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The 5 Most Important Skincare Ingredients for Women Our Age

To help you sort through the range of products and the wild claims, we asked dermatologists which ingredients are most effective for keeping skin looking its best.

With all the products on the market touting their ability to nourish and preserve your skin, you can’t help but wonder which ones really work and which ones are just hype. When I wanted to determine the five key skincare ingredients for women over 45, I turned to my personal dream team—five dermatologists who collectively have more than 100 years of experience in caring for skin. I have canvassed them and share the consensus here, so you don’t have to go around wondering if you’re using the most effective products or falling for every new skincare fad out there. 

Here are the top docs I consulted:

Dr. David E. Bank, MD., director of The Center for Dermatology and Laser Surgery in Mt. Kisco, NY

Dr. Doris Day, MD, director of Day Dermatology & Aesthetics in NYC

Dr. Dendy Engelman, MD, with a practice at The Shafer Clinic in NYC

Dr. Ellen Marmur, MD, director of Marmur Medical in NYC

Dr. Joshua Zeichner, MD, director of Cosmetic and Clinical Research Department of Dermatology at The Mount Sinai Hospital in NYC

This article is sponsored by Cutera, which produces medical devices created by veteran laser and optical engineers that keep you looking your best. 

retinol products

Ingredient #1: Retinol

Four out of five dermatologists said a retinoid is the most important ingredient for women over 45. (They also recommended sugarless gum for their patients who chew gum. Ha ha!!) The term retinoids describes a number of topical ingredients derived from vitamin A, including retinol (available over the counter), tretinoin (available by prescription), and many more. And if you’re not already using one, now’s the time to start. “Topical retinoids are perhaps the best studied ingredient we have to fight the appearance of aging skin,” says Dr. Zeichner. Retinoids stimulate collagen production to strengthen your skin’s foundation and reduce wrinkles. They also enhance cell turnover, which means dead, dulling, age-spotted skin cells are shed more quickly to reveal the fresher, more radiant cells underneath.

“The effect of retinoids take time to kick in,” says Dr. Zeichner. “You need to stick with them for several weeks or months to begin to experience their benefit.” A lot of people quit retinoids within the first month because they can cause dryness and irritation. Don’t be a quitter! Instead, suggests Dr. Zeichner, “just skip a day or two between applications.” And most important, he says, don’t forget to wear your sunscreen in the morning because a topical retinoid—which is best used at night—can make you sensitive to the sun. Which will bring us to ingredient #2.

Some Products You’ll Love with Retinol:

  • Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair Regenerating Retinol Cream + Hyaluronic Acid  neutrogena.com 
  • L’Oreal Paris Age Perfect Eye Renewal Amazon.com

Ingredient #2: Sunscreen

“One of my favorite Southern sayings is ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,’” says  Charleston, SC-born Dr. Engelman. “It’s so much easier to prevent the signs of aging than to correct them.” But, she adds, sunscreen often gets overlooked in beauty regimens because it’s difficult to gauge prevention. “It’s not as sexy as seeing the skin improve. That said … skin cancer, discoloration, fine lines, wrinkles, uneven skin tone and texture—basically everything we want to avoid—are best avoided with sunscreen.” 

Sun damage is cumulative: the UV exposure sustained during your childhood and teen years adds up and contributes to your skin cancer risk later in life. The good news, NextTribers, is that if you change your sun-care habits at any age, you can start to reverse the damage: “Even after years of abuse, your skin can repair itself,” said Dr. Engelman. 

Some Products You’ll Love with Sunscreen:

    • ProX by Olay Age Repair Face Lotion SPF 30  olay.com 
    • Aveeno Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer with SPF 30  cvs.com

Read More: The Best Sunscreen: This One Will Really Have You Covered

retinol product Hyaluronic Acid

Ingredient #3: Hyaluronic Acid

You may know hyaluronic acid, or HA, as the ingredient that doctors inject into faces to fill out wrinkles and replace lost volume, but it also has many benefits when applied topically. “As we age,” explains Dr. Marmur, “HA levels fall—especially in the outer layer of skin, the epidermis. Thus, products [like Marmur’s own MMSkincare serums and masks] replenish the vital HA to help promote all of its benefits.”

And those benefits are? Glow, hydration, and smoother skin, to start. “HA is ubiquitous in all plants and animals,” says Dr. Marmur. “In our skin, HA is the queen of molecules, capable of preventing scars, fighting free radicals, attracting immune cells, improving collagen formation, reducing wrinkles, improving blood flow, and plumping up dry skin to look more radiant.” Dayum.

Some Products You’ll Love with Hyaluronic Acid:

Ingredient #4: Vitamin C

Vitamin C came onto the skincare scene right around the same time that I did—the early 1990s—and neither of us is going away any time soon. “Vitamin C provides multiple benefits: it stimulates collagen, reduces the appearance of lines and wrinkles, brightens the complexion, and is useful in fading dark spots,” says Dr. Bank. It also provides antioxidant protection against UV-induced photo-damage and pollution by squelching the free radicals formed when UV rays and pollution hit your skin. The metaphor Dr. Bank uses is doubles tennis: if sunscreen is at the net, vitamin C is in the back court, fielding anything that gets past the sunscreen.

You should apply your vitamin C product underneath your sunscreen every morning, so it’s there when you need it most. “Once absorbed, vitamin C can remain effective for hours,” says Dr. Bank, “but not all vitamin C serums are created equal. Look for one containing L-ascorbic acid, which tends to be more stable, at concentrations of 10-15%.”

Some Products You’ll Love with Vitamin C:

Read More: Under-Eye Puffiness: Is it Worth All That Work and $$$ to Ditch the Bags?

Ingredient #5: Niacinamide (Vitamin B3)

Niacinamide, aka vitamin B3, is the do-it-all ingredient you may have never heard of. “Next to retinol and, of course, being sun smart, niacinamide may be the single most important anti-aging ingredient,” says Dr. Day. “Its anti-aging effects include normalization of age-associated depletions of nicotinamide coenzymes, which are important for mitochondrial function.” In layman’s terms, as we age, our skin cells make more “errors” that prevent the production of skin-supporting collagen and hydrating ceramides. Niacinamide “fixes” the errors, so our skin behaves like its younger. But niacinamide also does much more: it improves skin barrier function, which keeps irritants out and hydration in; evens skin tone; reduces redness; and has anti-acne properties. Says Dr. Day, “it’s very helpful for those with adult acne who also want to avoid aging skin.” As someone who has both pimples and wrinkles at 50, I’ve become a big fan of B3.

Some Products You’ll Love with Niacinamide:

  • Olay Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Serum Original olay.com 
  • Pause Well-Aging Collagen Boosting Moisturizer  pausewellaging.com 
  • ProX by Olay Age Repair Face Lotion SPF 30  olay.com 

A version of this story was originally published in November 2019.

By Cheryl Kaye

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