Aging is unavoidable. However, looking your age is preventable. As we age, our skin changes. The elastic tissue in the skin weakens and the blood vessel walls, as well as the epidermis, thin. As a result, you are left with loose, transparent and fragile skin.
A variety of factors, such as your lifestyle, diet, heredity, and other personal habits, can further accelerate the aging process. For example, a bad habit like smoking can produce free radicals. Free radicals damage healthy cells causing premature fine lines and wrinkles.
Despite the dismal realities of aging, there are things you can do to delay signs of aging.
The consensus among dermatologists is completely resolute when it comes to anti-aging skin care necessities. Retinol and sunscreen are a must!
Countless dermatologists champion and recommend Retinol because of all the science behind it and its impressive anti-aging properties. Retinol works at a much more profound level than any other skin care product because it affects gene expression as well as initiates enhanced collagen production while promoting smooth skin and balanced skin pigmentation. The ingredient helps stimulate the surface skin cells to turn over, permitting new cell growth from below to replace the damaged and dead cells. Retinol also slows down the collapse of collagen and thickens the deeper layer of skin where fine lines start.
- For sensitive skin use a lower concentration of Retinol as it can cause dryness and irritation
- Never use Retinol in the AM or before you head outdoors as the ingredient will make your skin more sensitive to sun exposure and at risk of sunburn and sun damage
- Less is more. Only use a pea-sized amount for your face and neck as Retinol it is very creamy
- Do not use around your eyes as the skin around your eyes is thinner and will cause irritation around your eyes. Use the Retinol Eye Cream, which entails a lower concentration of Retinol, thus, making it more suitable for sensitive areas such as your eyes.
Nothing is more important to us on Earth than the Sun as it is our source of life. The Sun warms our seas, stirs our atmosphere, generates our weather patterns, and gives energy to the growing green plants that provide the food and oxygen for life on Earth.
Nevertheless, too much sun can be detrimental to human beings. A bad habit like sunbathing can be the demise of your health as well as your skin’s health and suppleness. In the long run, the sun’s rays damage certain fibers in the skin known as elastin. As you know, if elastin is broken down your skin will sag, a dreary precursor of aging.
Several studies have proven that regular sunscreen use protects against skin cancer as well as photoaging: the wrinkling, spotting and loss of elasticity caused by sun exposure. One study followed a group of individuals (those who used sunscreen and those who did sometimes or did not at all). When the 4 years concluded, researchers found that the individuals who had applied sunscreen habitually showed no visible signs of increased aging on their skin. The participants who only wore sunscreen sometimes or never, in contrast, displayed an average 24% more of signs of aging.
Obviously, your skin won’t look young forever. Researchers claim skin starts progressively aging around the age of 55. However, daily sunscreen use delays photoaging, thus, keeping your skin looking younger for longer.
Remember, you can apply SPF on your face all day every day, but if you don’t extend the practice to your neck, hands, and other parts of your body, your age will still show. Hands are the first areas of your body to age faster. As we grow older, the natural fat cushions in our hands start to decrease. The skin on the back of the hands is exceptionally thin, so, any loss of fat padding will be very obvious. This causes all the structures in the hand to become more noticeable. Furthermore, your hands are frequently exposed to the sun’s harmful rays. As a result, photoaging plays a major role in generating visible signs of aging such as unbalanced pigmentation, pre-cancerous and cancerous growths, and the reduction in collagen and elastic fibers. It is chiefly important to apply sunscreen to the backs of your hands while you are outdoors and even if you are just driving, because car windshields and mirrors don’t shield you from the sun’s dangerous radiation.