My glorious 60 year old face!

I'm often asked what skin care products I use, because I am blessed with good skin. I've always had good skin, never had acne or blemishes. As a teenager and young adult, I used the very harsh, feel good face product of the 60's and 70's, Noxema. The original, in the dark blue jar, complete with smell. I washed with it amd in the winter, used it as a daytime moisturizer. The commercial, often aired during American Bandstand said "tomorrow is the best reason to wash with Noxema today". There were not the plethora of facial cleansers then that there are now, it was easy to get, cheap, and felt tingly good. When I was 20, my cousin's wife, a dark haired beauty named Helen, who was 30 gave me great advice. She told me to start using a moisturizer (a real one) every day, not to wait till I was 30 or till I began to show signs of aging. I did. I began a real skin care regimen at 20. Moisturizers didn't have SPF back then, but I faithfully used a drugstore product every day and night. As the years passed, and the beauty industry went crazy, there were so many products to choose from, some featuring SPF. I began to use pricier department store products like Estée Lauder, enjoying the more luxurious feel and nicer packaging. By my early 40's I started alpha hydroxy acids like glycolic and lactic acids for anti-aging benefits. By my mid 50's I introduced mild retinol products, stepping it up by my late 50's to 2% retinol night creams and 2% hydraquinone gel on sun damage spots. The thing to remember is your weakest anti-aging skincare is found at the drug store. The mid range is sold at good department stores or beauty specialty stores like Sephora, and for the big guns, like retinol, retinoids and hydraquinone in the over 4% range, you need a prescription from a derm doctor or skin center. I am now, at 60, considering that step, but a tube of prescription Renova is $170.00 so I am not ready to take that plunge yet. Back to SPF, I stopped trying to tan 20 years ago. I would burn over burn, and eventually developed a very light tan, but never got the tan I wanted. I started using SPF every day, 365 days a year, and still do. That didn't stop me from getting a tiny basal cell carcinoma in 2001, near my right eyebrow. I had it removed, and thankfully no more skin cancer since then. I have regular derm checkups, and I use SPF of 30 on my face, neck, chest and hands every day, and step it up to 50 in spring and summer when I am outdoors a lot. At the beach, I do mornings and early evenings, wear a big, floppy hat and huge sunglasses, and never "lay out" without a beach umbrella. So, products and protection aside, here's what helps me. First of all, genes. Having unknown family history and no blood relatives older than me, I don't know if they aged well, but I imagine so. Then, healthy living. No smoking, good sun protection, little or no booze. Eat enough healthy fats, like avocado, nuts, coconut oil. Try not to go to bed with makeup on, although that's not always easy after a late night. Remove makeup, then cleanse and treat your skin before bed, since your sleep time is when skin cells repair themselves. A good serum and night cream work wonders. I have used plain old Vaseline on my lips every night at bedtime for over 30 years. Exfoliate, gently but often. I've used scrubs since I was in my 20's. Avoid the cheaper ones containing ground apricot pits or walnut shells, go for a sandy feel. If you can't afford a good scrub, make your own with sugar or oatmeal. Masks are great, and becoming more available all the time. Not necessarily the old green fave, Queen Helene, but if that's what you have, use it. There are inexpensive one time use masks everywhere now. Once or twice a week makes a difference, and they are tailored to your needs, from soothing to invigorating and everything in between, including collagen and hyaluronic acid. If your budget won't allow it, make your own. Take what's left in your avocado peel, scrape it out and put in on your face for ten minutes for hydration. Use a whipped egg white for tightening. Milk and organic honey for soothing. Whatever you use on your face, put the last bits on the backs of your hands. This goes for scrubs, masks and treatments as well as your day and night moisturizers. Final note, and it's a hard one for a makeup junkie like me: put your money into the best skin care you can afford, then into the best foundation. Don't throw money into eyeshadows and lipsticks when the biggest bang for your buck should go into (and onto) your precious skin.