Aging is not something most people anticipate. Alas, it is inevitable, so the best thing you can do is maintain a healthy lifestyle. If you don’t take a proactive approach to a healthy lifestyle, you can count on your skin to age prematurely. Here are some tips on how to avoid premature wrinkles and stay younger-looking longer.
Sunshine
At the end of winter, who doesn’t crave the warmth of sunshine? Yet it’s one of your skin’s formidable enemies unless you use common sense and a good sunscreen. You need a certain amount of sun to benefit from the needed vitamin D it provides, but a good broad spectrum SPF 30 or SPF 50 sunscreen should be applied before you hit the beach or ski trail.
Facial Expressions
You laugh, smile, cry, frown and with every facial expression a new little wrinkle makes its mark. Sure, your face bounces back, especially when you’re younger, and those little wrinkles disappear when new skin cells grow. But over time, wrinkles become a bit more permanent. Facial exercises may have their place, but appreciate the value of moderation.
Smoking
This bad habit will make you look years older than you are, make you sick and turn your teeth yellow. Not only will your skin become dry and leathery, it will also manifest wrinkles much earlier than if you did not smoke at all. This is a good habit to never start and certainly one to stop.
Sleep
Avoid sleeping on your face and try lying on your back to slow skin aging. Diving into your pillow and sleeping face first could be wrinkles in the making.
Stress
It’s impossible to completely eliminate stress from your life, but in order to avoid wrinkles and creases that show up in the middle of your forehead, find a healthy way to relax. Yoga classes, long walks in the park, a quiet evening with a good book or whatever it takes to relax and avoid new wrinkles—do it. More wrinkles will only create more stress!
Lack of Sleep
You cannot function well without sleep, and your face is the first place evidence of too little sleep shows up. Avoid sleeping in the same position night after night and get a regular good night of sleep in. What is regular depends on the individual; some people need a full eight hours, some need only six or less.
Alcohol
Alcohol puffs out your face, and afterward, your skin is stretched and wrinkled. You almost always have a headache the next day and a few more wrinkles to go with it. If you must indulge, the best recommendation is moderation.
Lack of Moisture
Dry skin is the worst. It makes you crack, bleed and wrinkle. Your skin needs moisture just as your body needs water. Deprive your skin of moisture for too long, and the result will be wrinkles.
Gravity
This is a tough one to do much about. The force that keeps you on earth and saves you from floating off into space also works in your disfavor. After about 40 to 50 years, it will start to pull the skin on your ears, nose, and neck down little by little. The best advice is to keep your skin healthy and tight.
Genetics
What you inherit genetically may not always be what you want, but there it is. The best advice is to learn from family members’ mistakes and successes. Take good care of your skin, and hopefully, you’ll take longer to wrinkle than your grandmother did.
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