Skincare After 30

Skincare After Your 30’s

When I was an esthetician in my 20’s it was difficult for me to relate to clients who were 10 or 20 years older than me. Their main concerns always centered on “aging”, but it was hard for me to recommend the best products or services because I hadn’t yet experienced wrinkles or sagging skin myself.

Now I'm 40, with over 15 years of experience in the industry; I understand those concerns, and I’ve tried all the usual things.

Much of what I’m sharing below are products or devices I started including during my third decade (wish I had started sooner)! I recommend these things to all of my clients, whether they are mid 20’s or already into their 5th and 6th decade. By the way, my Golden age ladies have seen amazing changes when they’ve been consistent with their regimen.

The goal is never to appear “ageless”, but to embrace our age at every phase of life and wear it well. Aging is living (can't have one without the other), and if we are aging well, then we are living well.

Below are some of my top recommendations for aging well.

Exercise your face: This is probably one the most important things you can do for your face. It helps lift and strengthen the muscles of the face, which naturally lifts the skin and smooths lines. I recommend doing face yoga daily. This will volumize the face and strengthen weak facial muscles. The face is the only area of the body where the muscles and skin are attached so where the muscles go, the skin goes too! To really kick things into high gear, I recommend adding a microcurrent device to your facial exercise routine. I sell the PRO devices, so you get some of the most powerful at-home microcurrent available. Microcurrent works by stimulating muscles cells, resulting in a more lifted and toned appearance. When done consistently, you really see and feel the difference. 

Supercharge your cells with light energy: LED is something I’ve been using for over 15 years. It is a safe and effective technology, used for decades by NASA to aid in the recovery of skin and muscles. Because it stimulates so much cell turnover, it is the ideal at-home treatment for producing more collagen.

Bon Charge is one of my favorite brands because they’ve created so many different ways that you can use LED depending on your lifestyle. I use their Demi Light, the Wand, and some of their home decor lights. They also carry great EMF protection gear. Use discount code BEAUTYSHAMANS15 for 15% off their site. 

Lightstim is another brand I love and trust. I use Lightstim panels in professional settings, and their handheld wands for at-home use.

Move your body: Stretch your body as often as you can. I stretch every morning for at least 10 minutes and I perform some kind of facial massage every night for at least 5 minutes. The fascia (a connective tissue) of the body gets sticky and stiff due to stress, immobility, and toxin accumulation. When this happens, muscles hold tension, lymph stagnates, and blood circulation slows. When left uncorrected, these things will indirectly but inevitably have a negative effect on the health of our face/skin. In addition to stretching, I recommend foam rolling to "roll" out the fascia. Here is the one I use and love! 

Use actives: Start using active serums and vitamin C. An active serum is a product that contains ingredients that speed cell turnover. This could be glycolic acid, lactic acid, salicylic acid, retinol, or even seaweed. This is important past the age of 30 because our cell turnover starts to slow down significantly around this time. Vitamin C is great to use no matter what your age because it helps the body create new collagen and helps protect skin from sun damage. In fact any kind of antioxidant is a must if you're over 30 because your skin starts to lose its natural ability to fight free radical damage (what causes aging). Antioxidants (like astaxanthin, resveratrol, etc) and vitamins will help to neutralize this pesky party poopers. All of my serums and oils contain vitamin C esters blended with seaweed (which is naturally rich in Vitamin A, C, and E as well as so many other important antioxidants for the skin). You can shop all of my vitamin C products here. 

You should also start using peptides (these are mostly found in your serums and moisturizing agents). Peptides help signal fibroblasts to produce more collagen, and since we lose more of this important protein every year that we are here on Earth, a product containing peptides is one way to keep skin looking and feeling full of bounce and smoothness (I recommend applying this to face, neck and chest). 

Feed your skin: I used to think it didn’t really matter what I washed my face with. I would also look for anything that would dry out my skin as much as possible because I thought it would help curtail my acne. What I learned is that the skin functions best when it’s been fed well, and oils are not the enemy. That means keeping skin as hydrated as possible, and applying nutrients instead of chemicals. When I was formulating my skincare line, a prime focus was to include natural ingredients that are rich in minerals, antioxidants, and other potent compounds. That’s why I use seawater instead of regular “aqua” in my products, and seaweeds instead of petrochemicals. Seaweed is a nutrient dense food that can do amazing things for your skin when applied topically.

Massage your face: Massage helps release stress that causes wrinkling, facial drooping, sallow looking skin, and lymph stagnation. Massage helps to naturally sculpt the face by working with the connective tissue layer of the skin. It’s also wonderful for mobilizing lymph fluid. I recommend aiming for at least 3-5 minutes a day of facial massage. The hack here is to do the massage while you cleanse (ideally an oil pre-cleanse), since you'll be spending time to wash your face anyway, right? 

Deliberate detox: As we get older, toxins tend to accumulate in our body. Part of the reason why is that our natural detox systems slow down and become less efficient. Regular Gua Sha will assist the lymphatic system in speeding this process up. The result is firmer skin, less acne, fewer lines, and more energy flowing through our skin. But don't neglect the simplest thing you can do to facilitate detox, which is drinking lots of clean water! Learn how to Gua Sha here!