There are plenty of anti-aging products on the market that claim to reduce wrinkles. There are also drastic measures such as botox and face-lift surgery. But you don’t have to reach for cosmetic products or go under the knife just to preserve your youthful appearance. There are plenty of natural ways of warding off wrinkles. Here are just a few of those methods to try out.
Avoid sunburn
Working up a tan might temporarily increase your looks, but in the long run it could be causing you to age faster. UV rays from the sun are thought to account for 80% of our wrinkles. That isn’t to say that you should live like a vampire and hide from the sun as your skin needs vitamin D from the sun. However, you should take measures to stop yourself from burning such as wearing sun cream or covering up – by tanning without burning you’ll lessen the impact of the damage. If you do burn, there are plenty of natural aftersun lotions as detailed at www.gardentherapy.ca that can help to resupply your skin with anti-oxidants and counter the damage. You could, of course, avoid the sun altogether and opt for fake tan instead. It gets a bad rep, but it’s far healthier for your skin.
Wear sunglasses
Sunglasses obviously protect your eyes from the sun, but they also protect your skin. Squinting in sunny weather is the major cause of those wrinkles around the eyes known as crow’s feet. Buy yourself a pair of shades to prevent squinting – make sure that the sunglasses are tinted enough as some can be just for show without providing adequate protection to your eyes.
Moisturise
As we age, our skin loses its ability to produce an oil called sebum. This oil helps to hydrate our skin, which in turn stops wrinkles from forming. Moisturisers can help to substitute this loss of sebum. You don’t have to buy a moisturiser from the shops – sites such as www.mindbodygreen.com discuss some of the ingredients in your kitchen such as honey and coconut oil that may work just as effectively.
Drink green tea
There are hundreds of ways in which green tea is good for your body – one is the effect it has on our skin. Green tea contains polyphenols which are a chemical found in many anti-aging products. These polyphenols help to slow down the wrinkling process. On top of this, green tea contains many anti-oxidants which are superb for fighting inflammation such as sunburn. Regularly drinking green tea as a result could in fact help to reduce the development of wrinkles caused by UV rays. If you haven’t already got some of this magic brew in your kitchen cupboard, now is the time to buy some.
Eat more tomatoes
Of all the foods that claim to have anti-wrinkle properties, tomatoes are the most convincing. They are rich in a carotenoid called lycopene. In simpler terms, they contain one of the most potent natural anti-oxidants out there. Lycopene can not only combat UV damage, it can also increase the production of collagen in the skin – the vital enzyme that keeps our skin elastic and firm and wrinkle-free.
Stay hydrated
Drinking lots of water throughout the day is also thought to prevent wrinkles. Water helps to remove toxins in our body, including our skin. Staying hydrated also stops our skin from drying out, which is when wrinkles are most likely to form. You should aim to drink 8 cups of water a day. In hot weather, it’s worth drinking even more.
Quit smoking
Smoking does damage to practically every part of our body, so it should come as no surprise that it’s also bad for our skin. Nicotine in cigarettes limits the flow of blood to the skin, making it harder for the skin to get oxygen and important anti-oxidants. Other chemicals found in cigarettes meanwhile damage our skin’s ability to produce collagen, which helps to keep it firm and elastic. Quitting could slow down the wrinkling process by as much as ten years. Vaping is a good alternative that cuts out many of the collagen-damaging chemicals, although nicotine may still limit blood flow to the skin. Experimenting with e-liquids from sites such as http://www.vaporescence.com could allow you to lower your nicotine intake. Other methods such as hypnosis and chewing gum can also help people to quit.
Get a good night’s sleep
Sleep deprivation can also cause wrinkles to develop more quickly. The most common sign of little sleep is bags under the eyes – after many nights of consistently not getting enough sleep these bags can turn into permanent wrinkles. It’s also whilst we sleep that our body removes toxins from our skin. By not getting enough kip, our body hasn’t got enough time to remove these toxins, and so spots and discolouration and wrinkles develop. Going to bed earlier is the simplest solution to getting enough sleep. If you struggle to get to sleep, try using herbal remedies such as herbal tea. Switch off all screens an hour before bed as these can trick our brains into thinking it’s still daytime. Use earplugs and an eyemask if these help to block out noise and light distractions. Also try to limit stress before bed as this can make us more alert – read a book, have a hot bath or listen to music to calm yourself down and free your mind of thoughts.
Say no to stress
Stress can also damage our skin and not just from preventing us from getting a good night’s sleep. Stress leads to the production of a hormone called cortisol which makes our skin more reactive to spots and rashes. This can cause lasting damage to our skin, which can contribute to wrinkles. If you can’t remove the source of the stress, try finding ways to calm yourself down at the end of each day so that you haven’t always got cortisol surging through your body.