“Mature ladies are my oeuvre. I love a menopausal icon and a peri-menopausal queen,” says celebrity facialist Lord Gavin McLeod-Valentine when I ask him if he has any skin-care tips for our beloved readers over 50. He’s sculpted the faces of many of your favorite Hollywood stars, including Zoe Saldaña, Demi Moore, Kathryn Hahn and Emily Blunt, so trust us when we say he knows what he’s talking about.
“I would say the biggest foundational change when it comes to mature skin is the inability to hold onto hydration and a sense of volume loss or decline within the complexion,” says McLeod-Valentine. To combat this shift, he suggests using products with hyaluronic acid, squalane and glycerin—ingredients that will “impart the skin not with just a superficial glow but really build that checkings, savings and eventual trust fund of well-being and moisture within the complexion.” He recommends Augustinus Bader The Serum ($380), The Rich Cream ($305) or The Ultimate Soothing Cream ($305).
Using the right products and ingredients will help skin two-fold, says McLeod-Valentine. “It’s going to remove a sense of fatigue and ashiness from the skin, so it’s going to give more of a light bouncing ability to the complexion,” he explains. “In addition to that, the volumizing moisture is going to restore, to varying degrees but to real significance, the cheek plane and the puffiness of the lips and it’s going to minimize fine lines and wrinkles and give a look that’s more rested and alert.”
“I always say it’s not the absence of wrinkles or necessarily tone that gives the look of an aged appearance, it’s the lack of energy,” says McLeod-Valentine. “You can lift it, you can freeze it, you can fill it, you can fry it—done it all, but if you don’t address hydration and communication within the skin, you’re just not going to look younger.”
