How to Have Great Skin in Your 30s
I am 32. I’ve been getting “botox” twice per year since I was 26 (with the exception of this year, as I’ve been pregnant and breastfeeding).
My botox (but really Dysport) journey started when a brow guy (not to be confused with my brow guy referenced below) noticed a deep line between my brows and I asked if he could recommend a product for the wrinkle… He said “Honey, yes! Botox!”
“But I am too young for Botox!” I told him. He disagreed, saying he knew women way younger doing far more than Botox.
As a girl who grew up in the Midwest during peak “Orange-is-the-new-pale” years, in High School, I had multiple tanning packages, bronzing (read: frying) my skin all times of year in a tanning bed. So at 26, with this comment from my brow guy, I felt like my bad decisions in high school were already catching up to me, which meant I needed to start getting serious about my skin.
When I share my “botox” story, it’s very polarizing to women (and men). Some women are turned off “You’re too young to get botox!” they say. Other women are turned on “Oh my gosh, you started getting botox at 26?! Does that mean it’s okay if I get it?” they say.
Wherever you sit on the spectrum, I get it. To each, their own. That said, inspired by my recent Allowlist episode with the Co-Founder of Pinch (Uber for at home ‘Tox and Filler), and the women who DM me on Instagram complimenting my “glowing, dewy, skin” (thank you!), I’m sharing my skincare system, routines, products, and even my botox girl, brow guy, and facialist in today’s article.
Part 1 - My Skincare Systems
At 26, I decided that it was time to start getting serious about my skin. This meant slowly but surely upgrading my products, getting regular with my services, investing in a daily routine, and an annual rhythm of skin care that would deliver all the benefits I was seeking — youthful skin for as long as possible. While it took me a little time to settle into what I am sharing in this post, I thought the image of the Skincare Calendar basically summed up my practices, at a glance.
Every year - I make a visit to the Dermatologist to look at my various moles and beauty marks. My dad had late-stage skin cancer taken from both his chest and his face, so I don’t mess around with this annual skin exam. Even though I haven’t had anything concerning pop up in the multiple years I’ve been doing this, each year in January, like clockwork, I go in. In addition to my annual visit to the Dermatologist, I make a bi-annual visit to my Aesthetician for Dysport (a Botox-like product). We focus on my forehead, specifically the area between my brows and above them. That said, I think we’ll start focusing on my eyes a little more in the future as I’m starting to notice more aging than I’d like in that area. Her name is Maggie, she’s in Park Ridge, IL and she’s the bomb. Book her here.
Every eight weeks - I go see my Brow Guy for the best brows in the game. Since brows are such a big part of your appearance, I do what I can to keep mine cleaned up as frequently as possible. I have him do a brow wax and tint, and sometimes a lip wax depending on what things are looking like. He also does laminations and a number of other services, but I simply stick to the basics. I’ve been seeing him for 10 years and he is the best in the game… So much so, even after moving to the suburbs of Chicago, I still make a trip downtown to see him. Book Brow Guy Miguel aka Mr Brows, here.
Every month - I go see my Skin Therapist, for extractions and a facial, sometimes including a peel or derma-planing, depending on what the time of year and state of my skin calls for. This has been the latest addition to my skincare wellness system and it’s something that I truly look forward to each month. Her name is Sam, she’s in St Charles, IL and she’s the best. Book her here.
Every week - Ronnie and I celebrate Fresh Sheets Friday! What we’ve branded as the day of the week where I strip the bed and wash/bleach our white linens so we can wake up on Saturday morning with fresh sheets. In addition, on Saturday mornings, I take a little bit of extra time to do a face mask, and while that sits on my face I get in the shower to put on my hair mask, followed by flossing my teeth, brushing my teeth, shaving my legs and exfoliating my body. By the time I am done doing those things, voila! time to rinse off my face and hair mask.
Every day - After my shower and before bed I take time to do a simple skincare routine — in the mornings: toner, eye serum, face serum, moisturizer, sunscreen; in the evening, toner, face serum, moisturizer. There are certainly days this routine is not perfect, note: I do a damn good job of falling asleep on the couch without doing my nighttime routine, but for the most part, this is what gets done. It’s worth noting, that our skin goes beyond just our faces, so on a daily basis, when I get out of the shower, I also put lotion all over my body.
Part 2 - The Staple Skincare Products You Need and their Benefits
I used to get so overwhelmed with ‘all the skincare’ products I ‘needed’ to have great skin. On any given day, you could open one of the drawers in my bathroom to find a graveyard of products I’d tried, but not used up. I made it my intention to start paying more attention to conversations around skincare and I learned a ton. All in all, you don’t need that much to be successful with your skincare. Experts estimate that 80-90% of aging is caused by UV damage alone (great TSC episode), so if keeping your skin youthful is your main concern, find a daily broad-spectrum SPF and commit to putting that on every day, multiple times per day. In addition, a little sleep, less stress, an earth-food-first diet, 75oz/day of hydration and some intentional exercise affect your skin probably more than you care to admit to yourself, so if you’re feeling like your lifestyle is ‘off’ consider where you can make improvements there before splurging on skincare.
So, assuming you’re wearing a sunscreen and working on your overall lifestyle, here’s what your skin needs next:
A gentle cleanser - I actually only cleanse with product once per day, in the evening. In the mornings, I just use water in the shower so as not to rip away the oils that built up over night from my skincare routine.
A serums with a goal - Serums will depend on your skincare goals, I found these helpful visuals for understanding what you’ll need in your serums to accomplish different goals. I’m sharing the serums I use below. You’ll see below, I’m seeking a combination of benefits, so I switch things up depending on the season and what my skin is calling for. Whether your skin is calling for hydration, clarification, brightening, or firming, you’ll find a serum that can deliver one or many benefits.
An eye cream with goal - Since the skin around our eyes is so thin, it’s important to make sure it gets extra nutrients. I always make sure to get my eyes with some extra love. Whether your goal is lightening, firming, or both, there is an eye cream out there for you!
Moisturizer - Hydration, hydration, hydration, is the key to elasticity. So I use products that both deliver hydration and lock it in. I’ll tell you about it later, but OneKind’s Dream Cream has been life-changing in the moisture department. See Get Un-Ready With Me section for more on this one.
Part 3 - Get Ready With Me Products
Overall, I try to shop women-founded brands, and when possible (aka when I can find a product that I love) brands that are still emerging or growing (as opposed to run by big, “faceless” consumer companies). I’m sharing a few of my go-to brands below, OneKind, being a favorite (I’m on a subscription with them), which is founded by an incredible woman and her brother, Madison Ruggiero. Madison actually sat down with me on PM School to talk about the founding story behind the brand — the goal being to create La-Mer-grade-skincare, but at a fraction of the cost. Here’s what’s in my getting ready repertoire:
Step 1 - Cleanse. I don’t always cleanse in the mornings with soap (mainly just water), but when I do my go-to is Cerave’s Hydrating Facial Cleanser, I love the way it goes from a milky cleanser to all foamed up, gently removing any makeup, also for the price, you can’t beat it! The Cerave formula is built to cleanse and refresh the skin without over-stripping it or leaving it feeling tight and dry. Cerave’s ceramides support your skin barrier and Hyaluronic acid gets you moisture, plumpness, and volume. (P.s. One day per week, I exfoliate using Versed’s Day Maker Exfoliating Cleanser).
Step 2 - Tone. In the morning, I use Kiehl’s Ferulic Brew Antioxidant Facial Treatment with Lactic Acid. I am obsessed with the smell and the formula has ferulic acid to help defend against skin-aging free radicals, lactic acid for some gentle exfoliation, and finally squalane to help replenish your skin’s barrier after cleansing.
Step 3 - Eyes. I love OneKind’s Pep Squad Eye Revive Complex, the cream has peptides which help firm, and marine algae and squalane to trap moisture and reduce wrinkles. I promise you, you’ll feel the skin around your eyes firm up about 1 minute after application, it’s so validating to feel the change happen. I always feel like my eyes look "‘snatched’ when I use it, hence I’ve become a daily user and superfan.
Step 4 - Moisturize. I am obsessed with OneKind’s Mega Multi-Tasker Moisturizer, the moisturizer has Ashwagandha to counteract fatigue, stress and screen-emitted blue light (much needed considering my daily screen time!), a special juice complex to fight damage from environmental pollutants (YAS!), and finally, hyaluronic acid to trap moisture and reduces the appearance of fine lines. This moisturizer is like a jab, punch, cross, uppercut combo for daily radiance! Love, love, love.
Step 5 - Pre-makeup Serum. I’m all about Merit’s Great Skin Instant Glow Serum, it goes on sooooo smooth and makes my face feel rich and moisturized, plus makes my sunscreen and makeup go on sooo smoothly. This serum apparently has four types of hyaluronic acid to target multiple layers of skin to lock in hydration for all-day moisture - to be honest, I really think this is the final moisture trapping product that keeps me dewy, but not greasy all day long. It also has Niacinamide helps brighten and smooth, then the Cacao seed extract stimulates blood flow for an immediate plumping effect. To be honest, I don’t know that I notice the plumping so much, but hey, maybe there’s something to it!
Step 6 - Sunscreen / Makeup primer. Once I’m literally the most moisturized human on planet earth, I use SuperGoop’s Glow Screen to get that broad spectrum UVA/UVB protection! Again, 80-90% of aging is caused by sun damage (not to mention cancer!), so even when I’m not going to wear makeup, I use this product. The thing I love most, especially for those no makeup days is the glowiness of the sunscreen gives you this gorgeous all over glow, so you GLOW without any further makeup needed.
Step 7 - Makeup. After all is said and done with my skincare routine, I often don’t even get to putting on makeup. But when I do, I use a broad range of Merit’s products. Check these out in the Bonus section.
Note — depending on your skin’s needs, you’ll need different products. My needs are a mix of moisturize, brighten, and firm, so this concoction of goodness works for me. I recommend you figure out what you value in the brands you shop (for me: great products, woman-owned, emerging brands, as much as possible) and then keep trying products until you get the results of your dreams!
I’ll also say this, my routine is probably excessive, but it’s something that I do for me every single day that makes me so very happy. Do what works for you! Again, you can probably accomplish all the dewy, glowy, snatched face and more just by wearing sunscreen, and staying hydrated and well-slept, so if you’re looking for a place to start, start there.
Part 4 - Get Un-Ready With Me Products
Getting unready isn’t as big of an occasion for me as getting ready. I stick to the basics.
Step 1 - Cleanse. At night, I am exhausted from a hard day, so I keep it simple, using my Cerave Hydrating Facial Cleanser both morning and night. It’s simple, effective and if something’s not broke, don’t fix it.
Step 2 - Tone. After I’m nice and clean, time to tone it up. At night, I usually use Versed’s Baby Cheeks Milky Toner. It’s formulated with coconut water, algae extract and bamboo extract made to restore your skin’s natural pH (according to Versed, your skin is happiest when its pH falls between 5.0-6.0), remove post-cleanse hard water residue, and lift the last remaining traces of the day’s makeup. I love it because it makes my skin soft and buttery after my cleansing, which simply makes me feel ready to put my serums and moisturizer over the top.
Step 3 - Serum. Back to my OneKind love, I use their Aciddrops Overnight Resurfacing Serum every other night. I swear this is the secret behind my bright skin. From what I understand the multi-acid formula includes: glycolic, lactic, salicylic and malic acids, these team up to gently resurfaces your skin’ss texture, it also contains Vitamin C which brightens and evens your skin tone. In addition, it has a prickly pear extract, desert date oil and hyaluronic acid which help to hydrate, soothe, and protect the skin barrier. From time to time, I will add in Versed’s Press Restart Gentle Retinol, which is specifically formulated for sensitive skin (and first-time retinol users) with “microencapsulated retinol” which sends the active ingredients deep down into your skin without irritating the surface so you can use it nightly (if you want) to soften age lines, without clogging your pores.
Step 4 - Moisturize. IMO, you have to have your nighttime moisture game locked down, because this is the cleanest, most relaxed and undisturbed your skin will be throughout the day. Delivering it a delicious moisturizer is like the equivalent of a beauty hyper-boost. For me, by far my favorite product in this whole roundup, is my nighttime moisturizer, OneKind’s Dream Cream, this product single-handedly got me hooked on great skincare products. I wake up with the dewiest, juiciest, most hydrated skin every morning because of this amazingness.
Step 5 - Sleep. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: getting 8+ hours of sleep and staying hydrated are as much part of the skincare routine as the products themselves. I try to shut down at around 9PM. I always go to sleep with a water bottle by my bedside so I can chug it through the night if I wake up, or, at a bare minimum, chug it when I wake up in the morning, before my coffee.
Bonus: Makeup
As I mentioned above, most days, I opt for no makeup. But for the days I am planning to glam it up, I’ve got my beauty game locked in with pretty much ONE brand running my entire beauty case. Merit Beauty is the antidote to the maximalist beauty counter and culture we’re living in. The brand is woman-founded (one of my fav entrepreneurs, Katherine Power) and was designed to be clean, cruelty-free beauty for beauty minimalists, like me! Beauty people who love to look great, but love a simple, classic, timeless look.
Base - Merit’s Minimalist Complexion Stick in Bisque blended with Brush No. 1
Contour - Merit’s Bronze Balm in Clay blended with Brush No. 1
Cheek Tint - Merit’s Flush Balm in Cheeky blended with Brush No. 1
Highlighter - Merit’s Day Glow Balm in Cava blended with Brush No. 1
Brow - First I draw them in with Benefit Precisely Brow Pencil in 3.5, followed by some texture added via Merit’s Brow 1980 in Brown.
Eyes - Merit's Solo Shadow in Vachetta, with Merit’s Day Glow Balm in the corner of my eye and at my brow arch for some dimension, applied via Brush No 2
Lashes - Merit’s Clean Lash in Perfect Black.
Lips - I have a few of Merit’s Shade Slicks because the gloss is so perfect, not sticky, not wet, not too matte, but not overly shiny. It’s my favorite gloss I’ve ever owned. My go-to colors are: Pink Beet, Marrakech, and Sangria
Note: I have two Brush No. 1’s for application, one for the Complexion Stick and the other for blending my contour, cheek tint and highlighter.
Summary
Alright, if you’ve been in my DM’s asking… I hope you loved this article more than the pain it took me to document all of this. And for those of you who haven’t been in my DM’s asking yet, but will be in the future… Thank the women who came before you!
Xx.
