8 Ways To Slow Down Your Ageing Process:

How Can I Stop My Face From Ageing?

It's not great to see you're getting older through your skin, but the process can be prevented, and by following these 8 steps, it will help slow down the skin ageing process.

Why Is My Skin Ageing?

As we are all aware, skin changes the older we get, however here are 8 methods to slow down the ageing process.

#1 Protect Your Skin From The Sun

Protecting your skin from the sun is the ultimate way to prevent skin ageing, as sun damage is caused by harmful UV Rays- UVA and UVB.

UVB rays are mainly responsible for producing sunburn and play the greatest role in causing skin cancers, including the deadly black mole form of skin cancer malignant melanoma,

UVA rays also play a role in skin cancer formation. In addition, the UVA rays penetrate more deeply into the skin and play a greater role in premature skin ageing changes as well, including wrinkle formation (photoaging). There are approximately 500 times more UVA rays in sunlight than UVB rays.

So, to prevent these harmful rays affecting your skin you should do the following:

1. Wear SPF everyday, and not just when it’s sunny, as sun damage can occur all year round! We recommend DermaQuest Sheer Zinc SPF30.
2. Wear a sun hat and sunglasses.
3. Try to sit in the shade where the sun isn’t directly on you.
4. If you want a glowing tan, then use a self tanning lotion or mousse.
5. Avoid the use of sunbeds as they have the same harmful UV Rays as the sun does.
6. Try DermaQuest tinted SPF as a physical protector helping to give your skin a little more of that sun kissed glow!

#2 Stop Smoking

Cancer Research states that there are more than 5,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke, and many of them trigger the destruction of collagen and elastin (fibres responsible for your skin’s strength and elasticity). Smoking or even being around secondhand smoke degrades the building blocks of the skin and the consequences include sagging skin and deeper wrinkles.

Nicotine causes blood vessels to narrow, reducing oxygen flow and nutrients to skin cells and with other chemicals in cigarettes, smoking behaviours and other factors may contribute to wrinkles and premature ageing of the skin.

As well as this, a number of chemicals trigger molecular events that remodel or damage structures necessary for skin elasticity and health and relating to the act of smoking itself, repetitive squinting and lip pursing can contribute to lines around the mouth and eyes.

The damage therefore to your skin from smoking can't be reversed but, if you quit smoking now, you will no longer accelerate the problem and may prevent worsening of the damage.

 

#3 Have A Healthy Diet

Whilst most of us know that an unhealthy diet is detrimental to our skin, it also plays a part in fighting the effects of sun damage on our skin.
How? You may ask. Well, exposure to UV rays promotes the formation of free radicals which can cause damage to components of our skin that give it its structure and firmness. Elastin and collagen can therefore be damaged over a period of time, which can result in more prominent fine lines and wrinkles.

Eating antioxidants-rich foods, such as colourful fruit and vegetables, helps to fight free radicals, and you can read more about this in our Antioxidants blog post.

#4 Exercise Regularly

It’s no news that exercise has a number of benefits including being great for the heart, lungs and mental health. To add to that, exercise is also one of the keys to healthy skin!

Here’s how…

By increasing blood flow, exercise helps nourish skin cells and keep them vital, with blood carrying oxygen and nutrients to working cells throughout the body, including the skin. In addition to providing oxygen, blood flow also helps carry away waste products, including free radicals, from working cells. Therefore, increasing blood flow in a bout of exercise, will help to flush cellular debris out of the system. You can think of it as cleansing your skin from the inside.

Exercise has also been shown to ease stress and by decreasing stress, some conditions that can be aggravated by stress can show some improvement, such as acne and eczema. Studies show that the sebaceous glands, which produce oil in the skin, are influenced by stress hormones so it’s important to keep these regulated.

#5 Stay Moisturised

As we get older collagen and elastin diminishes slightly and skin cell turnover becomes slower. This decreases more and more the older we get, leading to the start of lines and wrinkles. In addition to this, as we age our skin will become drier and tougher therefore taking steps to continuously and regularly moisturise your skin is one of the best ways to keep your skin healthy.

Your body will also produce less hyaluronic acid, unfortunately!

Hyaluronic acid is directly connected to your skin’s ability to maintain or to retain moisture. It is your body’s inability to produce a sufficient amount of hyaluronic acid that causes your skin to start to look rough, flaky or cracked as you get older. This is one of the reasons why it is so beneficial to moisturise ageing skin.

Some great hyaluronic acid products we recommend are DermaQuest Essential B5 hydrating serum and the Advanced B5 hydrating serum.

#6 Get A Good Sleep

The skin is the largest organ of the human body (covering an average of 20 square feet), so sleep is vital for healthy skin. Without regular quality sleep, you begin to notice an increase in fine lines, uneven pigmentation and reduced elasticity in your skin. Simply put, you will look older than your actual years would indicate because lack of sleep weakens the skin’s ability to repair and rejuvenate itself.

During eight hours of sleep our bodies go through three distinct stages that contribute to our overall well being and aid in the nightly restoration of our skin.

In the first three hours of sleep the pituitary gland produces somatotropin, the human growth hormone. This hormone contributes to the maintenance of youthful and healthy skin. Without somatotropin your skin does not repair as well from day to day so inadequate somatotropin production will accelerate the ageing process.

Production of the hormone melatonin increases during the next two hours of sleep so this works as an antioxidant that helps protect the skin from damaging free radicals.

During the final stage known as REM sleep (Rapid Eye Movement), your cortisol (a stress hormone) levels begin to decrease along with skin temperature. As the skin cools, our muscles relax and collagen (a protein found throughout the body) production increases. This makes skin more supple and smooth, easing out fine wrinkles so good sleep that promotes collagen production allows the skin to make its strongest recovery of the night.

#7 Limit Alcohol

Drinking alcohol results in two things, dehydration and inflammation. We understand that you may not want to stop drinking alcohol completely but frequent consumption means you’re probably not getting the sleep you need which can lead to dark circles and a whole plethora of skin issues including:

 

• Loss of elasticity, leading to wrinkles and sagging skin
• Dryness
• Dullness
• Enlarged pores

Also with inflammation leading to problems such as:

• Increased redness or flushing of the skin
• Acne
• Blotchiness
• Puffiness
• Rosacea

Alcohol is a diuretic, which means it causes the body to make and release more urine and this means that the body loses more water and salt than usual. Dehydration due to alcohol can also dilate the pores of the skin, leading to an increase of blackheads and whiteheads. If this is poorly treated, it can go on to cause acne and rosacea and in the long term, this ages skin and can cause permanent scarring.

Reducing the effects of alcohol is pretty simple - stay hydrated! Water is like liquid gold for the skin so drinking water in between alcoholic drinks can counteract the dehydration that alcohol may inflict.

#8 Use Wrinkle Fighting Products

Moisturising alone can improve the appearance of your skin as it temporarily plumps the skin, making lines and wrinkles less visible. Moisturisers like lotions, creams, gels and serums are made of water, oils and other ingredients, such as proteins, waxes, glycerin, lactate and urea.

Wrinkle creams often are moisturisers with active ingredients that offer additional benefits with these added ingredients intended to improve skin tone, texture, fine lines and wrinkles. The effectiveness of these products depends in part on your skin type and the active ingredient or ingredients.

Some of the common ingredients are:

• Retinoids. This term is used for vitamin A compounds, such as retinol and retinoic acid and these ingredients have long been used topically to help repair sun-damaged skin and reduce fine lines and wrinkles. We recommended trying DermaQuest Retinol Peptide Serum.
• Vitamin C. This is a potent antioxidant, which means it protects the skin from free radicals (unstable oxygen molecules that break down skin cells and cause wrinkles). Vitamin C may help protect skin from sun damage and reduce fine lines and wrinkles and it’s good to remember that before and between uses, wrinkle creams containing vitamin C must be stored in a way that protects them from air and sunlight. Try the Obagi Professional-C Serum 10%, 15% or 20%.
• Hydroxy Acids. Particularly AHA’s (Alpha Hydroxy Acids) include glycolic, citric and lactic acid and are used to remove dead skin cells. Using an AHA product regularly prepares your skin to better absorb other products and will help to stimulate the growth of smooth, evenly pigmented newer skin and has also been shown to be effective in reducing fine lines and wrinkles. DermaQuest Retexture Serum is a great product to use for this.
• Peptides. These molecules occur naturally in living organisms with certain peptides being able to stimulate collagen production. They have been shown to improve skin texture and wrinkling so we recommend trying either DermaQuest Peptide line corrector, DermaQuest Stem Cell rebuilding complex or DermaQuest Stem Cell 3D Eye lift as a great option!
• Niacinamide. A potent antioxidant which is related to vitamin B-3 (niacin) which helps reduce water loss in the skin and may improve skin elasticity. Also good for acne prone skins! We recommend DermaQuest B3 Youth Serum.

Following these 8 steps will get you on the right path to healthy, youthful skin for longer and slow down the ageing process.

For any more information or to speak to a professional you can book an online consultation with our GlowBay expert who can advise you and get you on a tailored plan for your skin!