Ah, the 20s! They may be some of the best years of your life. This period is often filled with fun adventures and embracing one’s independence. Hormones have settled and puberty-driven blemishes have subsided. Instead, now you have a new set of skincare concerns in your 20s that includes everything from unexpected adult breakouts / blemishes to the early signs of ageing skin. But fret not, we found a few simple steps to follow to ensure that your skin remains radiant and youthful:
1. Clean up and never sleep with makeup on.
If you never wash your face before you go to bed, start now. Makeup doesn’t just lead clog skin pores and cause zits, but also traps skin-damaging free radicals that float in the air which lead to pre-mature lines and wrinkles. Fatigue and laziness can be a real hindrance a good face cleaning routine. Our suggestion? Keep makeup removers by your bedside.
2. Get a good moisturizer
There are so many amazing moisturizers that won’t break the bank. A good moisturizer should contain the following key ingredients: aloe, vitamins E, B3 and pro-vitamin B5 and bit of retinol and collagen. Our beauty editors are obsessed with Marula oil glycerin and hyaluronic acid as it actually sucks water from the air into your skin. Win!
3. Do not forget your eyes. They are young keep them that way
If eyes are the windows to anything, it’s age not souls. This is because of the extra thin skin around them, which makes them vulnerable to premature ageing. Find a good eye cream both for day and evening. Hydrating the thin skin under your eyes will relieve puffiness and dark circles, and prevent future fine lines in the long term.
4. Neither should you ignore the neck and hands
A scenario in which a person has a young-looking face and older hands, fingers and neck has perplexed us all. Those three areas are chronically sun exposed, so whatever you do for your face, you also want to do to your hands and neck.
5. Skipping sunscreen is one of the biggest skin mistakes
You probably know that the single best (anti-ageing) thing you can do for your skin is to wear SPF 30 or higher E.V.E.R.Y.D.A.Y! Some people find it exhausting but really, just like brushing your teeth every day, it takes just a few minutes. People who wore sunscreen everyday didn’t seem to age at all after four years, one Australian study revealed, so wearing SPF 30 everyday benefits you.
6. Make use of quick cleansing and exfoliating gadgets
Exfoliating and cleansing brushes get rid of the layer of old skin cells that dull your complexion. Look out for those made of silicone because it doesn’t encourage bacteria growth. Use it once a day and watch how quickly your skin start to glow.
7. Avoid excessive use of anti-ageing products
Once you’ve got your breakouts under control, it’s normal to want to focus on preventative ageing strategies but using too many highly concentrated products may cause negative side effects. Many anti-ageing products have potent active ingredients (like retinol and peptides) that can increase the metabolism of skin cells. However, these ingredients can also be too active for younger complexions. Those with oily skin combinations and breakout-prone skin types might experience irritation, bumps, and clogged pores due to anti-ageing products that are too strong for their skin.
8. Avoid smoking at all costs.
We know you have heard this a million times and we also know you might have taken a few puffs in your rebellious late teen years, but we hope that’s where the habit stayed. Smoking is bad for the skin. It restricts the blood supply to the skin making ageing more palpable. In addition, each time you inhale cigarette smoke, you’re causing wrinkles around your lips in the same way drinking from a straw does.
Source: africanwomanmagazine.net