Ageing is something that we only think about when it’s already happening and when we can’t do too much about it. This usually happens later in life when we start getting fine lines and wrinkles, but in our early years, we don’t really consider the things we do and how they can cause ageing. This article looks at everyday things that age your face
Table of Contents
Everyday things that age your face
Eating too much sugar:
This habit can be detrimental to your goals of keeping youthful-looking akin. When you eat large amounts of sugar the molecules attach themselves to protein fibres in your cells. This process will leave your skin looking duller, will increase fine lines on the skin, will add wrinkles to your skin and will cause you to lose your youthful plumpness and colour
Not getting good amounts of sleep:
You won’t look your best if you do this at any age. If you lose sleep when you’re young you’ll develop bags under your eyes and puffiness. When you’re older not sleeping well will shorten your life span and will make you look more tired and even older. More on how sleep can affect skincare here.
Rubbing your eyes
The skin around your eyes is the thinnest. As it ages it needs to be well taken care of. If not then the eyes will age quicker making you look older. If you want to combat this you’ll need a good eye cream or eye serum to make sure that you don’t develop wrinkles too early in life.
You don’t wear sunscreen
Sunscreen is so important as it prevents premature ageing and burns by protecting you from the UVA and UVB rays of the sun. The UVA rays make you age faster than you should. Skipping sunscreen will allow the sun’s rays to damage your skin making you age faster. You need a good one like this one to fully protect your skin. If you don’t want the oily look after using sunscreen read my article on how to avoid this.
Using products that dry out your skin
This can be in the form of skincare products that dry out your skin or makeup products that dry out your skin. The drier your skin is the higher your chances of getting wrinkles and fine lines are. This is especially true if you use drying products the older you get. As we age our skin needs more nourishment to maintain. If you let it get dry then it will make you age faster.
Improper sleep
If you sleep with your face or cheek in the pillow (not face up) then you’ll develop wrinkles on your face. Most pillows are often not slippery enough for you to be pulling your face against it, when you move the pillow pulls your skin and causes wrinkles.
You leave the central heating on:
This is usually done in the winter. When you turn the heaters on that the air in the room becomes dry. As a result, your skin is exposed to dry air. When your skin is exposed to dry air your skin gets dry and this increases the chance of you getting wrinkles. Use a humidifier at night to hydrate your skin.
Duckface
Well I mean pursing your lips in general, this includes smoking, drinking from a straw or anything that needs you to create that face shape. You will develop lines on your face around your mouth if you do this, this is similar to getting lines around your forehead when you squint.
Avoiding fats:
As young people, we might want to cut out fats when we start diets or for a variety of other reasons. This is not helpful to your skin as the skin needs those fats to stay plump, youthful and supple. You need to make sure that you are eating good fats such as nuts, fish and avocado.
Smoking
Smoking has a variety of problems which include health concerns. As if that isn’t enough reason to stop then maybe premature ageing will be. Smoking will make your insides age as well as your outsides. You will notice that your skin will not look as full and plump as they once did. Your cheeks will become sunken and you will get wrinkles as well as suffer from a dull complexion.
Alcohol:
This is a diuretic meaning it will dry your skin out. The drier your skin becomes over time the more prematurely you age. This can also make the appearance of conditions such as acne and wrinkles look much worse than if you weren’t drinking.
Not exercising:
In order to keep our skin looking fresh and youthful, you need to be working out on a regular basis. If not then you won’t get those amazing health and skincare benefits of exercising.
What happens to your face as you age?
As we age our body starts to produce less collagen in the body. Collagen is what keeps our skin supple and bouncy, we usually start to produce less collagen when we reach our mid 20’s.
Ageing also causes a loss of muscle tone as well as thinning of the skin, the thinner the skin the more it will drop. The thicker more supple skin you have when you’re young is what would otherwise keep your skin looking wrinkle-free, when the skin thins out it creates wrinkles.
Ageing can also cause your skin to develop dark spots and age spots, you’ll find that you develop blotched skin because of ageing and sun exposure.
How can I stop my face from ageing?
You can’t stop your skin from ageing but there are a couple of things you can do to make the situation better. You’ll need to consistently do this in order to minimize the signs of ageing as you get older. You should do these things when you’re younger in your 20’s for a better result when you’re older. These include:
Don’t smoke: smoking comes with health risks but it also makes you age much faster than you would have if you stopped smoking or hadn’t smoked in the first place. The act of smoking will make the wrinkles around your mouth look worse and will give you dull skin, a shallow completion and winkles
Eat healthily: the better you take care of your body the better your body will take care of you, eating a diet that is rich in fruits, vegetables and fish will help make you look younger for longer. The more sugars and carbohydrates you eat the faster your face will age
Protect your skin from the sun: this can include using a good sunscreen with at least SPF 30 (and using enough of it) or keeping out of the sun for as often as possible. The sun sends UVA and UVB rays to the sun, the UVA rays age us faster and the UVB rays cause us to burn. A good sunscreen will protect us from both
Use self-tanner if you need to: using tanning beds and the sun to get the tan you want can put you at risk of developing premature ageing faster. Use a safe tanning solution to get that brown look you want
Drink less: alcohol has a drying effect on the skin, the drier the skin is the more wrinkles you get, drinking also damages the skin making you look older.
Are wrinkles genetic?
Everyone will get wrinkles, when we get those wrinkles is genetic. The timing of when you’ll develop wrinkles is genetic but sun exposure also has a lot to do with when you’ll develop wrinkles. Using sunscreen on a daily basis will greatly decrease the signs of ageing in the future. Ageing happens because of a variety of factors.
What vitamin is good for collagen production?
Amino acids: you can easily find amino acids in fish, you need to eat your fish with the skin to get the maximum amino acids. There is a rich supply of amino acids in fish and the amino acids in the fish will help your body produce collagen
Vitamin c: you don’t have to drink orange juice to get your vitamin c, vitamin c can be found in a variety of foods including red bell peppers, tomatoes and berries to name a few. Red bell peppers are chocked full of vitamin c, eating more of it will help your skin produce more collagen
Zinc: you can find zinc in beef or if you would like a vegetarian option to go for whole grains and legumes. Zinc is essential for collagen production in the skin and beef, whole grains and legumes are high in zinc. Beef also contains glycine, proline, and hydroxyproline. Which are the 3 amino acids which make up collagen
Can wrinkles be removed?
You can’t remove your wrinkles entirely but there are some things you can do to minimize the appearance of wrinkles and make them look less severe:
Using retinol: this is a product that can be used by teens to people with more mature skin, it works by promoting cell turnover on your skin. When this happens your skin is triggered to produce more collagen and this thickens the skin making your wrinkles look less deep. It also helps to reduce rough skin, hyperpigmentation and uneven skin tone
Aha’s: these are chemical exfoliators and they exfoliate the skin quite well but in a gentle way. These fruit acids include acids such as glycolic acids and lactic acid. Exfoliation using Ahas is thorough but it doesn’t give you the same results that retinol would, but Ahas can make a subtle difference
Deep peels: these peels peel off the top layer of skin and this smoothens out fine lines. Examples of deep peels include the TCA peel, the phenol peel and the salicylic acid peel. Unfortunately, because they peel quite deeply there can come with some side effects which include changes in skin colour and scarring. You should always have these done at a professionals office
Laser resurfacing: this is something you can have done at a dermatologists office, it entails using a laser to trigger your skin to produce more collagen which will thicken and plump up the skin making your skin look and feel smoother.
Injections: these include botox, botox relaxes the muscles that create the wrinkles and frown lines on your skin. Botox injections are being done more and more these days and the results can be quite good. There are other injects you can do called wrinkle fillers which fill in your wrinkles. Both of these need to be done by a doctor and have to be replaced to sustain the look.
I hope you enjoyed this article looking at things that age your face. I hope you think about it and make any necessary changes to your life. If you found it interesting please share it.
