The ultimate DIY facial for glowing skin over-50
Image: Anna Shvets at Pexels
Dull, tired, worn-out? And that’s just your skin. Fact is, the desire for good-looking skin isn’t about fewer wrinkles: we want to glow. We want energetic, vibrant, luminous skin, at every age. Here’s a mini super brightening facial you can try for yourself; the trick is to be consistent. Night-time is the best time to indulge in a deep clean routine, as skin repairs itself when you’re most relaxed. With the right products used in the right order, you can give yourself a luxurious spa-quality facial at home, tonight.
Wash the day off
Start with a deeper, double cleanse to help clear away surface dead skin cells and reveal fresher, brighter, polished-looking skin. Take make-up off first with a designated cleansing lotion or oil, such as Pai Skincare Light Work Rosehip Cleansing Oil: frankly, anything with rosehip oil is a must for ageing skin. Next, cleanse all over with a gentle soothing balm or wash, to remove any residue. One of my all-time favourites is Elemis Pro-Collagen Cleansing Balm with algae, starflower, and elderberry oils, that literally melts dirt away leaving skin incredibly soft and nourished. Take time to massage it well into dry skin, then add a little water to massage further. Rinse your face gently but thoroughly, using a washcloth, such as Templespa Take It Off Soft Muslin Cleansing Cloth – this aids exfoliation and gets right into any tiny crevices around the nose and hairline.
Buff your way
Next, cleanse again, but this time with an exfoliator for a power-packed brightening session. Thorough exfoliation helps freshen the surface of your skin, boost micro-circulation, and ensure the rest of your skincare is absorbed to the max. Just don’t overdo it. When you’re over-50 the skin becomes drier so once a week is better. If you regularly wash with a muslin cloth, your skin is already tolerant. However, if you find yourself prone to outbreaks or redness and rosacea: take it easy.
Hormones can govern the way our skin responds. Peri, mid, or post-menopause, you may find skin is generally becoming drier and duller. So have a play with exfoliants as they can quickly transform the look and feel of your skin. Choose between physical exfoliators such as face scrubs and at-home microdermabrasion; or chemical exfoliators, topical acids (such as salicylic, malic, lactic, or glycolic), which tingle slightly as they gently dissolve any remaining dead skin cells.
For the ideal ‘wakeup’ facial, once a week, use one of each: chemical followed by physical. Try the classic, much-loved Paula’s Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant or the handy little Colbert MD Intensify Facial Discs which are loaded with just enough lactic acid and papaya enzyme to give a wash-off mini peel session at home (I love these and have sensitive skin). Leave on for a few minutes, then follow up with a physical scrub to help wash away any remaining dead skin cells. I’m a big fan of Dermalogica Daily Microexfoliant rice bran powder granules mixed with salicylic acid, for a final buff. Go gently, it’s deceptively effective.
Masks On
Your skin should now be perfectly clean, warm, and above all moist: ideal for applying a mask. The 5-minute face mask really can transform the freshness of your skin. Choose one of these to suit your skin’s needs:
A clay mask, like Esse Clay Mask with kaolin and bentonite clay helps brighten all skins, especially oily, blemished skin and clogged pores, as the clay helps draw out impurities from the skin. If your skin is dry or more mature, follow swiftly with a hydrating serum or cream.
An exfoliating mask, such as the ‘leave on in the shower’ The Body Shop Pumpkin Instant Radiance Mask, with fruit enzymes for a double-duty manual and chemical scrub effect. Ideal for days when you haven’t done a major cleanse.
A sheet mask, such as 111Skin Rose Gold Brightening Treatment Mask is typically a gel-cream, making it ideal for most skins. This one is super anti-ageing: rich in antioxidants, a peptide complex to tighten and tone, and rose oil to calm and soothe.
A cream mask, such as the pricey but cult favourite Sisley Black Rose Cream Mask, tends to be rich in texture and better-suited to dry skin that benefits from a nourishing texture. This one never disappoints.
Glow Girl
Serum and oils are a great way to add in a topical, targeted, brightening treatment to your facial regime and work on dark spots, lines or blemishes. My favourites include: Dr Barbara Sturm Glow Drops with Omega 3 and wild rose serum, the vitamin C best-seller Ole Henriksen Banana Bright Serum; the pricey but divine Votary Super Seed Serum with niacinamide (for dark spots), containing peptides, broccoli, and good old rosehip oil; and if you’re considering retinol, Murad Retinol Youth Renewal Serum with added botanicals and skin-smoothing hyaluronic acid is a great introduction.
Make the most of Moisturising
As I’m not into the heaviness of a cream on my skin, I prefer freshly blending a serum/oil with a face cream. Lighter and better absorbed, the texture feels easier to massage in, and goes further. If you’ve never tried it before, pop a pump of serum followed by half the amount of face cream into the palm of your hands. Blend together then press flat palms against your cheeks, temples, forehead, then swap hands to massage down the opposite sides of the neck and across the chest. Repeat, if you need more. Try the lovely-but-pricey Romilly Wilde Advanced Super Cell Serum with Night Duty Face Cream – or Balance Me’s Vitamin C Repair Serum – and finish off with a cool stroke of lightweight Eye Believe Serum. Your skin will be glowing.
JO GB is an author and beauty & wellbeing writer and founder of Jo GB Living.
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Discussion (23 Comments)
Ooh thank you for the brilliant advice, Patrish. I am pretty low maintenance so gently does it for me!
Jutta says:
I totally agree. I used to have a rosazea, but now my skin looks perfect at 50. I use Caudalie cleansing oil in the evening, rosehip oil by The ordinary in the morning and evening and a tinted moisturizer by either Avene or La Roche Posay with sunscreen for the Day. That is it ! I believe that our skin not only hast a lapidar barrier but also a microbiome. Not disrupting that with lots of different products/chemicals….
Hi Patrish this is fascinating. I’ve never heard of the acid mantel. I do scrub with a washcloth every night and I use a rice powder exfoliant twice weekly- should I stop? I’d love to hear your opinion. (I’m 53)
Patrish says:
My rule of thumb is if your skin feels tight or turns red, stop. Gentle is best.
Micellar water (Garnier makes a good one) swiped across your face with a cotton pad should
remove what needs to be removed. Then, moisturize.
Jo says:
Hi Patrish
Thank you for your comments.
I’m 57, a fair-skinned, sensitive redhead who avoids the sun. In my defence, I have been editing, researching and writing beauty & wellness for 35 years – mostly for mature audiences such as GH, Woman & Home, YOU magazine, etc – and in the process used all manner of products – top-to-toe. Every single item I mentioned here (as Alyson very kindly asked for my DIY new year regime) I trust, use or have used recently. Perhaps I should have mentioned that as a post script…We’re all different – and every skin is different, and diversity is key. As we age our cell turnover diminishes by 50% by the time we get to just 40/45 – ageing skin needs massaging and stimulating. I’m not into acids and peels – but to deny older skin of a vital extra boost of energy with cleansing and exfoliating (the benchmark of better skin) is unfair to those readers who want to know more. I have personally used muslin cloths & exfoliates for 30 years: they help clear the skin surface so it can do it’s job at protecting better and maintaining its own natural oil phase. Cleansing is everything with age. I prefer fine oils to moisturisers, but it’s all personal.
Thank you to Alyson for wanting to share the ageing journey.
Alyson says:
I am sure all this is good advice but to try all of these products would be horribly expensive and when the cost of living is going through the roof this just wouldn’t be anyone’s priority. Perhaps ideas on what you could do on a budget would be helpful? I also think the previous comment is very wise, gently does it is the key.
Lesley Somerville says:
Completely agree. There’s no way I could afford a quarter of these products. I’m 66 and living on a pension but I want my skin to look as good as it can. Obviously diet, sleep and exercise is important but I’m interested to know what are considered essential skincare products and where to buy them at the best price. The Ordinary is my go-to at the moment.
Carrie Wilson says:
To save wasting money on empty promises (or as a friend puts it: “buying the dream”), your best bet is to start at the dermatologist, who will tell you which skin care brands are doing actual clinical trials on human skin and publishing the results. A far better bet than relying on marketing hype. I’d rather pay once for a brand that has legitimately documented positive results than go through multiple products only to find out they had pretty packages, slick ads and great “reviews,” but were actually the emperor’s proverbial new clothing.
Here in the US, you can look up your medical providers online to see how much money they’ve accepted – in the form of cash or other perks (lunches, trips, etc) – from which companies, which helps if you are concerned the provider could simply be interested in pushing those brands that are offering kickbacks.
I did consider the price of my preferences but they are also (mainly) greener ethical brands – not linked with China. So if I mentioned these it’s also because I genuinely use & love them and someone special has also loved them: such as Votary – a reader asked me about it for her cancer suffering sister who was finding it hard to use skincare and as I was on a mag, it was sitting in our cupboard so I posted it for her to try. Her sister found it was the only thing she had ever been able to use and has bought it ever since, and more of the range. Indeed some of the best smaller ranges – Annee de Mamiel etc… are born from personal health experiences that made them seek something ‘more’.
Cindy says:
What I use is a gentle foaming cleanser, miscellar water and a day and night moisturizer. My skin feels soft and healthy.
Mrs Tonia says:
A good discussion and valuable points made by Parrish about what Not to Do also.
I’m of the less is more camp. I don’t use any harsh products. Face creams those by Caudalie and Avene which don’t cause irritation. My best discovery is using the powdered sachets of Vitamin C ( fresh pressed may be the name) by Clinique. Once a week I use this in the morning followed by a nourishing moisturiser.
It never irritates and does help overall look of complexion. Sun creams in season, hats and sunglasses and keeping it simple. All have lead to problem free good skin especially at a post menopause age.Claire says:
I’ve had eczema all my life, and in my twenties had patches on my face and around my eyes. Even “sensitive skin” products have sometimes irritated my skin, but trial and error has made me realise that the less I do to my skin the better. I swear by Avene products and rarely use anything else, after a distressing flare up around my eyes a few years ago I found Avene eye cream was soothing and cleared it up better than any prescription cream. Now my skin is probably better than it’s ever been (at 63!), I just use water in the morning and then cleanse in the evening, but never forget to moisturise. My daughter did buy me some Origins Soothing Treatment Lotion for Christmas and although I was a bit worried about using something different (and also something which smells so beautiful, I usually find perfumed products are irritants), it really is lovely, and is as soothing as it professes to be. My skin reacts badly to the sun and also red wine – my advice is wear a hat, sit in the shade and use sun block, and swap to white wine!
I always buy Avene sun screen, Claire. It’s the best, I’ve found others irritate my skin.
Suggestions of budget buys welcome.
Boots stock the french pharmacy ranges and frequently have three for two offers. I now buy Avene and La Roche Posay there. I’m using an excellent Cicaplast Mains hand cream and lip balm from the latter now. And stocked up on their compact sun lotion in a small bottle which Alyson recommended last summer. An excellent and affordable range of products for every type of skin concern.Thanks Mrs Tonia – I’d also add Boots Protect & Perfect range, L’Oreal, Vichy and CeraVe. And I will ask Jo to pick her best budget buys for an upcoming feature.
bev says:
I would agree totally. Both Avene and La Roche Posay work wonderfully for my skin and, as you say, often on offer. Topped up with prescription Zerodouble/Doublebase cream in an enormous pump bottle – especially in cold, dry conditions and I am done. I have better things to spend my money (pension!!) on than fancy schmanzy, pay for the advertising and packaging skincare.
Yes to Boots! On my frequent trips to the UK, I always stocked up on No7 creams at Boots. The night cream and day cream
are good, honest straight forward formulas. The creams (and other items) eventually became available in the states at Target
and Walgreens.
I have fond memories of my grandmother’s simple skin care, and her glorious face. Ponds cold cream.Goddessinthedetails says:
Responding to posts above: I’m 67 and I’m often told I look much younger. I’ve always moisturised and never used exfoliants or acid peel type stuff. Budget heroes — Cerave cream or Cetaphil. I combine it with a Vitamin C serum (Garden of Wisdom for me, isn’t expensive) in the morning and a Retinol serum at night (I use Lixir skin which is more expensive but the only one that works for me — you can find cheaper versions). Personal experience obviously but I do look at the science. I want a routine that works but isn’t too complicated.
Thank you for reading – retinol is actually THE best anti ageing chemical exfoliants there is (so you actually are using one) AND it is proven to keep your skin looking younger. Please – if you’re comfortable using it – don’t stop. I am not paid by anyone for mentioning the brands I choose to love – if I did I would say. X
Ute Isabell says:
I believe from all suggestions in the article double cleansing is the most important, especially if wearing make up and/or sunscreen. It made such a difference to my midfifties skin and I enjoy the facial massage during the second step.
Learning about ingredients and how to decipher the INCIs – maybe something to write about in a future article?
My skin (face and body) really suffered during a recent Covid infection, creams and oils did not help. I took phytoceramides capsules which worked within a week. Even old eczema patches are clearing up..
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Every discussion on skincare should include a note about destroying one’s best protection, as in, the acid mantle.
This is related to skin pH. In order for skin to be healthy, this skin barrier needs to be in tact and balanced.
Certain products contain ingredients which may strip away your lipid barrier which may lead to dry skin, flakes,
sensitivity and even premature aging. The skin’s ideal pH is slightly acidic.
Gentle cleansing and moisturizing are the two most important exercises for your skin. Less is more. No buffing your face up with
rough instruments. No cleansers that make your skin feel tight. No scrubs that have granules in them. Stop using anything on your skin that makes it ‘burn’. Educate yourself and take your knowledge to the cosmetics counter. Keep it simple and your skin will benefit.