Top skin care tips for women in their 20s
The sins of your youth can take time to manifest themselves (at which point they're much harder to 'undo'), which is why we recommend you take the following (not-at-all drastic) steps, to prolong your skin's glow and help keep lines at bay...
It's vitally important to give skin a chance to 'breathe', which means removing the day's make up without fail. And remember to respect your complexion - exfoliation is amazing, but don't overdo it. Use a physical or chemical resurfacing treatment once or twice a week (depending on skin's tolerance), then choose an ultra-gentle cream or oil-based formula to dissolve grime and leave your face feeling refreshed.
Sonya Dakar's {Sensi Wash} is mild but effective - suitable for easily-offended skin types, as well as those who're prone to redness or breakouts. Or try January Labs {Pure & Gentle Cleansing Gel} - a frills-free foaming formula that helps to eradicate excess oil and pore-clogging dirt without compromising your skin's natural defences. You can boost its benefits with LUNA's {Mini 2} - a pocket-sized, sonic-powered gizmo that gives pores a workout.
Sounds terrifying but it's one of the best things you can do to keep skin luminous. Glycolic acid - most-commonly derived from sugar cane - dissolves the 'glue' that sticks dead cells and debris to skin's surface. Beloved by beauty guru Caroline Hirons (whose recommendations we swear by), Pixi's {Glow Tonic} is the ideal acidic toner; suitable for even sensitive visages, it leaves dulled complexions much more light-reflective, while gradually fading acne scars and working to keep breakouts at bay.
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Remember to use eye cream - they're specially tailored to combat the first signs of ageing and fortify delicate skin. You don't need anything particularly potent - just something nourishing and preferably elasticising - to keep the skin firm and delay the onset of crow's feet. A great habit to start at a young age, try Caudalie's {VineActiv} formula, which is brimming with antioxidants to ward against skin-ageing elemental stress.
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Packed with free radical fighters, vitamin C is also a sun-filter - perfect under sunscreen to deflect the sneaky rays that infiltrate your SPF. LIXIRSKIN's {Vitamin C Paste} works as a morning-time 'flash mask' - banishing the daily 'urban grey' while fortifying skin's defences and diminishing persistent pigmentation patches. Follow with a sprinkling of The Ordinary's brilliant {100% L-Ascorbic Acid Powder} mixed into your preferred treatment or day cream for a skin-rejuvenating boost.
Even when it's grey/cloudy/snowing... sunscreen is the best thing you can do to maintain skin's integrity. You don't need a high factor (especially when subject to the not-Great British weather) - anything between 20-30 will do - and slather it on liberally (it should be the last step in your morning-time skin care regime). Zelens {Daily Defence} creates an invisible shield between complexion and the everyday environmental onslaught, or try Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare's tinted {Instant Radiance SPF 40} - make up and sun cream in one, handbag-compatible tube.
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Cult Beauty’s Content Editor and a Cult Beauty OG, Verity loves nothing more than the marriage of language and lip balm. A quintessential Libran, she’s a self-professed magpie for luxury ‘must-haves' and always pursuing the new and the niche — from the boujee-est skin care to cutting-edge tech. Balancing an urge to stop the clock with her desire to embrace the ageing process (and set a positive example for her daughter), Verity's a retinol obsessive and will gladly share her thoughts about the time-defying gadgets, masks and treatments worth the splurge...
