One of the stranger parts of getting older is that, just as you finally begin to understand your skin, it has a habit of changing the rules on you. After years spent figuring out which cleanser doesn’t make you break out, which serum is actually worth the investment and why your mum was right all along about wearing SPF every day, you finally feel like you’ve cracked the skincare code. And then your skin decides otherwise.
Maybe the moisturiser that faithfully carried you through your 30s suddenly isn’t quite cutting it. Perhaps the expression lines that once vanished when you stopped smiling have started hanging around for an unwelcome afterparty, or pigmentation has appeared despite five years spent being borderline evangelical about sunscreen.
Frustrating, yes, but also completely normal. Ageing isn’t one singular event, but a gradual process happening beneath the surface: collagen production changes, cell turnover slows, hormones fluctuate, oestrogen eventually declines, skin retains less moisture and decades of sun exposure start submitting their receipts.
Understanding why these changes happen makes knowing what to do about them considerably easier. So, to bring some clarity to the chaos, here’s what is actually happening to your skin through your 30s, 40s and 50s, and how to look after it as it evolves.
Your 30s: The collagen comedown begins
So you're 30, flirty and thriving. Congratulations. Your skin, for the most part, probably is too. But your 30s are also where the first subtle biological shifts associated with ageing tend to begin making themselves known. Collagen and elastin production gradually slow, while cell turnover isn't quite as enthusiastic as it once was. None of this happens dramatically, of course; there isn't an internal switch that gets flicked at midnight on your 30th birthday. Instead, the clues tend to arrive slowly.
Your complexion might look a little duller after a particularly big week. Fine lines may take slightly longer to disappear after you smile. Pigmentation from summers past might become more noticeable, and your skin may require a little more persuasion to achieve the same plump, bouncy appearance that once required approximately a splash of water and blind optimism.
But, in saying all of this, this is also the decade where all that skincare groundwork you hopefully laid in your 20s begins paying dividends. If you have been relatively diligent with your SPF, hydration and a decent skincare routine, wonderful. If you perhaps weren't quite so diligent, let's say, there is absolutely no need to launch into a retrospective spiral. Your 30s are still an excellent time to start. The philosophy for this decade is really to preserve, protect and stimulate.
Skin treatments to consider in your 30s
Rather than waiting for significant changes to occur and then trying to reverse them, this is an ideal time to introduce treatments that encourage your skin to continue doing more of what it already does naturally. Microneedling, the holy grail of skin treatments, is particularly good at this. By creating controlled micro-injuries in the skin, the treatment kick-starts the body's natural wound-healing response, encouraging collagen production and helping to improve everything from fine lines and texture to pores and post-acne scarring. And actually, if there is one thing to take away from all of this, it is that microneedling in your 30s is arguably the best thing you can do for your skin.
Caci's Signature Peel is another useful addition when dullness, congestion or pigmentation start creeping into the equation, while Laser Facials can provide a more targeted approach depending on what your skin is doing. And then there is LED Light Therapy, the quiet overachiever of the treatment world, which can be worked into a regular skin routine to support overall skin health without requiring you to disappear from society for three days afterwards.
At home skincare in your 30s
At home, your routine can start becoming a little more sophisticated too, and before you ask, no, sophisticated does not necessarily mean twelve steps and an entirely separate skincare fridge.
If dullness is becoming an issue, Murad Essential-C Cleanser is a lovely way to bring vitamin C into your routine from the very first step, while those still battling the occasional hormonal breakout may be better suited to Murad Clarifying Cleanser and its salicylic-acid credentials. The newer Skinsmiths B12 Multi-Cleanser is another great everyday option, particularly if you prefer something that melts through makeup and SPF while leaving the skin feeling hydrated rather than stripped.
Then come the actives. Murad Vita-C Glycolic Serum is a particularly clever morning addition where pigmentation, uneven tone and dullness are starting to make themselves known, while Murad Retinol Youth Renewal Serum can start doing some of the heavy lifting at night when it comes to cell turnover and the visible signs of ageing. If your skin is still relatively balanced, something lightweight like Murad Nutrient-Charged Water Gel can provide plenty of hydration without feeling heavy.
And, because apparently we have appointed ourselves the SPF police, high daily sun protection remains one of the most important things you can do for your future skin.
Your 30s aren't about trying desperately to stay 29. They're about looking after the very good skin you already have.
Your 40s: Hormones have entered the chat
Just as you have adjusted to the idea that collagen isn't being produced with quite the same youthful enthusiasm, your 40s may introduce an entirely new variable into proceedings: hormones. This is because, for many women, this decade overlaps with perimenopause, the transitional period before menopause during which hormone levels, particularly oestrogen, begin to fluctuate. And oestrogen, as it turns out, has been doing rather a lot behind the scenes.
It plays an important role in collagen production, hydration, skin thickness and elasticity, so when levels begin changing, your skin can change along with them. You may suddenly find yourself dealing with dryness when you have always had combination skin, sensitivity to products you once tolerated beautifully, or, in a particularly cruel plot twist, hormonal breakouts and dryness at exactly the same time.
Treatments to consider in your 40s
Microneedling can continue to play an important role, particularly where texture and firmness are becoming concerns, while the Signature Laser Facial can help target pigmentation and visible signs of sun damage accumulated over the years. For those wanting to take things up a notch, Fractional CO2 Laser offers a more advanced approach to concerns such as texture and visible signs of ageing.
But equally, there is no prize for choosing the most aggressive treatment on the menu. If hormonal changes are making your skin drier or more reactive, supporting hydration and barrier health can be every bit as important as stimulating collagen.
At home skincare in your 40s
Murad Hydrating Toner can add an easy layer of hydration after cleansing, while Murad Cellular Hydration Barrier Repair Serum is a particularly useful addition if dryness and barrier health have suddenly climbed your list of concerns. Murad Revitalixir Recovery Serum is another lovely option for skin beginning to show the effects of stress, targeting tired-looking skin, puffiness and visible stress lines.
The trick is balance. Think of your skincare routine less as collecting increasingly powerful products and more as assembling a very competent team. You still want your high performers, vitamin C, retinol and SPF, but hydration and barrier support have now earned themselves a promotion too.
Your 50s: The menopause years
If perimenopause begins rewriting some of the rules in your 40s, menopause can make those changes more apparent. As oestrogen declines, so does some of the support it previously provided to collagen production, hydration, elasticity and the skin barrier. Skin may become thinner, drier and more sensitive, while changes to facial volume and elasticity can become increasingly noticeable around the cheeks, jawline and neck.
It’s worth saying that this is biology, not a sign that your skin is somehow failing you. There is nothing inherently wrong with looking older at 50 than you did at 30. That is generally how time works. What is worth addressing, if you want to, is how healthy, comfortable and well supported your skin feels while those changes occur.
In your 50s, the strategy shifts towards supporting, replenishing and strengthening, and moisture, previously the slightly boring supporting act of your skincare routine, is suddenly very much a headliner.
Treatments to consider in your 50s
As always, in-clinic treatments can address things topical skincare simply cannot. Microneedling can continue to encourage the skin's natural collagen response, Fractional CO2 Laser may be appropriate for concerns around texture, lines and overall skin quality, Laser Facials can target pigmentation and accumulated sun damage, and LED Light Therapy provides a gentler way to support overall skin health alongside more targeted treatments.
Injectables like Structura can make a huge difference during this skin era. Rather than behaving like a traditional dermal filler, Structura is designed to work with the deeper structural changes that happen as we age, using injectable hyaluronic acid to help address changes in the facial fat layers and restore support beneath the skin. In your 50s, when changes around the cheeks, mid-face and facial contours can become more apparent, this kind of regenerative approach can make considerably more sense than simply adding volume wherever a line appears.
At home skincare in your 50s
Murad Restorative Hydro-Hyaluronic Cream is exactly the sort of product that begins earning its bathroom-cabinet real estate here. Rich and nourishing, it provides the kind of substantial moisture that increasingly dry skin tends to appreciate, particularly when the barrier isn't holding onto hydration as effectively as it once did.
Retinol does not suddenly become forbidden once menopause arrives either. In fact, it can remain one of the most useful ingredients for addressing visible signs of ageing. Murad Retinol Youth Renewal Night Cream is particularly useful here because it combines renewal with the richer hydration mature skin increasingly appreciates, while Retinol Youth Renewal Serum can remain part of the routine for skin that continues to tolerate it well.
Final thoughts
When it comes to both having skin, and looking after it, there really is no right or wrong way of doing it. Genetics, sun exposure, stress, sleep and a myriad of other things influence the way our skin ages, meaning no two faces will truly age the same. And of course, the goal is not to have the skin you had at 30 forever. It’s to have exceptionally happy and healthy skin at 30, 40, 50 and every age that comes after it.
Profhilo® Structura is a class III medical device and must be injected by a medical practitioner or a qualified nurse injector (operating under the supervision of a medical practitioner).
Profhilo® Structura [4.5% – 22.5 mg (H-HA) + 22.5 mg (L-HA)/1 ml Hyaluronic acid sodium salt and 4.5% – 45 mg (H-HA) + 45 mg (L-HA)/2 ml Hyaluronic acid sodium salt], injection gel in a single use sterile prefilled syringe. It is indicated for adults of both sexes for corrective/filling action of natural or induced skin depressions.
Profhilo® Structura has risks and benefits. Ask your healthcare professional if Profhilo® Structura is right for you and to explain the possible side effects
Dermal Filler injections are medical devices for treating volume loss. Dermal Filler injections have risks and benefits. Ask your doctor if Dermal Filler injections are right for you. For further information ask your doctor or go to www.medsafe.govt.nz
Botulinum toxin injections are Prescription Medicines for the treatment of frown lines, horizontal forehead lines and crow’s feet round the eyes. Botulinum toxin injections have risks and benefits. Ask your doctor if botulinum toxin injections are is right for you. For further information ask your doctor or go to www.medsafe.govt.nz
