Skip the Scams: New Skin Care Products to Try

4. Choose serums that multitask

Women are collecting serums the way they used to collect lipsticks. Concentrated and designed to be applied under moisturizer, serums deliver targeted ingredients deeper into the skin for more impressive results. Some brighten, others plump up lines, reduce sensitivity or fade pigmentation. But this love of serums often means we’re stuck with a confusing row of medicinal-looking little bottles on our bathroom shelf. There’s a simpler solution: serums that fix more than one issue at a time. Do-all formulas include the Dr !Driss The Depuffer: Roll On Serum ($38, dridriss.com), a squeeze tube with an attached facial roller that’s packed with arnica to reduce swelling and centella asiatica to reduce redness and irritation as you smooth over cheeks, jaw and eye area; the Olay Super Serum ($35, cvs.com), an ambitious formula that includes niacinamide to ease inflammation, vitamin C, peptides and antioxidants vitamin E and alpha hydroxy acid; Paula’s Choice Omega + Complex Serum ($44, paulaschoice.com) with shea butter, ceramides, hyaluronic acid and omegas 3, 6 and 9 for building supple cushioned skin and protecting the outer barrier layer and the Mad Hippie Vitamin C Serum ($18, ulta.com), a brightener with the extra antioxidant ferulic acid and a generous dose of hyaluronic to fill out lines. Clean out the clutter!

(Left to right) Dove Body Love Moisture Boost Body Cleanser with Hyaluronic Acid + Moringa Oil; Vaseline Radiant X Deep Nourishment Hand Butter

Courtesy: Dove; Vaseline

5. Treat your body to products that mimic face care

If you’ve been slathering on any old lotion that’s on sale, it’s time for an update. Body positivity has extended its reach to body care on the beauty side, as more women 50-plus want the freedom to bare their décolletage, legs and arms with confidence – especially for evenings out and warmer weather. New body care products use face care ingredients to improve mature neck-down skin that’s dry, dull, textured and crepey. They range from everyday cleansers like the Dove Body Love Moisture Boost Body Cleanser with Hyaluronic Acid + Moringa Oil ($8, target.com) to serums like the Maelys Cosmetics Re-Shine Illuminating Body Serum ($69, ulta.com), with plant extracts formulated to reduce the appearance of brown spots on chest and neck; the b.Fresh As Good As New Skin Renewal Body Serum ($14, walmart.com), with hyaluronic acid and lactic acid to gently exfoliate flaky skin and the miraculously non-greasy Vaseline Radiant X Deep Nourishment Hand Butter ($6, walgreens.com) to rejuvenate backs of hands with shea butter, coconut oil, vitamin C and peptides.

6. Leap into advanced lip care

Most women have a lip balm and lipstick routine, and that’s it. But the lip bar has been raised with new products for day and night designed to freshen aging kissers by restoring volume, hydrating dry texture and plumping up lip lines – all for a healthier look. Overnight lip masks like the Burt’s Bees Overnight Intensive Lip Treatment in Passion Fruit & Chamomile ($10, amazon.com), with ceramides and plant oils, and Lawless Forget The Filler Overnight Lip Plumping Mask in Juicy Watermelon ($22, kohls.com), with super smoothing shea butter, hyaluronic acid and ceramides are a more intensive form of rehab than ordinary lip balm and do their best plumping work while you snooze. Soothing lip scrubs like the St. Ives Juicy Watermelon Lip Scrub ($5, target.com) and the Nivea 2-in-1 Lip Balm & Scrub with Aloe Vera ($5, cvs.com) are very affordable and a major trend to try. Designed for delicate, vulnerable lip skin (so don’t use your face scrub!), they buff away flaky skin to make applying and wearing every lip makeup texture from matte to gloss easier and more flattering.

7. Skin care scams to skip

Let’s get serious. When a body cream claims to erase cellulite and tighten your tush, a night cream says its topical collagen will firm your saggy cheeks overnight or a face serum costs $700, do you laugh out loud – or hope it hasn’t sold out? Hopefully it’s the former because women 50 and over do not suffer beauty industry fools gladly.

Many skin care products have levels of benefits from immediate improvement to long-term changes that take weeks and often months to show serious cumulative results. Stretch marks and cellulite are normal, and no $500 cream is going to reverse them. Sure, they may make your thigh or tummy skin feel smoother but dermatological procedures like lasers or radio frequency are more likely to improve dimpled and puckered skin. Topical collagen is trendy, and it may moisturize, but it isn’t going to rebuild the underlying collagen and elastin that’s weakened with age — vitamin C, retinol and peptides are more likely to help there. And finally, know that eye creams and serums are effective, but the depuffing and discoloration fixes are temporary and last about 8 to 10 hours. Beware of clever marketing scams in high-priced skin care that claim vague proprietary ingredients or “pro” results. Women 50-plus are perceptive, not pushovers.