No excuses: Every woman should be using retinol in her beauty routine. This concentrated form of vitamin A remains one of the most effective anti-aging ingredients on the planet. In addition to smoothing out skin tone and texture, retinol stimulates the production of collagen, which becomes crucial in your 40s, as your skin's supply of collagen diminishes, leading to fine lines and wrinkles.

Already use retinol? Upgrading to a prescription-strength retinoid, like tretinoin, can give more profound anti-aging results. If breakouts are still getting you down, certain retinoids offer the added benefit of keeping pores clear.

Sure, liquid and cream foundations sometimes lend themselves to a fresh-faced look. But creamy face makeup is also likely to settle into fine lines and wrinkles, making you look older (and your makeup look so obvious).

Mineral makeup offers medium to heavy coverage that will stay put on your skin for hours longer than a liquid. Buff the powder into skin with a kabuki brush and watch your imperfections disappear. To really diffuse the look lines and blemishes, choose a mineral makeup that contains mica, which subtly reflects light to give skin a radiant sheen.

Exfoliation is one of the easiest things you can do for instantly younger-looking skin in your 40s. You should definitely be using a skin-care product with alpha hydroxy acid -- which gently turns over dead, dull skin -- but you can get even better results by seeing a professional.

Every one to three months, visit a licensed aesthetician or dermatologist for microdermabrasion or a light chemical peel, which can dramatically improve skin tone and texture in under an hour. You can also ask about dermaplaning, a deep exfoliation treatment that uses a sterile blade to lightly scrape your skin, painlessly ridding your face of dead skin cells and fuzzy baby hairs.