One day, you’re strolling the produce aisle and a familiar sound surrounds you: It’s the playlist of your youth. While hearing your favorite club hits at the grocery store likely isn’t your first sign of aging, it’s a shocking milestone. Soon, the fashion cycle will be bringing back the style elements of your heyday and calling them “vintage.”
However, just because your birthdays keep tallying up doesn’t mean you need to downshift into granny mode. Your aging journey should be as unique as you are, whether you want to reverse its visible signs or not. Instead, welcome the experience and perspective that comes with the years, seizing the opportunity to age on your terms.
1. Learn About Your Skin’s Changing Needs to Nourish and Enhance Your Confidence
Regardless of your approach to aging, one thing is true: Your skin changes over time. Elasticity, moisture retention, and recovery all decrease with age, but you can support your skin’s changing needs with ease.
First, you’ll need to understand your skin condition today, what your goals are, and how much time you’ll commit to them. Then, it’s time to choose the products, treatments, and routines that can support your skincare objectives.
Mature skin struggles to retain moisture, so you’ll need to switch out any cleansers or toners that can be drying. Look for cleansers with ceramides, which help skin lock in moisture all day. Incorporate treatments like tretinoin cream, a retinoid that boosts collagen production, an essential component of plump, lifted skin. If you’re experiencing acne even as your teen years are well behind you, tretinoin cream can help here, too. This multi-benefit formula helps clear pores of blackhead-causing dirt, skin cells, and oil.
Adopt a daily sunscreen regimen, which is essential for healthy skin at every age, but even more so now. Look for daily moisturizers with sunscreen and apply them everywhere your skin is exposed, including your neck, chest, and hands.
2. Shake Up Your Style With a Refresh That Inspires
Somewhere along the line, a set of unspoken rules for age-appropriate style was created. However, there’s no reason you need to succumb to the style choices of your grandmother. Instead, take advantage of the boldness that often comes with age as the impetus for reinventing your style catalog.
Make like fashion icon Iris Apfel and let yourself be seen far and wide for your style. Neutrals may have their place, but if a vibrant circle skirt is what makes you sing, wear one! Give yourself permission to shop anywhere and everywhere for the wardrobe of your dreams. What matters most is that you feel your best in whatever you’re wearing.
Learn about what hues best suit you by booking a color analysis. Newly trendy again, this service matches you with a consultant trained to provide you with color-matched suggestions. This can be especially helpful if your hair shade has changed or if you suspect your go-to colors don’t actually suit you.
Take your color matches and weed out the clothes that no longer work, thanking them — Marie Kondo–style — for their past service. Be honest when conducting your cleanout, acknowledging what fits your body and lifestyle today. Work with a stylist to get accurate measurements, a second opinion on fit, and shopping tips. Go top-to-bottom with your style reset, switching out undergarments, shoes, and accessories. A refreshed style can give you the confidence you need as you age on your terms.
3. Reset Your Idea of Success and Set New Goals
Many people attach their identity to their profession, their family role, or a decades-old label. While you may still relate to some or all of those things, they aren’t the sum of who you are. Spend a bit of time getting to know yourself as you are today, especially as some things have changed.
If you have children, they may be finishing school, moving out, or starting their own families. They still love and need you but in a vastly different way than before. Explore who you are without these demands and fill the time formerly spent on care tasks with new endeavors.
Consider working with a therapist, even if you don’t feel like you are battling a mental health issue. Mental health care is for everyone, even when times are good. Dig into who you are, what your dreams are for the future, and how you can set new goals to pursue. Therapy is also a great way to explore feelings or frustrations you’ve kept to yourself. Commit to working through these, being gentle with yourself, no matter how long the journey takes.
Launch a morning routine that supports your lifestyle objectives and mental health. Meditation, stretching, and quiet reflection are great for your body and your mind. Commit to reserving time for you each day, which can help you focus, pursue new goals, and be at your best.
Welcome Each Birthday and the Possibilities Ahead
The milestone achievement of another year should be welcomed, not anticipated with dread. Shake up your idea of what aging can be by exploring more of who you are and what you want. Be bold with your ideas, style, and choices, leaning into your vision of “future you.” Craft your own journey through life that’s full of joy, style, and everything that you love.