Squalane’s position as a must-have skincare classic was years in the making. For quite a long time, this multi-beneficial ingredient was mostly animal-derived before a slew of eco-conscious brands (like my personal favorite Biossance) figured out how to more responsibly source it from plants instead. Now it seems the best squalane products can be found everywhere and anywhere, no matter your budget or needs.

As I’ve noted before, squalane shouldn’t be confused with squalene, a naturally-occurring building block of the skin’s lipid barrier. It’s a protective nutrient that, like many other skin processes, loses steam as we age, thus requiring help via topical treatments. Today, plant-sourced squalane is one of the most popular enhancers for hair, face, and body products because of its scentless, wide-ranging benefits, the most popular being moisture.

Squalane oil can be used as an all-over moisturizer and combined with other effective ingredients for serums, masks, sunscreens, and more. Ahead, some effective options that will fit seamlessly into just about any kind of routine.

Valjean Labs.

Valjean Labs Morning Glow Facial Oil

This cost-effective vegan formula elevates brightness and moisture simultaneously with a concentrated blend of vitamin C and squalane.

Buy: Valjean Labs Morning Glow Vitamin C + Squalane Facial Oil $14.95

Honest.

Honest Beauty Hydrogel Cream

With two types of hyaluronic acid and squalane, this cooling moisturizer provides an instantly gratifying amount of nourishment to parched skin.

Buy: Honest Beauty Hydrogel Cream $19.99

QRxLabs.

QRxLabs Squalane E Oil

This multi-tasking hair and skin moisturizer combines the moisturizing properties of squalane and vitamin E.

Buy: QRxLabs Squalane E Oil $9.95

OUAI.

OUAI Body Creme

A whipped body moisturizer enriched with coconut oil, squalane, and Cupuaçu butter to quickly absorb into and nourish dry skin.

Buy: OUAI Body Creme $38

Kiehl’s.

Kiehl’s Midnight Recovery Concentrate

This potent overnight facial treatment has been clinically tested to target inflammation, dryness, and dark spots with a concentrated blend of squalane, evening primrose oil, and lavender oil.

Deciem.

The Ordinary Squalane Cleanser

A gentle makeup remover and cleanser in one that effectively removes makeup, sunscreen and other environmental pollutants from the face.

Patrick Ta Beauty.

Biossance.

Biossance Squalane + Zinc Sheer Mineral Sunscreen SPF 30 PA +++

This innovative, eco-conscious sunscreen checks all the boxes. It’s reef-safe, mineral-based, completely sheer, suitable for all skin types, lightweight, and hydrating.

Tatcha.

Tatcha The Serum Stick: Treatment & Touch Up Balm

This anti-aging, brightening, and soothing hydrator contains purified squalane, Japanese lemon balm, and the brand’s signature Hadasei-3 complex (green tea, rice, algae). Use it under or over makeup to touch-up your glow in just a few seconds.

Peter Thomas Roth.

Peter Thomas Roth PRO Strength Retinoid Peptide Serum

This potent leave-on retinoid treatment would be drying if it (thankfully) wasn’t formulated with a handful of famously moisturizing ingredients including ceramides, peptides, and squalane.

Then I Met You.

Then I Met You Birch Milk Refining Toner

This milky post-cleansing toner pours moisture back into the skin with a 76 percent birch juice formula further elevated with a small concentration of gentle exfoliants, marshmallow root extract, and squalane.

Our mission at STYLECASTER is to bring style to the people, and we only feature products we think you’ll love as much as we do. Please note that if you purchase something by clicking on a link within this story, we may receive a small commission of the sale and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

At nearly 65 years old, I am starting to wear lipstick. Why? I’m moving into that “pink lady” stage where my scalp is pink and shows through my hair, but the rest of me is losing some of its freshness. As I age, to my dismay, I find that my lip and skin coloring are fading.

Do you have that problem?

One day the mauve blush I have worn for more than twenty years looks good and the next time I buy it my skin has changed so much the same blush color makes me look like a harlot.

My lips were always a rich pink color, requiring only a little lip gloss. Now they seem faded and nondescript. How does that happen? And why didn’t I notice? Maybe it’s my eyes going bad.

Taking a Selfie Was a Wake-Up Call

The changes were clear as soon as I started taking selfies, trying to get a quick, decent photo of myself for my recipe blog.

I always wondered why older women wore blush that was too dark or too garish for their skin tones. Apparently, it’s because we look in the mirror and see ourselves the way we used to be. I’m 23, by the way. How old do you see yourself?

It’s easy to see that my lovely chestnut hair of my youth is now a multi-colored blonde white. I wanted my hair to age to that beautiful, absolutely white color. So striking. So stunning. No chance. But I’m not complaining; it’s gorgeous.

Those curls I worked hard years ago to straighten, ironing them with a hot clothes iron or sleeping with my wet hair wrapped around orange juice cans, are now easy to care for. Just wash and go. Curls make life easier, but the change in hair color means I need to wear different colors.

The pastels and light, summer colors I wore as a young woman are not the colors that look good on me in my older years. Have you noticed this phenomenon?

I Have Had to Make New Lipstick Color Choices

In fact, colors I wouldn’t have been caught dead wearing when I was in my twenties are now the ones that look the best on me. Orange, for instance. When I was young, orange made me look like I was jaundiced. Now a bright, tangerine orange is one of my best colors. It makes me look healthy and vibrant. No wonder old women wear purple.

I took about a hundred selfies before I realized that my lips were faded and unattractive in photos, and I needed to add some color. Although I seldom wore lipstick in my younger years, I have a lot of it. And every tube is basically the same color, hot pink. I am searching for alternate colors. Yet, every time I bring one home, it is still in the pink or bright red tone.

I decided to ask for help from the cosmetics sales clerk, and we chose a more neutral color lipstick. It looked good in the store. But when I brought it home, put it on, and took a picture, I still had no lips. I was disappointed.

Disappointment is the Mother of Invention

I did not let my poor color selection get me down. Rather than take the $20 tube of lipstick back, I decided to use it as a base, adding a tiny bit of pink over the top of it. Voila! I have lips.

With my new lips and a better understanding of my changing skin tone, now all I need to do is learn how to take selfies. I might have to enlist the help of one of my grandchildren.

What is your favorite lipstick? Have you found that lipstick colors you used to wear just don’t work for you anymore? Have you tried blending different color lipsticks to get the perfect results? How are your selfie taking skills? Please share in the comments.

The highly anticipated music video for “Rain on Me” is finally out, the second song from Lady Gaga’s Chromatica ahead of the album’s May 29 release. As expected, Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga’s looks are nothing less than epic. Both take on a Dolls Kill-meets-NASA out-of-this-world vibe. I can’t stop looking at Gaga and Grande’s makeup, especially the graphic white eyeliner and futuristic hair. Expect about a million recreations on Instagram and TikTok by the time the weekend is over.

Makeup artist Michael Anthony is responsible for Grande’s makeup and stylist Josh Liu did her hair. Grande is rocking an even more futuristic take on her usual sky-high ponytail, plus white and silver graphic eyeliner. At one point, she even wears her hair down (!!!) for the first time in forever. We’re shook.

Source: Instagram

For Gaga, makeup artist Sarah Tanno used Haus Laboratories makeup, of course, with artist Cale Thomas using his FX skills for the more out-there creations. Those glitter tears? Everything. Gaga’s also wearing white graphic liner, solidifying the trend. We’re sure to see much more of it this summer. Stylist Frederic Aspiras is to thanks for her killer pink hair and wigs.

We don’t know yet what brand of white eyeliner created these super-bright eye looks, as Haus Laboratories doesn’t sell a white liner—yet at least. Is this a peek at what’s to come? For now, if you want to steal their looks for TikTok this weekend, we love Stila All Day Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner in Snow White ($22 at Amazon) and ColourPop BFF Liquid Liner in Graceland ($4.80 at Ulta). You can also play around with the white hue in Haus Laboratories’ Stupid Love palette. Have fun!

Our mission at STYLECASTER is to bring style to the people, and we only feature products we think you’ll love as much as we do. Please note that if you purchase something by clicking on a link within this story, we may receive a small commission of the sale and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

What is aging? Volumes have been written on the subject, but our understanding of it, while constantly growing, is still hazy.

However, if pressed to summarize the underlying process on the level of the cell, scientists would agree that many aging-related processes seem to share one underlying theme: inflammation.

One of the classic theories of aging, free radical theory, maintains that oxidative stress causes a state of ongoing inflammation, a hallmark of aging. There even is a term that combines the two together – inflammaging.

Okay, you say. Got it. Inflammaging. But what does sleep and melatonin have to do with it? As it turns out, quite a bit.

Of course, none of the following information is medical advice, but, hopefully, it will give you something to discuss on your next doctor’s visit.

Let’s Take a Closer Look at Melatonin and Aging

Melatonin has been under the microscope for a long time. A natural hormone, released in the pea-sized pineal gland sitting in the back of our head, melatonin regulates our internal clocks – both daily and annual – and our sleep-wake cycle. It also is released in the retina at the bottom of the eye and the gastrointestinal tract.

Darkness stimulates melatonin production. Exposure to light, particularly that at the blue end of the spectrum, such as fluorescent lights and TV and computer screens, inhibits production. Additionally, the levels of melatonin decrease with advanced age to such a degree that some scientists proposed using it as a marker for aging.

What else affects the production of melatonin? We all have experienced unpleasant effects of at least some of these factors: stress, jet lag, shift work or all-nighters, and are intimately familiar with the mental sluggishness and irritability that ensues. In research, higher levels of melatonin correlate with improved memory acquisition and performance.

Turns Out, Melatonin Has Significantly More Benefits

However, melatonin does more than just regulating our sleep. Several animal studies have demonstrated that it might extend life span. There are several possible mechanisms that could explain that possibility.

Melatonin is one of the most powerful antioxidant substances in our bodies. There is a reason why it is called the “scavenger of free radicals.” Other antioxidants, like vitamins C and E, protect us from most oxidative damage, but they cannot convert some radicals, like superoxide anion radical, into oxygen. Melatonin increases the production of glutathione, which in turn inactivates these bad radicals.

Oxidative stress causes gene mutations in mitochondria, responsible for the production of energy for the cells. Melatonin has a role in the protection and repair of DNA in mitochondria. Maintaining the homeostasis (a state of metabolic balance) in mitochondria is only one of the mechanisms through which melatonin can affect the process of aging.

Can Melatonin Extend the Lifespan?

So, can melatonin extend lifespan? In a word, yes, I think that it can. We now have some evidence in both animal and human studies.

Have you heard about sirtuins? It is a family of fascinating proteins that serve as regulators of metabolic status in general and lifespan in particular. You guessed it. Melatonin stimulates expression of sirtuins.

Melatonin also has a role in maintaining telomeres. Like a plastic tip on shoelace, a telomere protects the end of chromosome. Shortening of telomeres causes cells to age and eventually triggers cell death. Melatonin prevents telomere reduction, increasing the life span of cells.

In human studies, so far the only intervention that has consistently increased longevity was caloric restriction. Does not sound attractive, now does it? However, even here, melatonin can be of service. It just may be that caloric restriction works its miracles through melatonin.

For example, the levels of melatonin in food-restricted rats were twice as high as in their counterparts with free access to food. In several studies, rats that were given melatonin in drinking water had significantly increased life span. Interestingly, the animals displayed more youthful behavior. Melatonin-fed rats not only lived longer – they seemed to have more fun while at it!

How Do We Increase Our Melatonin Levels?

First and foremost, we can increase melatonin levels by not suppressing them artificially. Start dimming the lights about two hours prior to bedtime. Avoid exposure to fluorescent lights, TV and computer screens. Yes, that includes the e-readers too (unless they have a “night shift” option under display and brightness settings). While it is easier said than done, it is perfectly doable. Remember these things called books?

Keep your bedroom as dark as possible. I can tell you from personal experience that blackout curtains make a huge difference. Try blocking all other distracting lights. Turn away bedside alarm clocks so that they don’t face you. I even went as far as duct-taping the little indicator lights on my laptop and power cords.

Some foods that contain melatonin include eggs, fish, cereals, certain mushrooms and sprouted seeds and legumes.

If you decide to take a melatonin supplement, here are a few suggestions. It often works best at low doses. Start with 1 mg 30 minutes to an hour prior to the bedtime. Even if you don’t take melatonin as a sleep supplement, you want to mimic the natural way melatonin is released in our body, with a peak level around two to three am.

If you find yourself waking up in the middle of the night, having a hard time going back to sleep, opt for sustained-release melatonin. And finally, many people will report experiencing more vivid dreams and may remember them better in the morning.

What are you doing to achieve healthy aging? Do you have any tips on how to improve your sleep and melatonin levels? How have you adjusted your bedtime routine for better sleep? Please share in the comments.