How to look your best at any age

With tailored skin treatments and some subtle cosmetic intervention, you can look your best at every age – and be one step ahead of the ageing game.

With age, the accumulated effects of free radical damage and the normal wear and tear of cellular life begin to take their toll.

Dermatologists are expertly equipped to tackle all of your skin health and ageing concerns. Because of their unique training, dermatologists have extensive knowledge and expertise in identifying and treating a variety of skin conditions.

Here at Platinum Dermatology, our specialist dermatologists are highly trained to address all of your skin care needs to achieve beautiful, healthy skin at any age. Below is a decadal breakdown of some common indicators of ageing – and how to stay ahead of the ageing game.

In your 20s

Accumulated sun damage can begin to show on your face, and there is a mild drop in dermal repair, the immune system and collagen synthesis. These changes can appear as fine lines and an increase in pore size. Muscles also start to lose fullness and firmness due to shrinkage of muscle fibres.

Flawless skin is perhaps the most sought-after beauty must-have by women in their 20s, and regular Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) treatments can help keep blemishes at bay and improve skin tone and overall skin health.

Incorporating gentle cosmeceuticals into your skincare regimen will also help keep premature signs of ageing at bay and skin at optimum health and beauty.

In your 30s

More fine lines are evident around the eyes and mouth and the first wrinkles start to appear (often referred to as photodamage). There is a moderate decrease in dermal repair, resulting in less collagen and some loss of elasticity. There is also a significant drop in skin hydration, and the skin’s natural process of exfoliation begins to slow.

Pigmentation may start to appear in response to a reduction of pigment-producing melanocytes that help protect against ultraviolet radiation.

In addition to regular IPL treatments, it’s around this time that you may be considering anti-wrinkle injections to reduce frown and laugh lines and as a preventative method for future wrinkle formation. Small quantities are injected into several locations on the face such as the forehead and crow’s feet area at the corners of the eyes, reducing nerve stimulation and therefore etched facial lines.

Fillers can also be used to resculpture and add volume to the cheek area, add definition to lips and fill deeper lines. These are injected into specific areas of the face to smooth lines and wrinkles or to add volume. There are many different fillers available, ranging in longevity, composition and viscosity.

Some formulas can be injected close to the skin’s surface to correct fine lines, such as in the under-eye area, while others are used in the deeper layers of the skin to build contours, especially in the cheek area.

Now might also be the time to up the ante in terms of skin health and texture. Fractional skin resurfacing has an excellent track record in creating smoother, clearer, more radiant skin with minimal downtime. Fractional lasers are excellent for sun-damaged skin, wrinkles, acne scarring and improving overall skin texture.

Fractional laser involves removing microscopic columns of skin while leaving surrounding areas intact to promote rapid recovery and healing. The small areas treated by the fractional microbeams, called microtreatment zones, cause sufficient laser injury deep in the dermis to promote new collagen production, resulting in significant skin rejuvenation.

In your 40s

As the sebaceous glands in the skin cut back production and supportive fibres grow less elastic, skin becomes drier, thinner and more inclined to wrinkle. Signs of photodamage are more visible: freckles, pigmentation, discolouration and changes in skin colour, making your complexion lose its glow.

The gradual (and unfortunately unavoidable) loss of collagen becomes more apparent in the deep furrows and frown lines of 40+ skin. Unlike collagen that depletes due to lifestyle factors, such as sun exposure and smoking, there is little that can prevent the loss of elasticity that comes from natural ageing.

Now is the time to introduce collagen-boosting procedures to help reverse signs of ageing and create a plumper, more youthful look from the inside out. A combination of modalities, each targeting a different concern, will typically maximise outcomes and create the most natural-looking results.

These include cosmetic injectables for relaxing away wrinkles and fractional laser resurfacing to improve evenness of skin tone and texture, reduce pore size, and improve lines and wrinkles.

Chemical peels are also good for refining the skin’s surface, and dermal fillers work well in the 40s to replenish volume and boost collagen production.

Your 40s is also an ideal time to start thinking about skin tightening treatments to tighten loose and wrinkly skin on the face, neck, hands and also décolletage.

Ultraformer III, a non-invasive treatment that uses focused ultrasound energy, offers groundbreaking skin tightening without surgery. The sound waves deliver small, controlled amounts of energy into the deep layers of skin and soft tissue while sparing the upper layers. The beauty of the procedure is that it forms new, naturally occurring collagen, which continues to form for two to three months after the treatment, offering impressive skin tightening results without the need for surgery.

In your 50s and beyond

By the age of 50, collagen breakdown becomes even more noticeable, with wrinkles appearing at the corners of the mouth and skin becoming loose and hollow in the cheeks, jowls and neck. Skin tone becomes more irregular, and thinning skin starts to lose its natural protective barrier and becomes more susceptible to environmental factors.

But fear not – there are numerous non-surgical options available to turn back the hands of time so that you can look as good on the outside as you feel on the inside. These include a combination of more aggressive fractional laser resurfacing and non-surgical skin tightening and lifting treatments such as Ultraformer III.

Muscle relaxants and fillers continue to be very effective in this age group, and can be combined to create a “liquid facelift”, helping to reverse the signs of ageing, replacing lost volume to deflated cheeks, thinning lips and softening the lines around the mouth.