With social media proffering endless products and gimmicks when it comes to skincare, and younger and younger people using unnecessarily advanced skincare, it's safe to say we're in a weird spot with beauty right now.
We have incredible access to products and information, and enough items to satisfy most price points, but as with online shopping, sometimes too much access can set us back. It can be difficult to find a simple routine that grows with our skin, rather than forcing it to be something it won't be.
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Speaking about the "worrying" trend of preteens using active skincare products like retinol long before their time, Mahto highlighted the problem in "idea that we can never age at all". "I mean, ageing is a privilege, is the bottom line. We just want to age as well as we can."
First and foremost, she prioritises a solid skincare routine, "before you do anything else".
"In the morning, you want to make sure you're cleansing your skin properly", she said. "Ideally then using something like a vitamin C serum or an antioxidant serum, followed by a moisturiser-sunscreen. In the evening, you need to make sure you're cleansing. That evening cleanse is even more important than the morning one because during the day your skin is coming into contact with dirt, sweat, pollution, grime, all of those other things."
She suggested following that with a serum "that can help rebuild the skin". "That might either contain vitamin A, it may contain something like epicelline, which is the epigenetic serum we've been talking about today, or it may contain peptides."
If you find your skin is drier lately, follow this with moisturiser on top.
Noticing changes in your skin and adapting is often a hassle, but is an inevitable part of growing older. Women's skin changes massively once we approach menopause, with Mahto explaining that in first five years after menopause women lose 30% of their dermal collagen.
Knowing this means we can prep ahead and prevent too much collagen loss. Mahto noted that "a lot of collagen breakdown occurs due to external lifestyle factors", the main one being UV radiation from the sun - which makes wearing sunscreen ever-more important.
Diet plays a role, and Mahto said it's crucial that "you're not cutting too many things out of your diet". Focus on eating healthy fats, selenium, zinc, vitamin C, vitamin D, iron and protein, while reducing alcohol intake, prioritising sleep and trying to reduce stress where possible.
When it comes to skincare, Mahto recommended starting with skincare, "building block type treatments" like vitamin A and retinoids. For more advanced treatments, she pointed to laser and microneedling.
For people with darker skintone, Mahto said that there's a misconception that they don't need to wear sunscreen because they tan easily, which isn't the case.
"Most people think that sunscreen is just to prevent you burning and to reduce your risk of skin cancer. Absolutely, it is there for that but it's also there to prevent the signs of premature skin ageing. And darker skin types often age by getting issues with pigmentation."
Coming back to the growing trend of younger people using skincare that is too advanced for them, Mahto stressed that "it is really important that young, vulnerable skin isn't throwing all of these active ingredients at it because there's a very high risk you're going to disrupt the barrier function of the skin and develop more problems down the line".
"It's really a case of parents and brands as well to take responsibly for all of this."
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