Look Younger Naturally:
10 Quick Anti-Aging Tips
With Lasting Results
Start the age-reversal process right now!
The skin is your body's largest organ. It goes without saying that things that harm your general health will also affect your skin and its appearance.
So for starters, reduce stress, quit smoking, and avoid exposure to pollution, chemicals, and excessive alcohol and drugs. These stressers will age you!
There are also many simpler steps you can take to look years younger. The following tips are completely natural procedures to reverse your skin's aging and will produce immediate results.
1. Sleep.
You already know that getting enough sleep to allow your body to repair itself is essential to good health. It is probably the single most important thing you can do to look younger. But did you ever consider your sleeping position? Sleeping on your stomach or your side squishes your face into your pillow, reinforcing and even creating lines, folds and wrinkles. Sleeping on your back will prevent this. Excess fluids will also drain away, reducing morning puffiness. (Note: Keeping a pillow under your knees will allow for a more restful position for your lower back.)
2. Protect Yourself from the Sun.
It can't be emphasized too much: to look younger throughout your life, protect your skin from the sun. If nothing else you've heard or read hasn't convinced you yet, consider this. For years I have driven my children around town and myself to work. I have been the driver far more often than I've been a passenger. In my mid 40's, it began to show. On the left side of my face (the one exposed to the side window) there are dark brown age spots, where there are virtually none on the right. Who would have thought that the sun damage incurred in my car would be more evident than damage caused by summers at the beach?
Use complete sun protection as part of your skin care regimen every day. It will be the best treatment against fine lines and wrinkles you will ever use.
3. Exercise!
No doubt you've experienced that regular exercise (to keep nutrients flowing to all parts of your body) makes you look and feel younger. Nothing rejuvenates the skin, and serves as an anti-aging treatment more than getting your heart pumping and your blood flowing! But if that hasn't provided enough motivation, maybe it will help to know that taking just 10 minutes a day for aerobic activity (instead of the 20-25 thought previously) has now been proven worthwhile.
4. Keep the Blood Flowing.
Another way to get the blood flowing is externally, through gentle skin massage. Starting with your jaw line, use the soft pads of your fingertips to slowly and gently press in on the same area on each side of your face. Take three seconds to slowly press in, three seconds to hold and three seconds to slowly pull away. Be sure your movements are in an upwards direction. Repeat this all over your face to encourage blood flow and fluid movement. Pressing up just under your eyebrows will reduce puffiness and give an instant lift.
Also try running the backs of your fingertips (your nails) up the sides of your face through the day. You'll encourage relaxation of your expression, and will also change the flow of energy. Notice the uplifting feeling?
5. Avoid Sugar.
You've always known that processed sugars provide little nutrition and a lot of calories, but there is now evidence that sugar also prevents skin renewal at the cellular level. Skin renewal is one of your best anti-aging functions your body provides. That should be sufficient reason to take excess sugar out of your diet!
6. Hydrate.
Water keeps your skin hydrated and helps your body eliminate free radicals and other toxins. In addition to drinking at least 8 (8-12 oz.) glasses of pure water a day, you should provide moisture from the outside. A humidifier in your house, especially in the bedroom, will hydrate your skin, make it look younger and serve as one of best anti-wrinkle boosts you can give your skin.
7. Consume Antioxidants.
It is widely accepted that eating an antioxidant rich balanced diet will help your body, including your skin, the body's largest organ, stay healthy. But did you also know that your skin benefits especially from consuming vitamins A, B complex, C with bioflavinoids, E, K, chromium and zinc? Skin also needs some fat, so if you're on a low-fat diet and notice dryness or general deterioration, boost your fat intake.
8. Avoid Chemicals.
Check the ingredients in your cosmetics. Are they ones you really want to absorb through your skin? Avoid petro-chemicals (mineral oil and petrolatum) in your skin care products, as they are suspected carcinogens. There are also many ingredients which can become carcinogenic under certain conditions. (Click here to learn more about safety in cosmetics)
Citrus essential oils (lemon, lime, orange, bergamot, mandarin, grapefruit) cause sun sensitivity and should not be used before exposure to the sun. You'll also want to be cautious about vitamin C. Although vitamin C increases the synthesis of collagen (a structural protein in skin) and helps fight free radicals, it oxidizes rapidly when exposed to air. Even before your cream turns a yellowish tint, the vitamin C could be rendered not only ineffective but actually counter-productive. It's best to get your vitamin C through food.
9. Choose Beneficial Ingredients.
Look for these wholly beneficial ingredients: hyaluronic acid (promotes softer hydrated skin and reduces fine lines), emu oil and apricot kernal oil (both light, absorbable oils that won't clog pores), and peppermint oil (stimulates skin cell renewal).
10. Use Smoothies Facial Line Removers.
Simple, safe and completely natural treatment, Smoothies® will help make you look good - and feel good!