5 skin changes you'll notice after 40 (and what to do about them).

Sometimes I don’t wear makeup for a few days, not often, just sometimes. Like recently when my son broke his arm and we had to stay in hospital for a few days. We were driving home on a cloud, absolutely thrilled to be headed home and he looked at me as I drove and said…

“Mum, there are a lot of brown spots on your face.”

I hadn’t really noticed them. When I look at myself in the mirror now I try not to look too closely. There’s no point lingering on things you can’t change and now that I am 40 there are lots of parts on my face and my body that I prefer to just powder and dress and forget about.

I have an awesome life. Who cares if my skin isn’t perfect?

Except sometimes I wonder if there’s anything I can do about the changes to my skin. Now that I’m 40 I’ve noticed a few changes in particular:

1. It’s all a bit looser and wobblier. Sometimes for fun when I am lying down, my daughter grabs handfuls of the loose skin on my stomach and makes it talk;
2. Pigmentation problems not just on my face;
3. Stretchmarks on my boobs (of all places, but Victoria Beckham once said in a magazine interview that she has them too) and my thighs;
4. I don’t have the luxury of time anymore to spend on my skin;
5. It’s so dry. Some days I feel like I am part-reptile, especially in winter.

I’ve used the same body moisturiser for almost a decade, selected mostly because I liked the smell. I didn’t really think there was a product that could help me with my special set of problems so thought it would be enough to smell really nice. Have you ever noticed how you can buy a million corrective skin products for your face and only one or two for your body?

NIVEA is one of the first to come up with a truly innovative product for all of my skin issues. NIVEA 4 in 1 Firming Body Oil can assist with firming the skin, evening out skin tone, intensively nourishing dry skin and reducing the appearance of stretch marks.

"I didn’t really think there was a product that could help me with my special set of problems." Image: Pexels.

Whenever I plan to wear jeans I don’t normally use my regular body moisturiser because I find it hard to put them on and it makes me feel like I’ve put on some weight or they’ve shrunk in the wash. Either way it’s not a good feeling.

NIVEA 4 in 1 Firming Body Oil is different though. It takes seconds to absorb quickly into my skin which is brilliant because I just don’t have time to wait for skin care products to absorb. I have minutes to get ready in the morning and only a few minutes’ worth of energy at night during which to do things like wash my face, brush my teeth and put on NIVEA 4 in 1 Firming Body Oil.

It can be used on dry or wet skin and while you only need to put it on the areas of skin where it is needed I now have so many areas of need that it pretty much ends up everywhere. It spreads really quickly and easily which is great so none of it is wasted.

After two weeks of using it I can already notice that my trouble areas seem less obvious. I can’t believe how amazing this is. No painful or expensive procedures required.

I don’t expect to look young or even ‘young for my age’. I just wanted to look good for my age. I want to look good as a 40-something and every day thereafter. When I look good, I feel good and that’s true for all of us.

I can’t wait to see how much better my trouble areas look after even more time using NIVEA 4 in 1 Firming Body Oil. Imagine how great they will look after another couple of weeks or a couple of months. NIVEA 4 in 1 Firming Body Oil and regular spray tans and I think I’ll be rockin’ this 40-something bod. Rock on.

How do you take care of your skin?