What can I do about my aging mid-40s face?

How old are you if you don't mind me asking?

Just be careful about tret. It can work, but it's also pretty harsh. If you have any issues around sensitivity, redness, rosacea etc it can make things a lot worse - I learned that the hard way!

Im off to Lithuania next month for a full facelift. Costs 7k at Nordsesthetic in Kaunas. I know loads of people who have been.
I dont trust Turkey with my face.

It's fabulous. I've been using it for decades and am gloriously wrinkle free.

Is this actually about your appearance or just coming to terms with being older though? It sounds like the latter to me (accompanied by an extremely harsh inner critic).

@CharlotteRumpling thank you, I would like to give this a go!

It's prescription only from Skin and Me or Dermatica.
I get it cheap from family overseas though.

It's better to focus on looking healthy, happy and well rested than frozen in time.
It's sad that looking good seems to = looking younger for so many.

Get plenty of sleep, exercise a lot, eat lots of vegetables and fish, and use a rich moisturiser.

ETA drink lots of water, too

Do you drink alcohol? If so, give that up.

Get plenty of sleep.

Drink lots of water.

Stay out of the sun and use factor 50 regularly.

You can’t undo years of sun damage and boozing with some serums.

Can this be purchased like a normal skin care product or is it prescription only?

@decorationdayjust for people who are looking to reduce the signs of aging. Not everyone of course I know most people don’t mind or are not bothered.

Aging is a privilege denied to some. It’s not a flaw, or something to be avoided. Just release yourself from the pressure of trying to stay young looking, honestly, it’s a waste of your energy. Eat healthy, drink plenty of water, exercise for health and focus on being fit and happy. You are not 20 anymore, so don’t expect to look it.

"I always think it’s worth a try on the Botox"

Why?

I absolutely love Botox only get it twice a year as I like to be able to move my face and get it in 2 areas but wow after a month of ‘settling’ I look so well rested.

I find cardio or a big walk also makes my face look better the next day almost rejuvenated and other than that I just use skincare from mainly Lidl so can justify the Botox.

I always think it’s worth a try on the Botox and if you don’t like it just fades away after time. I do understand all negative arguments for it but I think it’s brilliant.

Hiding the self view on zoom calls might help too:

https://support.zoom.com/hc/en/article?id=zm_kb&sysparm_article=KB0068249#mcetoc_1idnn461o4j

I was coming here to share this too.

It makes me sad that society makes us feel unable to accept our face or body ageing. I struggle with it myself. I do think it's unnatural to see our faces so much, I hate video calls for that reason. I think we'd all be happier if we weren't like Narcissus staring at our own reflections constantly.

Collagen,creatine, exercise, sleep, HRT, fish oil, olive oil

You’re probably being over harsh as video calls don’t ever give anyone the best glow.

A few things that helped me - drinking more water so my skin is hydrated, sleep - this was only improved my taking HRT though, which helped me look less tired, I use an LED mask with eye cooling patches too. I also find I look better with slightly lighter hair these days, so have highlights balayage style once a year.

Finally exercise - getting a sweat on regularly, weights and Pilates do help me have a better glow as well as helping me mentally.

Don't forget about your hormones - by your mid 40s you will almost certainly be perimenopausal and addressing flatlining ovarian hormones is one of the key determinants of how your skin (and other tissues) will age.

Also the old adage about choosing between your face and your figure once you get to a certain age is real. Women who are very thin or lose significant weight especially if rapidly, might look 10 years younger from the back but unless they have work done they often look 20 years older from the front.

Tret is scientifically proven to work. The only thing that is.
I don't want to go as far as Botox or fillers, but am wedded to Tret.

@DavesGirl90 how do we get tret

This in spades.
Imo it's better to focus on feeling really good and accepting that you (and everyone else) are ageing. If you feel good it comes through in how you look and behave I think.

The alternative is spending lots of money on fillers, botox etc to look a bit odd and frozen in time. Think of Amanda Holden vs Emma Thompson. ET is a few years older than AH but imo looks so much better and happier than AH in person.

The only things that are clinically proven to work in terms of preventing and reducing lines are sunscreen, tretinoin, botox and surgeries like facelifts. Everything else is snake oil. You could go and see an expert but it would be a waste of time and money because those are the only things that work.

You do need to drink lots of water, eat healthily and exercise too. And use a moisturiser. But basically all moisturisers do is moisturise your skin - any other grand claims they make are junk science.

I am having the same struggle as you by the way. I am trying to resist botox because I just simply don’t want to contribute to normalising it.

I do use tretinoin. You will need to wear factor 50 and, in summer, a sun hat but I reason with myself that those are things I should do anyway. It definitely has improved my skin texture but my forehead and neck are too far gone at this point…

Use the blur function on calls.