Found: A One-and-Done Moisturizer That Addresses *All* of My Mature Skin Conditions at the Same Time

When it comes to what women in their 40s (and beyond) are looking for in their skin-care products, who would know better than two people who have experienced the search firsthand?

When friends and beauty industry veterans Celeste Lee and Lorrie King found themselves disappointed in the available skin-care options for women in their 40s, they decided to come up with a better solution. They teamed up with scientists to create Caire Beauty—a play on “I care” that celebrates the individual—a brand dedicated to addressing peri- and post-menopausal skin conditions with an emphasis on embracing midlife.

Caire’s newly launched Grownup Moisturizer ($88) is already winning accolades for its multi-tasking abilities (it’s even got the Oprah stamp of approval for menopausal skin), and addresses all of the concerns that women face in their 40s and beyond—including restoring hydration, increasing firmness, reducing pore size, enhancing radiance, and diminishing redness.

Caire, Grownup Moisturizer — $88.00

Pros:

• Designed for mature women
• Hydrates, brightens, and firms skin while diminishing redness
• Works on the deepest layers of skin
• Made with ceralipids, hyaluronic acid, fermented peptides, red algae, and rice bran

Cons: 

• Expensive

According to Lee, the secret to developing a product for menopausal skin requires a multi-factorial approach. To really be effective—and work for everyone—it must address internal biological aging and external skin aging from pollution while also restoring the skin barrier. And while many anti-aging skin creams on the market contain effective actives to do just that, Lee explains that how a formula delivers its ingredients to the skin is just as important as what’s in it. “Whether it’s a $50 or a $500 product, it won’t be effective if it’s just sitting on the surface of your skin because the molecules are too big to penetrate,” she says. “If you only pull moisture to the skin, it’s a temporary effect—it doesn’t help the skin internally. We want to help the skin help itself.”

Caire’s Grown Up Moisturizer is formulated in a way that allows its actives to pack the maximum possible punch. The oil-in-water emulsion contains tiny Ceralipids (the brand’s trademark ceramide-mimicking lipids) that are delivered fully intact to all layers of the skin barrier where they activate on contact. This process of restoring lipids to the skin barrier is key for women in their 40s, because our bodies’ natural production of these skin-strengthening elements decreases as estrogen levels decline during menopause.

“In plain English, our biotech achieves an emulsion with very, very small lipids in a low-impact way,” says Joseph Librizzi, PhD, a biomedical engineer and Caire’s Chief Scientific Officer. “The lipid-in-water emulsion within the formula is designed to allow for the lipids to activate, which means they become absorbable upon application.”

To up its anti-aging powers even further, the vegan moisturizer is also made with a matrix of hyaluronic acid and fermented peptides, which works below the skin barrier to stimulate collagen production and plump the skin. It’s also got antioxidant-rich vitamin E to reduce the oxidative stress that leads to visible signs of skin aging; red algae to brighten and balance the skin; and rice bran to diminish lines, wrinkles, and signs of aging. With such a power-packed list of actives, The Grownup Moisturizer is designed to tackle multiple skin issues at once, making it a one-and-done product that any mature woman can benefit from adding to their routine.

“We all have different needs. Some women have a loss of radiance, some have dryness. We recognize people’s skin is not all changing in the same way,” says Lee.

As someone who fits squarely into the “midlife” demographic that The Grownup moisturizer caters to, I was eager to see if the product could help with my specific skin concerns—namely, lack of firmness and moisture, dullness, and deep fine lines. The product has a wonderful, lightweight texture that glides on effortlessly. As soon as I applied it, the skin on my face, neck, and decolletage took on a dewy glow, similar to the effect I’ve experienced with more expensive products. After one use, my face looked fuller and softer.

As I’ve continued to use the Caire Grownup Moisturizer, my skin’s firmness, texture, and hydration have continued to improve. There has also been a slight (but not drastic) improvement in my deep lines and wrinkles. Most of all, I love that when I’m in a rush, I can use the product as a one-step treatment—all over my face, under my eyes, and on my neck (Lee adds that you can also apply it to your hands, legs, feet, or anywhere else that your skin needs a boost).

More than that, though, I love Caire’s commitment to empowering women in midlife. We mature ladies are expert multitaskers—supporting ourselves, our careers, and our families—and it feels right to have a skin-care product that works just as hard as we do.