Get Your Most Beautiful Skin

It doesn’t matter what your age is— a healthy, youthful glow is in your (immediate!) future. Follow the advice here to create a radiant effect that shows how innately gorgeous you truly are.

- Kayleigh Donahue Hodes

BRIGHTEN COMPLEXION

LET'S BE HONEST: We all spend a little time in the sun. (You aren’t going on vacation and hiding indoors the whole time, are you?) But even if you’re diligent about wearing SPF now, years-old sun damage can haunt you in the form of spots and discoloration. To get clear, you need to have a brightening regimen and stick with it for several months before you see the full results. First, be sure your daytime moisturizer includes two key ingredients: a proven spot fader such as vitamin C, soy, or kojic acid, and broad-spectrum SPF 30 or higher—because if you’re not protecting your skin from the sun, you’ll continue to develop new dark splotches. In the evening, apply a treatment designed to correct discoloration that contains kojic acid or soy. “Both of these help prevent the pigment-producing enzyme in skin cells from going into overdrive,” explains Tina Alster, M.D., a clinical professor of dermatology at Georgetown University Medical Center. And once or twice a week, set aside a few minutes to exfoliate, which not only clears away complexiondulling dead skin but also helps trigger new, healthy cells, leading to fewer spots. (Try Aveeno Positively Radiant Skin Scrub.)