Caring for Mature Skin

Skincare tips from local experts

By Hannah Cumler | Oct. 12, 2024

While many of us put up our best fight against aging, the truth is, it’s inevitable. And rather than push back against it, we can celebrate each passing year by focusing on what we can control—like taking care of our bodies and our skin.

For those with maturing skin, the focus doesn’t have to be on anti-aging, but rather on how to nurture and care for your skin in a way that feels good to you. Skincare is important at every stage of life, and we got tips from the experts to guide you on your skincare journey. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned skincare enthusiast, here are tailored suggestions based on your desired level of effort: minimal, moderate, or high.

Keeping It Simple (Minimal Effort)

What’s an exfoliator? If you’re asking that question, chances are you haven’t added an exfoliating product to your routine.

“When people come to their fifties and they realize that the skin is changing, it’s still not too late to start with good quality skincare products. In essence, you get what you pay for,” says Dr. Christopher Jeffries of The Center for Plastic Surgery.

Jeffries says everyone should have a few key basics in their regimen.“If you’re starting from scratch, as a base is a good exfoliating wash, a moisturizer, and a sunblock,” he says, “If you have those three things, you’ll really get started on a process that’s going to improve the look of the skin.”

While seeking treatments for your skin can seem daunting, expensive, or invasive, Courtney Lo, CEO of the Cosmetic Skin and Laser Center and RegenCen Regenerative Medical Clinic, says there are treatments that are considered low effort. Lo explains that her center offers a treatment that targets three of the most popular maintenance treatments in one visit.

“We listened to our patients and got innovative,” says Lo, “As we age, we have to do more to see the best results, so the Foundation Trio [treatment] finds the balance. Ninety minutes of relaxation in our treatment room gives you more hydration, collagen, and elastin for firmness and bounce and fades those dark age spots. This is about the least effort one has to put forth. It’s relaxing, effective, and there’s no downtime.”

According to CSLC’s website, the Foundation Trio consists of three steps. Step one includes the face or neck being treated with Forma or Venus radiofrequency to stimulate new collagen. The next step is a Lumecca IPL (intense pulsed light) treatment to improve discolorations and redness, while also smoothing out complexion. Lastly, step three includes a personalized facial or Hydrafacial. Hydrafacials use “vortex fusion technology” that works like “a vacuum to gently exfoliate and open pores, visibly extract dirt and debris, and infuse targeted serums into the skin,” per the Hydrafacial website.

Lo says patients can do the treatment once a year or quarterly, and it was designed for those wanting to put forth minimal effort but have maximum results. As she says, a “one and done,” treatment.

Beyond Moisturizer (Moderate Effort)

Some of the most common complaints about maturing skin surround issues like dark spots, loss of elasticity, fine lines and wrinkles, and dryness.

When it comes to women, Lo says women lose about 30 percent of their skin collagen within five years of menopause, which results in the loss of the skin’s resiliency and firmness all over the body due to the loss of estrogen. Lo says a third of her esthetic patients are on a bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) program, which has had positive results for her patients.

“We start bioidentical hormones to reverse aging symptoms or prevent disease, but then they get all these appearance improvements they didn’t expect—bonus!” says Lo.

Jeffries says that he approaches a patient’s issues as a surgeon, so he would start to recommend treatments such as lasers when targeting specific issues that a foundational skincare regimen might not be able to fix.

“Ultimately if somebody didn’t like the appearance of their skin, or they were getting into the later decades, let’s say they’re 60, or even 70, I would be tempted to say that eventually you’re going to start to do something surgical to improve the contours of the skin,” says Jeffries.

When speaking about dark spots specifically, Jeffries says there are creams and treatments, such as hydroquinone, that can treat dark spots effectively, but it’s a slow process.

“Most people that we see want to have a more immediate result and so you’re really pretty solidly in the category of lasers at that point. And the most tried and true is something called BBL, which is broadband light,” he says.

Dr. Jeffries says BBL is similar to IPL, which has been around for over 20 years. The laser treatment delivers photon energy, otherwise known as light energy, through the skin until it’s taken up by a target deeper in the skin.

“There’s no skin cutting involved. There’s no raw surface. The chromophores are essentially the targets of the laser energy, take up the energy, and in the case of brown color—which is melanin, that’s the pigment in the skin—it heats that to a certain level where the molecules disintegrate and eventually they slough,” he explains.

Jeffries says a BBL laser treatment would be the most effective way to treat issues such as dark spots, fine lines, wrinkles, and more.

“It’s even, from our standpoint, a fairly basic piece of the regiment that happens pretty early when people start to complain about those issues. So it’s not even the most advanced,” he adds.

Ready for More (High Effort)

When considering the most advanced techniques, Jeffires says he would recommend a Halo treatment for someone struggling with the common aging-skin issues.

“Halo is a laser that is actually two lasers firing at once,” Jeffries explains. “One is what’s called a non-ablative treatment, meaning the laser energy is delivered down deep to the skin, kind of like the BBL, and that one can be directed, in terms of depth, to a level where the dark pigment lives. And again, it’s going to heat it up to a level that it then essentially breaks it up so it comes to the surface.”

Jeffries explains that at the same time, a second laser is firing in a fractionated pattern, almost like little dots in the skin that can be controlled, in terms of depth.

“That is an ablative laser, meaning it’s kind of like a fancy sandpaper that makes these little channels down into the skin that causes tightening of the collagen in the dermis, the lower level of skin. So what you’re getting, in total, is a laser that goes down through the skin, that gets to the pigment and gets rid of that, and then at the same time, you’re getting channels through which that pigment can come up and surface and also tighten the dermis when things are all said and done.”

Jeffries says the Halo treatment is the most advanced laser of its kind, and patients can do it once or twice a year to get the results they’re looking for.

In line with Jeffries, Lo says putting in more effort will yield better results.

“Imagine your skin getting a second chance, if you’re willing to put forth more effort and set aside a few days for healing,” she says. “We use laser resurfacing and then apply your own topical platelet-rich fibrin after treatment to maximize your results and decrease the healing time by one to two days.”

Lo says the regenerative skin resurfacing treatment offered at the center gives a similar result with two to three days of healing. The treatment is a combination of skinpen microneedling with simultaneous PRF infusion, which helps to stimulate the production of collagen and improve the skin’s overall texture.

When it’s all said and done, everyone experiences aging differently, and skin concerns are unique to each individual and how they care for their skin. Whether it’s maintaining a foundational skincare routine, incorporating serums and treatments, or opting for a procedure with a trusted skincare professional, there are plenty of solutions available in northern Michigan to help ease the effects of aging on your skin.