Tips to Prevent Wrinkles

Your skin cracks and you get wrinkles as you age, and while it may be inevitable, it can be prevented to some degree. Your chest, neck, and face can be protected should you just know how to prevent wrinkles from forming in the first place.

1. Don’t Smoke

Cigarette smoke ages skin — mostly by releasing an enzyme that breaks down collagen and elastin, important components of the skin.

2. Hydrate

Preventing wrinkles starts from within, and nothing is more important than healthy hydration. Drink those eight glasses of water a day. If you’re an overachiever, drink ten!

Your skin is a living, breathing organ, and beauty truly starts from within, so fill up your water bottles and get to drinking. Start each morning with a tall glass of H2O first thing upon waking. Your body will feel instantly nourished and revved up to take on the day.

3. Eat The Right Foods

The proper diet can make a world of difference to your skin. What we put inside our bodies is just as important, if not more important, than what we put on our bodies to prevent wrinkles. Eat foods rich in antioxidants.

That’s right! Don’t just rely on anti-aging creams; eat anti-aging foods! Choose foods that are bursting with antioxidants — vitamins A, C, E and beta carotene, for example — and they will fight free radicals and cell damage from within.

4. Get Your Beauty Sleep

While you sleep, your body produces human growth hormone, which increases cell reproduction and turnover. This is what leaves your complexion radiant and refreshed after a glorious eight-plus hours of slumber versus sallow after a night of tossing and turning for a mere five.

When our bodies are run down from too little sleep, they produce cortisol, which is a stress hormone that basically undoes all the good that human growth hormone does. It slows cell repair and tissue maintenance and leaves skin dry and dull.

Make a solid night’s sleep a priority so your body can take repair and nurture itself.

5. Moisturize

Make sure you are moisturizing daily! After every shower or bath, slather your skin with a nourishing cream, oil, or lotion. Keep a small tube or container of cream in your handbag as well for when your skin feels extra thirsty.

Before hopping into bed at night, take care to moisturize areas of concern as well — your face, hands, neck, and chest. Look for naturally derived ingredients that can penetrate your skin easily and deeply, like shea butter and coconut oil.

You don’t need to spend a lot of money on some miracle moisturizer, either. More expensive doesn’t mean more effective. You can apply your household olive oil directly to your skin – it’s natural, hydrating, and wallet-friendly!

6. Use Sunscreen

If you really want to know how to prevent wrinkles most effectively, avoid the sun at all costs. That is your most surefire strategy, but it’s a bit unrealistic and, frankly, not a lot of fun!

You want to be able to take a summer vacation to the beach and relax by the ocean, but you need to be smart about it. Pack an abundance of sunscreen with SPF 30. You may be tempted to reach for those SPF 50s and 75s, but there is no need to because they aren’t necessarily any more effective.

Make sure you always choose a sunscreen that offers protection from both UVA and UVB rays. Look for ingredients like zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. They are physical sunscreens, rather than chemical, meaning that they physically block the harmful rays from penetrating your skin — like a mask.

7. Be Smart About Soap

Avoid harsh soaps at all costs. So many soaps that line store shelves these days contain ingredients that actually strip skin of its natural oils. These oils keep skin hydrated, protected, and wrinkle-free.

A good rule of thumb is if you can’t pronounce the majority of the ingredients, don’t use it. Look for ingredients that are familiar and naturally derived, and avoid sulfates which are lathering agents that can be especially stripping.

Protect your skin and keep it nourished with proper hydration, moisturization, and diet. Use these seven tips to prevent wrinkles and to keep your skin looking younger. Comment down below if you have any other tips for us to add to this list.