Copyright New York Magazine
Welcome to Wrinkles Week on the Strategist, where we’re deeply vetting skin-care solutions for anyone looking to smooth fine lines and wrinkles (or prevent their showing up in the first place). For more, head to our Wrinkles Week hub. Hindsight is 20/20, and in the case of aging, hindsight might mean realizing you probably should have skipped the tanning bed, stopped using three different exfoliators at once, or maybe just drank more water. For better or for worse, how we treat our skin in our 20s and 30s often shows up in our 40s, so for Wrinkles Week, we decided to tap a range of tasteful people — including brand founders, dermatologists, creative directors, and writers — to find out what they would have done differently when it comes to beauty and wellness. Below, you’ll find all the useful advice that these experts would give to their younger selves. From using an infrared sauna on a weekly basis to skipping the silvery nail-polish phase, here are the things they wish they’d done differently. I’ve been very methodical about my skin care from an early age, but before I used to do just SPF, or like a toner and then an SPF. I regret not doing an eye cream earlier. But honestly, I remember being in my 20s and early 30s, and I was like, I need to do it. I’m going to regret it. But I was too lazy to do it. I did Botox when I was 34. I didn’t do it anytime prior, and I do not regret it. I find that that can also age you. I wouldn’t do it earlier, so I’m glad that I did it at that time. Saved View Want to be emailed when products you’ve saved are over 20% off? Success! You'll get an email when something you've saved goes on sale. Yes New! You can now save this product for later. Nowadays, I’m so obsessed with NAD+ and glutathione, and I don’t know if those are even appropriate to take in your 20s, but those are the things that I take on a weekly basis to make me feel better and have more clean energy. I’ve used an infrared sauna for the past eight years. I do it five times a week. I have one in my house. My husband, Ricardo, gave it to me once for Christmas. He bought it and built it himself, and I told him that it’s the best gift that he has ever given me. It’s cheaper than a designer handbag, pretty much. I love it. It’s the thing that I use the most and when I’m traveling it’s the thing that I miss the most because I really like to sweat. But listen, I am Brazilian born and raised. I lived in Brazil until my early 20s and my hometown is 100 degrees all year round. So I don’t know if this has to do with me being so used to the heat, like there’s something that is comforting for me. Saved View Want to be emailed when products you’ve saved are over 20% off? Success! You'll get an email when something you've saved goes on sale. Yes New! You can now save this product for later. If I could go back, I would have taken sun protection much more seriously. Like many of us, I loved being outdoors and never thought twice about long-term sun exposure. Now, as a 50-year-old woman with hyperpigmentation, I see how those choices show up on my skin. I also would have focused earlier on rest and recovery as part of beauty — prioritizing sleep, mindful practices, and nutrition. Beauty isn’t just about products; it’s about the full ecosystem of how you treat your body and mind. I wish I had understood earlier how much oxidative stress impacts the skin and how antioxidants could have prevented and minimized some of the hyperpigmentation I manage now. I also think body care gets overlooked when you’re younger. We invest so much in our faces, but your body tells your age just as much. Consistent hydration and exfoliation for the body is just as essential as facial skin care. Definitely SPF, every single day, not just at the beach. It sounds simple, but it’s truly the foundation of everything. Now, my routine blends K-beauty products, vitamins, and mindful rituals from Qigong and yoga to meditation and prayer at 5 a.m. — all of which keep me grounded. I also swear by SPF, essence and layering serums for hydration, something I never knew about in my 20s. My beauty philosophy now is all about consistency, balance, and rituals that nurture both inner and outer radiance. Sometimes you can overdo it with skin care, especially if you have troubled skin. Less is more. In my 20s, I struggled with acne and the remaining dark spots, and I thought I needed to try everything to diminish it. I would do a three-step skin routine with a facial scrub, plus I’d layer on benzoyl peroxide or a face cream on top, and my skin was in a constant state of irritation. It was when I took a step back and was more gentle with my skin that it really improved. Expensive isn’t always better. A few of my favorite beauty products are drugstore brands, and it’s all about effectiveness versus cost. My favorites are Garnier Mattifying Micellar Water, Good Molecules Hydrating Facial Cleansing Gel, Naturium UV Reflect Antioxidant SPF 50, and Vaseline Coco Radiant Body Butter. Also, just because it works for a friend doesn’t mean it will work for you, especially those with melanated skin. And I’m sure you’ve heard it before, but sunscreen is your BFF. Make sure it’s on your hands, top of your feet, and back of your neck and shoulders. My lips get really dry and I also spent a lot of time outside doing sports, especially in my 20s. Now I always wear lip gloss with SPF (I like the Cay Skin Isle Lip Balm, and Coola’s Lipux Tinted Lip Balm with zinc oxide) and do an overnight lip mask. Back in my 20s, I used a toner everyday, but they were harsher and could really strip your skin. I remember thinking the tightness of my face was a good thing! I love the milkier options from Rhode and other brands that have hyaluronic acid, ceramides, niacinamide, and vitamin E that provide moisture while also improving skin tone and texture and prepping it for makeup. My favorite is Iris&Romeo’s the Reset 3-in-1 Luminous Face Mist. I have to say I don’t really have any beauty regrets. I’m pleased with how I look now and don’t feel the need to look 30 anymore. I enjoyed my decisions, both good and bad, and wouldn’t trade the long days and nights of fun for less tired-looking eyes now. I find getting older to be such a badge of honor — I get to have a career and children and wonderful friendships and a good marriage and my body and face reflect all of that. I did, however, go through a phase of wearing robot-silver nail polish on my toenails and fingernails and that was a questionable choice that I would not repeat. I also wish I had learned how to cook earlier because basic home-cooked food makes such a difference to how I look and feel and water — it’s not a product, but I drink a lot more water now than I used to and I wish I had simply hydrated more when I was younger. Now I use a few more things like my Solawave wand, but the great thing about being younger is that you don’t actually need anything except youth. Saved View Want to be emailed when products you’ve saved are over 20% off? Success! You'll get an email when something you've saved goes on sale. Yes New! You can now save this product for later. Simple. I wish I’d worn more sunscreen. I would definitely have used a higher-factor SPF and not toasted myself on a Mediterranean beach every summer. I grew up in the north of England, where it rained a lot and we went on family holidays in the north of England (mainly to the Lake District); so going on proper summer holidays when I started working in my 20s, with clear blue skies and sunshine every day, was an absolute novelty. Now that I’m in my 60s, the dark spots or age spots are popping up all over my face and my skin is starting to look like leopard print. I’ve always been low-maintenance when it comes to makeup and grooming; I’m not sure I’ve ever had a “beauty regimen.” But our skin does change as we grow older and now that estrogen has left the building I’ve become a bit more interested in looking after my face. That doesn’t mean I’m obsessing over wrinkles or trying to reverse the aging process — I’m 61 and I look my age and I am happy with that, but I am interested in having radiant, healthy-looking skin. Again, I wish I had used an SPF on a daily basis. Even today, I skimp and save time by using a moisturizer with SPF when I know that experts recommend using a separate sunscreen. I would have taken my eye area more seriously — starting earlier with daily SPF around the eyes and consistent use of sunglasses. Crow’s-feet and under-eye crepiness tend to show up faster there. There were a lot of times I skipped wearing sunglasses and just squinted when it was too sunny. Don’t forget your neck and chest — treat them like your face because signs of aging show up here quickly too. Now when I apply my facial products, I always include my neck and chest. I didn’t fully appreciate how much a vitamin-C antioxidant serum helps fight free radical damage, brightens skin, and boosts collagen when used consistently alongside sunscreen. It makes your sunscreen more effective. Now it’s a nonnegotiable part of my morning routine. Saved View Want to be emailed when products you’ve saved are over 20% off? Success! You'll get an email when something you've saved goes on sale. Yes New! You can now save this product for later. I don’t call it a regret, but what I needed just didn’t exist. In my 20s, I was dealing with PCOS, my face was puffy, my body felt inflamed, and nothing in beauty made me feel better. I thought overtraining at the gym and copying celebrity diets would fix it, but they only left me more frustrated. At the time, lymphatic health was buried in the medical space and infrared was reserved for five-star hotels. It wasn’t something you could build into your daily life. If those tools had been accessible, I would’ve started supporting my lymphatic and circulatory system much earlier. As a teenager when my PCOS first flared with hormonal water retention, I remember looking at photos and not recognizing my own face. I looked swollen and uncomfortable. Back then, there was no language or lifestyle support for it. Now I have three daughters, and I’m determined to give them what I never had: everyday wellness they can live in. That beauty isn’t skin-deep, it’s system deep. When your lymphatic, circulatory, and nervous systems are supported, everything changes: your skin, your energy, your confidence. For too long, beauty was reduced to surface products, while the real drivers of how we look and feel were ignored. To me, the future of beauty is to make lymphatic drainage and infrared as mainstream as SPF and to redefine what it means to truly feel seen in your own skin. I would have stayed out of tanning beds in my early 20s! What was I thinking? I already lived in Florida, like I needed more sun? It wasn’t like I didn’t know about sunscreen — my mom used to slather Water Babies on me at the beach when I was a kid. But I started glorifying tanning in high school and baked myself in the sun with my friends for hours on end. Spring break was basically a contest to see who could come home with the deepest tan. So I shunned sunscreen — it was the enemy! Instead of Water Babies, I was slathering on tanning oil. Then someone made a joke in passing about “Florida chest,” and I knew without asking exactly what they meant: that look that sun-baked old folks in South Florida have, when their chest gets tough and leathery from years of tanning. That was enough for me to start using sunscreen regularly, and I’ve been a daily wearer ever since — years later, still no hint of “Florida chest” to report. And if it shows up, that’s what Fraxel is for. If I could talk to my 20-something self, I’d stress the importance of rest and recovery, both physically and emotionally. I used to equate productivity with worth, and looking back, I realize how much stress impacts us on every level. I would tell her that burnout isn’t a badge of honor. I spent so much time focused on my face and completely overlooked everything else. Now I understand how important it is to care for the skin on your entire body with the same intention. I would have used broad-spectrum SPF in general: I didn’t start understanding how essential it was until my late 30s. If I could go back, I’d be far more consistent about daily protection and not just on sunny days or vacations. I wish I’d done more experimenting with my hair in my 20s and finding a hairstylist I could trust fully to suggest things to try. I eventually got around to it in my 30s: balayage, bleaching, dyeing, really growing it out … It’s rather expensive to do it well, but at the end of the day, you can always cut it off and grow it back, which I did a couple of times. I learned a lot about how people’s perceptions of you can change when you go through these drastic aesthetic shifts and those lessons would have been just as valuable at an earlier stage in life. More From Wrinkles Week Is There Anything We Can Do About Our Necks? 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