Everyone wants to maintain youthful, bright and healthy appearance but time has no mercy. We are all affected by its destructive influence. Luckily, now, we are stronger than ever. Equipped with better armours and weapons to fight against it. In this article we will introduce you effective techniques, you can use in the war with time.
Know your enemy – how exactly our skin age?
Skin ages as well from inside and outside. We name those groups of processes accordingly intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic processes are connected to inevitable metabolic changes occurring naturally, as our body ages, and they depend mostly on our genetics. There is a little we can do with those. What is worse, this programmed ageing might be quickened by strong and powerful allies – extrinsic ageing processes. Making it simple – things that happen to our skin due exposure to external influence, such as: sun, environment, lifestyle and diet .
With age, skin is bound to lose its proliferation ability – starting from basal layers cells, gradually becomes unable to regenerate. Body produces less collagen and elastic fibres, so that skin becomes flagging and lacks firmness. Due to reduction of oligosaccharides it is less able to retain bound water, and becomes harder to be properly hydrated. As we mentioned before, those inevitable processes might be strengthen drastically by outer invaders. Let’s see who they are and how can we keep them out.
Sun – the strongest enemy
Not everyone is aware that our beloved, closest star, under which we love to enjoy beautiful sunny summer days, has its dark side. Yes. Sun is the evil one. It is responsible of 80% of externally caused skin damages. Destructive factor is an ultraviolet radiation (UV) it emits. Dermal cells exposed to UV rays, thickens, which interferes with natural balance. It affects connection between dermis and epidermis, and also weakens cellular regeneration ability.
How we can fight it?
Unexpectedly the best anti-ageing cosmetic is the simple sunscreen with a decent SPF (Sun Protection Factor) rate. We don’t mean mere SPF10 filter. Use stronger one – we recommend SPF50. Have you ever been curious about what makes Korean people look so young? Yes. They know this secret well. Besides using cream with the filter, additional SPF protection is usually included in Korean makeup products.
We should also protect our skin from the inside, and again – the solution is easier than expected – we just need to absorb enough Vitamin C, preferably around 500 mg a day. Vitamin C is a strong antioxidant which not only fights against radial influence, it also fights off toxic substances, we are exposed to.
Environmental pollution
It’s no secret that nowadays we are unwillingly exposed to destructive substances included in the air, water and even things we eat. The most harmful and the easier to be exposed to, are fine dusts (especially PM 2.5) and heavy metals, present in the air we breathe and walk in. They cause an oxidative stress which damages our DNA, lipids and proteins in dermal cells.
How we can fight it?
First of all we should avoid spending too much time outside, when the AQI (Air Quality Index) is bad. We can be up to date with it thanks to plenty of applications, available to install on our smartphones. They will monitor the AQI according to our current location. Secondly, enriching our diet with Vitamin C, that neutralizes influence of toxic substances. Drinking green tea or lemon juice is also a good idea. They have strong detoxing function.
Curious about Korean ways to protect against it? See a fully dedicated article: LINK
Lifestyle and diet
They say that we are what we eat. That’s right. Sadly, we are also what we drink and what we smoke. Every substance absorbed by our digestive and respiratory system has its influence on every organ, which includes the skin. The most destructive substances, we willingly treat our body, are nicotine and carbon monoxide, alcohol and sugars. Just like things we inhale with polluted city air, cigarette smoke causes oxidative stress and nicotine disrupts natural balance and thus weakens dermal cells regenerative ability. Alcohol dehydrates body and also drains it from helpful substances, such as vitamins. No wonder, smoking and drinking people look much older than those who lead a healthy lifestyle. As well too strict, as totally reckless diet might speed up the process of ageing. Extreme diets focusing on losing weight lacks fats, including advantageous for the skin Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids. It results with lack of firmness, dehydration and getting saggy. Reckless, junk diet contains too many sugars, especially monosaccharides. They are quickly analysed to glucose, which raises the insulin levels, resulting in inflammation. Inflamed organism produces enzymes which mess with elastin and collagen, crucial for our skin’s youthful appearance.
How can we fight it?
Quitting smoking and reducing alcohol intake would be considered as a good decision. Watching the diet, not going extreme in any way and remember to eat products rich with above mentioned fatty acids Omega-3 and Omega-6 is certainly worth a try. Remember also about proper hydration. Water is the best dietary supplement for young skin. But we all know it is not easy to change our habits. Start with small changes and observe results. If you are too busy to eat properly, invest in dietary supplements. You can easily buy omega acids and vitamin pills in any pharmacy and even supermarket. You may grow natural desire for the change.
Turning back time
If minor or major skin ageing symptoms have already appeared, don’t lose your hope. You can still restore your youth thanks to many effective anti-ageing procedures we offer, such as tread lift, SMAS lift, fat grafting and many more. Wondering about which would be the best for you?
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