Avoiding common mistakes that degrade skin

There are many skin care issues women over 30 experience—dullness, dryness, wrinkles, fine lines, and volume loss, just to name a few. Now, expert clinician Dr Gizem Seymenoğlu of Longevita, a London-based æsthetics clinic, is highlighting six common skin care mistakes that could be making these issues worse without women even realizing it. According to Seymenoğlu, some of these habits can accelerate skin ageing and seriously degrade its overall health.

Eating too much sugar

Seymenoğlu explained, ‘Having a sweet tooth in your 30s could be costing you your youthful looks because sugar breaks down collagen—a protein crucial to skin elasticity. Our body naturally experiences a process known as glycation, in which sugar essentially binds to the proteins in the skin, including collagen and elastin. However, this process can be accelerated if you consume a lot of sugar in your diet. Ageing is inevitable, but this may worsen visible signs like wrinkles and sagging.’

Not drinking enough water

‘As you get older, your skin becomes drier because sebum production decreases, and other factors like collagen loss contribute to that. It’s important that you drink enough water because it really does help in keeping the skin hydrated. Though a moisturizer is usually considered the go-to for this, your skin shouldn’t need to be moisturized daily. Personally, I only moisturize once or twice a week because that’s all my skin needs. However, I always make sure that I’m hydrated. One small study showed that hydration of both the superficial and deeper layers of the skin improved with increased dietary water consumption. Water is important, but eating fruits and vegetables with high water content is also essential.’

Wearing more make-up and not taking it off

According to Seymenoğlu, wearing make-up in your 30s or 40s isn’t the same as in your 20s—back then, skipping make-up removal or piling on heavy mascara might not have made much difference, and you could still look fresh-faced. But as she explains, that changes. ‘With signs of ageing starting to show up on the face, people might end up putting on more make-up to cover all the wrinkles and age spots.’

That’s not the problem, however. It gets bad when you don’t take that make-up off before going to bed. Even doing it once can result in you waking up with a swollen face and eyes the next day. Clogged pores, dryness, dullness, and skin inflammation are among the many other problems that can occur.’

Overloading skin with actives

Seymenoğlu said, ‘This is a recipe for disaster. If you all of a sudden revamp your skin care routine with a bunch of actives like retinol and exfoliating acids like AHAs and BHAs, your skin will suffer. This is especially true if you have sensitive skin and you aren’t even using a thick moisturizer with these products.

‘Let’s say you wash your face with an acid-based cleanser, then apply an acid-based toner, and on top of that, use retinol. If you do this daily, it can severely damage the skin barrier. That’s why, for instance, it’s better to use acid-based products in the morning and follow up with a good SPF. Or you can use complex acid-based products just once a week as an exfoliator.’

Retinol is great for anti-ageing because it stimulates collagen production. Additionally, as cell skin turnover decreases with age, exfoliation can help you keep your skin bright, even and healthy-looking, but Seymenoğlu emphasized that gradual introduction is key and you need to build up a tolerance. ‘For example, with retinol, you can start applying it once a week in the first week, twice a week in the second week, three times a week in the third week, and continue on like that. You don’t need to use retinol on a daily basis in your 30s, and it’s not a good idea either.’

Not wearing a sunscreen

Having a skin care routine, no matter how elaborate, is pointless if you don’t wear sunscreen, according to Seymenoğlu.

‘If you haven’t been using sunscreen in your 10s and 20s, which is a big mistake in itself, you must start wearing it in your 30s. Otherwise, you’ll experience photo-ageing or premature ageing, leading to more wrinkles, sun spots, pigmentation issues and increased sagging.’

Not getting routine check-ups

‘It’s important to schedule routine check-ups with your dermatologist so that all the moles and spots on your skin are kept an eye on. The risk of skin cancer increases with age, so you should not skip a visit to your derm,’ Seymenoğlu advises.

Learn more about Longevita and Dr Gizem Seymenoğlu on Instagram here. •

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