Importance of an Anti-Ageing Skin Care Routine

In this article:
What are signs of ageing skin?
How to take your anti-ageing skin care routine to the next level
Use an advanced anti-ageing skin routine from the get-go

Ageing is a natural process that everyone goes through – but when it comes to tackling visible signs of that process, navigating the best anti-ageing skin care routine to get the results you want can be tricky.

Whether you’re dealing with your first signs of fine lines or looking to address more advanced issues, we’ve put together a research-backed guide to anti-ageing solutions that really work. Here are our top recommendations and tips to deal with everything from uneven tone to wrinkles, sagging pores and more.

What are signs of ageing skin?

How do you know if your skin is experiencing signs of ageing? As cliche as it might sound, the answer is written on your face!

Here are some of the most common visible signs of ageing skin:

• Fine lines and wrinkles: these can occur all over the face but are most prominent in areas where our skin gets the most “exercise” from facial expressions, including around the mouth and nose, the forehead and the corners of eyes (where they’re unflatteringly known as crow’s feet). One interesting fact: while dry skin does not cause wrinkles, it can emphasise their appearance.
• Dullness: youthful skin is known for its healthy “glow”; over time, skin can become dull and flat-looking from long-term exposure to pro-ageing factors, including pollutants and UV rays (1). Depending on your skin colour, you may also see a yellowing or graying of skin, further dulling its healthy vitality.
• Dry skin: as we age, our skin’s moisture barrier takes a beating from environmental stressors, resulting in dryness, even if skin wasn’t dry before.
• Dark spots: years of exposure to UV light (and not just from the sun, blue light from electronics plays a role, too!) can have a disrupting effect on skin’s pigmentation, resulting in areas of what are sometimes called “age spots.”
• Sagging skin: the progression of time, along with sun damage and changes due to menopause can cause substances that keep skin flexible and resilient to deplete, resulting in the appearance of skin that’s lost its bounce and takes on a crepe-like texture.

How to take your anti-ageing skin care routine to the next level

Now that you know how to identify signs of ageing, let’s get into how you can tweak your skin care routine and rev up your anti-ageing results.

Proper cleansing

It sounds so simple, but the very first step of your skin care routine can do so much to set the stage for the rest of your routine. What’s essential is that what you use to wash your face is both free of fragrance and irritants and effective enough to set you up for success. Select a cushiony cleanser designed for even the most sensitive skin for a hydrated clean. If you wear makeup, you can also consider a double cleansing skin care routine that removes even the most water-resistant makeup formulas efficiently without stripping skin.

Exfoliate to smooth out wrinkles

A good skin care routine for ageing skin should already include a daily leave-on AHA or BHA exfoliant, but if you want to see even more dramatic results, consider ramping up to a higher strength you’d apply a few nights per week. Stubborn concerns like wrinkles and dull, rough skin respond wonderfully to high-strength exfoliation, leaving skin looking even younger, smoother and firmer (1).

Try our RESIST Advanced Smoothing Treatment with 10% AHA, which has a milky-serum texture that’s perfect for all skin types showing signs of sun damage such as deep wrinkles, dehydration, and dullness. You can apply this instead of your usual leave-on exfoliant. Board-certified dermatologist Dr. Debra Jaliman suggests “a skin care routine that includes a gentle cleanser, an AHA or BHA exfoliant, a Vitamin C serum, a fragrance-free moisturiser and a daily SPF sunscreen”.

Add vitamin C to your routine

Most of us know that vitamin C is an essential part of maintaining internal health, and as it turns out, that’s true for skin as well. Vitamin C is the most abundant antioxidant in our skin, but over time, our reserves deplete (2). The result? Skin that appears dull, less pliable, and wrinkled. Thankfully, topical vitamin C products have a long-established record of helping combat each of these signs of ageing and defending skin from environmental aggressors.

Look for products containing higher amounts of vitamin C for maximum impact. For instance, check out our 25% vitamin C serum if you're trying to tackle advanced concerns, like dark spots and sun damage. Try our C15 Super Booster with ascorbic acid and stabilising ergothioneine if boosting glow and brightening is your chief concern. If you’re looking for a steady, low boost of vitamin C, look for an eye cream or moisturiser with 5% vitamin C plus other antioxidants proven to promote visible repair.

Keep your skin hydrated & supple

Investing in a good fragrance-free moisturiser that contains skin-replenishing ingredients can go a long way to repairing damage that occurs to skin’s moisture barrier with time. A repaired barrier can make a big difference in skin’s appearance, including reducing redness and decreasing the look of dryness-related fine lines and wrinkles. It even helps skin become less sensitive and, it follows, less prone to showing signs of irritation.

When it comes to elasticity, incorporating a booster with pro-collagen peptides can help boost skin’s resilience. Peptides are fundamental building blocks of skin. Topical application of peptides can “teach” skin how to revitalise these blocks, resulting in a nourished, revived appearance (4).

Protect your skin with SPF

We’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: use sunscreen every single day. So much of what we consider the visible signs of ageing can be attributed to repeated exposure to the sun’s harmful rays (5).

Without using a broad-spectrum sunscreen product, none of the other things you do to fight the signs of ageing will be truly effective.

If you haven’t found a sunscreen texture yet that you like applying daily, we invite you to peruse the wide range of Paula’s Choice sunscreens; of particular to interest to those who feel sunscreen can often be too greasy is our RESIST Super Light Daily Wrinkle Defense SPF 15, which has a mattifying finish designed to combat oiliness as it protects.

Use an advanced anti-ageing skin routine from the get-go

If you want an easy, pre-curated routine, switch to our RESIST Anti-Aging Advanced Kit for Normal to Dry Skin or Normal to Oily Skin. From there, you can add key boosters or treatments catering to your specific or more targeted concerns.

These are our best skin care routines for anti-ageing, featuring comprehensive, state-of-the-art products that work to improve the appearance of wrinkles, pore size, skin texture and hydration for an even-toned, smoother and firmer-feeling complexion that will have everyone wondering what you’re doing to look so great.

For more information on how to incorporate Paula’s Choice Skincare products into your personal routine, you can schedule a free one-on-one consultation with one of our Client Services representatives.

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References for this information:
1. Current Environmental Health Reports, January 2020, pages 58-64
2. Nutrients, August 2017, pages 1–27
3. Journal of Dermatological Science, June 2017, pages 238–248
4. Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine, May 2016, issue 1, pages 175-178
5. Vestnik dermatologii i venerologii, 2021, pages 60-70