AARP Smart Guide: 22 Easy Tips to Reboot Your Beauty Regime

8. No bad combos

Certain products, when combined, can cancel out the effectiveness of the other or cause irritation. For instance, don’t use benzoyl peroxide and vitamin C at the same time. And retinoids should not be applied at the same time as benzoyl peroxide, vitamin C, and AHAs or BHAs. A good morning regimen: gently cleansing your face, applying moisturizer and sunscreen. At night, cleanse, apply your retinoid and add moisturizer.

9. Pursue the probiotics

These live microorganisms are present in beauty products, supplement capsules and certain foods like yogurt, sauerkraut and kefir. When eaten, probiotics help to fight inflammation in the gut and do the same to your skin when applied topically. Look for “live cultures” or for ingredients to include lactobacillus or bifidobacterium. “I like to use Greek yogurt for extra protein in my smoothies, but it also works great for the skin,” says Paula Simpson, biochemist and author of Good Bacteria for Healthy Skin: Nurture Your Skin Microbiome with Pre- and Probiotics for Clear and Luminous Skin.  “Its gentle exfoliating properties make it great for sensitive skin types and when used regularly, it’s been found to calm and rebalance the skin, improving moisture and elasticity.” Make your own mask by breaking a probiotic capsule into two tablespoons of natural Greek yogurt and stirring in a small amount of honey. Apply to a cleansed face, leave on for 15 to 20 minutes, then rinse thoroughly with warm water and pat dry. 

10. Pay attention to your hands ...

Wear gloves when cleaning or gardening. “Working around the house can expose your skin to harsh chemicals that can irritate and dry your skin,” says Madan. Try taking shorter baths or showers (in warm, not hot, water), and be sure to use a moisturizer every day. And now that we are all using hand sanitizer more, like over washing, hand sanitizer sucks the moisture out of your hands, says Madan. Incidentally, the high-dose biotin supplement you’re taking for your hair should also improve nail strength and length.

11. … and treat your feet

A pumice stone is an affordable way to keep your feet in beautiful condition. Also, it’s 100 percent natural and nontoxic, as long as you purchase a “pumice” stone (pumice is a volcanic glass) and not a synthetic look-alike. To use: Give both your feet and stone a warm soak for five to 10 minutes — because dry stones are a big no-no — before rubbing the stone in a circular motion with light pressure over the areas of dead skin. After two or three minutes, rinse your skin and check to see if the dead skin has been removed. If not, get back to work. Apply moisturizer once complete and make sure you wash your stone to avoid a buildup of bacteria.

12. Get plenty of z’s

Sleep is vital to beauty. A lack of it can lead to poor water balance in the skin, increased inflammation in the body, and weight gain — all of which can affect the way you look and feel. One way to promote better sleep is to ditch electronic devices two to three hours before bed, according to Harvard Health Letter, a newsletter from Harvard Health Publishing. It reported that blue light boosts alertness, mood and reaction time by suppressing the sleep-inducing hormone called melatonin. That’s beneficial during the day, but disruptive at night when your body is preparing for sleep. So, switch off where possible and aim to get the recommended seven to nine hours per night if you’re under age 65, and seven to eight hours if you’re 65-plus.  

 

BETTER HAIR CARE

13. Enrich with oil

Our oil glands shrink as we age, which can reduce the amount of natural oil produced by our scalp, leading to dryness. Simpson recommends using avocado oil. “It contains over 70 percent monounsaturated fatty acids; specifically, oleic acid, an omega-9 fatty acid, which helps lock in hair moisture, smooth breakage and even encourage hair growth through balancing scalp microflora and nourishing the hair follicles.” Apply and massage the oil over your scalp and hair, leave for 10 to 15 minutes, then wash hair. If you’re concerned about an oily scalp, just apply to the ends of your hair.

14. Delay hair loss

As well as treating dandruff, zinc pyrithione and ketoconazole also have been shown to promote hair growth, says Khetarpal. “With every decade of life, for both men and women, the incident of hair loss goes up because of changing hormones and gene expression,” explains Khetarpal. Find some extra support in a high-dose biotin supplement: “Three to 5 milligrams support the growth of the hair, making each individual strand stronger and thicker,” she says. Taking more vitamin D may also help. In addition, liquid or foam products containing the active ingredient minoxidil, offered in 2 percent and 5 percent concentrations, have been found to slow hair loss and in some cases regrow hair — but you’ll need to use it daily. If you stop using, any progress will be reversed.

15. Clear up dandruff

“As people get older, around 60 and above, we see the prevalence of dandruff go up significantly,” notes Khetarpal. The natural yeast bacteria on the scalp often becomes overgrown, causing itching, scaling and flaking. Khetarpal recommends using a shampoo featuring either zinc pyrithione or ketoconazole. Zinc pyrithione is widely available in over-the-counter shampoos in a range of prices. These agents also feature in prescription medications, where they are used at a higher dose.

16. Detangle gently

No one likes seeing hair in their brush or drain, and hair-washing days are the worst for this. Of course, the classic wide-tooth comb method still works, but combs take time and can snarl in curly, textured or wavy hair. The update is a detangling “wet” brush such as those from Tangle Teezer and WetBrush, which are designed to remove knots with no pulling or tugging, no breakage. Use the brush in the shower to distribute conditioner or a hair mask evenly after your final rinse. At the beach, you’ll love it after a swim. As always, start at the bottom and slowly work your way up.

17. Keep eyebrows and beards in top shape

“Itching is common not only in the scalp but also, for men, in the beard and eyebrow region where yeast lives and oil glands are more active,” notes Khetarpal. “Certainly, those shampoos (with zinc pyrithione and ketoconazole) can treat the yeast component, but there’s also sometimes inflammation, causing redness.” Being on the face, it’s often more noticeable, too. To treat: “An over-the-counter, 1-percent hydrocortisone cream is a good place to start.” There are also numerous beard oils available that can help to keep the skin moisturized and condition the beard.   

 

FACE FORWARD

18. Get highlighting

Highlighters come in either a powder, cream or liquid form, with the latter two providing a dewier look. Wear it over makeup or just on sunscreened skin. “Highlighter has been a huge trend,” says Angie, “but most mature women don’t use it because they feel it can accentuate wrinkles.” In reality, highlighter helps lift and fill your face when it’s applied correctly (lightly and well blended) to the right areas: the apples of your cheeks (the meaty, front parts that pop when you smile) and tops of cheekbones (the long, diagonal section under your temples that pop when you suck in your cheeks). Angie’s picks: Jouer Powder Contour in Rose Quartz, Clinique Chubby Stick Sculpting Highlighter, and L’Oreal True Match Lumi Glotion in Fair.  

19. Consider this if you wear glasses

Prescription lenses can distort eye size, says Lois Joy Johnson, AARP beauty and style editor. Nearsighted? Your lenses are concave and make eyes appear smaller. Compensate by using liner and shadows to contour a bigger shape. Do a pale shade on lids, a taupe or medium shadow in the crease, and a very dark liner at the lash line. Farsighted? Your lenses are convex, so eyes appear bigger behind your glasses — but any lines, crepey texture on lids or messy makeup are also magnified. Do a clean, crisp liner and skip the smoky dark shadows when wearing your glasses.

20. Decide on one wow zone

Make a stronger lip or your eyes the focal point of your makeup, then go easy on the rest. “If you can wear a bold, dark, deep or bright lip, then you don’t need much eye makeup,” says celebrity makeup artist Sandy Linter, whose clients include Christie Brinkley and Elizabeth Hurley. You might do a red, berry or rosy pink lipstick with low-key neutral eyes, or switch things around and do smoky lined lids with a soft neutral lip.  

21. Ditch the bags and dark circles

The skin around your eyes is more tender and also affected by different issues than the rest of your face. Hal Rubenstein, one of the founding editors at InStyle magazine, says that if you have bags, try a product that contains caffeine and/or peptides — such as Olay Eyes Ultimate Eye Cream, which has peptides, or Olay Eyes Brightening Eye Cream, which has caffeine. Dark circles can be brightened with extracts of mulberry, linseed, green tea or caffeine; try Kiehl’s Age Defender Eye Repair with linseed extract. For addressing wrinkles or crow’s feet, you want a product with retinol high up on that contents list.  

22. Keep an eye on the weather

“Know how your skin reacts to climate changes. You might want a richer moisturizer in winter, a lighter one in summer, since sun exposure leads to clogged pores — even at [age] 50,” says dermatologist Doris Day, a clinical associate professor at New York University’s Langone Medical Center. “Your skin also loses more water at night and produces more oils during the day. So use a light day moisturizer or cream — such as RoC Retinol Correxion Deep Wrinkle Daily Moisturizer SPF 30 — for day, and a richer cream at night — such as Aveeno Absolutely Ageless Restorative Night Cream or Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair Night Moisturizer.”