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Ageing is unfortunately a sure fact of life… Despite this, it doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom, as there are actually some steps you can implement into your routine to preserve your youthful glow for many years to come. Whilst we cannot stop the ageing process all together, there are ways in which we can help ourselves to age gracefully. In this post, we’re going to be sharing our top tips!

 

What Is the Ageing Process?

 

Firstly, it is important for us to understand what happens to our skin during the ageing process. In our mid to late twenties, our skin starts to produce less collagen and elastin than it once did. These are the components which are responsible for keeping your skin supple, firm and resilient. Our late twenties are when most of us first start to notice signs of ageing and when many people consider coming in for non-surgical tweakments, such as anti-wrinkle injections.

As we get older, so does our skin, which means that there will be changes to the way that it looks and feels. You may notice that your skin becomes rougher and drier. This change in texture is due to your skin producing less oil than it once did, therefore it feels more textured. In addition to this, you may start to notice pigmentation marks such as age spots and melasma cropping up on the skin from past sun exposure. Volume loss may also be a big concern for you. With age, comes loss of volume in our tissues, which leads to us having a more sunken appearance.

 

Our Top Tips

 

  1. Cut Down on Alcohol and Stop Smoking

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This should be an obvious one, however it still needs to be said. Whilst alcohol consumption is fine in moderation, it is recommended to keep consumption at a minimum when it comes to keeping your skin healthy. This is because alcohol dehydrates the body, and in turn dehydrates the skin. Over time, this can have a significant impact on your appearance. When your skin is dehydrated, it lacks the essential moisture that is needed to repair itself and keep it supple and firm. You will notice when your skin is dehydrated that fine lines and wrinkles become more apparent, and your skin feels rougher.

Profhilo is an amazing treatment that we offer at our skin clinics. It works by replacing lost moisture within the skin’s tissues, using a high dose of hyaluronic acid. This gives the skin a very much needed boost of hydration and helps to firm up the skin and reduce fine lines and wrinkles. You can find out more about Profhilo here.

Smoking is the ultimate weapon against healthy skin. Regardless of whether you eat right, work out regularly and have a solid skincare routine, smoking will undo all of this healthy progress. It is one of the main causes of premature ageing, as well as being responsible for a whole host of other medical issues. Cigarettes contain thousands of chemicals, which when inhaled, lead to free radicals and oxidative stress entering your skin’s tissues. This pollution attacks the building blocks of your skin, leading to a destruction of your skin’s fibres (collagen and elastin), resulting in the skin losing its elasticity. Smoking also reduces oxygen flow within the tissues, which contributes to the skin appearing sallow. When you quit smoking, you will notice that within a few months, your skin looks more refreshed and regains some of the moisture that it once lost.

 

  1. Avoid Overdoing Certain Facial Expressions

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This step can be hard to control, however it is important to be aware of. Every time you make a certain facial expression, it causes the muscles underneath the skin to contract. Over time, these contractions can lead to permanent lines forming on the skin. Whilst this is a natural part of the ageing process, it can also be controlled to some extent.

If you find that you squint your eyes a lot, you may find that you start to develop fine lines around the eyes, called Crow’s Feet. This can be helped by wearing sunglasses when going outside in the daylight, or finding glasses that help to improve your vision. Similarly, frowning often can cause lines across the forehead to appear. A treatment that we recommend for this concern, is anti-wrinkle injections. Anti-wrinkle injections work by temporarily weakening the muscles in the area of concern. This then allows the skin to relax and reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles significantly.

 

  1. Sun Safety

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We all know that the sun is one of the main culprits for premature ageing… so it’s important that we take note!

SPF should be worn daily, all year round. This is your only defence against protecting your skin from the sun’s harmful UV rays. Exposure to the sun can cause issues such as melasma, age spots, fine lines and wrinkles, as well as skin cancer, so you need to be protected. Use a broad-spectrum SPF that is factor 30+ to give yourself the best defence. We highly recommend the SPFs from the award-winning brand Heliocare, which come in many different forms. For more information about our Heliocare SPFs, take a look at this post.

Fake tan should always be favoured instead of a real tan, whether that be from sitting outdoors or in a tanning bed. Both tanning beds and the sun emit UV rays which are harmful to the skin’s tissues, so therefore we say fake it till you make it!

 

  1. Use Essential Skincare Ingredients

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To prevent signs of ageing and to keep your skin hydrated, supple and glowing, there are a few ingredients that you should look out for when choosing your skincare.

Ceramides

Ceramides are fatty acids that are naturally occurring within the skin. They help to strengthen the skin’s barrier, which protects against damage from pollution and oxidative stress. When used in your skincare, they work to strengthen the skin’s moisture barrier and lock in the essential hydration that it needs. Ceramides can often be found in cream form, so look out for these when picking a moisturiser.

Hyaluronic Acid

Hyaluronic acid is a humectant, which is also naturally occurring in the body. It has the primary function of drawing in and retaining water within the skin’s tissues, making it the ultimate hydrator… This is the reason why it is the main component in dermal filler!

When applied topically, it instantly gives the skin an influx of hydration. If used regularly, it can also help to keep skin firm and supple, whilst encouraging the production of collagen and elastin.

Hyaluronic acid most often comes in serum form, that can be applied daily underneath your moisturiser. We love this one from Juliette Armand.

Retinol

Retinol is a superhero in the skincare world. Derived from Vitamin A, Retinol helps to resurface the skin, which can help to tackle ageing related concerns such as fine lines and wrinkles, pigmentation and dull skin. Retinol stimulates the production of new, healthy skin being formed, which leaves you with that healthy and youthful glow. Our favourite Retinol is the Retinol 1.0 Cream from Obagi, which is a gentle but effective product.

 

Make sure to follow us on Instagram @simplyclinics & @dryoussefhaffar for more skincare tips!

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