Benable — create shareable lists of things you recommend!
E.g., products you love, local businesses, travel recs - you can add anything to a Benable list!
We Survived Baby Oil Tanning: Gen X Skin Care from Walmart
16
items #WalmartPartner. This list contains Walmart affiliate links. I may earn a commission from qualifying purchases. We're the generation that tanned with baby oil and a foil reflector, slept in our makeup after the concert, and never once put sunscreen o...
Sections
5
Wash Off the Day
Serums That Earn Their Counter Space
Night Cream & Eye Cream
Every Morning SPF (Not Baby Oil)
Below the Chin: Neck, Hands & Body
Wash Off the Day
Skin gets drier every year after 40, and a harsh cleanser makes it worse. These take the makeup off without leaving your face tight. One for every kind of night.
Yep, Mama's jar. Still around for a reason. Massage it on dry, tissue it off, and the mascara goes with it. Perfect for the nights you're too tired for a three-step anything.
Pond's Cold Cream Cleanser
If your face feels tight as a drum after you wash it, your cleanser is too harsh for the skin you've got now. This one's a plain, gentle wash that leaves some moisture behind. Big bottle, drugstore price.
CeraVe Hydrating Facial Cleanser
For the waterproof mascara you swore you'd quit wearing. Soak a cotton pad, hold it on your lashes for a few seconds, and it slides right off. No rubbing at the eye skin that's already thin enough, thank you.
Garnier Waterproof Micellar Water
Serums That Earn Their Counter Space
Serums go on after you wash and before your moisturizer. Vitamin C in the morning, retinol at night, and a do-it-all bottle if you only want one.
If you only add one serum, make it a do-everything one like this. Hyaluronic acid for the thirsty look, plus wrinkle-fighters, in one pump. A couple drops after you wash, before your moisturizer. That's it.
L'Oreal Revitalift Triple Power Serum
Retinol is the one ingredient dermatologists keep bringing up for fine lines. This one's gentle enough to start with. Use it at night only, a couple of times a week at first, and wear sunscreen the next morning. No exceptions.
CeraVe Skin Renewing Retinol Serum
The morning serum. Vitamin C goes on under your sunscreen and helps with the dull, blotchy look and those sunspots from every summer we spent slathered in baby oil. Keep the lid on tight. It loses its oomph when air gets to it.
TruSkin Vitamin C Serum
Night Cream & Eye Cream
Night is when your skin does its repair work, so give it something rich to work with. Plus a little help for the puffy eyes that show up the next morning.
The big red jar. Rich enough for night without feeling like you buttered your face. No retinol in it, so it plays nice on the nights you use the retinol serum, and it's gentle enough for morning too under sunscreen.
Olay Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Cream
For the mornings your eyes look like they stayed up later than you did. Caffeine for the puffiness, light gel so your concealer doesn't slide. Pat it on with your ring finger. Stash it in the fridge if you want the extra wake-up.
Neutrogena Hydro Boost+ Caffeine Eye Gel Cream
The kids on TikTok call it “slugging” like they invented it. Our mamas just called it Vaseline. A thin layer over your night cream seals the moisture in while you sleep. Use an old pillowcase, and skip it on breakout-prone spots.
Vaseline Original Healing Jelly
Every Morning SPF (Not Baby Oil)
We earned every one of these sunspots. Sunscreen every single morning, even if you're only driving to the Dollar General, is the best anti-aging step there is. Two for the morning, one for the purse.
Moisturizer and sunscreen in one jar, made by a brand that's been doing grown-woman skin care forever. One step, out the door. If you're only going to do one thing every morning, do this.
No7 Lift & Luminate Day Cream SPF 30
The lighter option if a cream feels too heavy in a Southern summer. It's a pump lotion, so no fingers in a jar, and it sinks in fast enough to put makeup on right after.
Neutrogena Collagen Bank Moisturizer SPF 30
Your morning sunscreen quits around lunchtime. This little stick lives in your purse for the reapply, right over your makeup. Swipe it on your nose, cheeks and the backs of your hands while you're at it.
Cetaphil Sheer Mineral Sunscreen Stick SPF 50
Below the Chin: Neck, Hands & Body
Neck, chest, arms, hands and lips. All the places we forgot to put the good stuff for 30 years. They need moisture just as much as your face does.
For the arms and knees that started looking like crepe paper when nobody was watching. Put it on right out of the shower while your skin's still a little damp. That's when lotion does its best work.
Gold Bond Age Renew Crepe Corrector Body Lotion
We spent 30 years putting the good face cream on and stopping at the jawline. Your neck and chest noticed. This one's made just for that skin. Smooth it on with upward strokes, never tugging down.
Gold Bond Age Renew Neck & Chest Firming Cream
Hands give your age away before your face does. Bless ‘em. This little green jar is the one for cracked knuckles and dry cuticles. A dab at bedtime goes a long way, and it won’t leave grease on the TV remote.
O'Keeffe's Working Hands Hand Cream
Lipstick bleeding into the little lines around your mouth? Dry lips make it worse. Put this on thick at bedtime and wake up to lips that hold their color again. Keep one in the nightstand and one in the car.
Aquaphor Lip Repair Ointment