I’m Over 40 and Known for My Healthy, Glowing Skin—23 Skincare Staples I Love and Recommend

As a beauty enthusiast in my 40s, one of my biggest hopes and aspirations is to connect with readers who are in their 20s and 30s and demystify what life and beauty can look like after 40. I have adult children and have spent a lot of my adulthood as a single mom. I’m also a Black woman who’s running her own business and wearing a lot of hats. There is a lot of rhetoric around aging, and when it comes to beauty, most of it is negative. My goal is to be a thread of hope, positivity, and inspiration—a “it’s not bad on this side of 40” kind of energy.

My journey to skincare and the beauty industry didn’t start until later in life. I was in my mid-30s, and I really had this pivotal moment with myself where I promised to make some changes for my overall well-being. How I took care of my skin and hair, for instance, was a huge part of that. I was coming out of a period of depression, so my hair had suffered, my skin had suffered, my mental state had suffered, and physically, I was skin and bones. There were so many things going on in my life, and turning to beauty put this incredible pep back into my step—I found it so healing. I learned to take care of myself through beauty, and consequently, I developed morning, evening, and hair routines that were such an organic, gradual evolution to where I am currently and the beauty rituals I now live by as a 47-year-old.

As women in today’s world, we’re stretching ourselves so, so thin, but when I step into the bathroom and close the door, I set an explicit boundary that this is my time to take care of myself, even if it’s just five or 10 minutes. For me, this has helped promote true healing. I really do believe that having a solid shower routine, a solid haircare routine, a solid skincare routine… All of those things work together so therapeutically. (If it helps you look amazing too, that’s even better!)