Top Preventative Skincare Tips for 2025

Facial aging has a tendency to sneak up on you when you’re not looking. One minute you’re living your best life, embracing the possibilities that lie ahead in life, and the next you’re in the mirror saying, “When did that line/age spot get there?” As meaningful and magical as each passing year might be, your skin doesn’t have to show the years ticking by if you don’t want it to, and the best way to avoid that is with preventative skincare. Tell aging to go have a seat when you use these top preventative skincare strategies.

Make Sun Protection a Daily Must

This might be the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of aging prevention, but it’s still first on our list because it’s incredibly important. Sun damage is a major factor in premature aging, and for most of us, it’s the largest one. Ultraviolet radiation causes the collagen in your skin to break down faster, and that’s the core of most signs of aging: when your collagen is breaking down faster than your body can produce it. That’s what causes lines, wrinkles, and sagging skin. Plus, your skin’s attempt to protect you from that radiation is what causes brown age spots.

Now’s the time to make sun protection a non-negotiable must-do every day. Use sunscreen each morning with your morning skin care and makeup. You should also reapply it if you’re outside for a significant amount of time, like if you’re going for a run after work or heading to happy hour at a patio or rooftop.

Bonus tip: You can boost your sun protection by also wearing wide-brimmed hats and sunglasses with large lenses.

Keep Your Hydration Up

When you’re young, you’re not as prone to dry skin as you are when you’re older. That doesn’t mean you can skip the moisturizer, though. In fact, it’s one of the most important ways to prevent premature aging and skin damage.

 Your skin has a protective barrier within it that keeps out external particles that can cause damage, like pollution and irritants. The cells in that protective barrier are held together by water, so when your skin is dry, the protective barrier is weaker and it allows more harmful particles to get in and work their nasty magic.

 For that reason, moisturizer in the morning and at night is essential. If you’re worried about it clogging your pores, just opt for an acne-friendly moisturizer. 

Double Up on Damage Prevention with Antioxidants

Another helpful way to prevent skin damage that makes you look older is by stocking up on antioxidants. Antioxidants work by combatting a type of particle called free radicals. Free radicals can bind to your skin cells and cause damage, but antioxidants bind to them instead to protect your cells.

Using skin care products with antioxidants is a great move, but you can also help your skin by getting plenty of antioxidants in your diet. Berries have high levels of antioxidants, and so do beans, nuts, dark chocolate, green tea, kale, artichokes, and beets to name a few.

Consider Preventative Procedures and Injectables

This is entirely a matter of personal preference, but if you’re strongly motivated to keep aging at bay, you might consider preventative procedures and injectables. For example, preventative Botox is incredibly popular. It prevents your facial muscles from making the repetitive motions that eventually lead to expression lines like forehead wrinkles, frown lines between your brows, and crow’s feet.

Establish a Healthy Lifestyle

This one might not be as simple as adding a new skin care product to your routine, but it’s still an incredibly important part of aging prevention. Your body’s overall health plays a powerful part in how your skin looks and how youthful you look (and feel!). So establish a healthy lifestyle at a young age that will strengthen your health and is sustainable as you go through life.

 This means exercising routinely, getting healthy sleep, and eating a balanced and nutritious diet. It also means avoiding smoking and nicotine, and just as importantly, learning how to manage stress in healthy ways.

Use Genetic Hints

One of the tricky parts of preventative skin care is that you don’t necessarily know what signs of aging will be the largest issues for you in the future, so it’s hard to know where to focus. But you probably have a crystal ball of sorts – your family.

 There are a lot of factors that affect how quickly we age, but genetics plays a role, especially by determining which signs of aging will affect you the most. For example, you might be genetically prone to developing bags under your eyes or age spots.

 Take a look at your parents and other relatives to see how they have aged. If you see that certain signs of aging are common among your family, you can add products to your skin care routine to prevent them early. For example, start using a neck firming product if you notice that your family members have loose skin on their necks, or use an eye cream if you notice that dark circles or bags under the eyes run in your family.

Investing in a Youthful Look

None of us want to look older than we feel (at least not once we’ve passed the age of 21), and now is the time to invest in yourself and your health to keep a younger look for longer. With the preventative skincare tips above, you can keep your youthful look year after year as you build a life you love.