Multi-purpose products make it easy to simplify your skin-care routine
By Liza Herz
If you’re older, it’s easy to feel left behind by the beauty industry.
Trends like heavy Instagram makeup and Korean skin care require multiple products and lengthy routines. Who, beyond a cheerfully self-absorbed teen or 20-something, has the time or inclination for complicated facial contouring or 10-step skincare regimens?
Even some peel-off masks are now social media bait, loaded with glitter and tiny stars for sparkly Instagram selfies. (Am I churlish for wondering if wiping foil stars across your skin could tear it?)
Glittery self-portraits not withstanding, there is an upside for more, ahem, mature customers. The popularity of Korean skin care “continues to influence the Canadian market as hydration products aimed at creating dewy, luminous skin continue to grow in popularity,” observes consumer research company The NPD Group. As a result, there is a blurring of lines between categories as brands are adding beneficial skin-care ingredients to items like foundation while skin care now offers makeup-like results.
This dovetails nicely with the urge to declutter homes that are full to bursting. (I don’t collect potato peelers as a hobby, so why do I own three?) Bathroom cabinets can be dire, but it’s easier than ever to find beauty products that earn their keep by performing more than one function.
Better products, glowing skin and tidier homes. Who could argue with that?
Makeup That’s Also Skin Care “As we get older, our skin sees less oil production,” says Toronto-based dermatologist Dr. Lisa Kellett. “And because you don’t repair as quickly, there’s more trans-epidermal water loss, making skin drier.” Look for foundations or tinted moisturizers containing fruit oils and hyaluronic acid that boost skin’s water content to help slow moisture loss.
Beauty Sleep Do more than just moisturize while you sleep. Hydrate and speed skin turnover with products containing hyaluronic acid for plumping and alpha hydroxyl acids that tackle dullness.
Gentle Cleansing and Exfoliation With time, “cells take longer to turn over, but skin is more sensitive,” explains Kellett. “With decreased sebaceous gland activity, don’t use anything too stripping.” A gentle cleanser that speeds skin cell turnover solves both issues. For sensitive skin, Kellett recommends exfoliating beads over chemical exfoliants for anyone who “developed rosacea as they aged.”
Excerpt from Zoomer Magazine