Can Your Skin Be Saved?

Zits and blackheads. Clearasil and BufPufs. Remember your introduction to the confusing, frustrating, hope-filled quest for flawless skin? Skin envy starts at 12 or 13 and never really stops. Fair-skinned frecklers pine for Cameron Diaz's golden membrane, so smooth it looks like it was poured onto her. The olive-toned yearn for Nicole Kidman's milky-white translucence. Then, when our faces begin to pleat with every smile and droop even after a full night's sleep, we suddenly wish for our own maligned skin--as it looked 20 years ago.

By now everyone knows the cardinal rules for beautiful skin. Keep it clean, don't smoke and stay out of the sun. But millions of women in their 40s and 50s aren't satisfied with the results of those simple steps. They're exploring a multiplying array of chemicals and technologies in an attempt to smooth wrinkles and restore glow to their faces. Do these scalpel-free treatments work? Here's the bottom line that beauty magazines never quite get around to telling you: most improvements are modest and temporary. Continuing the treatments simply maintains that improvement, rather than steadily pushing your skin to new heights of beauty. But there's good news, too. Those temporary improvements can last months, or as long as several years. Here's the skinny on today's skin savers:

The basics: The sun may be your skin's worst enemy, but sunscreen won't necessarily save you from it. Most of the sunscreens you've used in the past have blocked the sun's UVB rays, preventing visible burning, but have not obstructed deeper-penetrating UVA rays. "You can't go out with sunscreen and think you're protecting your skin from aging," cautions Dr. Lawrence Gibson, a dermatology professor at the Mayo Clinic. He steers patients toward lotions containing zinc oxide and titanium oxide (the white stuff that lifeguards paint on their noses), which create a physical barrier against both kinds of rays. You don't have to look like a mime when you wear the compounds. New products can be smoothed on in a thin coat that leaves your skin looking close to its natural color.

Keeping skin clean is important, of course, but it's not as hard as cosmetics companies suggest. The key point to remember for dry, aging skin is that oil can irritate hair follicles, causing adult acne. So while it's important to remove makeup at the end of the day, it's equally important to avoid a heavy, oil-based foundation. Mild soap and water does an excellent job of cleansing without drying.

Facials: Dermatologists are unimpressed with these spa staples. At best, facials temporarily hydrate skin, plumping out wrinkles. At worst, the squeezing, picking and rubbing can permanently damage skin. "I've seen people with mild acne go for facials and come out with inflammatory lesions and possible scarring," says Dr. Alan Liftin, a dermatologist in Livingston, N.J. "Skin problems should be taken care of first and foremost with chemical treatment [rather than manual manipulation]." For example, Adapalene, a prescription gel, is good for clearing up acne and blackheads with few side effects.