Must-Try Nighttime Skincare Routine for 40-Somethings

Parts of your body start to change in your 40s, and one of those things is your skin. If you take good care of yourself, you should still feel young and vital, but that doesn’t change the fact that visible signs of aging occur more easily now and may sneak up on you if you’re not careful. In your 20s, you may be able to skimp on the skincare without any visible ramifications, although it may catch up with you later.

In your 40s, later is now. That’s why it’s important to have a good skincare routine to protect and preserve your skin both during the day and during the night. Your nighttime skincare routine probably doesn’t get the attention that it should, but it’s essential. Take a look at what you need to know about taking care of your skin at night.

Best Nighttime Skincare Routine for Your 40s

Micellar Water

You’ve almost certainly been seeing micellar water everywhere recently, but what is it? Is it just a fad, or is it something that you actually should be paying attention to? Experts say it’s the latter. Micellar water is purified water with oil molecules, called micelles, suspended in the water. And it’s not a recent fad – it dates back to the days before reliable plumbing and soft tap water. Oil molecules are attracted to oil and clean dirt, and the product can do this without leaving an oily residue on the face.

It’s also moisturizing instead of drying – important for aging skin – and gentle on sensitive skin. Micellar water won’t, however, remove heavy eye makeup or foundation, so you’ll still need a makeup remover if you use these kinds of makeup options. But since micellar water can function as a facial wash, moisturizer, and light makeup remover all in one, it may still trim down the number of products you need.

Cleanser

If micellar water works for you, you don’t necessarily need a cleanser. But if you don’t use the micellar water or still feel like your face isn’t clean enough, a cleanser is the next step in nighttime skincare. In your 40s, you want to think about brightening and exfoliating your skin. Thus, you want to look for a cleanser that contains ingredients like glycolic or lactic acids. You should also make sure that the cleanser is pH balanced. Finally, when you use a cleanser on your face, rinse with cold water to ensure that your pores close, and pat (don’t rub!) your skin dry with a soft towel.

Exfoliator

Exfoliating has some benefits. It gets rid of dead skin cells, and it also increases collagen production, which results in the development of new, younger-looking skin. It doesn’t need to be done every day, but a good exfoliating toner should be a regular part of your nighttime skincare routine. If you haven’t been exfoliating regularly, you can work up a tolerance by starting to exfoliate once a week, then slowly moving up to twice a week, then three times if necessary.

Remember that in your 40s, your skin might not be as resilient as it was a decade or two ago. So even if you traditionally used harsher exfoliants, this is a good time to try out some more gentle options. Avoid gritty exfoliants and opt for less abrasive ones that promote radiance and help even skin tones.

Eye Cream

You do still need eye cream at night, maybe more in your 40s than you used to. This is because the skin around the eyes is susceptible and can really become the place on your face that shows the ravages of the day if you’re not careful. Choose an eye cream that contains hyaluronic acid, squalene, ceramides, hydrating, and some glycolic acid or retinol for anti-aging benefits. If you find the skin around your eyes gets irritated or puffy, try keeping the eye cream in the fridge for additional cool soothing during application.

Serum

A nighttime serum geared for users in their 40s should contain retinol and Vitamin C for anti-aging and brightening benefits. But you need to be careful if your skin is thinner or more sensitive than it used to be because retinol, in particular, can be irritating. A renewing, regenerating, and repairing facial serum that contains skin-calming ingredients, like aloe, colloidal oatmeal, allantoin, and Vitamin E, in addition to retinol, will be the best choice to both fight aging and protect your overall skin health, not to mention feeling good on your skin.

Moisturizer

Sleep is important for several reasons. One important one is that it tends to be when the body does a lot of renewing and repairing. So when choosing a revitalizing face cream, it’s important to choose one that supports your skin’s renewal. For users over 40, a good choice is a night cream that contains peptides that promote collagen production. By the time you reach your 40s, collagen fibers start to weaken, creating wrinkles and other skin issues. Peptides function as an alert telling your skin cells to produce more collagen because you’ve lost some. So, night creams with additional peptides will encourage optimum collagen production, helping to keep your skin younger-looking, stronger, and more elastic.

Mask

A night face mask isn’t a daily part of your routine but making the deep treatment of a night mask a regular part of your routine can help keep your skin younger-looking. Moisture loss can be a problem as you age, so if you’re going to do an overnight treatment, go for hydrating one. Ingredients like sodium PCA, magnesium PCA, coconut water, and certain fruit extracts can make effective hydrating masks. Prickly pear extract, for example, restores the skin barrier and helps fight redness while hydrating skin – that’s a lot to do all at once. If you can’t or don’t want to sleep in a mask, you should at least work hydrating sheet masks meant to be worn for a short period of time as part of your nighttime skincare routine.

Finding the right nighttime skincare routine can help ensure that you wake up with beautiful skin, even as you age. Check out our online skincare boutique to find products that work well with your specific skin type and challenges.