If you thought that acne would only affect you in your teenage years, you may have been surprised to continue experiencing breakouts well into your 20s and 30s.
You’re not alone.
In fact, up to 80% of 18-30 year-olds and 5% of people over 30 experience acne.
As premature aging can begin to show as early as 25, you may find that you’re dealing with acne at the same time you’re trying to treat fine lines and wrinkles.
So what’s the best way to treat acne and skin aging at the same time?
What are the best anti-aging products for acne-prone skin?
Why Do We Get Acne?
Acne is caused when your skin produces too much oil (usually due to your hormones), which gets trapped in your pores by dead skin cells. The bacteria that live within your pore feed off of this oil, rapidly multiply and cause inflammation.
To effectively treat acne, you need to:
- Reduce the amount of oil your skin produces
- Increase your skin cell turnover (how quickly you shed dead skin cells)
- Keep the bacteria within your pores under control
- Reduce inflammation
Skincare ingredients that can help with this include:
- Retinoids (e.g. retinol, retinoic acid, adapalene)
- BHA (e.g. salicylic acid)
- AHAs (e.g. glycolic acid, lactic acid, etc.)
- Niacinamide
- Vitamin C
- Green Tea
- Resveratrol
- Benzoyl Peroxide
Why Does Our Skin Age?
A certain amount of skin aging is inevitable and, unfortunately, there’s nothing you can do to completely prevent it. However, the majority of skin aging (up to 90%) is due to sun damage.
There’s definitely something you can do to prevent that – sunscreen!
Using a broad-spectrum sunscreen every day, 365 days a year, is the most scientifically-proven anti-aging strategy, particularly if used in combination with antioxidants.
But what if the damage is already done?
The signs of premature skin aging are due to a loss of collagen and elastin.
When you make a facial expression, your skin naturally wrinkles. When you’re young and your skin is full of collagen and elastin, these wrinkles disappear as soon as you relax your face.
However, as you age, the amount of collagen and elastin in your skin reduces and these wrinkles hang around even when you’re not performing facial expressions.
To soften these lines, you can either reduce the amount your muscles are able to move (i.e. Botox) or use skincare products and treatments that increase the amount of collagen in your skin.
Skincare ingredients that boost collagen production include:
- Retinoids
- AHAs
- BHA
- Niacinamide
- Vitamin C
- Other antioxidants (green tea, resveratrol, vitamin E, etc.)
As you can see, a number of ingredients that treat acne are also anti-aging.
The best anti-aging products for acne-prone skin will likely contain a combination of some of these ingredients.
The Best Anti-Aging Products for Acne-Prone Skin
La Roche Posay Retinol B3
Key Ingredients: Retinol & Niacinamide
Why it’s one of the best anti-aging products for acne-prone skin:
Retinoids, like retinol, are derivatives of vitamin A that increase skin cell turnover and are one of the only skincare ingredients that have been proven to alter skin at a cellular level. They’re one of the best ingredients for both anti-aging and acne, however, they often cause skin irritation.
Research suggests that niacinamide (vitamin B3) can reduce this irritation by increasing the natural production of ceramides within your skin, thus improving your skin’s barrier function and overall hydration. Plus, it also helps improve retinol’s anti-aging effects! Bonus!
Avene Triacneal Night Smoothing Lotion
Key Ingredients: Glycolic Acid & Retinaldehyde
Why it’s one of the best anti-aging products for acne-prone skin:
Retinaldehyde is a stronger retinoid than retinol and works in the same way to increase skin cell turnover. Chemical exfoliants, like glycolic acid, also help to increase skin cell turnover, but in a slightly different way. While retinoids increase the rate that new skin cells are made and brought to the surface of your skin, glycolic acid breaks down the bonds that hold your dead skin cells together. Research has demonstrated that this is an effective product for treating acne and hyperpigmentation. Plus, it helped improve the appearance of acne scarring which suggests that it is able to boost collagen production. (Formula has been updated to include enzyme exfoliant rather than glycolic acid).
The combination of retinoids and chemical exfoliants can be quite irritating for the skin. However, the study noted that this product was well tolerated by the patients throughout the study period.
Replenix RetinolForte Treatment Serum
Key Ingredients: Green Tea & Retinol
Why it’s one of the best anti-aging products for acne-prone skin:
Green tea contains polyphenols which act as potent antioxidants to protect your skin from free radical damage and the resulting breakdown of collagen. They may work synergistically with retinol to improve the signs of aging and have antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties which make them an ideal treatment for acne. In fact, research suggests that green tea extracts can reduce oil production and improve the appearance of inflammatory acne.
Dermalogica Age Bright Clearing Serum
Key Ingredients: Salicylic Acid & Niacinamide
Why it’s one of the best anti-aging products for acne-prone skin:
The combination of salicylic acid and niacinamide covers all four of the main causes of acne. Salicylic acid increases skin cell turnover and exfoliates within the pore while both reduce inflammation, oil production, and bacteria. Furthermore, salicylic acid and niacinamide reduce oil production in slightly different ways and have an additive effect when used together. Both ingredients can also boost collagen production and improve the signs of skin aging.
InstaNaturals Glycolic Moisturizer
Key Ingredients: Glycolic Acid, Vitamin C, Centella Asiatica
Why it’s one of the best anti-aging products for acne-prone skin:
Research suggests that glycolic acid, vitamin C, and Centella Asiatica have an additive effect on collagen production when combined together. They are also all great ingredients for acne-prone skin. Glycolic acid increases skin cell turnover while vitamin C and Centella are anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory – Centella may even reduce oil production too!
Mad Hippie Vitamin C Serum
Key Ingredients: Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate (SAP)
Why it’s one of the best anti-aging products for acne-prone skin:
While vitamin C, in theory, should improve acne based on its antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects, only one derivative has actually been shown to improve acne – sodium ascorbyl phosphate (SAP) – which happens to be the derivative used in the Mad Hippie vitamin C serum. Vitamin C is essential for the production of collagen which makes this serum ideal as an anti-aging product for acne-prone skin.
La Roche-Posay Toleraine Double Repair Face Moisturizer
Key Ingredients: Ceramides, Fatty Acids, Niacinamide, Glycerin, Dimethicone.
Why it’s one of the best anti-aging products for acne-prone skin:
La Roche-Posay’s Double Repair Moisturizer contains a combination of ceramides and niacinamide which can help replenish missing ceramides and encourage the production of your skins natural lipids. Glycerin acts as a humectant to draw water into your individual skin cells, while dimethicone creates and occlusive barrier that prevents water loss from the surface of your skin. As acne is associated with a damaged skin barrier and reduced skin hydration, a moisturiser, such as this one, is essential in any anti-aging skincare regime.
Top 3 Sunscreens For Acne-Prone Skin.
As mentioned earlier, daily sunscreen use is the most scientifically-proven anti-aging strategy. It’s non-negotiable! That being said, many people with acne-prone skin are apprehensive when it comes to sunscreen and worry that it may cause breakouts. Here are my three top picks for sunscreens suitable for acne-prone skin.
A Summary of the Best Anti-Aging Products for Acne-Prone Skin
A number of skincare ingredients can help fight acne at the same time as treating and preventing the signs of skin aging.
As a lot of these products use multiple active ingredients that may disrupt your skin barrier and cause irritation (both of which can make acne and wrinkles appear worse) it’s important to opt for gentle cleansers and barrier-repairing moisturizers to use alongside them.
