MomSkoop
Beauty advice from our younger years doesn’t always age well with us. Many tips that worked in our twenties can actually make us look older and more tired after 35. Your skin changes as you mature, and what once helped can now hurt your appearance. Here are ten common beauty beliefs that need a serious update for your best look yet.
1. Washing Your Face Multiple Times Daily
Scrubbing your face three or four times a day might have felt refreshing in high school, but now it’s doing more harm than good.
Your skin has a natural protective barrier made of oils and healthy bacteria.
Washing too often strips away this defense, leaving your face dry, tight, and vulnerable.
After 35, your skin produces less oil naturally, so over-cleansing speeds up moisture loss and makes fine lines more visible.
Stick to cleansing twice daily—morning and night—with a gentle, hydrating formula.
Look for cleansers labeled as barrier-supporting or pH-balanced.
Your skin will feel softer, calmer, and more youthful when you give it a break from constant washing.
2. Skipping Moisturizer on Oily Skin
Growing up with shiny skin, you probably avoided moisturizer like it was your enemy.
Here’s the twist: when you skip hydration, your skin panics and pumps out even more oil to compensate.
After 35, this cycle not only keeps your face greasy but also highlights every wrinkle and crease.
Dehydrated skin looks dull and ages faster, no matter your skin type.
Switch to a lightweight, oil-free moisturizer with ingredients like hyaluronic acid or glycerin.
These hydrate without clogging pores or adding shine.
Your skin will balance itself out, looking fresher and smoother.
Oily skin still needs moisture—it just needs the right kind.
3. Choosing Matte Makeup for a Polished Look
Matte foundation was the gold standard for years, promising flawless, shine-free perfection.
But after 35, that flat, powdery finish settles into every line and wrinkle like a road map.
Matte formulas absorb light instead of reflecting it, making your skin look tired and older.
They also tend to be drying, which emphasizes texture rather than hiding it.
Go for satin or luminous finishes that bounce light off your face naturally.
These formulas give you a healthy glow and blur imperfections without looking greasy.
Add a touch of highlighter to your cheekbones for extra radiance.
Your skin will appear smoother, fresher, and more alive.
4. Ditching Face Oils When Breakouts Appear
The minute a pimple popped up, you probably swore off anything oily.
Turns out, not all oils are created equal.
Some lightweight oils like squalane, rosehip, or marula actually help your skin stay balanced and calm.
They support your natural barrier, reduce redness, and can even prevent breakouts by keeping your skin properly hydrated.
After 35, your skin needs these nourishing oils more than ever to fight dryness and aging.
Start with just a few drops mixed into your moisturizer or applied alone at night. Avoid heavy oils like coconut if you’re acne-prone.
The right oil won’t clog your pores—it’ll make your skin glow.
5. Tanning to Even Out Your Complexion
Remember thinking a tan covered up blemishes and gave you that healthy glow?
UV exposure is one of the biggest causes of premature aging, period.
It breaks down collagen, causes dark spots, deepens wrinkles, and thins your skin over time.
What looked like a quick fix in your twenties now shows up as uneven tone, sunspots, and sagging.
After 35, every minute of unprotected sun exposure counts double.
Wear broad-spectrum SPF 30 or higher every single day, rain or shine.
If you want color, use a self-tanner or tinted moisturizer instead.
Your future self will thank you with smoother, younger-looking skin.
6. Layering on Heavy Foundation for Full Coverage
Thick, full-coverage foundation promised to hide everything, from acne scars to dark circles.
After 35, though, heavy makeup does the opposite—it cakes into fine lines, settles into pores, and makes your skin look older and mask-like.
Your face loses its natural movement and glow under all those layers.
Plus, heavy formulas can feel uncomfortable and look obvious in natural light.
Choose a sheer-to-medium coverage foundation or tinted moisturizer instead.
Use concealer only where you really need it, like under the eyes or on blemishes.
This approach lets your real skin show through while still evening out your tone.
You’ll look polished, fresh, and effortlessly put-together.
7. Exfoliating Frequently for Fresh, Glowing Skin
Daily scrubs felt like the secret to baby-soft skin back in the day.
But aggressive or frequent exfoliation actually damages your skin’s protective barrier, causing redness, sensitivity, and irritation.
After 35, your skin takes longer to heal and renew itself, so overdoing it leads to more harm than good.
You might even trigger inflammation that speeds up aging rather than preventing it.
Limit exfoliation to once or twice a week using gentle chemical exfoliants like lactic acid or glycolic acid.
These dissolve dead skin without scrubbing or tearing.
Your complexion will look brighter and smoother without the damage.
Less really is more when it comes to exfoliation.
8. Waiting Until Later to Start Anti-Aging Care
You probably thought anti-aging products were only for people with wrinkles already.
The truth is, prevention works way better than repair.
By the time visible signs appear, collagen loss and sun damage have been building for years.
Waiting until after 35 to start protective care means you’ve already missed the easiest window to keep your skin youthful.
Early intervention with sunscreen, antioxidants, and retinoids can delay aging by decades.
Start using SPF daily, add a vitamin C serum in the morning, and introduce a retinoid at night.
These three steps protect, repair, and renew your skin before major damage sets in.
Prevention is always easier than correction.
9. Avoiding Dark Lipstick to Look Younger
Somewhere along the way, someone said dark lipstick makes you look older, so you stuck to pale nudes.
After 35, your natural lip color fades, and too-light shades can wash you out completely.
Dark, rich tones—like berry, plum, or deep rose—actually bring warmth and definition back to your face.
The key is choosing hydrating formulas with a bit of shine or gloss to keep lips looking full and healthy, not dry or severe.
Experiment with deeper shades that have warm undertones to complement your skin.
Skip matte finishes that emphasize lines.
A bold lip can be incredibly flattering and modern at any age.
10. Keeping Your Hair One Solid, Flat Color
Single-process color seemed like the easiest, most polished choice for years.
But flat, one-tone hair can look harsh and actually emphasize thinning or lack of volume.
After 35, hair naturally loses some density and shine, so dimension becomes even more important.
Highlights, lowlights, or gloss treatments add depth and movement, making your hair look fuller and more vibrant.
They also soften your features and blend gray more naturally than solid color.
Ask your stylist for subtle, blended highlights or a gloss treatment that adds richness without high maintenance.
The goal is natural-looking depth that catches the light.
Your hair will look healthier, thicker, and more youthful instantly.