This Hero Japanese Skincare Ingredient Transformed My Dry, Perimenopausal Skin

Now that I’m over 40, I’ve noticed many changes in my body, especially my skin. It seemed like only yesterday that I used to be a clear-cut combination-skin, prone-to-breakouts kind of gal. So it’s still shocking that I have only had one or two zits in the past year. As you can guess, the change in my skin and skincare products has taken a while to get used to. Before, I was satisfied with a lightweight moisturizer year-round, but now that I have—gulp—dry skin, finding a face cream with adequate hydration is the top priority. (I never thought in my life that I’d miss having oily skin!)
Finding a suitable face cream for my 40-somethin‘ perimenopausal skin has been somewhat of a Goldilocks situation. Sometimes, a face cream I’ll try will work wonderfully at night, but it is an entirely different story in the morning. I’m already a fan of Shiseido’s skincare, but its newest moisturizer has done some serious magic. The Shiseido Vital Perfection Uplifting and Firming Advanced Cream ($140) has left my skin hydrated, plump, and nourished to the gods since I started using it weeks ago—but it did even more.
Many things make this face cream different from any other, namely the ingredients. Safflower has a long history of being used as a colorant in cosmetics and food, but it has some pretty awesome benefits for skin. SafflowerRed, the proprietary ingredient found in Vital Perfection Uplifting and Firming Advanced Cream, is cultivated in Yamagata, Japan. According to the brand’s research, this variety of safflower “has a structural stabilizing effect” on the blood vessel structure, suggesting it can help treat aging concerns such as dark spots, dullness, wrinkles, and facial sagging.
I kid you not; since I started using the face cream, the wrinkles on my forehead are not as deep (I haven’t had Botox in two years), and my skin feels and looks firmer than it has in years. It’s almost as if it reversed my age back a few years. Shiseido also did some consumer trials that found 90% saw firmer, lifted, and more even-toned skin, with 95% experiencing brighter skin, 93% having less visible dark spots, and 91% having tighter facial contours. In addition to SafflowerRed, the cream features an entire wonderland of antioxidants plus caffeine and ginseng root to energize and stimulate collagen and jujuba fruit for elasticity and firmness. It is a must, especially if you have over-40 skin or have some aging concerns like deep wrinkles, dryness, and pigmentation. I take it with me everywhere so much it needs its own little purse!
More of My Over-40 Skincare Favorites
If you have a specific wrinkle or deep line that you want to treat (sans Botox), try using this Wrinklespot Treatment. It contains pure retinol to help fight tired skin and signs of aging, 4MSK to fight against dark spots, and the KURENAI-TruLift Complex with Benibana flower, which energizes the skin to make it look more lifted.
I’ve been incorporating more Youth to the People products into my skincare routine, and the brand’s newest serum looks like another addition to my list. All skin types can benefit from this serum that infuses up to 10 surface layers of skin with hydration, using hyaluronic acid spheres, ceramides, and postbiotic ferment. It also has dandelion root and niacinamide to help brighten and even skin tone, and the brand’s famous superfood blend of plant extracts to help your skin glow.
My perimenopausal pals, this Queen Serum (amazing name) from Omorovicza does wonders for over-40 skin. Aside from the brand’s mineral-rich Healing Concentrate, it contains Mediterranean microalgae, which has a retinol effect on the skin (improves elasticity and helps with firming and fine lines). It also has Chinese leaf extract, which helps protect the integrity of elastic skin tissue.
Charlotte Tilbury’s hero face cream is mandatory for my skincare closet. It’s packed with hyaluronic acid to hydrate for up to 24 hours, vitamin C and E for brightening and evening out the skin, and a peptide complex for smooth, wrinkle-free skin.
This serum by the new skincare brand SickScience (love the name) intrigues me! It tightens and firms the neck and jawline at a molecular level. How, you ask? It uses proprietary NX35 Technology with powerful plant-based exosomes, like pineapple stems, that tighten the skin underneath the chin. As someone who is very much pro-pineapple on pizza, this speaks to me.

Marie has covered beauty, fashion, and lifestyle for almost 16 years. She contributes to the beauty section here at Who What Wear. Previously, she was the Looks Editor for Bust Magazine, built the beauty vertical at HelloGiggles as its beauty editor, and was a founding staff writer at Rookie mag, giving fashion advice to teens. Her bylines have appeared in The Cut, Allure, Glamour, The Hollywood Reporter, and more. She was born and raised in Southern California and is based in L.A. Marie is a self-proclaimed costume design nerd and a co-host of Makeover Montage, a podcast about fashion in film and costume design.
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