Skin and skincare in your 30s

What are the changes to your skin during your 30s? What you can do prevent premature ageing and have good skin for longer?

As we approach the magic number, we are either looking to invest in skin care products to improve our skin appearance or we have skincare regime during our 20’s and would like to maintain our skin’s youth. Either way, if you have started a skincare regime, you need to start investing skincare and sticking to a regime.

What causes skin ageing?

All of us will age and there are 2 types of ageing; intrinsic and extrinsic ageing.

Intrinsic ageing is the biological ageing of our body. It is unpreventable and occurs to your skin as well as your organs. Extrinsic ageing is caused by external factors. We have listed the 6 key skin damaging factors hereunder.

Everyone ages differently depending on genetics, skin types and how we look after our skin. Lifestyle and diets affect your skin as well. Though many experts do not see the link between diet and skin; we believe you are what you eat. Increasing fresh fruits and vegetables intake would certainly not do you or your skin any harm*.

*Some people are extremely to insoluble fibre (abundant in fruits and vegetables). If you feel/ suffer from bloated, indigestion and pain, please consult a medical professional who will be able to advise.

What are the key contributing factors to skin damages?

To read more about how these factors accelerate ageing and what you can do, read our 5 key skin damaging factors blog.

1. Sun exposure

2. Free radicals

3. Smoking

4. Lack of sleep and stressful lifestyle

5. Poor nutrition

As we mentioned in our skin in your 20s blog, how you look after your skin now affects it's condition in the future.

If you, in your 20s,

1. Avoid tanning and sunbeds

2. Use sunscreen every day

3. Have a solid skincare regime

4. Did not pick and leaves scars from acne

5. Eat healthily

6. Exercise regularly

7. Remove your makeup before bed

Chances are your skin would only showing minimal signs of ageing; of course your genetic makeup plays a huge part in this.

However, if you neglect your skin in your 20s, what are you likely to observe in your skin?

1. Pigmentation

2. Fine lines and wrinkles

3. Dry and dull skin

4. Sun damage

5. Loss of firmness in the skin

It is never too late to start a proper routine to care for your skin. Before you invest in skincare, understand your skin condition so you can better address the problems you may be experiencing.

What are the changes to your skin during your 30s?

1. The weakening of your skin barrier function

a. Skin barrier function is the lipid matrix in the outermost layer of the skin, the stratum corneum. It has 2 main functions, 1) prevent transepidermal water loss 2) acts a protective layer to the external environment to prevent external particles from entering the skin which can create an immune response

b. As this barrier weakens, it reduces it’s ability to retains moisture in your skin.

2. Your cell turnover rate slows down

a. Our skin cells turnover every 28 days but can slow up to every 45 days as we age. You may observe dullness in skin.

3. Reduction in hyaluronic acid

a. Hyaluronic acid is naturally produced by our body and our skin holds 50% of the total Hyaluronic acid in our body.

b. Majority of Hyaluronic Acid is within our dermis and epidermis holds some of it. As we age, our epidermis loses it’s Hyaluronic Acid while Dermis still retains the Hyaluronic Acid. There is no conclusive study as to why this happens.

4. Collagen production continues to drop at roughly 1% a year resulting in less firm and resilient skin.

a. Collagen is a protein is responsible for holding the skin together while elastin keeps the structure tight yet flexible.

b. Losing collagen results in loss of firmness in skin

What can you do to prevent premature skin ageing?

1. The most critical measure for extrinsic ageing is to use sunscreen every day. UVA has a long wavelength and can penetrate through your skin even on cloudy days and winter.

2. Apply your moisturiser to damp skin. Pat dry instead of rub dry. Damp skin is a more permeable than dry thus allowing better absorption. It also helps lock in the moisture.

What you should avoid:

1. Avoid showering and washing your skin with too hot water. It causes your skin to dry out more.

2. Avoid over-washing your face. Over-washing your face increases transepidermal water loss and can leave your skin dry.

3. Drying alcohol – SD alcohol 40, denatured alcohol, ethanol, and isopropyl alcohol

4. Synthetic fragrance in skincare which causes sensitivity

5. Pore clogging oils – To “seal in” moisture, many people start using oil. be very selective of the oil you are using. Not all oils are the same, there are some oils which are comedogenic (pore-clogging) such as coconut oil. It can clog pores and can cause more skin issues.

3 keys skincare ingredient properties to look out for:

1. Exfoliation to speed up cell turnover

2. Antioxidant to counter free radicals

3. Collagen boosting/ dermis supporting ingredients

What ingredients should you look out for?

AHA* includes Glycolic acid, Lactic acid, Malic acid, Tartaric Acid, Citric Acid, Mandelic Acid

Lifestyle

You are probably at the stage where you are juggling your hectic lifestyle leaving little to no time to relax. It is crucial that you do neglect your health or skincare. Skin reflects your state of health. Remember to take time to relax and find time to exercise.

Exercise release endorphins and this chemical improves your sleep and in turn relief stress. However, we don’t always have time to work out. If you cannot spare an hour, do a 10 mins High Intensity Training. Research has shown that benefits of exercise is cumulative. Don’t stress yourself out by not being able to make time for work-out. Do short intervals instead.

It takes time for skincare to work on your skin. Start a skincare regime that fits into your schedule. Skincare products don’t need to be extensive. You need to be consistent and patience to see results.

Don’t regret your skin tomorrow by investing in it today.

Learn more about: Everything about retinoids Everything about skincare acid exfoliant Skin ageing causes

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