If I was in my 20s, what tweakments would I be having?

If I was in my 20s and I knew everything that I now know about skincare and tweakments… what would I be doing?

Spoiler: not that much. You really don’t need much in your 20s.

Skincare. I’d be using…

• A gentle cleanser
• An antioxidant serum, say vitamin C
• Moisturising SPF every day, just because.
• Retinol or another kind of retinoid at night. I’ve always had slightly oily skin, and retinoids work brilliantly to normalise the skin, so they reduce oiliness and spots, as well as boosting collagen production once it starts to fall (which happens after the age of 25).
• And if my skin was problematic, I’d find my way to a dermatologist for serious, sensible advice on how to improve it.

Tweakments. I’d try…

None, apart from toxin in my jaw muscles to stop me grinding my teeth to pieces. Why no other tweakments? With the benefit of hindsight, I know that we all look so much better in our 20s than we felt we did at the time, so I’d be lecturing my girlfriends on why they shouldn’t rush off and get cheap lip filler. If I’d had acne scarring, then sure, I’d be looking at a course of microneedling or laser or RF needling to smooth out those scars (these are great treatments for 20-somethings as their collagen-rich skin responds really well).

If I’d had a wonky nose and longed to have it fixed, I’d be having non-surgical nose treatment by someone with real expertise in the area. Wouldn’t I be having pre-emptive wrinkle-relaxing injections, so that I never developed frown lines? Actually, maybe I would have caved on that, because I know it works. But I’d be trying to wait until I could see those expression lines showing up at rest on my face before starting.

What I actually did in my 20s

Er, well, my 20s were a load of fun but not great for my skin. Like so many of my friends I spent that decade working hard, eating ready-meals, drinking too much, smoking like a chimney and chasing a tan at every opportunity (and yes that included sunbeds, you got a free token for the sunbeds with every visit to the gym and I just loved them…).

As for skincare, I loved my three-step regime from Clarins and thought it the height of sophistication. In my defence, I need to add that back in the 1980s we thought tans were healthy and regarded SPF6 as something only for beach holidays. I didn’t start writing about beauty and aesthetics until my late 30s and then, yes, my ideas began to change.

It’s never too late to start!

So if your 20s weren’t brilliant for your skin, don’t beat yourself up – there’s plenty of time to get with the programme. But the earlier you start looking after your skin, the better the prospects for the long-term.