Aging combined with harsh environmental stressors, can have undesirable effects on our skin, causing our faces to lose volume, develop fine lines & wrinkles as our collagen starts to break down, and increases the appearance of uneven skin tone, uneven texture & dryness. Diagnosing your skin concerns can be difficult, but there are a number of preventative measures you can take to keep you looking fresh and youthful.
As we age, our skin begins to sag, leaving the face looking tired and sunken. This is as a result of the fat in our faces gradually clumping up, sinking and becoming jowly in the lower parts of our face overtime. While there is not a lot that you can do to avoid this aspect of aging, there are certainly other preventative and curative measures that you can take to ensure that your skin stays plump and supple for longer.
Fine lines, especially around the eyes and mouth, are consequently a result of sun damage and other detrimental factors such as smoking. Dullness and uneven skin tone is also a major repercussion of sun damage and environmental pollutants. Whereas wrinkles develop overtime as a result of tugging repeatedly on our facial muscles when we use expression or emotion. Evidently, one of the most important precautions to take is to be sun safe. This includes wearing sunscreen daily, and covering up with broad brimmed hats when exposed to the sun for a long time. There are however plenty of other non-surgical methods that you can use to help treat these concerns if it is too late for prevention. A nourishing and hydrating skin care routine, targeting your particular skin concerns is a good place to start.
If you are prone to spots, or notice that you suffer from inflammation, eczema, or rosacea, you may be surprised to learn that it could be a sign of an unhealthy gut. While the most noticeable symptoms are bloating, cramping, diarrhea and blood in the stool, the appearance of your skin could become affected too. If the gut microbiome found in your intestines isn’t functioning as it should, it could influence how your skin looks. To prevent these problems from getting worse, you should be mindful of what you are putting into your body. Nutritious and healthy foods, as well as supplements like Bio Complete 3 have all been known to make a positive difference to the health of your gut, so this may be something worth considering if your skin has left you feeling insecure.
For dull or uneven skin tone, an important step to brighter skin is exfoliation. Hyperpigmentation is the irregular darkening of skin, and it may develop due to a number of factors including rapid hormonal increases, sun exposure, facial inflammation or pollution. All in all, hyperpigmentation is the result of a build up of dead skin cells which blocks the pores, dulling the cells of the skin’s surface. To treat uneven skin tone, uneven texture and dullness of the skin, begin by using a chemical exfoliator. Chemical exfoliators slough off dead skin cells without harming the skin’s surface. Exfoliating should occur 1-2 times a week for optimal results. After exfoliating, your skin’s pores are left open and vulnerable to free radicals in the environment. This is why moisturising is another important step to treating your skin concerns. Regular moisturising builds up the strength in your skin through hydration, developing a protective barrier to allow your skin cells to repair. Choose a moisturiser to suit your particular skin concern. Combine these two steps; exfoliating and moisturising to your regular skin care routine, overtime the effects of uneven texture, dullness, or uneven skin tone should begin to diminish.
If you suffer from fine lines, wrinkles or inelastic skin, then the best treatments tend to be more chemical in nature. Once the skin has sunken or become creased it can be difficult to plump the skin once again without surgical treatment. There are however a few ways to minimise the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles on a daily basis. Nowadays, there are multiple serums, masks and treatments on the market to help fight these signs of aging. But there are a few key ingredients to look out for to tackle these skin concerns. Retinol, which is a compound including Vitamin A, and Vitamin C are the most potent natural ingredients that can treat aging skin. This is because they are both antioxidants which neutralise free radicals, including oxygen molecules that cause the breakdown of skin cells, allowing your skin to develop wrinkles. Other active ingredients to look out for include niacinamide and peptides as they improve the appearance of stretched skin by increasing water retention and improving skin elasticity through hydration.
But the most effective way to treat aging skin is prevention. Be sure to apply sunscreen to your face every day, with at least 30+ SPF. Always wear hats and sunglasses when exposed to the sun for long periods of time, avoid smoking, get at least 8 hours of sleep a night, and drink plenty of water on a daily basis. If it’s too late for prevention, then look to curative measures to treat your major skin concerns.
