When to Apply your First Anti-Wrinkle Treatment? What is a Serum for? Can you Skip the SPF Treatment?

Moisturizing cream, serum, eye contour, the benefits of a beauty routine to maintain your skin are no longer to be proven. But how to find your way through the variety of products on the market? The experts take stock.

What is the ideal day cream?

The one that we wear every morning with pleasure! That is to say, one that corresponds to our skin type, our lifestyle, our desires... In all cases, it must moisturize and protect with antioxidants (and/or anti-inflammatories), and even pre- and post-biotics that regulate the skin flora. This is the basis. Even oily skin needs water all the time. "On a well hydrated and supple skin, wrinkles are less imprinted like folds on a slightly moistened fabric", adds Nathalie Broussard. Cosmetics retain water in the skin, but the skin is watered from the inside. So, we drink...

Should it contain a UV filter?

There are several schools of thought because, in the long term, chemical filters can sensitize the skin. Nathalie Broussard just appeals to common sense: "In winter, in the city, if you go from home to the office without seeing the light, it is of no interest. If you spend your life outside, obviously, an SPF is necessary. The same goes for after a cosmetic or dermatological procedure and if you are undergoing a retinol treatment..."

Do you have to change your cream regularly?

Not necessarily," says Marie-Hélène Lair. As long as it suits us, there is no reason to change. You just have to look, listen and touch your skin, because its needs change over time and with the seasons. Sometimes it's just a matter of adapting the texture."

Are cosmetics effective against spots?

They can lighten them by about a third if they are not too old, if you have the patience to apply them every day for at least two months and if you protect yourself from the sun. Otherwise, only the dermatologist can completely eliminate them. On the other hand, after the treatment (with laser or liquid nitrogen), these treatments are very useful to prevent them from coming back. This season, we're banking on Sisley's Phyto-Blanc Spot Corrector, Eucerin's Hyaluron-Filler + Elasticity Care (with or without SPF) and Etat Pur's Vitamin C 10%.

Should you moisturize your skin in the morning or evening?

Our experts agree: both. Water is essential to the proper functioning of cells at any time of the day or night. "If we believe chronobiology, the insensible loss of water is more important around one o'clock in the morning", indicates Marie-Hélène Lair. To choose, one privileges the cream in the morning and the serum in the evening. Or a skin care lotion, if you are looking for lightness.

What is the purpose of a serum?

Before, it was relatively simple. It contained the same active ingredients as the cream, but more concentrated, with a fluid texture that penetrated deeply and was used more as a treatment. Today, the serum is a full-fledged care product with all sorts of textures, including oily or in ampoules, and it can be used all year round. Often, they have a more targeted action: anti-wrinkle, anti-dark spot, firmness and can be used alone or under a cream for complementary effects, but some have a broader and more universal ambition. You can combine two or three serums at the same time (but not more). On social networks, some people recommend using the serum after the cream.

Putting on an anti-aging skin care product too early, is it serious?

"No worries, because the skin takes what it needs," reassures Marie-Hélène Lair. All you risk is that the texture is too rich or too nourishing for you. Some people think that you shouldn't get your skin too used to it, because it may become lazy and no longer know how to defend itself. Overprotect, no, protect, always. "Also, there is no time limit. You can still benefit from a good care at 60 years or more, certifies Nathalie Broussard. And not just from simple comfort."

Is eye contour care essential?

The eye area is the first to be marked, often very early on. The area is thinner than the rest of the face (0.04 mm vs. 1 mm), has very few fibers and sebaceous glands, and has 14 muscles that ensure 10,000 blinks per day. Not to mention hours in front of screens and their blue light, lack of sleep... Crow's feet, bags, dark circles, sagging eyelids, at Lierac, each problem has its own Diopti expert. To zoom in on all the problems: Time-Filler Eyes 5XP, Filorga; Advanced Night Repair Eye Contour, Estée Lauder; Revitalift Filler Eye Serum, L'Oréal Paris; Hyalu B5 Yeux, La Roche-Posay; After 50, Supremÿa Yeux La Nuit, Sisley; Neovadiol Multi-Corrective Eye & Lip Care, Vichy.