With all the beauty gimmicks out there, it can be hard to know what’s really helping and what’s just really trendy. But when it comes to anti-aging, you don’t need a trend—you need a proven plan that actually works to give you your best skin ever. So when should you start that plan? Are your twenties too early? Your forties too late? As the old adage says, “The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is now.” You should begin your anti-aging routine as early as your twenties, but if you haven’t yet started, it’s not too late. In fact, now is the best time to get serious about your skin care. Anti-aging is all about prevention and transformation, and Dr. Schultz, leading NYC dermatologist and founder of BeautyRx, has spent decades understanding (and perfecting) how to do both.

When Should You Start An Anti Aging Skin Care Routine?

Now is the best time to prevent future skin aging because it’s a lot easier to prevent than it is to cure. Think of it this way: when you go to bed at night, it’s helpful to set an alarm for the morning so that you don’t oversleep. There’s your prevention. On the other hand, if you fall asleep without setting an alarm, it’s more than possible that you’ll oversleep and miss an appointment or be late to work. Sure, there’s a cure—one that typically involves running around trying to get ready and out the door as quickly as possible. But this hurried scenario could have been easily prevented (see: aforementioned alarm). The same goes for your skin and its inevitable appearance of aging: prevention is much easier than curing.

What is the Best Anti Aging Skincare Routine?

If you’ve ever looked into the mirror and thought, “My skin looks wrinkly and old, I’ve got to get started on an anti-aging skincare routine,” you’re not alone. And while those lines or wrinkles are a small contributing factor to older-looking skin, you may not recognize that it’s not just wrinkles making you unhappy with what you’re seeing. Dr. Schultz explains, “When people come into my office and say to me, ‘I need a pick-me-up,' what they’re really saying is they’re unhappy with what they see in the mirror. Then they say, ‘I need a Botox treatment,’ and I say, ‘I can give you a botox treatment, but it’s not going to make you happy.' And what I’m saying is, fixing lines and wrinkles alone will not solve the problem that you’re seeing in the mirror.”

 So if it’s not just about wrinkles, what’s causing your skin to look older? To keep it simple, you can understand the appearance of skin aging by understanding these three categories: colors, textures, and contours. Everybody understands the contour issues like lines and wrinkles and creases, but interestingly, those only account for 5% of what you’re seeing in the mirror. The other 95% is the combination of color and texture. Colors mean discolorations like reds and browns in your skin’s complexion. The reds can either be due to broken capillaries or red blotches. The browns can be individual brown spots like age spots, liver spots, or even brown blotches on your face. And then we have the all important texture issues. Texture issues rob your skin of brightness and luster, causing it to be dull, matte, flakey, and large-pored. They end up taking away from the smoothness of the skin. Dr. Schultz uses this example of the relative importance of color and texture issues as compared to lines: he says, “Think of a pilled, stained, wrinkled shirt, and then iron out the wrinkles. What are you left with? A pilled, stained shirt. So the next time you look in the mirror, I think you’ll have a much better understanding of what you’re seeing and you’ll realize it’s not just about wrinkles.”

So now that you know that transforming the look of older-looking skin is not just about treating wrinkles, here are the best anti-aging skincare routines to give you that youthful glow you want at any age:

Best Anti-Aging Routine for 20s

Starting with these three steps in your twenties will keep your skin looking young for as long as possible, prevent damage from overexposure to the sun, and help to reduce the excess oil that causes breakouts and clogged pores.

1. Cleanse and tone twice a day.

Start your new regimen the same way, every day. By prepping your skin with a cleanser and toner both day and night, all your other products will absorb much more quickly, and therefore work faster and more effectively.

2. Apply sunscreen every day.

Make sure you’re preventing future wrinkles and discoloration by protecting your skin whenever it’s light out. Apply and reapply sunscreen daily.

3. Exfoliate every night.

After cleansing at night, remove clogging, dead skin cells with a daily exfoliant. Applying an exfoliant will improve the color, texture, and tone of your skin.

Best Anti Aging Routine for 30s

In your thirties, it’s important to do the three steps above and then start to add in a superhero antioxidant. This will help protect your skin even further from free radical damage (sun, pollution, environmental factors, etc.) and brighten your skin at the same time.

4. Boost your skin’s brightness with an antioxidant serum.

Even with daily sunscreen use, some free-radical damage can still slip by. Nightly use of an effective antioxidant serum neutralizes this dangerous energy in addition to brightening your skin at the same time.

Best Anti Aging Routine for 40s

In your forties, if you haven’t gotten serious about your skin care, now’s the time. You should be completing all of the above steps, but also add in a moisturizer if you haven’t already. A rough, dry texture makes your skin appear much older than it should, so stay hydrated for that youthful glow.

5. Keep skin plump and smooth with a moisturizer.

Using moisturizers with hydrating ingredients such as Hyaluronic Acid and Shea Butter will plump the skin and temporarily reduce the appearance of fine lines.

Best Anti Aging Routine for 50s

In your fifties, you should be doing all of the above, and if you’ve been doing it for a few years, chances are your skin looks incredible! But fine lines like crow’s feet will start to appear over time, so when they do, add this next step to your routine to combat every single sign of aging.

6. Diminish the look of crow’s feet.

The delicate eye area is usually the first to show any signs of aging, so introduce an exfoliating eye cream to help diminish the look of fine lines and crow’s feet.

 And of course, the sooner you start using all of these steps, the better your skin will look. So don’t wait until your 50s to start all six steps—start now with all six steps for the freshest, healthiest looking skin that makes you look ten years younger.

What are the Best Anti-Aging Skin Care Products?

Best Anti Aging Products for 20s

Sunscreen. Whether you’ve already begun your anti-aging routine, or today’s the first day, the one thing you must consistently do to prevent unnecessary skin aging from sun damage is apply sunscreen daily. Skin aging due to the sun can begin at any age, so it’s important to protect your skin from UV rays at all times. Even if you’ve gotten your skin to its healthiest, happiest place without daily sun protection, all the work you’ve done can be undone by the sun.

Best Anti Aging Products for 30s

Exfoliants. No matter your age, exfoliation is an absolutely essential part of your anti-aging regimen, but starting in your thirties and forties, it becomes imperative. If you haven’t begun exfoliating as part of your daily routine, now’s the time to get serious about it. As you get older, your skin will not rejuvenate as well or as fast as it did when you were younger. As a result, dead skin cells will pile up on the outer layer of your skin. This causes your skin to look dull, lifeless, and older. Exfoliating gently breaks down that layer of dead skin to reveal your gorgeous, glowing skin underneath. Dr. Schultz says, “You already have gorgeous, glowing skin. But you can’t see it because it’s covered by a layer of dead cells that make your skin look dull, tired, discolored, large-pored, and just older.” With daily exfoliation using next generation exfoliants like Tetrafoliant®, your skin will appear more radiant than ever and will more effectively absorb all of your other skincare products.

Best Anti Aging Products for 40s

Antioxidants. In addition to exfoliants, what else should be in your arsenal once you reach your forties? An antioxidant with vitamin C. Dr. Schultz says vitamin C is the best antioxidant because of its “potential efficacy, stability, and bioavailability (i.e., ability to be absorbed into skin).” All of these factors are significant to the overall effectiveness of improving your skin’s health. Dr. Schultz also mentions, “The two forms of vitamin C that I like the most are tetrahexadecyl ascorbate and methyl silanol ascorbate, both of which are fat- or lipid-soluble, which increases their absorption into the skin.” It’s imperative to use products with the right type of antioxidants. BeautyRx’s Triple Vitamin C Serum is a stable product (never sticky or smelly) to make your skin smoother, brighter and softer. It also absorbs three times faster than other vitamin C serums. And here’s a tip from Dr. Schultz: the best time to apply vitamin C is at the end of the day. Antioxidants are best used at night right before you go to sleep, when things like UV rays cannot interfere with their absorption and protection.

Moisturizers. Although it’s not a long term solution, if you want an immediate quick fix to improve fine lines and wrinkles, Dr. Schultz has a trick to bring back the volume. And the secret weapon? Moisturizer. Dr. Schultz says you should lubricate wrinkles with a moisturizer and “rub firmly for a few minutes. The pressure from repeated rubbing causes safe inflammation, which causes the skin to fill in the lost volume that caused the lines.” Without the moisturizer, the friction would stretch and pull your skin, so that's one reason it's your secret weapon.

 Additionally, moisturizers work to soften and volumize your skin by infusing water from the outside-in, improving the look of fine lines and wrinkles. “They do it with humectant ingredients that literally grab, bind, and then cause water to absorb into and slightly swell your skin. The safe swelling will temporarily diminish the appearance of lines and wrinkles.”

 Dr. Schultz adds, “A moisturizer increases the moisture content of your skin; it thereby slightly increases the volume of your skin, which makes it more supple and less taut. Adding moisture also hydrates over-dried, dead, and flaky surface cells. This changes their shape and optical properties, and therefore literally hides them from sight.” So with the right moisturizer you can instantaneously make your skin more supple, vibrant, and smooth.

Best Anti Aging Products for 50s

Eye Creams. When you reach your fifties, you’ll see a huge difference if you begin using eye creams that are right for you. You need to use an anti-aging eye cream that’s potent enough to remove fine lines and wrinkles, but gentle enough to be used on the sensitive skin in the eye area. Using an exfoliating eye cream that’s pH-adjusted and buffered can help decrease the look of fine lines, wrinkles, and even dark under eye circles.

Your At-Home Regimen

If you’re ready to get serious about your skin care, the first place to start is with our Progressive Peel Kit. These daily products will make a huge difference in your anti-aging skincare routine. To make sure you’re giving your face the best care it needs to prevent the appearance of aging and bring out the youthful glow you’ve always wanted, here’s the ultimate anti-aging routine:

1. Cleanse and tone twice a day.

Start your new regimen the same way, every day. By prepping your skin with a cleanser and toner both day and night, all your other products will absorb much more quickly, and therefore work faster and more effectively.

2. Apply sunscreen every day.

Make sure you’re preventing future wrinkles and discoloration by protecting your skin whenever it’s light out. Apply and reapply sunscreen daily.

3. Exfoliate every night.

After cleansing at night, remove clogging, dead skin cells with a daily exfoliant. Applying an exfoliant will improve the color, texture, and tone of your skin.

4. Boost your skin’s brightness with an antioxidant serum.

Even with daily sunscreen use, some free-radical damage can still slip by. Nightly use of an effective antioxidant serum neutralizes this dangerous energy in addition to brightening your skin at the same time.

5. Keep skin plump and smooth with a moisturizer.

Using moisturizers with hydrating ingredients such as Hyaluronic Acid and Shea Butter will plump the skin and temporarily reduce the appearance of fine lines.

6. Diminish the look of crow’s feet.

The delicate eye area is usually the first to show any signs of aging, so introduce an exfoliating eye cream to help diminish the look of fine lines and crow’s feet.