You spend most of your childhood and adolescence trying to look older than you are. Then, somewhere around your mid 20s, something inside you shifts and you realize that looking older means looking old. Suddenly you find yourself panicking and buying every “age defying” product on the market. How else will you be sure you’ll still get carded when you’re in your 50s?
Unfortunately, you cannot freeze your face or force it to look as great as it did when you were 22. There are, however, things that you can do to prevent speeding up the aging process and most of them are really easy.
- Accept Your Adulthood
Stop using the super harsh cleansers and other skin care products you used as a teen! Products marketed to teens are built to combat highly problematic skin problems and are going to be too harsh for the skin you have now. In fact, those harsh chemicals might be causing your skin to age more quickly! Switching to gentler cleansers like Aveeno or Dove or even natural cleansers that you make yourself with olive oil and oatmeal are better for your skin. If you still suffer from severe acne or other conditions, work with your dermatologist to find a treatment that will help protect your skin as well as treat it.
- Stop Sleeping in Your Makeup
Yes, we know how tired you are at the end of the night but sleeping in your makeup wasn’t a good idea when you were younger and it is a terrible idea now. Makeup seeps into your skin, simultaneously drying it out and clogging it. That dryness and those clogs can cause cracking, wrinkles, acne, scarring…you get the idea. You worked hard to create that perfect look, we know, but you don’t want to look like that forever. Get into the habit of taking off your makeup every night as soon as you get home. Your skin will thank you for it.
- The Sun Will Never Be Your Friend
With so many cosmetic products and moisturizers containing UV protection now, there is no reason to ever let your skin sit unprotected. Zero. If you rarely wear makeup, invest in a good moisturizer with sunscreen or, heck, a high quality sunscreen built specifically for the skin on your face is fine too. Whatever you do, though, don’t skip the sunscreen. If you do, you’ll look more like your leather purse than yourself by the time you’re 40. Trust us on that.
- Be Kind to Your Eyes
You know you’re getting older when you actually start using the eye cream you buy. The skin around our eyes is the most susceptible to the signs of aging. It’s the skin that is most likely also to show signs of bloating, tiredness, illness, etc. Be kind to them! Eye cream only goes so far. Although I am hearing some pretty good things about Forever Flawless anti-aging products as far as effectiveness goes. It’s also good, for a few minutes each day, to just shut your eyes and “cool them off” for a little bit. You can place cold cucumbers or tea bags over your eyes. You can also use frozen peas or a cool cloth. The idea is to reduce swelling and let the skin relax for a little bit.
- Call them Freckles
Age spots, sun spots, whatever you want to call them, the first time you see them in the mirror is horrifying. Suddenly you picture yourself covered in splotches. Stop! Don’t panic. Most age spots are caused by sun exposure, so if you’re upping your sunscreen game you’re already close to preventing more spots from popping up. To help reduce the appearance of the sun spots you have now, there are lots of over the counter products to help you with that. Natural age spot removal products that use essential oils have proven to be really gentle and effective at reducing the appearance of age spots.
Remember: be really kind to your skin. Young looking skin is basically undamaged skin, right? So protecting your face and “babying” it is the best way to keep from looking old too soon.