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skin care routine / advice

Answered Monday 20 December 2010 |

QuestionAsk Emma

I'm a 45 yr old mum of 2 boys (11 & 13/14) I've never really have had a skin care routine - other than soap & water & moisturiser........ Altho it's probably too late, I'd like to start looking after my ageing skin a bit more.... Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, especially to help me curb the wrinkle effect thats going on around my eyes (crows feet) and laugh lines. Also I have quite deep lines in my forehead & have had them from quite a young age........ I will attach a photo in the next couple of days..... Regards Kerryn

Answer

Hi Kerryn, It is never too late to start and its great that you are now wanting to look after your skin. I think what you should start and do first and foremost is looking at a great home care routine. First off you need to make sure that you have a good cleansing and exfoliating routine. We should be cleansing both morning and night and doing it twice. The first cleanse helps to remove the impurities and the second cleanse helps to treat the skin and remove those blocked pores. With exfoliating 2-3 x a week is ideal, this is going to speed up the cell renewal and slow down that ageing process. After you perform your exfoliating its advised to apply a masque, this will keep your skin at its optimum level. To finish off making sure that you are wearing an eye cream to combat those fine lines and a moisturiser with an SPF throughout the day to ensure that your skin is protected not only from the UV but from all other external aggressors. When we look at ageing and what causes us to age, we can thank the sun for that! Between 80-90% of all ageing comes from the sun. This is why it is imperative that we wear an SPF everyday and reapply every 2 hours. This will first and foremost slow down the ageing process. When it comes to ingredients and are going to help fight the ageing process we can look at things like peptides, White Tea, Lactic acid and Vitamin C (Vitamin C such as Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate would be fantastic in helping curb that wrinkling effect). All of these will help to strengthen the collagen and elastin in the skin and brighten and even skin tone. My advice would be to go and see a Professional Skin Therapist and have a Skin Analysis done. Here they can have a good look at your skin and determine your skin type and skin condition and put together a home care routine just for you and your concerns. Regards Emma Emma Hobson Skin Expert