Gone are the days when you could get away with late nights, drive-through meals, and sleeping in last night’s makeup. Now, you’re lucky to maintain the delicate balance you’ve created in your post-youth life. But what if there was a better way to age gracefully and without all of the hassles? Thankfully, turning back the clock on your skin is more achievable and accessible than ever before.
Update Your Skincare Regimen to Meet Your Complexion Needs
The products you use on your skin matter, so it’s important to find the right fit. Your favorite drugstore finds may have worked wonders 10 years ago, but your changing skin may have different needs.
First, analyze your current skin condition and make note of what you see and feel. Keep a list of your observations, paying special attention to the changes you’ve noticed and things you’d like to improve. Focus on outlining the entirety of your current skin state, avoiding placing judgment on what you see.
Common changes seen in aging skin include fine lines, wrinkles, pigmentation shifts, and loss of moisture and elasticity. You may have noticed some differences right away, while others may have snuck up on you over time. Thankfully, you can manage and even reverse the signs of aging with the right products and routine.
Hydration and sun protection are essential for skin of all ages, so choose daily moisturizers with SPF. Include it as part of a repeatable process that addresses your skin concerns, day and night. For example, your evening routine might cycle over four days, starting with exfoliation, topical treatments, and finishing with two days of intense moisture.
Prescription medications that harness the power of retinoids can make significant improvements to skin and deserve a spot in your anti-aging routine. Arrange your morning and evening skincare essentials in an attractive and accessible spot to help improve consistency and your results.
Nourish Your Skin From the Inside Out
What you put into your body makes a big difference in what you get out of it. While it’s more quickly seen and felt in your cognitive and digestive functions, your appearance is influenced by nutrition too. If you’ve placed less importance on your nutritional habits, now is the time to make improvements supportive of healthy aging.
You don’t have to shift to a calorie or macro-tracking routine, but some nutritional best practices are worth following. One powerful yet simple adjustment is to get more whole nutrition into your diet. Prioritize colorful produce on every plate, integrating a variety of fruits and vegetables into your meals.
Food rich in color is an easy indicator of high nutritional value, so let your eyes be your guide. Incorporate colorful vegetables into dishes you wouldn’t ordinarily add them to, and you’ll get the best of taste and nutrition. Roasted zucchini can be tucked under a scoop of pasta while shredded purple cabbage adds a colorful crunch to tacos. Try new combinations and unfamiliar produce, and you just may find a new favorite while enhancing your skin-loving nutrition.
Beyond the fact that whole foods are easier for the human body to digest, they impart multiple benefits. Berries packed with antioxidants can protect the skin from external damage and reduce wrinkle formation. Dark, leafy greens are full of folate, which can help skin repair faster and better. Plus, more fresh produce can increase your water intake, which can improve overall body function and skin condition.
Read Also: 8 Top Most Beauty Myths to Break Out of Right Now
Adjust Your Sleep Habits to Reverse Aging
A solid night’s sleep can seem like an elusive myth, but there are compelling reasons to get adequate z’s. Sleep research and its findings have topped headlines as American routines have changed through the pandemic. With more people working remotely, the flexibility often provided can result in off-hours blue light exposure and poor sleep habits.
However, nature’s secret healer for a myriad of health issues and ailments is sleep. Studies have found that poor sleep can advance aging exponentially and bring on even bigger problems than wrinkles. Increased instances of depression and chronic illness come with their own issues, and their addition only advances external aging.
Give sleep its proper place on your schedule by aiming for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendations. For most adults, seven to nine hours of sleep each night is sufficient to support health and daily demands. If you’ve been severely sleep-deprived, add 30-minutes to your sleep session one week at a time to make a lasting change.
When you sleep, your brain files away the information of the day while other parts of the body repair cells. Sleep is your body’s time to recover, so try to view it as a health action instead of a hassle.
Your Skin Hints at Your Overall Health – Make Sure it’s Saying the Right Things
The first signs of bad habits show up on your face. From puffy eyes after a later night to dry patches from neglectful skincare, your complexion says it all. No matter your anti-aging or beauty preferences, you want your appearance to reflect the real you. The first step in aligning your personality with your outward expression is improving how you take care of yourself.
Shake up your routine to support the real you, so what you see in the mirror is a welcome image. As your skin changes over time, you’ll have the tools to take on everything from texture shifts to wrinkles. And with your outward appearance better reflective of how you feel, you can enjoy the aging process, changes, and all.
