This article is about Anti-aging tips and rituals I wish I knew when I was much younger. Anti-aging is a topic that many people are interested in, as we all want to look our best no matter how old we are! Unfortunately, the signs of aging show up earlier than we would like them to. We can't stop time from ticking but there are ways to slow it down and prevent some of those telltale signs.
We tried to focus on some more unusual anti-aging rituals, so you won't hear us talk about how drinking water or exercising will have anti-aging benefits. And neither will we talk about getting enough sleep and removing make-up before bed. These tips are an accumulation of personal experience, some searching on the web and looking back thinking 'Damn why didn't I just do these!!!' So here they come, let me know what you think!
Wear Sunglasses to Prevent Squinting
It may seem obvious but when you squint your eyes make these repetitive strenuous movements that encourage the development of fine lines. Wear sunglasses with UV protection to prevent this damage from happening. Also, wear sunscreen every day even if it's cloudy outside because sun exposure whether light or dark still causes wrinkles and other signs of aging like uneven pigmentation etc.
Drink Fresh Carrot Juice
Help protect your skin from the sun from the inside out. Drinking fresh carrot juice will help your body produce vitamin A. Vitamine A is produced from the carrots beta-carotene. It helps protect against sunburn and will help heal the skin faster when you do get sunburnt. Other than protecting your skin from UV light, it will also reduce redness and acne, and stimulate the production of collagen. And most of all it will give you a nice glow because of all the antioxidants that are found in the carotenoids of carrots. You can make your own freshly juiced carrot juice, perhaps add a bit of apple and ginger in case you don't like the taste. But fresh juice would be better than prepacked processed carrot juice.
Double Cleanse
Washing your face with two different sets of cleansers will help remove all the accumulated dirt and dead skin cells from your face. It is suggested to make sure you use two different cleaners, but using the same one will still be twice as effective. You can use an oil-based cleanser followed by a water-based cleanser. The first will remove oil-based properties, such as make-up and sebum. It will also remove any pollution particles that have landed on your face. The water-based cleaner will then be able to clean more thoroughly removing sweat, and other dirt. This routine will allow your skin to absorb nutrients from other products more readily leaving your skin more radiant, fresh and healthy.
If you only have one type of cleaner at hand, double clean with that. It will be more effective than just doing one round of removing impurities from your skin.
Look after your hands!
Protect your hands to reduce aging signs. They are often the first part of our body that shows aging, and we can do something about it!
Use a moisturizer every day. Keep them hydrated with creams containing shea butter or cocoa butter. These ingredients will nourish and repair skin tissue making your hands look younger in appearance over time. Anti-aging hand cream is an ideal way to keep this area looking young because these products usually contain vitamin E which has antioxidant properties (prevents damage from free radicals). Also, try using Manuka honey on your cuticles if you have very dry or cracked hands as it's rich in anti-oxidants too just like Shea/Cocoa Butter.
Ultra Violet light degrades DNA
Ultra Violet (UV) light degrades DNA, which is why you will find scientists using UV to kill bacteria and make an environment sterile. The sun UV will also break down the DNA in our skin. Even though we have all sorts of repair mechanisms in place these in time could also be damaged and over time your skin will show signs of aging. Being a massage therapist I can tell you that a 70-year-old woman will still have the skin of a 20-year-old on the areas that were not exposed to the sun. I am always so amazed seeing the difference on the face, arms, and chest in comparison to the rest of the body. So use a moisturizer with SPF to combat signs of aging of the skin.
The Importance of Relaxation
If botox will remove wrinkles, and botox relaxes the muscle one can only assume that focussing on relaxation will help prevent the fine lines and wrinkles to appear in the first place. Not only will relaxation help the outside of your skin look more relaxed and less stressed, but removing stress will give you anti-aging benefits which work from the inside out.
Stress will have all sorts of effects on the skin, it will give us bags under our eyes, give us dry skin, and can cause wrinkles as the skin's proteins structure changes, which results in reduced elasticity which will allow forming the formation of wrinkles. We can start frowning because of stress, which will leave lines on our forehead and the area between our eyes. Eleven lines are very difficult to get rid of.
Relaxation using massage and meditation is a great way to relieve stress. It will lower cortisol levels and increase serotonin, which is a good thing. Having high levels of cortisol in your body will not only make you feel stressed but this stress hormone will have the result that the collagen together with elastin of your skin will break down.
Allowing the Qi to Flow
Qi means "Vital Energy" in Chinese. Qi flows through meridian paths in the body. Meridians should be seen as an energetic network that facilitates the distribution of Qi. When this Qi flows with no obstruction it will keep the body healthy, when these meridians are blocked illnesses will occur.
In the West, we use acupressure points to release blockages. In Asian cultures they pay a lot of attention to working with Qi, also known as energy flow, and moving this qi is sometimes called "energy work" or "Qigong."
The Gua Sha massage tool aims to work unblock the meridians, Qi, and blood. The Gua Sha scrapes all the impurities out of the body. By working with this ancient tool the qi will flow again through all meridians which are blocked by "stagnant" qi. We can compare it to a traffic jam in our body when we have pain somewhere in our body.
Anti-aging From The Inside Out
If you want to age gracefully, taking care of the inside of your body is more important than what you put on the outside. We can compare it with a car that needs an oil change now and then; if we do not take care of our bodies by removing toxins, giving them anti-aging nutrients like antioxidants (which prevent damage from free radicals). Remove unprocessed food from your diet, avoid trans- and saturated fats, sugars, caffeine, alcohol, sodas, and smoking tobacco. Anti-aging from the inside out is so much more important than what you put on your skin.
If we want to age gracefully, it's all about being happy and taking good care of ourselves internally. Anti-aging beauty rituals should be focused on eating healthy which will have anti-aging benefits working from the inside out.
Get a Retinol-based Moisturiser
Retinol-based creams will have anti-aging benefits. Anti-aging creams with retinol have become popular because they help to prevent and even diminish fine lines, wrinkles, age spots, and other signs of aging. Retinoids are a form of vitamin A that has been used for many years as an anti-acne treatment. Retinoids stimulate collagen production, which makes the skin look younger. Anti-aging creams with retinol also help in removing dead cells from the surface of your skin and it will reduce wrinkles because this vitamin stimulates cell turnover.
Retinoic acid (tretinoin) is a derivative of Vitamin A that has been shown to improve fine lines, dullness, red marks, hyperpigmentation spots made by sun damage.
Make sure that you test out a retinol product beforehand as they can sometimes lead to irritation and help the skin feel dry.
Be Mindful of Your Inner Voice!
This might not be as obvious to have an anti-aging effect, however, if you don't have a compassionate inner voice towards yourself it will show on your face. If you have a harsh inner voice for example you might not smile as much frown, feel insecure, and might end up suffering from low mood and depression. So start being mindful and talk to your inner voice, ask it why it's saying the things it is or just tell it to bugger off and not let it drag you down.
So these were the tips I wished I was a bit more mindful of when I was younger. Ideally, we all want to age gracefully without feeling like we’ve given up on our youthful spirit. However, most of all, the anti-aging rituals you choose must make you happy, and not just make you look good in pictures or but make you feel better about yourself. We know it may seem hard to find joy at every stage of life but there are plenty of things we can do now (like taking care of our emotional health) and later (like practicing gratitude) that will put us on a path towards happiness no matter how old we get!
What are some of your anti-aging habits? Share with us in the comments below! And don’t forget to subscribe for more content like this.