'I'm about to enter my 30s and beginning to worry about the future of my skin.'

As someone about to enter their 30s and who is particularly fond of the sun, I’m beginning to worry about the future.

Sure, my superannuation is looking good, but my skin… not so much. It’s tired and puffy and the grey circles under my eyes seem to grow a little bit larger with each year that passes.

Recently, I began to panic about my dermal predicament, thinking I may have left it too late to proactively manage the situation with skincare alone.

But due to my fear of needles, lasers, and sterile white rooms, I decided to dig a little deeper and find out more about some of the best and bright skin-inducing ingredients out there in a bid to preemptively save myself, once and for all.

1. Retinol.

A derivative of Vitamin A, retinol is a powerhouse ingredient that is responsible for things like producing new skin cells, helping dark spots fade, reducing the appearance of fine lines and helping with skin discolouration. Basically, all of the things skin in its 30s and 40s will be experiencing.

Take note, though. Due to its hyperactivity, retinol-based products should be into your skincare routine slowly and steadily over time. If you rush the race, you may wake up to a shedding top layer of skin, which is both awkward and seriously uncomfortable.

2. Pro-Xylane.

If there's one thing your pores love more than a topless Ryan Gosling, it's hydration. And thankfully, Pro-Xylane offers that up in spades.

A relatively new skincare go-to, Pro-Xylane is a hybrid ingredient made from protein and xylose sugar, which comes from beech trees. Together, the ingredients stimulate the production of glycoaminoglycans (GAGS). And if you, like me, have no idea what that word means, worry not. All you need to know is that GAGs are seriously important for three major things: they help with the volume of your skin; go further than almost any other ingredient when it comes to supporting collagen and elastin (it gets in those teeny tiny spaces between the collagen and structural fibres within the dermis, and stimulates the production of collagen I, III, IV and VII, if we're getting technical); and it attracts and retains water, which keeps your skin hydrated and happy.

Now, where is Ryan Gosling?

3. Hyaluronic Acid.

Speaking of moisture, another key player in keeping your skin singing is hyaluronic acid.

A glycosaminoglycan (try saying that five times fast, I dare you), hyaluronic acid is all about keeping your skin stable, safe, and performing at its best. It does so by locking in a tonne of moisture and acting as a antioxidant defence against the elements, which, in turn, helps improve things like wrinkles and fine lines.

Best of all, hyaluronic acid agrees with all skin types. Yep, even those including oily, sensitive and those prone to a break-out.

4. Vitamin Cg.

Like many things in life, collagen is the thing that keeps our skin going when we're too young to really appreciate it.

It keeps our skin bouncy, strong and elastic, but cruelly, the production of collagen slows with age. That is until you introduce it into your skincare routine via Vitamin Cg and introduce the ultimate out-smart manoeuvre to your body. It's the ultimate one-two punch if you will.

Vitamin Cg not only stimulates new collagen into the skin but does so at a gradual-release rate of 24 hours. It's keeping your skin active, without too much hard work on your end, which is a concept I'm seriously into as I get older.

5. Niacinamide.

My kingdom for a cosmetic skincare word I can pronounce easily.

Also known as Vitamin B3, niacinamide (say it with me, ni-ah-sin-ah-mide) is a skin-restoring ingredient that only wants you to be your best self and is committed to reducing the size of your enlarged pores, evening out your skin tone, improving the colour and brightness of your face, reducing fine lines, and perhaps most lastingly, improve the overall strength of your skin.

Essentially, everything you're going to need to get you through the decades that are career progression, parenthood and living in today's housing market. Sounds pretty, pretty, pretty good to me.

So, please excuse me while I run to the nearest chemist.

What is your skincare secret?

This content was created with thanks to our brand partner L'Oreal Paris.