It’s every young woman’s nightmare. Waking up one day and either finding a grey hair (not me yet, thank God) or spotting a wrinkle from one too many sunbeds and alcohol fuelled nights out. We’re only young we can’t possibly be dealing with the signs of ageing just yet. I mean I have so many other things to worry about like who’s going to fund my next holiday because I obviously don’t want to pay for it myself.
But fear not. Below are 10 simple things you can do to prevent those terrible signs of ageing. I know for one I do not wish to be 35 looking 53 and we all know white people generally age like milk so I guess I should be making a conscious effort to stay well maintained. Join me by taking a look at the following…
- Use firming lotions. As we age we lose collagen and elastic tissue which means everything starts heading south. If you thought only your breasts lost their shape with age then you’re wrong – the skin on your body starts to sag and droop too. Oh great. Use a firming body lotion twice a day to keep skin tight and toned.
- Wear sunscreen. This is not what us young guys want to hear during our twenties as surely this is the ultimate time to tan and spend our days looking bronzed? The biggest cause of ageing is sun damage though unfortunately (plus cancer is a thing so, uno..). Rough skin, pigmentation and wrinkles are a lot worse when your skin has been exposed to a substantial amount of sun. Use a facial moisturiser with at least SPF 30 in everyday to protect from harmful rays – even on dull, cloudy days.
- Apparently drinking from a straw will give you wrinkles around your mouth. So umm, man up and ditch the straw when sipping on your JD and coke. I know I know, lipstick issues all round. Sigh.
- Stock up on antioxidants. To keep your skin looking fresh and healthy you need to pack your diet full of antioxidants. Berries, dark chocolate (yuck) and beans are a start.
- Stay active. Do you like how I said ‘stay active’ instead of ‘go to the gym?’. Walking an extra 15-2o minutes a day or doing an at home squat challenge is still beneficial in keeping your metabolism ticking over fairly quickly and maintaining a toned body.
- Wash your hair less. Time to stock up on Baptise because the more we wash our hair the more we strip it of natural oils. The natural oils on our scalp decrease with age anyway so we should be preserving them as much as we can.
- Exfoliate. As we age, our cell turnover rate slows down. This is the process in which our skin cells travel from the lowest layer of our epidermis to the top most superficial layer to be shed off. As this slows down (from roughly every 21-28 days in your twenties and every 40-50 days in your later years) the duller and rougher your skin becomes whilst it is waiting to shed.
- Avoid bar soaps. I think we’ve all experienced how dry they leave your skin. Continuously dry skin loses radiance and will leave you looking lifeless. Sometimes dry skin is handy for eliminating the odd spot but it’s best to just leave it and dab concealer on it instead of trying to dry it out.
- Eat raspberries. Low in calories but high in fibre, raspberries help boost digestion and aid in weight loss as they keep you feeling fuller for longer.
- Keep your routine simple yet effective. Our skin thins out and becomes more sensitive as we get older so using 38 different cleansing lotions and foundations will only eventually cause sensitive reactions and end up giving you the spots you were trying to avoid.
You might have been hoping I was going to inform you of something truly spectacular and never heard of before but following these 10 simple rules will help in your quest to remain youthful for longer. Forming these good habits will benefit you for a lifetime. Plus- they’re not exactly complex so there is absolutely no excuse as to why you can’t start right away.
I purposely refrained from mentioning anti-ageing products because although I believe it is good to jump on the wagon early and educate yourself on how anti-ageing ingredients work on your skin, starting too young may have an adverse effect. Use something long enough and it stops working the way it did when you first experimented. If it’s not broken, why fix it? Smothering your skin in too many complicated products before your skin is in any real dire need for it will only decrease its ability to work the way it should.
If you have any anti-ageing solutions for young women let me know in the comments below or contact me via my contact page 🙂 Do you already follow any of my 10 tips? Tell me which ones and how exactly you use them!