Skincare for Women Over 40 and Beyond
Once you reach midlife, skincare can get pretty complicated. All those low-end cosmetics you used when you were a teenager? Now they can wreak even more havoc on your overall health (I never recommend toxin-filled cosmetics for teens either!)
Like most these days, I was shopping online for a new eye cream and I entered my criteria for areas of concern:
- Anti-ageing
- Suitable for someone in their 50s
- Clean
Out of these criteria comes an extensive list of many different eye creams available to me. As I was reviewing the selections, I realized that most of the products recommended for me had photos of 30-something-year-old models.
A 30-year-old cannot have the same anti-ageing concerns as me. This was my first complication — is this meant for me and my skin? Or is this a fallacy that the cosmetic industry wants me to believe my skin will look like I’m 30? This didn’t sit well with me — I’d like to see a woman my age using the product.
It’s important to use skincare meant for your skin type and your age category. I love nourishing oils like organic rosehip along with serums that include hyaluronic acid. There are some fantastic products out there!
The Ordinary brand makes some excellent serums. I’d consider them pretty clean with no additives except for the active ingredient. My top-secret serum from The Ordinary is their Buffet + Copper peptides serum. This ingredient is excellent for anti-ageing. Copper peptides have been well-studied to help generate that elastin in collagen deep within the skin.
Now, the complicated part: the ingredients. Most know to avoid the following:
- BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole)
- BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene)
- PPD (phenylenediamine)
- DEA (diethanolamine)
- DBP (dibutyl phthalate)
- Formaldehyde-releasing preservatives like methenamine, diazolidinyl urea
- Parabens — methylparaben, propylparaben, butylparaben
- PEG (polyethylene glycols) — petroleum-based
- Siloxanes — these ingredients end in “siloxane” or “methicone”
- SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate) or SLES (Sodium laureth sulphate)
Here is the trickiest of all ingredients in personal care products, even though all the other nasties are removed: FRAGRANCE. I stay away from products that include this one ingredient because many nasty elements can be hidden within this one ingredient under the guise of “trade secrets.”
To help you make better choices, download the apps “Think Dirty” or “EWG Healthy Living.” They do an excellent job of deciphering whether or not many of our personal care products are clean.
Sandy Kruse of Sandy K Nutrition is a registered holistic nutritionist and podcaster who works primarily with women over 40. Sandy shows them through customized, balanced programs she constructs that you can age gracefully, healthfully and beautifully.
Know more about Sandy: @sandyknutrition @sandykwellness
