How to Keep Your Skin Young-Looking As You Age

With proper care and a little knowledge, you can maintain younger-looking skin past the time when our grandmothers started to show their age.

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

Let me start by saying one thing…. SUNSCREEN!!! This is far and away your biggest defense against ageing skin. Gone are the days when tanning ourselves to a crisp is considered healthy and beautiful. While having a temporary tan might look good for the moment…. underneath you are doing major damage to your skin. Not to mention the increased risk of skin cancer. Never go out without sunscreen, even on a cloudy day, harmful rays are present.

Suppose you have never really taken care of your skin, it’s not too late. A trip to a good esthetician is worth its weight in gold. She can recommend products that can start you on your road to lovely skin. If you have a lot of brown age spots and poor texture, you can benefit from a chemical peel. I started with an Obagi Blue Peel. Let me warn you though; it’s not for the faint of heart. When the product is applied, it hurts but only for a short couple of minutes. Downtime is no easy road either…. for 7 days you will look pretty scary, so plan accordingly. But having said that, once the old skin flakes off your skin will be as smooth as a baby’s behind. It was absolutely amazing. You can maintain with regular mini peels, good skincare products and sunscreen.

Retinoids as in Retin-A or Renova (a gentler Retin-A) are key in keeping wrinkles at bay. Daily washing with a glycolic acid facial cleanser helps exfoliate and keep your skin younger-looking. I use Image Total Facial Cleanser, but there are many good ones on the market.

Don’t forget to moisturize daily! Find one that doesn’t clog your pores and is compatible with your skin type. Moisturizing also comes from within by drinking lots of water. At the very least 8 eight-ounce glasses a day. Your body is 60% water, so if you are dehydrated, it will show in your skin, this is a no brainer. So, drink up!!!

Nutrition plays a huge part in how you age and how you look. The old adage ‘you are what you eat’ still holds true. In this day and age of fast food and fast living, our bodies pay the price. I like to keep it simple, fruit, veggies, lean meat such as turkey and fish. Think color; if you have a colorful plate, chances are you are getting all of the above. Suppose lots of white is present that’s not good. Too many starches take a toll on your waistline and your skin.

Last but certainly not least is getting plenty of exercise. You don’t have to be a gym rat to get a good workout although it doesn’t hurt. Just plain old’ walking and some strength training with dumbbells at home will get your blood flowing. Exercise gets everything working the way God meant it to work. Things get cleaned out and tuned up from head to toe, and the result is a healthy glow to your skin that can’t be gotten any other way.

So, grammas of the world unite, vow to start taking care of your skin and you will thank yourself a million times over. Just recently, I picked up my grandson from school, and they kept calling me ‘mom’. When I informed them that I was Gramma, not only of him but 17 more plus 2 great-grandchildren they were astonished. So it can be done, just a little dedication on your part and you can have younger-looking skin well into older age.

Oops! I almost forgot a very important point. Get a restful night’s sleep, try for at least eight hours. When you don’t get enough sleep, it shows immediately on your face. Develop a routine of going to bed at the same time and getting up at the same time. Your body and skin will thank you for it.

The best advice I can give you is to have a joyful heart. This will give you an inner beauty that shines through and can’t be bought. My joy comes from knowing Jesus Christ, and I highly recommend to all.