Wrinkles are a part of aging and life. While we know to expect wrinkles, as we get older, some of the battle has nothing to do with age. Here are some bad habits that affect your skin’s aging process so you can cut them out as soon as possible:
If you want to keep your skin healthy and young, the old saying that you are what you eat is definitely true. Eating too much sugar and high-glycemic foods doesn’t just impact your weight—it could make you look older, too. Through a damaging process called glycation, sugar molecules attach to the proteins in your skin, causing them to become stiff and malformed. This results in a loss of facial elasticity, as well as contours, puffiness, and fine lines. Refined sugar and other simple carbohydrates also trigger inflammation
All alcohol dehydrates the skin. This means your skin will appear less plump and fresh the morning after you drink alcohol. Over time, your skin will lose elasticity and form wrinkles due to a lack of hydration. Alcohol can have a huge negative impact on your vitamin A level, which is a very important antioxidant for your skin and body, and it is vital in the regeneration of new cells.
Smoking is the most common cause of wrinkles. There have been studies of twins that showed proof of this in stunning detail.
If you sleep on your face, you can get sleep wrinkles from the pillow. It’s best to sleep on a satin pillowcase that slides across your face. The other alternative is to sleep on your back.
Stretching your skin to apply makeup creates wrinkles—and is generally frowned upon in the makeup world. You should do your makeup how everyone else is going to see you, and hopefully it’s not with your mouth stretched opened and eyebrows lifted so you can put on your mascara. It’s about moving your whole face when you’re applying makeup, not stretching it so it’s flat.
When you sleep in your makeup, you’re basically asking for wrinkles. The makeup and environmental pollutants you accumulate during the day seep into your pores, breaking down collagen and elastin. This can speed up the aging process and leave you with fine lines and wrinkles.
We’ve all been told to never skip the sunscreen, but it’s often tempting when many of us spend our days indoors. Even a few minutes of sun exposure can lead to a breakdown of collagen, though, and that leads to fine lines and wrinkles. Choose an SPF 30 and one that has zinc oxide or titanium dioxide.