How to Visibly Transform Signs of Ageing

5 min read

Shannon SteckApril 21, 2026

In this article:
Improve uneven skin tone
Step up to more retinol
Exfoliate
Nourish skin’s barrier

If you’re battling dull skin, enlarged pores, wrinkles and uneven skin tone, we can help. The research-supported products we offer at Paula’s Choice Skincare can help transform the look of your skin into one of radiant smoothness.

Anti-ageing tip #1: Improve uneven skin tone

Too many days in the sun without adequate protection takes its toll on skin (1). If you’re noticing uneven skin tone and a rough texture, it’s time to take action!

First, use a broad-spectrum sunscreen every single day, rain or shine, as the last step in your morning skin care routine. If you use your sunscreen as directed, along with other sun-protection measures, this will also decrease the risk of skin cancer and early skin ageing caused by the sun (2).

Next, seek products loaded with skin-brightening ingredients, such as:

Note that research has shown using all of these ingredients at the same time can produce the best results, as each one addresses different pathways triggering uneven skin tone and discolourations.

These ingredients work together to yield impressive results on visibly uneven skin tone but be patient. It might take 6–12 weeks to start seeing results—after all, your skin’s appearance didn’t change from even to uneven overnight.

Anti-ageing tip #2: Step up to more retinol

Retinol is one of the most effective anti-ageing ingredients because it transforms skin by renewing youthful vitality, helping to increase the appearance of firmness, dramatically improving skin texture, and softening the look of fine lines and wrinkles—even stubborn wrinkles (3).

Retinoids, the umbrella term for all vitamin A derivatives under which retinol sits, are also powerful anti-ageing ingredients. Overall, they work to help promote cell turnover for a more even, healthy appearance, although each unique retinoid has ingredient-specific traits. Retinaldehyde (aka retinal) and retinyl propionate are popular retinoids used in retinoid skin care products.

Paula’s Choice retinol and retinoid products come in various strengths for different skin types and skin concerns. We’re particularly proud of our CLINICAL 1% Retinol Treatment; it could be just the right retinol you need to experience more visible results. If you’re looking for a high-potency retinoid product that delivers advanced anti-ageing results (including for blemish-prone skin), the CLINICAL Pro Retinaldehyde Treatment taps into the power of 0.1% retinaldehyde to deliver transformed skin.

Another way to add retinol to your skin care routine is to mix a drop or two of our 1% Retinol Booster into your nighttime moisturiser, perhaps every third day or every other day. See how your skin responds. If all is going well after 1–2 weeks, consider bumping it up to once-per-day use, either morning or evening.

Anti-ageing tip #3: Exfoliate

If a brighter, healthier looking glow is on your wish list, supercharge your anti-ageing routine with an AHA or BHA exfoliant. Using an AHA (alpha hydroxy acid) or BHA (beta hydroxy acid, AKA salicylic acid) exfoliant daily will help your skin shed those dull, lackluster surface layers of dead skin in a completely non-abrasive and gentle way, just as your skin did naturally when you were younger. If reducing the appearance of enlarged pores is also on your list, then a BHA is best.

You can ramp things up by applying an AHA exfoliant with a higher percentage of glycolic acid once or twice per week, like our RESIST Advanced Smoothing Treatment with 10% AHA. For daily exfoliation, our RESIST Daily Smoothing Treatment with 5% AHA is an excellent option.

If you have sensitive skin, our SKIN PERFECTING 6% Mandelic Acid + 2% Lactic Acid Liquid Exfoliant delivers the results of an AHA exfoliant with a gentle, time-release formula that enhances skin’s barrier.

For those with normal to oily skin, using our RESIST Daily Pore-Refining Treatment with 2% BHA provides amazing skin-smoothing and pore-refining action, leading to younger-looking skin almost overnight. Once you experience what a well-formulated BHA exfoliant can do, you’ll never want to be without it!

Using the types of products mentioned above, you’ll start seeing a brighter, smoother, and younger-looking complexion. It’s never too late to start improving your skin’s appearance!

Anti-ageing tip #4: Nourish skin’s barrier

Think of skin’s barrier as the gatekeeper of skin’s hydration and health. Its function is to keep the bad out and the good (hydration) in. External aggressors (UV rays, pollution, cold temperatures) and irritating skin care ingredients can damage the barrier, resulting in less protection from damaging and ageing elements.

Keeping the barrier healthy is as simple as drenching it in skin-identical and skin-restoring ingredients like ceramides (4). Ceramides are a vital part of a well-functioning barrier and are naturally produced in abundance by young skin. As we age, our ability to produce ceramides decreases, so not only do ceramides help restore the barrier, they also help skin look youthful (5).

If you’re looking for a barrier-nourishing, ceramide rich moisturiser, try our RESIST Barrier Repair Advanced Moisturizer. This silky lotion is clinically proven to visibly reduce wrinkles and hydrate and improve the barrier.

Using the types of products mentioned above, you’ll start seeing a brighter, smoother, and younger-looking complexion. It’s never too late to start improving your skin’s appearance!

Learn more about anti-ageing.

References for this information: