
• Balms, creams, and lotions. All of these can improve and nourish the skin of your eyes, cheeks, and lips. Use these to protect against dryness. 

As you can see, those with young skin should try to incorporate as holistic and well-rounded a skincare routine as possible. Doing this from an early age will result in better-looking skin as you get older, too.

Mature Skin: Ages 30 - 45

Mature skin is just barely starting to show the signs of aging. You might find a few more blemishes or spots of hyperpigmentation here and there, and the first wrinkle lines may occur at the corners of your eyes. On the bright side, your acne issues should be diminishing.

A good skincare routine for this age will include:

• A facial cleanser to wash dirt and debris.
• A toner. You should still perform a deep cleanse of your pores. However, you may feel fine using a toner once or twice a week instead of every day as you did before.
• Moisturizer. You still need to keep your skin properly hydrated, especially after using any toner product!
• Serum. It’s more important than ever to use a serum to revitalize your skin cells and make sure they’re getting everything they need to continue producing collagen and elastin at the same levels as they did before.
• Face masks and peels. These can also be useful, especially if you have some extra cash and can afford to go to the spa for a full treatment.
• Exfoliators. Use these just as frequently as you would when you were younger.
• Balms, creams, and lotions. Use these to prevent excessive dryness and to work to eliminate the wrinkles around your eyes, if you've started to notice them. Eye creams like Suki Skincare’s Eye Lift Renewal Cream have everything you need to boost the skin around your eyes. 

The ideal skincare routine for mature skin isn’t too different from that of youthful skin. But, you’ll want to focus a bit more on serums and eye creams during this routine compared to general cleanliness and exfoliation.

Middle-Aged Skin: Ages 46 - 60

As you enter middle age, your skin will start to showcase a few more wrinkles, extra blemishes, and may become dry a little more frequently than you’re used to. 

Your skincare routine will adapt appropriately:

• Continue to use a facial cleanser and toner, though the latter product should be used a little more sparingly to avoid excessive dryness. Your acne issues, unless you have extremely oily skin naturally, should be mostly a thing of the past by this point.
• Remember to use moisturizer frequently. A Moisture-Rich Cleansing Lotion from Suki Skin Care can do wonders to improve the general hydration of your skin and help you tolerate the dry winter months.
• It's also a good idea to use serum more frequently. This will, ultimately, help your skin age a little more gracefully as you become older.
• Focus on eye creams and balms, too. These can lessen the effect that wrinkles have on your appearance and even make it less likely that blemishes or aging spots will crop up.
• Facial masks and peels are still great choices from time to time.
• When it comes to exfoliation, you can cut back on your frequency a bit. Your skin might dry a little more easily and your skin cells regenerate more slowly anyway. You should still exfoliate, but doing so every week and a half to two weeks is likely acceptable for your skin.

A middle-aged skincare routine will focus on moisturization and nourishment, plus add in some extra products to tackle wrinkles or the signs of aging.

Aging Skin: Ages 61+

Aging skin is now starting to show more wrinkles and extra aging spots. Thus, your skincare routine should focus on fighting these side effects and boosting your cells’ ability to produce collagen and elastin as much as possible.

• Continue using cleanser and toner, though the latter may become too much for your skin. If it dries your skin out, you can get by with only using toner once in a while.
• We’d heavily recommend using moisturizer and facial lotions as frequently as necessary. Your older skin will become dry much more easily than it used to.
• Serums like the Radical Results Youth Serum from Suki Skincare are top-tier products you can use to reduce the effects of wrinkles and aging spots and improve your cells’ ability to replicate healthily. Use serums after each facial washing routine.
• Exfoliation can be left behind if it’s too uncomfortable. While it’s still a good idea to exfoliate from time to time, beware its ability to dry out your skin to the point of irritation.
• Eye creams and balms are your friends, especially if you have deep crow’s feet around your eyes.
• Facial masks and peels are great things to add – look for masks that specifically have additional nutrients to be absorbed by your skin.

A skincare routine for aged skin will necessarily prioritize nourishment and moisturization. Focus on products that can improve your skin’s collagen production or reduce dryness above all other factors.

Summary

In the end, the ideal skincare regimen doesn’t differ too much as the decades fly past. You'll still want to keep up a general routine that involves cleansing, moisturizing, and revitalizing or nourishing your skin. But there are some important alterations you ought to adopt if you want to maintain the best possible routine for your skin and its age.

Of course, these are just example routines and you should feel free to adjust them according to your unique skin conditions or needs. Good luck and let us know if you have questions!

Sources:

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/collagen

https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article

https://www.aocd.org/page/Hyperpigmentatio