AM I GETTING YOUNGER YET?? age defying products demystified

A while back I had a client who was frustrated with her skincare routine. She had tried so many different anti-aging products, but just wasn’t getting the results she wanted. It seemed like nothing she was doing was helping. Her skin still sagged, the wrinkles and fine lines were all still there. She wanted to look younger, but instead every day she got older. But she still believed things could get better, if only she could figure out what to do. She was a perpetual optimist, but a discouraged one, an unfortunate thing that too often happens to optimists.

Soon after I had a client who was also getting older. She told me she had been speaking with a friend who had complained about his advancing age. She had said to him, “You’d better get used to it, because every single one of us is getting older every single day, unless we’re dead.” This client was not a pessimist, she was more of a cynic, which if you ask a cynic, is just a term other people use for realists.

Some people, and I think they’re mostly philosophers of some kind, don’t think about age defying products. Aging is just a natural part of life for them, and they either embrace it or are indifferent to it. I’m not a philosopher of some kind, really, but I do appreciate their perspective. I also appreciate embracing signs of wisdom and experience on the body. But also, nearly as much as that, I appreciate preservation.

And that is what age defying products are to me — preserving the most radiant, glowing version of ourselves. There is (was, RIP) a fabulous makeup artist named Kevin Aucoin and people used to say that he could make you look the way you imagine your best self to look. I strive to do with skincare products what he did with makeup. Because for a lot of us, looking radiant helps us to feel radiant from within.

So if you’re anything like my first client, where I like to start is with the ingredients. Brands can be important, but that is only because certain brands use more quality performance ingredients. Ingredients are more important than brands, though. So I advise people to take all the products they’re currently using, read the ingredients list and research whether the ingredients are something that are helping you towards your goal.

When I look at a product, I evaluate their top five to six ingredients, generally. The first listed ingredients are the ones that the product contains the most of. After about six ingredients, the rest are often included in such small amounts that they’re negligible and I don’t care so much about them. I want the top ingredients to be performance ingredients, meaning they’re there to perform a goal, not as fillers or binders or something like that. (Things like surfactants, surface active agents that help hold oils and waters together, have their role, too, but I’m looking for quality.)

When I see water or aqua as the first ingredient in an age defying product, I generally don’t buy that product. I can splash water on my face any time I want (in fact some people do this and only this for their skincare, and they swear it works for them so I’m not going to stop them). Water base is fine for something like a cleanser, especially for oily skin, but I usually like my age defying products to hold more weight.

When you read the front label of a product and it announces that is or contains some nice sounding age defying ingredient, always see where that ingredient falls in the list. Too often the ingredient is way down on the list, and you’re only getting trace amounts of it.

Glycerin is a common ingredient in age defying products, and you’ll often see it second or third in the list. Glycerin is a humectant, meaning it helps draw moisture from the air into the skin, keeping skin supple, and also aids in the penetration of other ingredients.

Retinol is another common ingredient. In a lot of products you’ll find it further down the list, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing because too much of it can be irritating to the eye area. Retinol is a type of retinoid. Retinoids are a more powerful usually prescription grade ingredient, often used for acne, while retinol is a milder form found in over the counter products. Both are derived from Vitamin A. Retinol boosts collagen production, reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

AHAs are common ingredients as well, and you’ll find them in diluted amounts in many over the counter anti aging products. The higher the concentration, the more effective they’ll be, but they can be harsh, so use caution if you have sensitive skin. In over the counter products AHAs will be found in a concentration of 10% or less. Estheticians can use masks on clients that contain up to 20 to 30% AHA.

So what is AHA, anyway? Alpha Hydroxy Acids are a group of acids that are found in sugar cane, milk and fruits. They include lactic acid (dairy), glycolic acid (sugar cane), malic acid (apples), tartaric acid (grapes) and citric acid (citrus fruits). They slough away dead skin while prompting regeneration of new skin cells, reducing fine lines and wrinkles, dark spots and hyperpigmentation. Glycolic acid and lactic acid are the most heavily researched and thus have shown the most promising results.

You have have heard of omega fatty acids, the “healthy fats” that are found in our diets and are natural anti-inflammatories. They improve our skin barrier while delivering moisture, and improve our skin’s elasticity. Omega 3’s balance skin’s oil production and protect against sum damage, while omega 6’s hydrate and stimulate skin cell growth.

Peptides and caffeine are both ideal ingredients for the under eye area. Peptides are amino acid chains that stimulate collagen and elastin production. They occur naturally in our skin but decrease in production as we get older. Caffeine can temporarily reduce puffiness and the appearance of dark circles.

Here are some of my favorite age defying ingredients, and where to find them:

CLOUDBERRY SEED OIL - Cloudberries, rich in Vitamins A, C and E, help reduce oxidative stress and combat the presence of free radicals. What the heck does that mean?! Oxidative stress is the imbalance of free radicals in the body. When free radicals are present, they lack electrons and need to latch on to healthy cells with electrons, so they take away the electrons of those healthy cells. Then those healthy cells are lacking electrons, so they need to find them somewhere, creating a chain reaction where all the healthy cells are scrambling to find more electrons. You have probably heard of antioxidants. Those are substances that have electrons to share with all these free radicals. They help keep everything in harmony. Now your skin can continue to grow its collagen and elastin cells, keeping your skin more supple and smooth. Clean Mundi’s Not Another Face Oil has cloudberry seed oil as the second ingredient. The first ingredient is blueberry seed oil, which contains omega 3 fatty acids. After that it’s got hibiscus seed oil, kukui nut oil, prickly pear seed oil, rose hip oil, safflower, tamanu, and alma seed oil. So it’s literally packed with fatty acids and antioxidants. I use it every day and it smells like spice and sunshine.

SEA RETINOL - a safe alternative to retinol that won’t cause irritation. Derived from samphire, a succulent plant that grows near the sea. Samphire helps skin regenerate and thickens the epidermis, giving the skin a plumping effect. You can find it in Earth Harbor’s Samphire Sea Retinol Digital Serum. Though water based, I make an exception here because it’s got so many quality ingredients right after water, such as beet-derived BHA, a beta hydroxy acid that gently declogs the skin, and beta glucan, a mushroom extract that repairs the skin barrier. I also always recommend this product for anyone with redness or inflammation as it’s got multiple sea kelp ingredients, which are natural anti inflammatories.

KOKUM BUTTER — Derived from the kokum plant, a fruit-bearing plant in the mangosteen family, kokum butter is not only a natural moisturizer but also helps skin turnover, meaning it boosts the production of new, healthy cells. It is rich in Vitamin E and fatty acids. You’ll find it in Earth Harbor’s Nymph Nectar Radiance Balm as the second ingredient. The first ingredient is Olive Fruit Oil, also rich in fatty acids as well as Vitamins D, E, A and K. I recommend this product for dry and mature skin (like mine!), and I use this daily because it’s thick and I looooove a thick age defying product, it smells like sea flowers, and I can literally feel and see it working. It’s also got sea buckthorn, which has a high concentration of antioxidants.

SEAWEED — I absolutely love putting seaweed on my face. Not directly from the beach so much, but when someone takes it from the beach and liquifies it and puts it in a jar, I’m very happy. Seaweed promotes tissue regeneration, increases skin elasticity, and boosts micro circulation, meaning more nutrients are supplied to the skin. Oh, and it’s packed with nutrients. It’s got iron, magnesium, fiber, Vitamins A, C and K, and potassium, many of which are also absorbed while it’s floating in the sea. It’s also got omega 3 fatty acids and amino acids, all the things our skin loses as we get older. Earth Harbor’s Aurora Superfood Luminance Ampoule has seaweed, plus hemp seed oil, which I’ve recently found is a fantastic deep hydrator you can feel sinking in. It also has avocado and neem seed for extra fatty acids.

PUMPKIN — Pumpkins are a great source of Vitamins B and C, which protect against sun damage, boost collagen production, and reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Pumpkin also has a high content of zinc, magnesium, and those lovely antioxidants and fatty acids. Pureceutical’s Pumpkin and Papaya Enzyme Mask contains 5% pumpkin enzyme — and that’s an ideal amount, because the stuff is powerful. It’s even a little tingly, a lot tingly if you’ve got sensitive skin, so use caution. Put it on a small area at first and see how your skin reacts. If you can stand the tingle, you’ll be rewarded with the freshest skin, and the papaya enzyme also helps get rid of dead skin cells. As you can imagine, the scent is delicious. It also contains 2% glycolic acid to boost healthy cell turnover. I like using this mask about once a week because my skin is positively glowing after, and any products I use post-mask sink in way better.

So after evaluating products and ingredients, I like to tell my clients, like I told that first one I mentioned, to remember that you’re also not seeing what you don’t see. If you weren’t taking care of your skin at all, you would see it on your face. Since she had been already doing plenty of great things for her skin, it showed, and it would’ve showed if she hadn’t. So I encourage people to see and appreciate progress instead of striving for perfection. Make your expectations realistic. Like the second client said, we’re all aging anyway. You can also go the medical aesthetics route, and if that’s your game, there’s a med spa right next door to me. Whatever your skin care journey is, I respect it, and I’m here to help guide you along.

I know when the signs of aging eventually, inevitably end up showing themselves, it can be a period of transition, of getting accustomed to a new face in the mirror. Hopefully it can be a time of acceptance, too. My perspective is that there are torches, in a metaphorical sense, that are passed down through the ages. When we’re young, we carry the Youth Beauty Torch, and when we’re old, we pass the torch to the next generation, and we pick up the Wisdom Beauty Torch, and that’s really a lovely torch too. Sometimes we’ve still got hold of one torch but the next torch is in reach, too. Nobody has just one torch forever, unless I suppose you’re a vampire, or some other kind of immortal. But I’m embracing this whole human experience, and my own skincare journey, as long as I can always carry with me my cloudberries and my seaweed.