Your 50s come with a generous helping of prominent signs of ageing that aren’t the easiest to reverse. If you’ve had a decent skincare routine from your 30s, if not 20s, you might be able to look after most of it. In case you missed it, here’s our edit of the perfect morning and night-time skincare routines for your 50s. Make sure you’re including ingredients like vitamin C, ceramides and hyaluronic acid in your skincare products to keep your skin in top shape. Mumbai-based celebrity dermatologist Dr Malavika Kohli gives us the lowdown on the three types of skin treatments you must sign up for in your 50s, on your next trip to your dermatologist.
IPL (Intense Pulsed Light) laser and hydrajet facial
Ideal for: Pigmentation, skin brightening and delivery of active ingredients to the bottom layers of the skin
How they work: The IPL laser treatment (also known as photorejuvenation) uses a flashgun that delivers good-for-skin ingredients through a laser light, right into the deeper layers of the skin. Hydrajet facials goes through multiple steps of cleansing, a resurfacing peel, clean-up and topical application of antioxidants to leave you with fresh, glowing skin. Invest in these treatments once every 2-4 weeks and continue doing so for 3 months as maintenance.
Post-treatment care: Like most laser treatments, your skin will be sensitive for about a week. Stay out of the sun as much as possible and use sunscreen in case you’re stepping out.
Radiofrequency and ultrasound-based skin treatments
Ideal for: Firming and lifting
How they work: Ultrasound-based skin treatments, or Ultherapy and radio frequency devices give the skin a boost from within to encourage collagen and elastin production and tighten skin on the surface level. They target fine lines, wrinkles and all forms of sagging skin to work against gravity and rejuvenate your facial contours to give it a fresh, radiant glow. These are best done once every six months to a year.
Post-treatment care: There isn’t any downtime to these treatments.
Laser toning
Ideal for: Skin-tightening
How it works: As the name suggest, this treatment makes use of lasers to target your skin where it’s at its loosest—think chin, décolletage and jawline—and bring it back to shape. The treatment is painless and also helps with concerns like patchy skin, pigmentation and any remaining acne scarring that is caused due to menopause.
How often: You can sign up for a session every 2-4 weeks and then reduce frequency over a span of 3 months, depending on your skin’s rejuvenating powers.
Post treatment care: Make sure to use sunscreen at all times as your skin becomes even more sensitive and susceptible to sun damage post laser.
Check out our gallery of celebrities at the top of their beauty game in their 50s.