Getting older can sometimes feel like a punishment: seeing wrinkles and crepey skin staring back at us in the mirror when we feel as young and energetic as ever on the inside. Aging is a luxury—it means more time doing the things we love with the people we love—but it’s OK not to love what it does to your skin. To keep skin hydrated, healthy and youthful-looking, a good moisturizer is paramount.
“The ideal moisturizer for people over 50 must consider not only how to hold on to moisture with emollients—ceramides and squalene—but also how to replenish it with humectants, such as glycerin and hyaluronic acid, and skin barrier–repairing adaptogenic botanicals,” says Davie, FL dermatologist Marianna Blyumin-Karasik, MD. “As we age, these natural repairing and hydrating elements are diminished in our skin and no longer restored at the same rate. Therefore, we need the assistance of various moisturizing and fortifying ingredients to strengthen skin resilience and radiance. Additionally, many individuals age 50 and older are looking for multitasking products that can also help to improve the signs of aging by restoring elastin and collagen. Some of these include peptides, niacinamide and various antioxidants.”
Boston facial plastic surgeon Jaimie DeRosa, MD adds that as we age, our skin “starts to show the wear and tear, so to speak, from environmental damage. Specifically, skin begins to lose hyaluronic acid, collagen and elastin, and the production of oil also decreases, all of which result in thinner, drier skin and the development of wrinkles. External ‘environmental’ factors, including UVA sun rays, can also lead to solar elastosis—think thickened, bumpy and tough skin—and pigmentation changes or age spots.”
Though in-office treatments remain the most effective way to visibly turn back the clock, moisturizers are essential in a daily skin-care regimen. “In your 50s, it’s important to focus on improving the dermal layer, providing proper moisture to the epidermis, and continue to encourage collagen and elastin renewal and turnover,” explains Mila Davis, aesthetician at Skin to Smile. “Although there are an endless number of moisturizers available on the market, there are important ingredients they should contain to help satisfy their effectiveness.” These are the top moisturizers for skin over 50, according to experts.