5 top tips for healthy looking skin in your 40s (and beyond)
Each season throws something different at your skin. Spring rolls around, and suddenly, you’re dealing with unexpected breakouts or lingering winter dryness that won’t budge. Autumn hits, and your skin starts feeling tight, flaky, or just….lacklustre. Then there’s winter - the time of year when central heating, cold air, and lack of sunlight can leave your skin looking dull, feeling dehydrated, or breaking out in ways that make no sense.
And in your 40s? These seasonal shifts feel even more pronounced. Your skin doesn’t bounce back like it used to. Collagen production slows, hydration levels dip faster, and hormonal changes can leave you dealing with dryness and breakouts at the same time. What worked for you a decade ago isn’t cutting it anymore.
If the ‘season’ you’re in has left you battling dull, dehydrated, or even pimple-prone skin, this week's post contains 5 practical, no-nonsense tips to get your skin back to glowing, balanced, and healthy.
1. Sleep: Your Skin’s Natural Repair Time
You can spend a fortune on skincare, but if you’re skimping on sleep, your skin will tell on you. Poor sleep drives up cortisol (your stress hormone), which can lead to breakouts, inflammation, and slower skin regeneration.
Here are some basics to getting a better night’s sleep
✔️ Switch off all screens an hour before bed—blue light messes with your melatonin, a hormone crucial for good sleep, antioxidant status and overnight skin repair.
✔️ Struggle to wind down? Try a 20 minute foot soak with Epsom salts and a few drops of lavender oil before bed. Dry off and rub magnesium oil or cream into the soles of your feet before you pop on your socks and head to bed
✔️ Invest in your sleep routine— blackout blinds, a silk eye mask, a weighted blanket or a good cocao drink could make all the difference.
💡 Quick Tip: If putting your phone away feels impossible, get yourself a pair of orange-tinted blue light blocking glasses to reduce melatonin disruption.
2. Digestion: What You Absorb Matters As Much As What You Eat
Your gut and your skin are deeply connected. If your digestion is showing signs it’s slowing down (bloating/gassiness/burping are all signs), your body will struggle to absorb the nutrients it needs for healthy, resilient skin.
Try incorporating some of the following tips for healthier digestion, better absorption and a brighter complexion
✔️ Support healthy stomach acid production—try 1 tbsp raw apple cider vinegar in water 20 minutes before meals.
✔️ Chew your food properly (yes, really!)—aim for 20–100 chews per bite to liquify your food and take a load off your digestion.
✔️ Hydrate smartly—6–8 glasses of room temperature water a day (between meals, not during). Add a slice of lemon, cucumber, or fresh mint to give it some life if you find it boring.
✔️ Eat the rainbow—load up on polyphenol-rich foods like butternut squash, sweet potatoes, blueberries, pomegranates, and dark leafy greens.
✔️ Ditch the lattes & sugary treats—both can spike insulin, worsen breakouts, inflammation, and premature ageing.
💡 Quick Tip: Take your coffee black, and carry a handful of walnuts, berries and dark chocolate for a snack that won’t bite you in the ass.
3. Topical Skincare: Less Is More
I’ve made the mistake of overcomplicating my skincare routine when my skin’’s flared up in the past—jumping from product to product, hoping something would work. With trial and error, I learned to strip it back to the basics instead of confusing my skin with different products and potentially making it worse.
If you’re in a bind, head back to skincare lessons 101:
✔️ Use a cleanser suited to your skin type—and change it to meet your seasonal needs.
✔️ Clean your makeup brushes and sponges weekly—bacteria buildup can cause irritation and breakouts.
✔️ Upgrade your face cloths—buy 7 muslin cloths or cotton flannels (they cost next to nothing) and switch them daily. Boil in hot water with a little castille soap and bicarbonate of soda to keep them clean and free from bacteria.
✔️ Ditch bad habits like touching your face—spreads bacteria.
One product that I went back to when my skin was uber sensitive was Tamanu oil. It’s the perfect antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, moisturising oil for sensitive, inflamed and even acne prone skin. Once I was out of the acute flare up phase I tried a new range of products I discovered: Codex Bia—a range designed for dry, eczema-prone skin that smells incredible and actually works. They’re natural, but work, and luxurious without the eye-watering price tag.
💡 Quick Tip: Not sure if your skincare products are helping or harming? Run them through the EWG Skin Deep database to check for hidden toxins.
4. Intermittent Fasting: A Simple Strategy for Clearer Skin
Giving your digestive system a break through intermittent fasting (16:8—fasting for 16 hours, eating within an 8-hour window) can do wonders for your gut and skin health.
✔️ Fasting encourages skin cell turnover and reduces oxidative stress.
✔️ Balances blood sugar to prevent insulin spikes that contribute to pre-mature ageing.
✔️ Try fasting from 7pm–11am a few times a week and see how your skin responds.
💡 Quick Tip: If 16 hours feels too restrictive, start with 10-12 hours overnight and gradually build up.
5. A Vitamin A-Rich Juice for Glowing Skin
Vitamin A is essential for cell renewal, preventing breakouts, and maintaining a strong skin barrier. You can find it in foods like liver, but lots of people don’t just love liver - and if you can’t buy it organic I say don’t buy it at all.
Try this skin-boosting juice instead:
Glow Up Juice Recipe (makes 500ml)
🥕 9 small organic carrots (rich in beta-carotene, which converts to Vitamin A)
🍊 1 orange (high in Vitamin C for collagen production)
🫚 1 thumb sized piece of ginger (anti-inflammatory)
and 2 celery stalks (rich in mineral salts to support detoxification and support digestion)
Blend in a high speed bender and strain through a juice bag if you don’t have a juicer.
🧊 Optional: Add ice, ¼ teaspoon of vitamin C powder, or 1 tbsp of Great Lakes Collagen powder for some extra skin supporting nutrients.
The Bottom Line
Glowing skin isn’t always the result of the latest trendy serum, or expensive treatment. If you’re struggling with blah, dull looking skin, prioritise good sleep, gut health, hydration, and stress management habits, and you should soon notice the difference.
Been there, done that and fallen down the rabbit hole of Dr Google, self diagnosis and guess work? Maybe it’s time to let someone else take a look at it for you and uncover exactly what’s going on beneath the surface - so you can stop wasting your precious time and money on things that don’t work.
If you want that someone to be me, you can book a free call here.
