• Home
  • About
  • Services
  • Articles
    • Skin Care Tips
    • Videos
  • Location
  • Contact
  • 908-754-0770
  • Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Center For Dermatology & Laser Skin Surgery

Edison, NJ Dermatology

  • Home
  • About
  • Services
  • Articles
    • Skin Care Tips
    • Videos
  • Location
  • Contact
  • 908-754-0770

Why Skincare Is Important in Your Twenties, Too

August 24, 2018 //  by Dr. Robert Paull, MD//  Leave a Comment

We’re living in a much more enlightened world today, where it’s routine to slather a baby in sunscreen as part of getting them dressed in the morning and for it be a habit by the time they’re dressing themselves.

Still, it’s hard to appreciate the value of sunscreen until that first sunburn. Likewise, even though everyone among us recognizes aging skin as an inevitability, it’s rarely something anyone thinks about until that first, faint wrinkle or small pigmentation appears on their face sometime during their twenties.

While much of the skincare industry still tends to focus a lot of its attention on women in their fifties and sixties, the truth is, it’s never too early for men or women to start taking care of your skin. In fact, starting a simple, preventative skincare routine in your teens and twenties can spare you from invasive restorative treatments, not to mention skin cancer, later on.

Think of it this way: You avoid exercise like the plague until one morning, at age 45, you wake up and realize nature’s no longer working with you. So you decide to go for a run. It’s likely to take months of intense exercise to get yourself to the same state as the 45-year-old version of yourself who’s been consistently working out since their twenties.

But deciding to do something about your skincare and knowing what to do are two different things. So here are a few cues to get you started.

Using sunscreen isn’t up for debate
Sun damage is cumulative, meaning the sun you get during daily activities in your teens and twenties will affect your skin for years to come. And just because you rarely, if ever, burned doesn’t mean you avoided the worst of it. A tan may look healthy, but it’s always a sign of skin damage. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes it as the skin’s response to injury.

Moisturize with a sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30 in the morning and a basic moisturizer at night. Even then, avoid too much sun on your face. The base tan is pure myth. In reality, what you’re doing is dramatically increasing your risk of skin cancer, accelerating the aging process, and causing wrinkles.

And remember: SPF is not additive, so using two products that each have SPF 15 is not the same as using an SPF 30 product. Also, one application is not going to last you for the day, so get into the habit of reapplying every few hours, even if you work in an office and only head out for lunch. And wear it every day, even in the winter. The sun emits harmful UV rays year-round.

Environmental factors outweigh good genes
How your skin ages depends a lot on genetics (read: your parents), but environmental factors, like excessive sun exposure, smoking, and air pollution are even more influential. In other words, a 20-year-old who’s tanning and smoking is going to age faster than a 30-year-old who takes better care of their skin.

You are what you eat and drink
What you eat and drink has a lot to do with the health of your skin, too. It is, after all, the largest organ of the human body. There’s a limited time for sweets and a cocktail or two. Just make sure that the bulk of your diet is comprised of lots of water, veggies, fruits, and lean protein. You’ll feel and see the difference they make.

Spread the love

Category: Skin Care Tips From Dr. Paull

Previous Post: « Facial Rejuvenation
Next Post: Using Sunscreen is Not Up for Discussion »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Our Location

TCM Plaza Suite B7
Edison, New Jersey 08820

P 908-754-0770
F 908-754-4731

Located at the intersection of Inman Ave. and Progress St. across from the Inman Grove Shopping Center and the Edison Senior Citizen’s Residence.


Current patient office hours are:

Tuesday 9 AM – 7 PM
Wednesday 12 PM – 5 PM
Thursday 9 AM – 12 PM
Saturday 9 AM – 2 PM [Every Other Saturday]

Office is open for scheduling and questions every day from 9 am until 1 pm and during scheduled office hours.

Follow Us

Recent Articles

Struggling With Persistent Itchy Rashes? A Patch Test Could Reveal their Source (Part 1)

If you have sensitive skin and you tend to react dramatically to new skincare or haircare products – red, itchy skin or a rash that can take weeks to clear up – you might benefit from a patch test, …

More Skin Care Tips

© 2023 · Robert M. Paull, M.D. • 4 Progress Street, Suite B7 Edison, New Jersey 08820 • Maintained and Developed by Trinity Web Media a NJ WordPress Company