Skin Aging: What Changes to Expect in Each Decade
It’s no secret that, one way or another, we’re concerned about how our skin looks like. We often wonder if our skin is healthy enough, or if there’s anything wrong with it. In this aricle, we talk about skin aging: the changes to expect at each decade.
One of our greatest fears perhaps is to wake up and discover wrinkles and fine lines one morning, when you’re sure they weren’t there before!
The problem is, we don’t know just how our skin should be at a certain point in our life!
We all know the skin ages. But, did you know that there are actually changes you can expect to happen to the skin within each decade?
That’s exactly what we’re here to talk about.
In this article, Plantation Med Spa explains what telltale changes you can expect to happen on your skin during your 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s (and beyond). Plus, we’ll also dissect what you can do to keep your skin looking radiant and youthful even past these decades!
How Your Skin Changes in Your 20s
In your 20s, your skin remains supple as a result of a steady production of collagen. At the same time, you start to lose your “baby fat,” prompting you to look more womanly than when you used to during your teenage years.
However, this decade also marks the beginning of the first signs of aging on your face.
Sun damage starts to show its face in your 20s. According to dermatologists, one thing you have to watch out for would be melasma—a skin condition where dark spots or discoloration appear on the face, especially across the cheeks and forehead. This condition usually stems from a combination of factors, including excessive sun exposure, usage of antibiotics (e.g., minocycline or tetracycline), hormonal fluctuations, and pregnancy.
In addition, if you’ve been exposed a lot to the sun prior to your 20s, you may start seeing expression lines, particularly around the eyes, in what is known as “crow’s feet.” Other lines that may appear include early signs of “motor wrinkles,” which are creases that appear when a body part moves. Usually, these start to show in the brow area.
These changes are especially apparent as you approach the end of this decade, when collagen and elastin production begin to wane and decrease. These fibers are essential for retaining the firmness and elasticity of the skin, so it’s no surprise that a decline in their production marks the onset of different signs of aging.
Here’s what you can do:
These changes may sound alarming, but there are actually a lot of things you can do to combat the first signs of aging skin.
First, you can try to upgrade your skincare routine—or, if you don’t have one yet, it’s definitely time to start one! Treat yourself to some new products from the Plantation Med Spa website. Whether you’re looking for an eye treatment or an exclusive serum, we stock a variety of different OROGOLD skincare products on our online shop.
Wondering what to actually buy?
The first thing you need is sunscreen. You must use products with adequate SPF (SPF30 or above) to protect your skin from ultraviolet rays, especially when going out. However, don’t forget to wear sunscreen even when you’re indoors, too, as the sun’s UV rays can reach you, especially when you stay near an open window! Always remember to reapply your sunscreen every 3 hours or so, as well.
Second, make sure to incorporate a light moisturizer in your routine to keep the skin hydrated and moisturized. It might also be a good time to start using retinol-based skin care products, which help boost collagen production and combat other signs of aging. In your 20s, you can use retinols at most twice a week.
Alternatively, if you have some money to spend, you can start this early with dermatologically approved procedures. For instance, you may want to venture into laser therapy in order to address issues with acne from your teenage years, and to even out pigmentation in the skin. Give the Plantation Med Spa Laser Skin Rejuvenation treatment a try, or indulge in the decadent Plantation Med Spa Cleopatra Exclusive 24K Facial.
How Your Skin Changes in Your 30s
In your 30s, accumulated damage from sun exposure start to get more pronounced, with hyperpigmentation being a major skin issue. As collagen and elastin production declines, you may find your fine lines getting more noticeable, your skin tone getting duller, and your skin appearing less firm and supple than before.
Further decline in hyaluronic acid production also makes the face look slimmer and angular. The skin naturally produces hyaluronic acid as a lubricant for its muscles and tissues; ultimately, decreased amounts of hyaluronic acid on the skin makes the face look older and more mature.
At this point, your blood vessels also begin to get more obvious, especially around the sides of the nose and under the eyes.
Here’s what you can do:
There are different products and treatments you can try to address the issues outlined above.
Religiously applying sunscreen remains a must, even indoors. Whereas you only used retinol around twice a week in your 20s, it’s best to up your usage to thrice to four times a week when you reach your 30s.
It’s also a good idea to switch to a more hydrating moisturizer, especially one that contains a bit of oil to help hydrate the skin.
You’ll also reap a lot of benefits from incorporating antioxidants in your skincare routine. Try looking for products with Vitamin C, or with plant-based ingredients which contain a high concentration of antioxidants. This will help the skin repair sun damage more quickly, and also stimulate collagen production and brighten the skin.
At this point in time, it’s also a good option to consider using other treatments as well. For instance, you can try out chemical peels to aid in discoloration and hyperpigmentation caused by sun exposure. Treatments that boost cellular turnover and collagen production, such as microneedling or nano-needling, are also preferable treatments.
If you’re unsure where to get reliable treatments, you certainly won’t go wrong with any of Plantation Med Spa’s products. We offer a wide range of peeling services to choose from, so you can get one that best attends to your skin type’s needs! Our personal recommendations would be the Advanced Corrective Peel (Jessner Peel) and Micropeel Plus 20 Solution, which both target discoloration, dullness, and even fine lines and wrinkles!
On the other hand, Plantation Med Spa offers microneedling and nano-needling services as well. The Microneedling with PRP service uses platelet rich plasma to boost collagen and elastin production. Meanwhile, BB Glow Nano-needling is a non-intrusive way of speeding up collagen production without the use of microneedles on the face!
How Your Skin Changes in Your 40s
In your 40s, you’ll start to see drastic changes on your skin’s appearance and texture.
You lose even more subcutaneous fat during this decade, making your face look more mature. With this loss in volume, coupled with a decrease in firmness and elasticity of the skin, your skin may start to look as though it’s sagging.
Consequently, your skin’s ability to repair itself becomes drastically slower. This makes the skin appear dull, as it becomes thicker and coarser. Your skin’s natural oil production slows down as well, which makes it drier and flakier than usual.
These different changes all show as fine lines, wrinkles, and pigmentation issues on the skin. During this time, lines will also start appearing around your upper lip. If you smoke, you’ll find that these lines deeper and more pronounced than your peers of the same age.
Lastly, you can expect more wrinkles on your forehead, and even deeper smile lines at this time. the crow’s feet around your eyes will definitely be noticeable during your 40s, too.
Here’s what you can do:
Because your skin is gradually getting drier, you’ll need to alter your skincare routine to focus more on hydration and anti-aging products. It’s great to invest in two kinds of cleansers at this point—a gentle, exfoliating one; and a mild, moisturizing one.
It’s also time to make the switch to a heavier, richer, and thicker moisturizer. This ensures you get ample supply of moisture and hydration, especially at night when your body undergoes its natural rejuvenation process.
Aside from stronger moisturizers, your 40s are the perfect time for you to incorporate night creams in your routine. These are specifically formulated to combat the signs of aging, and to assist the skin in repairing itself overnight.
You should certainly keep using your retinol products as well, with your frequency of use increasing to around five times a day already. Antioxidants remain a must in your skincare routine, with Vitamin C products remaining atop the list.
Of course, it’s never too early nor too late to start with pro treatments as well. In your 40s, it might be time for you to start looking at Botox and filler treatments, which can readily combat fine lines and wrinkles on the skin. Although religiously applying your skincare products can provide your skin a host of benefits, treatments that go deep into the skin can help more with your skin concerns at this point.
Although a bit costly, Botox injections can certainly provide a quick and easy fix for the facial lines and wrinkles present on your face. However, be informed that botulinum toxin products (including Botox) has been required by the FDA to include special warnings on their labels, indicating that the toxin may spread to other areas, causing different complications in the body.
To avoid such risks, it’s important to have your Botox injection done by trusted, reliable professionals. To this end, we readily recommend Plantation Med Spa’s Botox Cosmetic treatment to help you achieve a younger looking skin that looks at least a decade younger!
Aside from Botox, line-filling injections are also your friend. They make the fine lines go away, and provide your skin the volume and elasticity that it lost through the years. Plantation Med Spa also offers Facial Fillers to restore the youthful fullness your skin used to have.
Other treatments to consider include Fraxel laser treatments and chemical peels, which address other concerns such as pigmentation and skin rejuvenation.
How Your Skin Changes in Your 50s (and Beyond)
In your 50s, you deal with an additional issue that can cause even more changes on your skin: menopause.
Menopause refers to the end of a woman’s menstrual cycle. Menopause is diagnosed if you haven’t had a menstrual period after 12 months.
Although a natural biological process, menopause causes significant fluctuations on your hormone levels. These changes, unfortunately, also end up affecting the skin.
The first issue you’ll notice would be significant dryness of the face, much more than it used to be on your 40s. You can also expect to deal with enlarged pores and more pronounced sagging skin. You may also experience occasional acne breakouts as a result of an imbalance of your hormones, particularly of your estrogen levels.
As your collagen and elastin production continues to decrease, you’ll also notice further deepening of fine lines and wrinkles on the face. This is especially true if you haven’t protected your skin from sun damage in the previous decades.
Here’s what you can do:
In your 50s onwards, the most important thing to do is to moisturize. Moisturize intensively and regularly. Opt for rich moisturizers that can supply your face with the hydration it needs. In doing so, you ensure that your lines become less prominent.
At this point, you should also stop using foaming cleansers. Rather, you should go for milder, gentler ones, which typically bubble or foam up less than more common cleansers. This way, you don’t strip the face of the moisture it needs.
If you haven’t used retinol products before, make sure to do so now! The importance of retinol creams at this point in time cannot be stressed enough. You can use them as much as six times per week for maximum results.
Of course, even at this point, you should never stop using sunscreen to shield your skin from the harmful rays of the sun. This lets you minimize the damage your skin takes, especially at a delicate moment.
For pro treatments, your 50s are the best time for you to get Botox and facial fillers if you haven’t yet! Doing these treatments by the time you’re 60 or older may be too late already for your face. It’s best to tighten the skin and minimize your lines and wrinkles as early as you can.
Additionally, you can opt for collagen-boosting treatments to help compensate for the drastic decrease of your skin’s collagen production. Aside from microneedling treatments, you may want to consider radio frequency treatments to help stimulate collagen production.
A perfect collagen-boosting treatment is Plantation Med Spa’s eMatrix Sublative Rejuvenation, which makes use of radio frequency energy to penetrate the skin and deliver intense heat under the skin’s surface. This expedites collagen production to aid in tightening loose skin, and improving overall appearance of wrinkles and fine lines. It’s also great for improving the skin’s texture and complexion!
Skin Aging: The Changes to Expect at Each Decade
As you can see, the skin undergoes gradual changes over the course of each decade. These changes certainly impact the way the skin looks and feels. However, not all is lost with age and time. There are a myriad of options you can take to slow down skin aging, and to minimize and even reverse the effects of skin aging in time.
Hopefully, with this article, you were able to understand your skin more, and at the same time learn about what exactly you can do to take care of it. Also, that we adequately covered everything about skin aging: the changes to expect at each decade.
Book a consultion online now? Visit the Plantation Med Spa now to treat yourself to some of our many services and treatment offers! Call us at (954) 595-2607
