Anti-Aging: Skin Care That Will Keep You Young

The average woman in the US spends between $200,000 and $300,000 on skin care and cosmetics products in her lifetime. 

Sadly, a lot of us end up wasting many of those products as they either don't work, aren't right for us, or we simply forget to use them.

Why Is Skincare Important? 

You may think you're good to go with washing your skin with soap and water. You likely are if you're only 20. As we get older, we need to step up the care we give our skin. 

The inevitable process of aging involves various functions in the body. One of those is a decline in the amount of collagen we can produce. A reduction in collagen contributes to our skin losing some of its elasticity and the formation of wrinkles. 

The rate with which we lose collagen is slightly dependent on our genetics. Some of us are luckier than others and will see a slower decline in the amount of collagen our body can produce. 

However, if we care for our skin correctly from an early age, we can reduce the chances of premature aging and wrinkles.

Skin Care Guide

Want supple, radiant, bright and youthful skin? Start by following these basic principles: 

1. Choose The Right Cleanser 

Step 1 in our guide to maintain healthy skin is to take a look at your cleanser. Cleansing is essential in your anti aging skin care regime as it removes oil, dirt, makeup, and bacteria from your pores.  

Splashing your face with water just won't cut it. If you want to correctly remove your makeup, you need to use a cleanser.  Ineffectively removing makeup every day can lead to the build-up of dirt and long-term damage to your skin. 

Take a look at your current cleanser. Does it have high pH or other harsh chemicals? These can be damaging to your skin and may strip it of its natural oils. 

Choose a cleanser that is gentle on the skin and won't dry it out or cause irritation. Go for products full of gentle, skin-loving natural ingredients such as aloe vera. 

Get into the habit of cleansing your face and neck properly from a young age, and your skin will thank you as you get older. 

2. Follow With Toner

Toner is an important element of your skincare routine, and often one people skip. 

When you cleanse with warm water, it opens your pores to remove the dirt and oil. 

Using a toner helps to close those open pores and reduce the size of your pores too. It is also an effective way to prepare your skin to absorb the other products you will put on it.  

3. Use a Serum 

Serums are a sure-fire way to stay looking youthful. There are dozens of serums on the market; for anti aging purposes, choose one full of antioxidants and hyaluronic acid.

Hyaluronic is an important ingredient in anti aging skincare as it helps to retain the moisture in your skin and reduce the appearance of fine lines. It helps to combine the collagen in your skin with water to give your complexion a smooth and radiant appearance.

When learning how to care for your skin correctly, it is important to remember how you apply your products. Poor application can affect the skin's appearance.

Applying serum and creams should be done very gently. Use a circular upwards motion when you apply them, and don't drag the products across your face.

4. Eye Cream

Our eyes are the first part of the face that start to show signs of aging. The fine lines around the eyes can be due to a lack of skin care products or from carelessly taking off make up over the years.

Try to always remember to gently remove your makeup and not drag the cotton pad across your eyes. For a gentler, more skin-friendly removal, you can gently tap your eyelashes to dissolve the mascara, and other eye make up.

Once you have cleansed, toned, and added your serum, it's time to add eye cream. These creams designed specifically for the delicate area around your eyes can help reduce dark circles, fine lines, and puffiness.

An eye cream that contains peptides is excellent for improving the appearance of the top layer of skin around the eyes. 

5. Moisturizer

As we age, our skin starts to lose moisture as well as collagen. To keep the moisture locked in and prevent the appearance of fine lines, we need to moisturize.

You should moisturize morning and evening to reap the rewards. Moisturizing is the last stage in your skincare routine as it helps to seal in all the other products you have applied.

Use a moisturizer rich in antioxidants that contains collagen-stimulating ingredients such as bakuchiol.

6. Exfoliate Weekly 

On top of your twice-daily routine mentioned above, you should exfoliate at least once a week. 

Exfoliation helps remove dead skin cells and the build-up of dirt and excess sebum. It helps you maintain a radiant and healthy complexion. 

Try not to over-exfoliate, though, as this can cause damage and irritation to your skin.

Don't Forget SPF! 

One of the largest contributors to premature aging is sun damage. The sun's harmful UVA and UVB rays can cause the breakdown of collagen. 

This may cause fine lines to appear prematurely. The sun can also cause pigmentation and uneven darker patches on your skin. 

The most effective way to prevent sun damage is with an SPF. Wear SPF daily, even if the sun isn't shining. The harmful rays can still penetrate through clouds. 

You can wear a hat to protect your skin from the sun and stay out of the sun during the middle of the day when it is at its strongest. 

Choose an SPF that is at least factor 30 and put on a generous amount every morning. You can layer SPF on top of your moisturizer. 

Eat Skin Loving Foods

It isn't just what you put on the outside that affects your skin, but what you put inside too! 

Damage to the skin is caused by free radicals in our environment; this can be anything from pollution to cigarette smoke.

Eating foods rich in antioxidants can help fight these free radicals and improve the appearance of our skin. There are plenty of skin-loving foods that can help you maintain a young appearance for longer. 

Try adding berries, spinach, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and mangos into your diet. Regularly consume whole grains and try to limit the amount of processed food you consume.  

Drink green tea and use antioxidant-rich oils such as olive oil and avocado oil. 

If you struggle to add antioxidants to your daily diet, try taking some antioxidant supplements. 

Don't Smoke

Another of the biggest contributors to aging skin is smoking. Smoking constricts your blood vessels and reduces the amount of blood that can feed nutrients to the skin. 

The chemicals in cigarettes can also cause the collagen in your skin to break down. For this reason, smoker's skin tends to become wrinkled and saggy long before nonsmokers do. 

If there's one rule to follow for how to look younger, it's to give up the cigarettes. 

Stay Hydrated

Drinking plenty of water is another excellent way to ensure your skin stays youthful and supple.

As we mentioned, your skin becomes drier as you age, so ensuring you stay hydrated from the inside is an important aspect of taking care of your skin. 

Drink at least four pints of water a day to keep your skin in its best condition. 

You need plenty of water for your cells to fight and repair the free radicals that can cause damage and premature aging. 

Take a 360 Approach 

Maintaining healthy, youthful-looking skin takes a lot of work. As this skin care guide has shown you, it's not just about the products you use but also your lifestyle. 

Take the steps we have mentioned to improving your overall health; future you will be very grateful for it. Glowing, youthful skin is a sign of wellness that has been cultivated over a lifetime of good habits. 

Start taking care of your skin with paraben-free products that contain natural ingredients to nourish and replenish your skin. The FirstFitness Nutrition Anti Aging System is a great place to get started.