What you put on your skin and what you put in your body both have a huge effect on how you age-- and how good your skin looks as you do it. Want your skin to look younger longer? Use this skin care checklist to make sure you’re doing everything you can.
Change Your Diet
1. Out with the Bad & In with the Good. What you eat has a huge effect on how you look. Reduce the amount of sugar, trans fats, and processed foods you eat-- they break down collagen and elastin, dramatically aging your skin. Replace the bad stuff with plenty of antioxidant-rich foods and Omega 3 fatty acids.
Antioxidants neutralize the free-radicals that age skin, while Omega 3’s help to reduce inflammation (redness and swelling) and give your skin a healthy glow.
2. Hydrate. According to most experts, you need at least eight eight-ounce glasses of water a day. Drinking plenty of water keeps the skin hydrated and the body functioning better.
3. Add Some Vitamins. Think about adding at least a daily multivitamin to your diet. Really want to see the effect of taking vitamins on your skin? Try an anti-aging skin care vitamin with antioxidants, Vitamin C, and essential fatty acids.
Keep the Sun Out
4. Wear Sunscreen Daily. Nothing ages skin quite like too much sun exposure. So wear a zinc oxide sunscreen every single day-- even if you’re not planning on spending much time outside.
5. Get Big Glasses. Large sunglasses with 100% UV protection are great for looking chic… but they also protect the delicate skin around the eyes from sun damage.
Put on Some Products
6. Add Topical Skin Care Products. Most skin care products out there don’t do much. But some, such as retnoids (generally sold in the form or prescription creams), do have an obvious effect on your skin. Also think about adding topical antioxidants, peptides, and plenty of moisturizer.
7. Boxtox It. Want to combat the wrinkles you already have? Consider getting Botox injections around the eyes or the forehead to reduce the appearance of wrinkles. A bonus? Botox also acts to prevent wrinkles.
Cut Out Bad Habits
8. Don’t Over-Worship the Sun. Love to sun-bathe on a hot summer day, or go to the tanning booth all winter to get a warm summer-looking tan? Don’t. More than 15 minutes a day of prolonged sun exposure will age your skin.
9. Just Say No. Are you a smoker or a heavy drinker? Cut it out. Alcohol dehydrates the body, and smoking in particular ages your skin dramatically-- even over-exposure to second-hand smoke can do plenty of damage.
10. Don’t let Stress Take Over. Too much stress can actually age your skin. How? High stress levels raise the amount of a hormone called cortisol in the body-- and this hormone has an effect on your skin’s appearance.
Change your Lifestyle
11. Get Exercise. Any activity that affects the health of your body will affect the health of your skin. Making sure to exercise regularly will relieve stress and improve your body’s circulation and overall health.
12. Get some Z’s. Think you’re too busy to sleep? Think again. To improve the tone of your skin, you need to get seven to nine hours of sleep a night. When the body gets enough rest, wrinkles and under-eye circles are less noticeable and hormones (which have a huge affect on skin) are better-regulated.
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