The Ideal Morning Skin Care Routine For Every Decade Of Your Life

Keeping up a solid morning skin careroutine is a key to achieving healthy skin. And of course, your skin’s needs change as you age, requiring different products and routines. How you treat your skin in the morning affects you throughout the day, protecting against pollution and harmful UV rays. (Your nighttime routine, on the other hand,includes more actives to heal the skin overnight.)

“As we age, our skin care routine needs to do more of the work that our skin was able to do itself [when we were younger],” said Dr. Luke Maxfield , a board-certified dermatologist. Due to intrinsic and extrinsic factors, the skin creates less oil and can be more fragile, featuring an uneven texture and tone.

The skin can also become drier due to hormonal changes, your pigmentation can increase and you’ll see a decrease in collagen. “Cell turnover slows down as we age. We need to hydrate more and exfoliate in strategic ways to keep up a vibrant, healthy-looking face,” said Dr. Nava Greenfield,a board-certified dermatologist.

But these changes happen at different rates, depending on your age. Read on to find out the routines the experts recommend for each decade of life.

In your 20s

During your 20s, the morning routine is all about preventing damage, focusing on a mix of antioxidants and adequate sunscreen protection. Now is the time to set up good, consistent habits. “The skin has volume, it is full of collagen and the discoloration is minimal. Keeping these qualities is the focus,” Greenfield said.

At this age, you might still be dealing with adolescent acne or rosacea, explained Dr. David Li , a board-certified dermatologist at Boston Derm Advocate. “It would be a good idea to integrate a cleanser to target these concerns,” Li