Anti aging products are everywhere nowadays – as the population gets older more of us are interested in finding out what’s available to help us look younger.
Many women don’t want to consider cosmetic surgery but feel they want to look as good as they can in middle age and beyond. But where do you start? What’s available and how do you choose what will suit you?
Leaving surgery aside – there are a huge range of products from skin care and hair care to in office treatments for wrinkles and sagging skin.
Skin care products
When most women think about anti aging we tend to think skin care – products that help us deal with the changes that age brings to our faces like lines, wrinkles, sagging skin and age spots. Anti aging skin care now includes a huge range of products – mostly for the face but increasingly targeted at specific problem areas like the neck and decollete, the under eye area and even the hands.
The skin care market for older women is so huge that we have devoted a separate section of this site to news, reviews, opinions and articles all about it – just follow the links to anti aging skin care or the top site tab.
For a more detailed look at what type of skincare products are available take a look at the anti aging skin care guide on the other section of this site. What follows is a brief summary.
Most anti aging skin care lines focus on the four steps to good skin care (cleanse, tone, exfoliate and moisturize) and include products that target each step. Moisturizing creams aim to hydrate skin as a first step and also include active anti aging ingredients to deal with skin wrinkling and sagging.
The key actives are alpha hyaluronic acid (AHA), retinol, peptides, and antioxidants like vitamin e and vitamin c. Skin care products in the anti aging market also include temporary wrinkle fillers, botox alternatives and exfoliating or microdermabrasion creams and gels.
Facial Treatments
If you want to take it further than a topical cream or serum you can consider a special treatment either at home or in office and a good place to start is our introductory guide to anti aging treatments.
Most treatments target the signs of aging on the face and use low level interventions to lift and tone, relax or fill wrinkles, eradicate uneven skin pigment and restore radiance.
The most well known are probably botox injections and dermal fillers but there are also many laser skin treatments as well as ipl treatment, a microcurrent face lift and radiofrequency face lifts like Thermage.
Increasingly women are demanding products that mimic the facial treatments they can get in-office but at home. Already in the last 5 years or so there has been a steady trickle of products that offer skin lifting, tightening and toning in hand held or home devices like NuFace and Baby Quasar.
This market is bound to get bigger as technology becomes more able to put the power of the salon into home based anti aging devices.
Anti aging cosmetics
Anti aging cosmetics are one of the latest product developments – these aim to combine the active effects of the best skin care products with the benefits of a cosmetic.
This means you can buy face makeup or under eye concealers that make you look good whilst helping to deal with your wrinkles, puffy eyes or bags.
The anti aging effect of these products is obviously lessened when combined with the cosmetic but they are worth considering.
Natural approach to anti aging
An increasing trend recently is to seek a natural approach to anti aging through anti aging products that work from within.
This is part of a movement among many top dermatologist like Dr Perricone and Dr Murad to encourage a total or holistic oapproach to anti aging – getting the best improvements through correct nutrition, mental balance and skin care.
Dr Perricone has identified a list of his top superfoods for maximum anti aging nutrition – hardly anti aging products in themselves since all you need is a shopping list and a good supermarket!
As part of this approach there is a huge interest in anti aging supplements that help you to get the right vitamins and minerals as well as some of the less readily available amino acids that you might be lacking in your normal diet.
There are supplement packs targeted at the anti aging market as well as specific products for skin and hair health. Some dermatologists like Perricone and Murad have their own supplement brands created to include the vitamins and minerals they consider most effect for anti aging.
Green tea has come to the fore as an anti aging product in recent years – either as an extract or when drunk throughout the day. Associated with weight, loss green tea also adds a high level of antioxidants vital for fighting the signs of aging.
Anti aging hair care
Although skin care and facial treatments are the big product areas – many women also want products that help some of the other issues that age brings. Hair can be affected by age and there are many products now that offer help with specific problems – anything from going gray or coloring gray hair.
Hair care is beginning to be much more targeted at the over 40 market with special shampoos, conditioners, finishing products and other treatments designed for older hair.
Anti aging hair care isn’t just confined to the hair on your head – there are many products now to help hair growth for eyebrows and eye lashes. These don’t specifically target the anti aging market but thinning eyebrows and lashes get worse with age and many of these have good results.
Best anti aging products: five step guide
Whatever your interest – here’s our five step guide to finding what you want from all the anti aging products avaialble:
1. Decide what area you want to improve – are you most concerned about skin aging generally on your face or is it the wrinkles under your eyes that concern you most? Do you want to get rid of age spots? Are your teeth or hair making you look older? Focus on your most important priority.
2. Set a budget – think about how much money you are prepared to spend – an off the shelf product will cost less than a series of in office treatments but may not be as powerful. High end anti aging creams will cost more than simple moisturizers.
3. Know your limits – How much discomfort and downtime are you prepared to put up with? Some in office treatments come with quite high levels of pain and days off work. You may instinctively prefer a completely non invasive approach like skin care or an at home treatment.
4. Do your product research – Do you know what the product claims to do and whether it is backed up by research and results? Don’t buy unless you’ve done some research – whatever product you are thinking of. If the product involves any kind of invasive treatment (like dermal fillers or laser skin tightening) this is even more important. Research review sites and don’t just accept at face value what you read on sales sites – remember dermatologist and cosmetic surgeons sell their procedures too.
5. Choose quality suppliers – if you want skin care go for dermatologist brands at the high end for good results. The same applies to choosing a skin clinic or cosmetic dentist for your procedure.
If you want to know more about anti aging skin care or facial treatments – follow the links for in depth reviews and articles on this site.
The message in all of this: choosing the right anti aging products is just like any other consumer decision you make. You need to do your research and proceed with care so you can buy with confidence. You’ll have much more chance of a successful outcome if you do.
About Eileen
You give an excellent piece of advice for product research. The anti aging industry if full of half-truths, exagerated claims and just donwnright lies. And much of this is from the Dr’s and experts that should be protecting the consumer.
As you say, research of the product and what the product is made from is critical. Understand the ingredients, possible side effects and any clinical studies proir to handing over your hard earned money.
Your site has some great content, thanks very much.
Elizabeth – thanks for the comment – I agree it’s a bit like picking your way through a minefield!
Thanks for this post! I’ve been researching natural anti-aging remedies for my website … and that’s a great point that you made about Green Tea. I think I’ll add that to my article as well.
thank you very much for this useful article. i am sure it be very helpful for all women.