The Real Girls Guide to Skin Care (Midlife Edition)
Smart skin care without the noise, the nonsense, or the 27-step routines!
My midlife skin has zero chill. One minute I’m glowing, the next I’m waking up with a new wrinkle, a rogue chin hair, and a breakout that feels like a betrayal from puberty itself.
Enter Nurse Kandyss Keith, RN at Vienna Skin Clinic in San Jose, CA. She isn’t here to sell us a rewind button or promise perfection. She’s here to remind us that our skin doesn’t need fixing, it needs honoring. Every damn line is earned, every mark is proof we’ve lived through shit and came out stronger. Skin care in midlife isn’t about bulldozing the garden; it’s about tending it — with respect and zero apology.
I sat down with her for six no-bullshit questions about what really matters when it comes to caring for our skin after 50.
Was skin care always your thing, or did you fall into it after one too many bad product choices and a little “I can do this better myself” energy?
Kandyss: I have to give credit where credit is due; my older sister has a lot to do with my caring for any sort of skin care routine! In my teens I was a “hand soap to the face and a good ol’ washcloth will do the trick” girly (the very same I used to wash the rest of my body, please don’t judge me). I cringe at the thought of it, truly. By some miracle I had decent skin throughout high school, although my skin barrier was probably wrecked from the harsh hand soaps! My older sister always had a routine and a carefully curated line of products… and also incredible skin, go figure. I thought, “what a waste of time,” but going into my college years I think my frontal lobe finally finished developing and I grew increasingly interested in taking care of my skin. Now I’m the one with all the skin care products, undoing all the years of playing in the sun without SPF — and no hand soap in sight.
Midlife skin is its own gnarly beast. What’s the number one thing women over 50 get wrong (or overlook) about caring for their skin?
Kandyss: After the age of 50 your skin goes through so many changes. My number one tip that absolutely cannot be overlooked (at any age) is a good sunscreen. Estrogen decreases as we age, which makes the skin thinner and more vulnerable to UV damage. You can have the best skin care routine in the world, but if you’re not using an SPF consistently, then it’s all for nothing. You should be using about 1/2 tsp on your face and neck, or you can remember the “two finger rule”: a line of sunscreen down your index and middle finger equals how much you should be using daily.
You’re both a nurse and a skin-care lover, which means you’ve got science and lived experience. Where do you draw the line between what’s marketing hype and what’s actually worth our money?
Kandyss: As an aesthetic nurse, the line is always drawn at physiology, not packaging. I will be the first to admit that I’ve fallen for products that came in cute packaging but ended up being terrible. If a product can change or support the skin at a cellular level, it’s worth paying attention to. If it just smells good, looks or feels fancy, or has a celebrity behind it, it’s probably just hype. My golden rule is: if it doesn’t have proven actives, proper formulation, and clinical data, don’t pay boutique prices for it.
If you could build a badass starter routine for someone who’s overwhelmed by the 27-step TikTok regimens, what would be the three things you’d never skip?
Kandyss: My top three:
A gentle hydrating cleanser, because if your skin barrier is stripped or inflamed then nothing else in your routine will work the way it should.
A retinoid at night. No serum, mask, or trendy ingredient competes with decades of clinical data behind retinoids and their benefits.
Daily broad spectrum SPF 30+ EVERY DAY. SPF is the insurance policy for everything else you’re doing.
Real Girl Talk: aging is written all over our faces. What’s your philosophy on embracing the changes while still giving our skin the best shot at looking and feeling healthy?
Kandyss: Aging is NOT a flaw to fight. It’s biology, it’s privilege, it’s evidence you’ve survived things younger you probably couldn’t have handled. But at the same time, you’re allowed to want your skin to feel healthy and cared for. The two can exist together. Give yourself grace. I am here to help support the changes you go through while embracing them. You’re allowed to love your age and still get Botox. You’re allowed to accept your lines and still use retinol. None of it makes you vain. It makes you human. I’m a firm believer in doing what makes you happy — whether that’s lasers and facials and Botox or a 3-step skin care routine.
Bonus Question – Real Girls on a Budget: For those of us who don’t have a spare kidney to sell for skin care, what are your favorite ways to get results without going broke?
Kandyss: My favorite free things: sleep on a clean pillowcase (reduces irritation and breakouts). Avoid super hot showers and harsh scrubbing. Drink water and hydrate consistently. Don’t smoke. Manage stress (your cortisol shows up on your face). Get good sleep (your skin literally repairs itself at night). And above all: be consistent.
The fanciest product won’t beat cleansing every night, wearing SPF every day, and using retinoids regularly. Drugstores have come a long way with skin care, and many products work just as well — if not better — than expensive ones. Some of my favorite affordable brands are CeraVe, The Inkey List, RoC, The Ordinary, and La Roche-Posay. Do your research and look at ingredients.
The Takeaway
We don’t need to drop a paycheck on products or wage war on every line. What Nurse Kandyss makes clear is that good skin care in midlife is about consistency, compassion, and maybe a little rebellion against the beauty industry’s scare tactics.
Translation? Keep it simple, keep it smart, and keep it yours.
#RGG55, #RealGirlsGuide, #SelfCare, #MidlifeSkinCare
We’ve earned every wrinkle. Might as well make more laugh lines together.
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That bit about the two-finger rule for SPF is super practical. I never knew the actual amount needed, so I've probably been using way too little this whole time. The takeaway on consistency over expensive products really simplifies things for people trying to figure out what actually matters.