I suddenly look really old - what can I do?!

[betterthanbutter]

Help!

Almost overnight, I’m suddenly looking really old. My skin looks dull and dehydrated, my wrinkles seem really noticeable, and it looks as though my pores are really apparent (is that even a thing?!)

I don’t have a beauty regime. I’m guessing I need one. What can I do?

Also, I sweat loads, including from my face. So I often find that if I wear facial moisturiser or tinted moisturiser, I sort of sweat it off, or at lest end up with it all over my hands as I need to wipe my face to stop it dripping.

I’m 40 bit feel sooooomuch older right now. Can anyone help? Please?!

It sounds at though you are actually dehydrated especially if you do sweat a lot. Perhaps up your water intake and take vit c foods/supplement. I find those plump up my skin nicely. Would you try to cut out caffeine and drink sage tea to help with sweating? Also try getting some good oils in your diet and maybe a face mask.

Thanks Lucy. You might be right about being dehydrated, I’ve definitely been drinking too much caffeine recently so will try and cut down on that. I’ve not heard of sage tea - what does it do?

It helps to reduce sweating. You'd probably need to give up the caffeine and be drinking it for few weeks before noticing an improvment.

Get some sleep and drink lots of water.

Check out the skin care threads on here too.

Worth taking vitamins A&E if you don't already, drink litres of water, e foliate, nourishing mask, serum oil and moisturiser. I had Sahara dry skin and have turned it round. I also found make up seemed to dissolve so after all that hydration I have to use a translucent powder to keep make up on... go figure, but it works!

mikado thank you - can I ask though re serum oil and nourishing mask, is that every day?

Check out face yoga on Youtube. You can learn the exercises and then do them in the shower or in the car. There are different ones depending on what you need to improve. I think you should begin with saying an exaggerated wow and repeat for a few times when you wake up. It will get your circulation moving. Also you can find a lymphatic self-massage video which would help your skin appearance.

I looked very young until I had the menopause, people still say I look younger but the change in skin tone and hair was noticeable. Are you at that stage of your life?

I started using olive oil on my hair as a hair masque once a week and also bought some ponds cold cream which is very old fashioned but what my Father used to use and he died almost unlined aged eighty four.

If you have stress in your life then it may be having a very negative effect on how you perceive yourself as well. You notice every little thing then.

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You need a skincare routine. I started getting into skincare at your age and for the same reason. The improvement in my skin is huge.

A good starting point

I do serum and oil before moisturiser twice a day, yes. It doesn't take a minute. I do the mask once a week, probably need it twice..

Molton thanks for the link, but . I do nothing currently. Literally, nothing. That list could well have been in a different language, such is the lack of knowledge of what the hell all of those products were. Wow. No wonder I look like shit!

I was the same as you betterthanbutter all I did was wash my face but my skin didn't look great. I had a facial for the first time in my early 40s and I could see an immediate difference. It was Elemis products so did cost me but I used a cleanser, toner and moisturiser twice a day after that. Also I use a gentle exfoliater instead of the cleanser sometimes. I have since changed to various different brands, you can experiment and find ones that suit you. It maybe worth buying a pack of travel sized products to see how you get on.

Drink loads of water and get used to the fact that your going to age, it’s natural m

I’ve found you need to ramp things up in your 40s though if you do nothing then anything will help.

So: vitamin C serum, spf daily. Research retinols (retin A). Yes we are all going to age and I don’t rate moisturisers in general to help skin tone but a good serum and spf daily will help.

Lots of water and good fats in your diet; nuts, salmon, avocados etc.

I've been using the Frezyderm tinted sunscreen for a few months; it's very good and functions perfectly well as a light moisturiser and foundation, so you're getting sun protection and an even skin tone in a few seconds.
Also, drink water! It honestly makes a noticeable difference to skin.