Slow Aging? Skin Longevity Tips for 20s, 30s, 40s & 50s+ from a Dermatologist!

Welcome back. It's Saturday morning, get your pens and papers ready, get your asses out of bed. Because everybody is suddenly talking about skin longevity. But no one has actually explained what it hell it actually means and what you should be doing about it. So here is the truth in one sentence. Before I get into the details. You do not need a derm appointment or a 12 step routine to age well. You just need to do the basics right. And today I'm going to be breaking down why. What the heck. Skin longevity really is what is harming it. And what are the exact skincare routines that I Recommend in your 20s, your 30s, 40s and 50s plus. Let's simplify this. As I've noticed, there are slightly different interpretations based on where you are coming from or looking at it from the beauty industry perspective. The people marketing these products, they're using the term skin longevity as a modern evolution of the term anti aging. It is now all about prevention, barrier, first routine and future proofing your skin with ingredients like retinoids, peptides, niacinamide, etc from a derm angle. And I'll speak for myself here, I think I like to define it more clinically as extending your skin's health span, strong barrier, lower inflammation, healthier collagen, and more efficient skin repair. And for you, the consumer, I think most people are going to see skin longevity as simply meaning aging slower, keeping your skin brighter, longer, smoother, longer and more even longer. And you don't really need a doctor's appointment to get there. You just have to be consistent with your skincare routine because prevention is going to keep the damage from happening and longevity is going to keep your skin performing like it did before the damage ever began. It is a marathon mindset, not a panic button. And if you had to simplify what skin longevity truly means, it is about keeping your skin's function at the highest level and looking as healthy as possible for as long as possible by protecting your skin barrier, reducing your inflammation and minimizing that long term damage. So why now? Why is everybody suddenly obsessed now with skin longevity? Well, longevity science went mainstream. I mean last night at dinner somebody said senescent and I was like, do they even know what that means? Apparently they do, but they're talking about repair mitochondria, senescent cells. And this is something that is now completely mainstream. People have shifted from anti aging to healthy aging. Don't want fear based messaging anymore, which in my opinion is a step in the right direction. But hopefully it doesn't go too far. Like clean beauty did. And three, there's been a barrier in inflammation awakening because we've all blown our faces up and over exfoliated during COVID that our skin barrier has been damaged. And now we want resilience. So now that we know why skin longevity matters, I want to quickly focus on what is harming your skin's longevity. Because when you know what's harming it, you're going to know how to make it look last longer, healthier, etc. Number one, hormonal factors. I'm talking menopause, perimenopause, estrogen loss, slower cellular turnover, declining lipids in your cells and in your skin's superficial layer. Two, is chronic inflammation, your collagen's worst enemy. This is going to weaken your barrier, it's going to disrupt your microbiome, it's going to make your pores more visible, and we all hate that. And signs that you are chronically inflamed, other than being in a grumpy and bad mood, is probably that you're constantly red even you get stinging products or you get breakouts and you get blemishes that flare anytime life gets slightly stressful. Three, UV and pigment damage. And if you follow me for a while, you should know this, that the number one cause of visible aging is brown spots. And all those brown spots are signs of DNA damage and collagen breakdown. So kids, if you are watching this video, wear the damn sunscreen and save yourself a lot of headache and money down the road by protecting your skin before you're 20. Now, four is environmental stressors. And this is a hodgepodge of things ranging from pollution, blue light smoke, extreme temperatures. But honestly, even internal stressors, things that stress out your heart, your emotions that, that piss you off, they can totally disrupt your skin's longevity because of the cortisol spike. And think about it. When you are stressed out of your mind and you are exhausted, you probably look like crap, right? And so your skin takes a toll. And last, lifestyle and skincare habits. And I'm talking about all the fun stuff in your 20s. Poor sleep, sugar, alcohol, dehydration, stress, inconsistent routines. The things you can get away with when you're 24, you can no longer get away with when you're 44. And they do not become so fun. So now that the good part is over, what should you actually do? And I want to break this down by age because, because I think it's important for you to understand this. But before we dive in, a quick commercial break from my brand Dr. Idris not that this video is sponsored because the brand did not sponsor this video but since I sponsor my own life I figured I would give myself a little push. Sephora does not want you to know this but they are having a 20% off sale and this time everybody gets 20% off. So my top three gifting items are going to be my favorite lip basting duo. I actually just used use these two right now. It is a one of a kind exfoliating and soothing duo for buttery smooth lips. The De Puffer which helps with holiday puffiness or one too many martinis. It's a hangover cure in a bottle. And last my major Fade Solution System 3 easy steps 3 minute routine for brighter skin in 30 days. But now back to longevity. Now back to longevity and I'm going to be breaking this down by decades. I just want to remind you though that these age ranges are general guidelines for beginners. So you could be 25 and already do everything right or you could be 50 and have never even discovered SPF. Regardless, I want you to know it is never too late to take control of your skin and your life and I just want to simplify things for you so you know it truly matters. So in your 20s I want you to focus on building your foundation. Your goal is to bank collagen, prevent long term damage and build consistent habits starting with a gentle cleanser. Wash your face every single night. There are no negotiations here, especially if you live in the city. You want to get all that crud and build up off of your face because this stuff is going to cause your collagen to break down faster and if your face feels squeaky clean and tight afterwards, it's too stripping. So change your face wash. I like soft wash. It's my personal favorite. Vanicream will do too. 2. We're going to add an antioxidant like a vitamin C. These are going to help fight free radicals that are going to damage your collagen prematurely. L Ascorbic acid is the active form, but if it irritates you, try a vitamin C ester in this one and you can use it twice a day with a retinol. Don't worry, I will link all the products below. 3 is an SPF and this one goes without saying that sun protection is that single most important form of protection when I'm talking about your skin. The most important thing you can do is to support your skin in the long term for its longevity. And last a lightweight moisturizer. Unless of course you are dry and you live in the middle of Utah and it's really dry there. You want something more substantial, substantial than something lightweight. But the tip here is that hydrated skin ages slower and that is a fact. So if you are in your 20s, you do not need to correct much if you're doing everything right. Your job is to protect in your 30s and 40s. We're going into protect and repair mode where the goal is to support early collagen, decline, target and uneven skin tone and maintain radiance. We want to keep the foundation of our twenties and build upon it with a targeted serum based on your concern. So if discoloration is it, alpha arbutin Koic acid can definitely help. Bonus. These are also antioxidants, but if redness is your issue, Aelaic acid is a great adjunct. But I would strongly recommend that you focus on one concern at a time because when you add more serums, it becomes more irritating. Number two is a retinoid. And a lot of people start off using a retinoid in their 20s. And if you haven't yet, it is fine. But your 30s and 40s is especially a good time to start. So I would start at two times a week at most and build slowly. It is about consistency over intensity in the name of the game, and about going low and slow. We want to exfoliate number three with exfoliating acids two to four times a week. The type of exfoliating acid though, makes a huge difference. So if you are somebody who is looking to increase your collagen production and have deeper exfoliation, glycolic acid is it. Whereas if you are oily and acne prone, salicylic acid is your jam. But both will help with the appearance of pores. But I do want to remind you that you cannot shrink your pores pores with exfoliating acids. All they're really going to do is minimize the gunk inside your pores so that they become less apparent. But if you really want to try to minimize the size and the appearance of your pores, it's by lowering the superficial inflammation. So imagine this is your pore and you are superficially red. When you're swollen, that pore looks dilated. So when you minimize that superficial swell, the pore looks less dilated and becomes less apparent. So that is an important differentiating factor because people tend to over exfoliate. But over exfoliating is like over plucking your eyebrows and you will never go back from that and it's much harder to restore trust. So if you started this in your 20s, amazing. And if you're starting at 41, it is never too late. What about if you're 50 plus? Here we're going to strengthen and rebuild, and the goal here is to support thinning skin, declining estrogen and slowly and slower repair. So number one, we want extra barrier supporting moisturizers, things with ceramides, fatty acids, peptides like acetyl tetrapeptide 40, which can minimize redness and colloidal oat. If your moisturizer disappears instantly, it might be too light for you because your skin wants a cushion. Two growth factors or growth factor inspired technologies to support repair density and texture. These are extremely beneficial for areas that cannot tolerate a retinol, like the under eyes or your neck and even chest for some people. And they're also a good PE option. And they're also a good option for people who cannot tolerate retinols at all. Number three, collagen supporting peptides like matrix 3000 copper peptides, palmet oil, tripeptide 5, acetyl hexapeptide 8. In your 50s and beyond, your skin wants comfort, cushion and reinforcement. And those peptides can definitely help there. But now, if you're wondering where in office treatments come into play, the question is, do you need them to support skin longevity? And as a cosmetic dermatologist, my short answer is no. Skincare can give you amazing results if you are consistent though. But for deeper longevity benefits, and I'm talking much deeper into your dermis, topicals, do the work on the surface and in office, go deeper in the dermis, in your fat pads, in your collagen matrix, where aging really does begin. So the most longevity supportive treatments to look into, in my opinion, are probably going to be biostimulatory like Sculptra and Radiesse that are going to help to promote collagen deeper down PRP and prf, which is drawn from your own blood and has growth factors in it. So think of these two as fertilizers for your skin fat stem cells. So if PRP is fat is fertilizer, fat stem cells are the seeds that can truly grow. It is a bigger and better guarantee to make your skin better in the long run. But then you have other devices as well, right? Like flavor fractional lasers or radio frequency micro needling. And these can help with textures. And V beam is one of my favorites that help with superficial redness, which is often associated with superficial chronic inflammation like we spoke about. So skincare is definitely your maintenance, but procedures are more like structural reinforcement, but without the maintenance, there's no point in doing the procedures. So skin longevity is not about looking perfect. It is truly about helping your skin's function so that it is functioning at its best for as long as possible. We want to protect in our 20s, protect and repair in our 30s and 40s, strengthen and rebuild in our 50s. And the best part is, you do not need a complicated routine to get to this goal. You just need a right one and the consistency to stick with it. So if you want an updated routine video of what's in my current routine, or even sample routines for each decade, let me know in the comment section below. I hope you guys enjoyed this video and I will see you guys next week. Have a beautiful Saturday.