How Skin Changes with Age and What Helps

Collagen and elastin are the supportive proteins that give your skin its structure. Consisting of strong but flexible fibers, these proteins are responsible for your skin’s elasticity and firmness. In other words, they give youthful skin its bounce-back quality.

Around the age of 20, collagen production starts to decline at a rate of about 1% each year. In the early stages of this decline, you may not notice a difference. Over time, however, your skin won’t bounce back as quickly.

Repeated expressions like frowning or smiling may lead to the formation of fine lines that can deepen into wrinkles as you continue to age. Other factors like smoking, unprotected sun exposure, stress, and pollution can also contribute to fine lines and wrinkles.

What Helps

To help prevent the formation of fine lines and wrinkles, keep your skin hydrated and protected from environmental stressors. Daily sun protection is crucial, so wear sunscreen SPF 30 or higher and reapply every two hours during periods of prolonged sun exposure.

Skincare products formulated with retinol can help smooth out existing fine lines and wrinkles. Try Revision Skincare Retinol Complete 0.5, a targeted anti-aging serum featuring a powerful blend of antioxidants and botanical extracts designed to smooth and brighten skin.

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In addition to causing fine lines and wrinkles to form, depleted collagen and elastin stores can lead to sagging skin. As your skin loses the supportive structure provided by these proteins, it tends to succumb to the effects of gravity more easily. Other age-related factors like reduced facial fat and bone density loss can contribute to sagging skin as well.

Sagging skin can develop anywhere on the body, but the most common areas include:

• Eyelids
• Chin
• Jowls
• Throat
• Upper arms
• Stomach

Again, external factors like cigarette smoke, UV exposure, and pollution can exacerbate the effects of aging on your skin. Sagging skin can also be related to weight loss. If you lose a significant amount of weight at an age where collagen and elastin production has already slowed, your skin might struggle to tighten back up.

What Helps

Outside of invasive procedures, the best way to reduce the appearance of sagging skin is to build up the supportive muscles beneath it. For sagging skin on your face in particular, facial exercises or manual tools like facial rollers can help.

Stimulate collagen production and tone facial muscles for firmer, tighter skin by incorporating microcurrent devices into your skincare routine. Try the NuFACE TRINITY+ PRO Starter Kit, complete with an ergonomically designed facial toning device and all the products needed to get you started.

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Your skin is made up of multiple layers, the outermost of which (the stratum corneum or skin barrier) helps maintain hydration and protect against environmental aggressors. As you lose supportive collagen and fat under the skin to aging, this outer layer thins over time.

Thin skin is more prone to damage, so you may find that you bruise more easily as you get older. Your skin may also become more susceptible to sun damage and sensitivity. Skin products you used to be able to tolerate might start to trigger redness or irritation, even dryness that leads to dehydrated skin.

What Helps

Thinning skin is a natural consequence of aging, so you can’t avoid or reverse it completely. The best way to protect your skin is to keep it properly hydrated. A strong moisture barrier helps shore up your skin’s defenses against damaging external factors like pollution and the sun’s UV rays. You can also incorporate vitamin C into your skincare routine to support skin repair.

Restore and strengthen your skin barrier with a rich moisturizing cream like Zerafite Barrier Repair Moisturizer. This formula provides lasting hydration and soothes sensitivity while supporting your skin’s long-term resilience against environmental stressors.

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Thinning skin not only becomes more fragile with age, but it may also start to take on a dull or even translucent appearance. You might find that your veins become more noticeable under your skin, or that your skin starts to become paler as the production of pigment-containing cells declines over time.

As your skin becomes thinner, it also tends to produce less sebum—the natural oil that helps keep your skin hydrated. Dry skin paired with age-related reductions in skin cell turnover can leave your skin looking dull or uneven in tone and texture. Overuse of anti-aging products containing retinol can exacerbate these issues.

What Helps

To keep your skin looking radiant as you age, strive to balance exfoliation and hydration in your daily skincare routine. Gentle exfoliation (once or twice weekly) helps remove dead cells from the surface of your skin while targeted moisturization restores hydration to plump and brighten your skin.

It may also help to include vitamin C to brighten skin tone, retinoids to boost skin cell turnover, and niacinamide to restore radiance. Try the Allies of Skin Growth Factor and Azelaic Acid Bundle to visibly improve your skin’s tone and texture.

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A lifetime of sun exposure is bound to leave a few footprints behind. Freckles, age spots, and areas of uneven skin tone are common with age, particularly in the areas that see the most sun (like your face, hands, arms, and back). Anyone can develop visible signs of sun damage, but age spots in particular are common in people over the age of 50.

Even if you’ve done a great job with sun protection, you may still develop dark spots as you age. Mature skin has a reduced ability to regenerate, so issues with uneven skin tone become more common over time. Age spots tend to be more common in lighter skin tones but genetics play a significant role in determining your risk for developing them as well.

What Helps

Prevention is the best medicine when it comes to hyperpigmentation and skin discoloration, so don’t skip the sunscreen. You may not be able to fully erase dark spots or discoloration, but targeted treatments like chemical peels, microdermabrasion, and photofacials (intense pulsed light therapy or IPL) can help make them less visible.

Brighten and balance your complexion with something like Cyspera Original+ Pigment Corrector. This targeted treatment is formulated to deliver professional-grade results without harsh ingredients, making it safe for all skin types.

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Not only can aging affect your skin tone, but you may notice changes in its texture as well. As we’ve already mentioned, sebum production slows over time which can impact your skin’s moisture barrier and lead to dryness or dehydration. Skin cell renewal slows as well, so dead cells may sit on the surface of the skin, leading to a rougher texture.

When your skin isn’t properly hydrated, it may appear flaky or scaly. You might also notice a feeling of tightness, itching, or irritation. Your skin might feel rough or uneven to the touch, and not just on your face. It’s common for mature skin to develop red, scaly patches, especially on the elbows, arms, and legs.

What Helps

Prioritize hydration in your skincare routine to combat issues with dryness. It may also help to start using a humidifier at night. When you bathe, use warm instead of hot water to avoid stripping your skin of its natural oils and apply moisturizer afterward while your skin is still damp. Your pores will be open after bathing, so they’ll be ready to absorb moisture and seal it in.

Target roughness with a hydrating and skin-smoothing cream like Replenix Glycolic Acid 10% Resurfacing Cream. This formula features medical-grade crystalline glycolic acid to refine your skin’s texture and promote a brighter complexion.

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All the factors we’ve already mentioned can affect the rate at which aging skin heals. Decreased collagen and elastin production means your skin won’t bounce back as easily as it used to, and reduced cell turnover means new cells don’t take the place of dead or damaged cells as quickly.

According to research, wounds take up to four times longer to heal in mature skin. If you have an acne breakout, for example, it might take much longer to resolve than it used to. Slow healing can even increase the risk of scarring.

What Helps

To promote healing and rejuvenation in mature skin, focus on skincare products that boost collagen, increase cell turnover, and promote barrier repair. Key ingredients include retinol, peptides, ceramides, and hyaluronic acid.

If you’re struggling with scarring or other forms of skin damage, try something like RescueMD DNA Repair Complex. This daily serum is designed to support the skin’s natural ability to repair and regenerate thanks to the clinically proven ingredient lapachol.

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There’s no miracle cure to stop yourself from aging but a strong skincare routine is your best defense against the visible signs that can settle into your skin. An anti-aging skincare routine doesn’t have to be complicated to be effective.

A daily regimen of cleansing, moisturizing, and wearing sunscreen is a great place to start. If you’re hoping to address specific age-related skin concerns like dryness or fine lines, add a serum or overnight treatment to the lineup. And always choose products appropriate for your skin type, adjusting your choices as your skin changes over time.

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