At Home Facelift Tips & Tricks
Do you feel like your appearance could use a little rejuvenation? Although many may think of surgical procedures like facelifts, there are some over-the-counter skincare products and devices that you can use to add an extra glow to your look.
“At-home products can be a great alternative to facelift procedures, but consistency and patience are key!”
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Shani Darden
You can refresh your appearance from the comfort of your own home. Here are some of our favorite products and devices to help you get that at-home facelift look.
What Is a Facelift?
Many people use the term “facelift” to describe a general refresh of the appearance, but what is an actual facelift?
A facelift, or rhytidectomy, is a surgical procedure that a licensed cosmetic surgeon performs. The goal of a facelift is to tighten up sagging facial and neck skin to achieve a younger appearance.
Facelifts can also improve other signs of aging, like fat loss, loose skin, and deep wrinkles and creases. While some of these effects are achieved simply through stretching out wrinkles, facelifts sometimes include fat implants or fillers to simulate a plump appearance.
Although a facelift can restore your appearance to its youthful luster, it can’t change your facial structure or remove the deep-rooted effects of aging. For instance, a facelift can’t restore skin elasticity or promote better circulation.
Can I Get a Facelift at Home?
Despite articles and products claiming to provide facelift benefits at home, facelifts are better left in the hands of licensed professionals. Even anti-aging products can’t compare to a facelift's instant and drastic changes.
Instead, you can use over-the-counter skincare products to brighten and smooth your skin. While not as powerful or immediate as a facelift, these products can greatly improve the appearance of aging skin over time.
What Are Some Products for Youthful Skin?
When looking for products to rejuvenate your aging skin at home, it might feel overwhelming to see all the options available. Not only are there many different types of products, but there are also many brands and ingredients. Here are some of the products, devices, and ingredients that can help improve the appearance of aging skin.
Retinol
Retinol is a common ingredient in many age-defying skincare products because of its marked effects against signs of aging like fine lines and wrinkles.
Retinol is a powerful ingredient that often takes the form of a serum and works by supporting a youthful-looking complexion.
Collagen is a protein that is produced in your dermis that helps your skin retain its shape and stay firm and plump. It’s also an important element of skin elasticity. As your skin ages, it slowly loses its elasticity and ability to produce collagen. This means your skin creases easier, which can lead to wrinkles. Products like retinol can help you maintain a youthful-looking complexion even as you age and your collagen production declines.
Retinol also supports proper skin cell turnover, which is how your skin renews itself. Younger skin has a turnover rate of around 28 days, but aging skin can have a turnover rate as slow as 70 days. By speeding up skin cell turnover, retinol can help your skin renew and slowly fade away shallow wrinkles and fine lines.
AHAs
Alpha hydroxy acids, or AHAs, are a group of skincare acids that include glycolic acid, malic acid, citric acid, and lactic acid.
AHAs are first and foremost exfoliants that resurface your skin and remove dead skin cell buildup. By removing dead skin cell buildup, your other age-defying products can absorb into your skin better. Whether you choose an AHA exfoliant or another type of exfoliant, this step is crucial in any skincare routine.
AHAs can also help stimulate collagen production and increase blood flow, which can help your skin look fuller and more youthful. These ingredients can also maintain skin cell turnover, although they aren’t as effective in this area as retinol.
Each AHA is different, but lactic acid is a common ingredient in many formulations. Lactic acid is useful as a rejuvenating exfoliant and can also help support your skin’s natural hydration mechanisms.
This is because lactic acid works hand in hand with hyaluronic acid, a humectant that can draw in and hold up to 1,000 times its own molecular weight in water. Hyaluronic acid helps your skin stay hydrated and can also fill up your skin cells so that the overall appearance of your skin is more plump and firm.
While AHAs like lactic acid and retinol typically don’t mix, my Retinol Reform has a specialized formula that allows you to feel the results of both ingredients at once. With my award-winning retinol and encapsulated lactic acid, skin rejuvenation is available to everyone.
Vitamin C
Although there are many brightening ingredients, vitamin C may preside over them all. Vitamin C is also known as l-ascorbic acid in skincare, and typically shows up in serums.
Beyond brightening your skin, vitamin C is also a powerful antioxidant. Antioxidants like this one can help track down and neutralize free radicals, which are unstable atoms that can cause serious damage to your skin as they seek stability. This damage can result in premature signs of aging like fine lines and wrinkles.
Although free radicals are produced by almost everything, including your own body, one major source of free radicals is UV radiation. Because of this, powerful antioxidants like vitamin C provide an effective layer of additional protection that complements any sunscreen.
Vitamin C is also an important element of collagen production. It’s safe to say that this ingredient is a rejuvenating powerhouse!
Chemical Peels
While not a skincare ingredient, chemical peels are an excellent way to refresh your skin. These products use highly concentrated chemical exfoliants like AHAs to lift away the outermost layer of skin. With weekly use, light chemical peels can lift the appearance of fine lines and shallow wrinkles.
It’s important to note that while light chemical peels are safe for home use, medium and deep chemical peels can only be performed by a licensed professional. These peels lift more than one layer of skin, and can target even deep wrinkles.
My Triple Acid Signature Peel uses lactic, glycolic, and mandelic acids in step one to clear away dead skin cells. In step two, kaolin and bentonite clays work to soothe skin and refine the appearance of pores without stripping the skin or causing irritation.
Eye Cream
Eye creams are another important product in any revitalizing skincare routine. The skin around your eyes is delicate and thin, which means it lacks the collagen to defend against wrinkles. This is why this area is often the first to show signs of aging.
Because under-eye skin is so thin, it also loses hydration faster. This can contribute to wrinkles and fine lines due to dehydration of the skin.
Eye creams like my Intensive Eye Renewal Serum are special moisturizers formulated specifically for this delicate under-eye skin. Eye creams are often thick formulas with moisturizing ingredients like emollients and occlusives, which help seal moisture against the skin.
Eye creams also often feature ingredients like retinol, AHAs, and vitamin C to help brighten and smoothen the under-eye area.
Vibration Therapy
If you’re looking to firm up the appearance of your skin, I recommend incorporating vibration therapy into your routine.
Vibration therapy involves using a device such as a wand to emit sound waves designed to penetrate your skin and lift wrinkles from the inside out. In fact, my Facial Sculpting Wand can penetrate the skin up to six centimeters.
As well as improving signs of aging, vibration therapy can improve circulation. Improved circulation can help bring more color into your face and give the appearance of more youthful skin.
LED Light Therapy
Another device that can refresh your skin at home is an LED light mask. These masks work by exposing your skin to controlled LED light of different wavelengths to target specific skincare concerns.
The most common LED therapy colors are red and blue. While blue light can fade blemishes and soothe breakouts, red light is better known for improving visible signs of aging like fine lines and wrinkles.
Red light therapy can stimulate collagen and elastin production, which can improve your skin’s elasticity and help fade the appearance of wrinkles. Red LED light can also help your skin produce more of its natural antioxidants, which can help improve your skin health.
Many at-home LED masks pale in comparison to medical-grade devices and can take months to show any improvements. However, my Déesse PRO LED Light Mask can provide professional-grade results with at-home comfort. As an added benefit, my mask comes with a neck attachment to help you look and feel your best.
Final Thoughts
Facelifts are procedures that are performed by licensed cosmetic surgeons that can give you a younger appearance. While a facelift provides a drastic change, you can use over-the-counter skincare products and devices at home to achieve a more subtle transformation.
Everyone’s skin is different, and there’s always a bit of trial and error involved with picking a skincare routine that works for you. For more helpful information, visit my blog and follow us on social media.
Sources:
Facelift Surgery | American Society of Plastic Surgeons