I love my 30s.
Sure look – my 20s were great. Filled with travel and fun and falling in and out of love and finding my feet in my choice of work and career.
But my 30s are even better. Growing older, becoming a mum, it has given me confidence and calm I didn’t possess in my 20s. And I love it. I am growing into the me I was meant to be this whole time, and it feels great.
However – as we all know, our skin starts to age pretty much from our 25th birthday, so while I don’t mind adding more candles to my birthday cake every year (sure the alternative is far worse, isn’t it?!), I have also started noticing I really need to up my skincare game these days if I want to look and feel my best and most radiant 30s something self.
Doing what I do for work, I am lucky enough to get to test a lot of amazing skincare products – but let’s just say they are not all created equal by far.
These five, however, they really do not only what they say on the tin, but go above and beyond, have made a real, genuine difference to my skin, and I frequently recommend them to my friends and fellow 30s something mamas:
1. Skinceuticals Phloretin CF
Antioxidants are a big deal when it comes to your complexion, and will help not only protect your skin from pollution, sun, and other external factors, but will also help correct damage that has already been done.
I have been a big fan of Skinceuticals for a long time – because yes, the products are expensive, but as with most things in life, you get what you pay for – and these genuinely work.
Phloretin CF has been my go-to now for a while as part of my morning routine, and this patented daytime vitamin c antioxidant serum has really made a huge difference in correcting discolouration and has literally erased the fine lines on my forehead, as well as just made my entire face look more even and glowy. The most amazing bit? Apply the serum in the morning, and it remains effective for a minimum of 72 hours – giving you bullet-proof protection against free radicals damage.
€149, Skinshop.ie
2. Eminence Wildflower Cleansing Balm
I love products that are clean, kind to your skin and kind to the environment – and this cleansing balm from Eminence ticks all those boxes.
Like magic, the gel balm transitions to an oil cleanser when massaged into skin and a purifying milk when emulsified with water, meaning it is ideal for all skin types. I prefer massaging it directly onto my skin, so it works as an oil cleanser, nourishing my winter-dry skin.
The natural botanical oils attract excess oil and debris, melting away impurities and makeup, including eye makeup, which to me is a major bonus, no faffing around with two different cleansing products!
€54, Eminence.ie
3. Clarins Plant Gold Nutri-Revitalizing Face Oil
If you are yet to jump on the face oil bandwagon, this is the perfect, luxurious lightweight non-greasy oil to start with.
When creating their new Plant Gold Nutri-Revitalizing Face Oil, the clever people at Clarins drew inspiration from pro techniques used by its salon experts and innovated with a twin-bottled dual formula, featuring the legendary Clarins Blue Orchid Oil and a melting emulsion that blend together easily and really sinks into your skin.
I love both how this oil smells, as well as how nourished and radiant it makes my skin feel. So perfect for this time a year when skin needs a little extra TLC.
€55, Clarins.ie
4. Lancome Advanced Genefique
Lancôme’s Advanced Génifique has been one of the most critically successful skincare products in the industry ever since it’s 2009 launch. Worldwide, a bottle is sold every six seconds and 25 million bottles have so far flown off shelves.
And after 15 years of research into the skin microbiome by their experts, from physicists and clinicians to dermatologists and computer scientists, Lancome has now brought out a brand new version of their cult serum – enriched with seven prebiotic and probiotic fractions.
And when you see the effects of this serum for yourself, you will understand why.
Skin recovers faster, feels stronger and looks visibly younger. It is literally like youth – in a bottle.
The skin microbiome changes as we age, and our unique microbiome can be harmed by our lifestyle and environmental conditions such as UV rays, pollution, diet, hormones and medications. This can lead to spots, ageing, dryness and wrinkles.
Lancôme scientists have found that women living in a polluted environment and display premature signs of ageing. They were then able to create the ultimate formula to act on the skin microbiome, and the unique dropper releases 30 million prebiotic and probiotic fractions at each application.
Your skin will thank you – trust me.
€75 (for 30ml), Arnotts
5. Nunaia Nourishing Radiance Serum
And last, but not least – a product I have become totally and utterly obsessed with as part of my evening and bedtime routine – and I bet that once you try it, you will too.
Nunaia Nourishing Radiance Serum is a 99.5% organic serum from Irish clean beauty brand Nunaïa, containing sustainably sourced botanicals from the Peruvian Andes and Amazon basin.
The serum, which smells divine, is ultra-rich in Sacha Inchi, a potent rainforest nut with active ingredients clinically proven to promote skin cell regeneration, resist free radical damage and improve skin barrier function. The Sacha Inchi is rich in Omega 3, 6 and 9, and will nourish your skin from the inside out.
Nunaia’s powerful serum has really help my dry skin feel more dewy and applying it in the evening, giving myself a little face massage as I do so, has become a little ritual that helps me feel relaxed, rested and ready for bed.
I love how the serum is made from completely natural ingredients, and possibly love even more how the entire company has an ethos that not only promotes skin health, but that also use ingredients that are grown, harvested and processed sustainably, and without the use of damaging chemicals and synthetic pesticides or herbicides. As well as this, the farmers who grow the ingredients used in Nunaia’s serum are all paid a fair wage.
When it comes to the world we want to live in, we vote with our money every time we buy a product or service, and knowing this, makes it even clearer to me why I love supporting businesses like Nunaia.
