Skincare Tips (I'm Glad) I Started Before My 20s

With all the extremely hot weather we've been having recently I thought what better time to finally share this post which I've had planned for a little while than now. Of course, right on cue though, the somewhat tropical weather we've been having has disappeared! Nonetheless though, maybe ever more fitting... because sun cream isn't just for sunny days!! Todays' post is a post I've wanted to share for a little while since reaching the 20-something club as it's something I've been passionate about with my skincare and love for beauty for a long time. I feel like my pre-twenties was only yesterday, which in essence it kind of was, but I feel like sharing these little skincare tips I've picked up along the way would have been something I'd have really loved to have known when I was younger if I hadn't known about. So, I thought it would be a fun idea to share in a post my tops tips for keeping my skin as youthful as can be that I've been doing since before my twenties. 

Whether your under 20 or not, I don't believe it's ever too early to prevent wrinkles (not that they're a bad thing but sometimes they can be mischievous and the lesser mischief the better!) so definitely don't disregard this post if you think your time has gone. We're all a fountain of youth! Here's the handful of skincare steps I've been doing since before my twenties to hopefully preserve this youthful fountain as long as can be and, come later years, thank myself for the things I did now to protect and preserve my skin!

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Facial SPF daily - No matter the weather

Okay I think this, out of all of the tips, is the holy grail given. I'm sure now in 2022 most of us are aware of the importance of wearing a facial SPF everyday and, again, not just on sunny days. So, if you were't already aware (I learnt this from Caroline Hirons' very interesting videos with Dr Marko and a beauty segment on this morning) SPF in your product, like your foundation or moisturiser isn't enough for adequate sun protection. You simply wouldn't apply enough of that product for it to be sufficient for protection. Hence, it's really important to have a stand alone facial SPF. I aim to slather on between a teaspoon to teaspoon and a half to my face and neck all together. Because I'm as pale as paper I've always gone for SPF 50 (your SPF level is how long - now don't quote me here, I'm going to link to a reputable source for you to digest your own understanding from - it will increase your protection from burn. For example, if you normally burn in about five minutes of sun exposure SPF 50 will prolong this time by 50, so 250 minutes or roughly four hours). In addition to that, you ideally want to look for a good star rating too. Again don't quote me as I may have these the wrong way around, but SPF mostly works on protecting against the sun's ageing, wrinkling effects (UVB ray damage) whereas the star rating denotes you're level of protection against deeper penetrating, cancer-causing damage/ burning (UVA ray damage). Because I'm acne prone I will be more specific with my facial SPF to choose a product that doesn't flare up my acne and block my pores whereas because I don't tend get acne on my neck I will generally use my bodily SPF on my neck and décolletage area. This is something I've learnt and have been doing since I was around roughly 15/16 and I'm so made up I've kept it up as quite literally an everyday habit. I'm really interested to see if my diligence to wearing SPF to my face and neck daily will pay off in (many, many) years to come.

Side note: Change in tone here but I've noticed recently there seems to be a right spurt in the trend of sunbeds. If you're a sunbed user I'd strongly urge you to type in and search "sunbed skin damage" on Google. I ended up pondering onto this, looking up UVA and UVB rays, and although I'm not a snubbed user nor a fan and I'm very aware of the dangers of them I was still absolutely shocked by what came up - it honestly blew my mind.

Moisturising hands at least once a day

If you've read my How I Fix My Dry, Sore, Cracked Hands post you'll know I'm one prone to suffering with really dry hands. Because I've inherited the dry hands gene from my mum and am a frequent hand washer I tend to always moisturise my hands at least once a day. Not only does this keep my hands moisturised though, I feel like the more I keep them nourished and the less I leave them dry the happier and "soaked-up" my little skin cells on my hands will be and hopefully will have a knock-on effect of reducing the likelihood of wrinkling from moisture-zapped and worn out dry skin cells on my hands.

Drink that water!

On the subject of moisture-zapped cells... drink that water! Drinking water cannot be said to be one of my most favourite past times as - probably also much in similarity to Caspar the ghost as well as my paleness - I'm one for really feeling the cold. I tend not to be so good at drinking plenty of water throughout the day as it often makes me feel quite chilly (does anyone else get this?) so encouraging myself to sip little and often if something I find really important. I've never forgot seeing this news story online about a person who specifically made a change to increase their daily water intake and the absolutely shocking anti-aging and youth-restoring results it had to their skin! I was astounded and it made me drink my water from then on come rain or shine! I tend to keep a bottle with me wherever I go throughout the day and this works really well to encourage me to keep sipping. Like my hands, hopefully this will make sure my skin cells get well-watery-nourished and hopefully reduce the likelihood of them looking worn out and lack lustre, whilst adding some wrinkle-minimising plumpness to my exterior, both in the moment and it years to come, rather than subjecting my poor old largest organ of my body to desert like conditions and leaving them to power through my days like deflated little dehydrated sacks - I really cannot guarantee how scientific my explanation of cell structure is there but along those lines is how I imagine it works!

Moisturise that face, morning and night

Again, on the subject of keeping things plump, moisturising day and night post-cleansing is something I've done since I even started with basic skincare as a pre-teen. I remember the very first skincare products I started off with was the classic Simple skincare trio with their cleanser, toner and moisturiser back in the day. I think not just dry skin suffers but anyone should be looking for either a cream cleanser of cleanser that adds moisture. No matter how nourishing though I find that after cleansing my skin can always feel a little moisture zapped as of course your cleanser works to take away some of that oily, lipid-like layer because that's how a cleansing product (like a soap or detergent) works to remove dirt and bacteria. Nevertheless (that's a subject for another day) I feel like everyone's skin needs a moisture barrier replenish after cleansing so I've always ensured to moisturise day and night after cleansing. I tell a lie as there was a period where I actually didn't do this but those were my Acnecide days but we won't go there...

Now my nan, who everyone often said - me included - that she always looked ever so good for her age, famously always told us her one and only skincare secret was a "bit of Olay in the morning". Now you could argue that my nan's marvellous skincare secret could be wholly attributed to Mr Olay however I think the secret to my nan's ultimate skincare secret was simply that, without fail, she moisturised her face and neck every, single, day!

There's got to be method in the magic then with this one!

ALWAYS remove makeup before bed (and SPF for that matter!)

Always making sure to remove my makeup was something I had reinforced from a shocker in an episode of good old Ten Years Younger on TV when I was quite a lot younger. They came out with a statistic that was something like, sleeping in your makeup can age you by 10 years and from that day forward... I don't think, bar maybe one time, I have ever slept in my makeup! It makes sense as sleep, I believe, is meant to be super time for skin cell maintenance so keeping that dermis debris free and clean and optimised with your skincare allies of choice seems like the best support you can offer to your body's natural process. For the best cleanse I personally have found double cleansing to be the most effect so I go in with a makeup remover, like a micellar water, then my everyday cream cleanser. Now, even if I have a makeup free day I still double cleanse! This is another one I had reinforced from Caroline Hirons (forgive me I can't find the exact source of her saying this to link to) and it just makes sense. Your SPF can be quite a thick, gloopy layer on top of your skin and it's not necessarily designed to be absorbed by the skin; it's sits on as a barrier! When I double cleanse I find that I see a lot of my SPF on the cotton pad post-micellar-water on a no makeup day so that just reiterates that, in my eyes, that you really should still double cleanse everyday - but keep those products nourishing!

Delicate around the eye area and never skipping eye cream

This can be said to be my mum's top tip and probably worthy of being one of her lasting legacies. My mum forever would say to me "be delicate around your eyes", "be delicate around the eyes". Whenever we've gone to get our makeup done or I've done her makeup or she's doing her own makeup she's always really conscious about barely touching the skin around her eyes and I think, without even asking her, I know her ultimate holy grail product is the Clarins Double Serum Eye Serum. I think my mum has always been really conscious about her eye area as she finds her skin quite delicate there so she always emphasises the importance of being delicate to your eye area to me out of wanting of me to look after my eye area. Due to my mum's hearty reinforcement, I've always ensured to try and be delicate around my eye area and in addition to that I've used eye cream around my eye area for more years than I can remember now. I think both being delicate and again the same concept of keeping the skin moisturised and nourished, rather than dry and tight, would hopefully contribute to a more subtle and less weathered eye area over time. The skin around your eyes is really delicate so I'd stress to always go for an eye cream rather than just slathering a bit of your moisturiser under there as it can be a bit too heavy for your skin to manage in that area and maybe do more nuisance than good for your delicate orbital skin.

Gently does it with the towel drying

On a similar line of being gentle around the eye area, something again my mum has instilled with me from an early age and that I've done for some time is being gentle with towel drying. Whether it's after washing my hands or post-shower to my whole body, rather than rubbing with a towel I pat dry. Hopefully less friction will result in less damage to my skin of over the years, almost treating it somewhat like an expensive fabric, and it will stay more so as plump and youthful as can be and less so friction-induced wrinkled.

And that's it, my top seven skincare tips I'm glad I started before my twenties... and only time will tell if they've paid off! Although I can't see the proof in the pudding yet, I feel like my nan's evidently youthful looks and skincare moisturising secret and the expert reinforced skincare tips otherwise can only weigh-up to a good argument that has the likelihood to hold some strong efficacy. This will be an interesting one, both on the subject of this post and in fact getting to know my readers a little better, but comment below if you are under 20 or over 20! If you have a top anti ageing skincare tip you hold golden that I haven't shared in this post also too comment it down below also as I'd always love to know more youth-preserving tips to look after my skin being the skincare obsessive I am!

Until my next post,

Ellie x

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