Five Essential Anti-Aging Tips
Last month we talked about the Five Skincare Essentials to Get a Youthful Glow. As promised, in part two of that series, we are going to talk about the five important anti-aging products this month.
In my office each room has the “five skincare essentials” poster that you see here.
Patients will often look at it and say, “I do one two and five on this list, but not three and four, what are those and how do I get them?” So I thought it would be a good idea to go through each step individually and see which of the five you need to add to your regiment.
The Five Essential Anti-Aging Skincare Tips
1. Wear sunscreen. This is by far the most important element of any anti-aging routine. There is no reason to use any other anti-aging product if you’re not using a sunscreen.
Sunscreens prevent further damage from occurring and help the brown spots and red spots that you already have from getting worse. It also prevents the collagen and elastin from being degraded by the sun. In short, sunscreens prevent brown spots, red spots, and wrinkles.
I recommend an SPF of 30 or higher and reapplication for the afternoon if you’re going to be outside or driving in your car. If you are concerned about reapplying sunscreen after you have done your makeup, at JanigaMDs plastic surgery and Dermatology we have a sunscreen in powder form that is small and compact and can fit in your purse. It is made by Colorscience and comes in different shades.
2. Use a retinoid. Retinoids build collagen in the skin, shrink the pores, and decreased fine lines and wrinkles. They vary from over-the-counter strength to prescription strength and commonly my patients know of it as good old-fashioned Retin A that is used to treat acne.
Every female dermatologist but I know over the age of 30 that is not pregnant or nursing uses some form of a retinoid. Over-the-counter preparations usually contain retinol and can be found in ROC and Oil of Olay Regenerist as well as some of the antiaging product’s from Estée Lauder and even Mary Kay. For those of you who would like more bang for your buck we have prescription strength available in the office.
3. Apply topical antioxidants. Most people are aware that eating antioxidants is good for your overall health but putting them on topically helps your skin fight off the pollutants and damage that we come into contact with on a daily basis.
Antioxidants come in many forms, but the most popular are vitamin A, vitamin C and green or red tea. Many fruits such as blueberries and melons have antioxidants also and have been formulated for topical preparation.
4. Use a topical growth factor. This is the one that most people have not heard of. Growth factors were originally formulated to help burn victims regenerate new skin, but they have now been formulated into cosmetic preparations to apply topically.
Our favorites are TNS Essential Serum by Allergan and CRS by Topix. These preparations allow for new skin to grow giving it a more youthful appearance, collagen to rebuild and many other benefits.
5. Wear a good thick moisturizer. I use one in the morning and in the evening but depending on your skin hydration you may only need it once per day.
Moisturizer plumps the skin and allows fine lines and wrinkles to look less noticeable. Additionally when the skin is hydrated it helps our make up from settling in those lines.
Follow these five anti-aging skincare tips and you’ll be on your way to beautiful skin at any age. We’d love to help you tailor this five-step routine to fit your individual skin type.
Call for your complementary skincare consultation to complete your anti-aging regiment. And as always, if you buy steps two through five at Janiga MDs you receive the sunscreen as our gift to you to complete the five steps.
Cheers to youthful skin!
~ Dr. Jennifer Janiga
