Skip the fancy skincare routine

Cut through the anti-aging aisle and focus on three products. If you use a sunscreen, retinoid, and moisturizer starting at age 20, your skin will look much younger compared to someone who didn’t use them. Applying SPF every morning is a must, along with keeping cells plump and hydrated with moisturizer.

Retinoids are where the magic happens: the vitamin A derivative essentially teaches your skin to act young again, stimulating the collagen that prevents fine lines.

Exercise!

Whatever your motivation to work out—feeling good, blowing off stress, losing weight—you can add one more to the list: staying young. In a study on older adults, those who exercised functioned physiologically similar to younger people. So it keeps you young on the inside, but what about the outside? Your skin is the largest organ in your body and the only one you can see. Anything that’s good for your body is good for your skin.

Don’t hide behind makeup

If you have wrinkles, brown spots, and bags, you’re probably tempted to slap on a thick coat of foundation and powder all over your face. That technique backfires, makeup can’t completely cover aging. Translation: don’t cake it on, but rather build it by layering. Start off with a blurring primer to disguise the signs of discoloration and hyperpigmentation. Top it off with a liquid foundation (it doesn’t settle into lines like heavier cream formulations, which is best for mature skin), dust your T-zone with translucent powder, and finish with a cream blush for a youthful, healthy glow.

Tend to the hands

Your face and hands are two body parts that get the most sun. But since you’re busy slathering on moisturizers and anti-aging products on your face, your complexion may look young while your hands betray that with brown spots and wrinkles. The same exact products you use for your face can go on your hands! So when you use a retinoid at night, rub a small amount to the backs of your hands. After slathering on a good SPF moisturizer in the morning, do the same for your hands.

Confidence!

Women who age gracefully have something big in common: confidence. Don’t do anything with the idea that you’re trying to look younger—that can cause big missteps in your sense of style and how you maintain your beauty routine. Make your goal to be the best you can look. People who had more positive beliefs about aging lived 7.5 years longer than those with more downtrodden ‘tudes.

Ditch the spa

Facials can be relaxing, but for the most bang for your buck, see a dermatologist over a spa. There are whole arsenals of therapies designed to prevent and reverse skin aging that can be personalized to you. We know these are effective and can turn the clock back years. Even if the spa offers the same treatment offered at a derm office, the derm is the better bet.