The Five-Step Routine I'd Give Any Woman Over 40

Every week someone asks me for the routine. Not a haul, not a shelf full of bottles — a routine. So here it is, the same five steps I would hand to any woman over 40 who wants skin that looks lit from within.

1. Cleanse gently, twice a day

Harsh cleansers strip the barrier, and a stripped barrier shows up as dullness and fine lines. A cream or gel cleanser with no fragrance, morning and night. That is the whole step.

2. Vitamin C in the morning

Antioxidants are insurance against daylight. A vitamin C serum with ferulic acid, applied to dry skin before moisturizer. Give it eight weeks before you judge it.

3. Retinoid at night, slowly

This is the one that changes texture and tone. Start twice a week, on top of moisturizer if you are sensitive, and build up. Slow is faster than quitting.

4. Moisturize like you mean it

Ceramides and peptides. After 40 our skin loses water faster than it used to, and hydration is what makes everything else look good.

5. SPF every single morning

The most effective anti-aging product in the world costs about twelve dollars and lives in a tube. Broad spectrum, SPF 30 or higher, reapplied if you are outside.

That is it. Five steps, in this order, done consistently. The consistency is the part nobody sells you.

Beautiful skin is a habit, not a purchase.