When should I start using anti-wrinkle products?

Lucia longs to know…I’ve heard that you should start using antiaging products in your twenties, so you’ll get less wrinkles, is that true? If so, will using a Retinol cream at night and moisturizer with SPF 30 during the day enough? I wanted to add some brightening formulas (like Vitamin C or Glucosamine), but not sure if I should or when. I’ve been a beauty junkie since I have memory (Believe it or not I started cleansing and moisturizing twice daily at the age of 10), and I have recently found that I don’t have enough time in the day to use all the products I read you “should” use in the magazines.

The Right Brain rejoices:

You’ve been moisturizing since age 10? Wow, You are a beauty junkie! (Hey, that’s not a bad name for a blog – The Beauty Junkie. Hmmm.)

Anyway, you’re not alone in that feeling – a survey by the Environmental Working Group found that the average woman uses 12 products per day, and that one woman in four uses at least 15 products. Junkies indeed!

And you’re right about not having time in the day to use all the products you “should.” Another recent study showed that if you were to use all the beauty products recommended in the July 2006 issue of Vogue, it would require 19.5 hours of application time each day. And that’s just for the skin care!*

But seriously, the single most important anti-aging precaution for your skin is to guard it from the sun. You don’t need to use a retinoic acid treatment in your twenties to prevent the wrinkles that will develop in your forties and unless you have really dry skin, you don’t need to moisturize daily. Niether do you need to rub vitamin C on your skin and there’s NO WAY you need to apply glucoasmine (that molecule is way to big to penetrate your skin and it dosn’t do anything just sitting on the surface.)

What you DO need to do is protect against UV radiation which has a long term affect on the appearance and physical condition of your skin. So a daily moisturizer with SPF 30 is a good precaution.

The Beauty Brains bottom line

Diligent use of a a good sunscreen (perhaps combined with an appropriate antioxidant) is the best way to protect your skin from aging effects, including wrinkles. (For more info, check out these Wrinkle Cream Reviews.)

*Ok, we totally made up this one.