You may not be ready to start looking at retirement homes yet, but your face could be showing more signs of your age than you'd like to admit. They haven't found a way to literally turn back time, but that doesn't mean you can't fool everyone by finding ways to look younger. Follow these four tips to start channeling your boyish good looks instantly.
The Problem: Eyes That Make You Look 10 Years Older
If you want to get rid of crow's feet and puffy eyes, it may be time to kick your vices to the curb, especially if one of them is smoking. Staying up late at night isn't helping your appearance either, since late nights will cause blood to pool underneath your eyes, which cause dark circles. If there's too much sodium and alcohol in your diet, you're retaining water, which is making your eyes puffy and swollen. You don't have to cut out all of your very favorite things (except maybe for smoking, you know better), but you should start cutting back on living a life of excess. Also, use an extra pillow when you sleep, which will help stop fluid from giving you bags under your eyes.
Okay, so you're human and you had a late night during which you smoked, drank and ate French fries. For a quick fix, place a couple of cold cucumber slices over your eyes for 15 minutes (yes, just like in the movies) before heading out. Cucumbers have a natural astringent that will constrict the blood vessels around your eyes and they'll also cool off inflamed, irritated skin.
The Problem: Gray Hair
Don't panic-you're not the only young guy in the world who has gray hair. It's not fun, but it's no reason to hide your mop under a baseball cap for the rest of your days, either. First of all, look on the bright side-having a bit of silver on your temples makes you look kind of distinguished. If you're not quite ready to embrace your new grays, though, you can make your ‘do a little more peppery and a little less salty. A word of warning: do not attempt to color your hair on your own, you'll end up with an unnatural color, at best. Instead, book an appointment with a professional stylist and ask her to add lowlights, which will target the strands of your hair that are lighter than you'd like them to be.
The Problem: Wrinkles
Being a beach bum at 20 years old was cute-as you near 30, all of that sun exposure is starting to show on your forehead. Every woman knows that getting rid of fine lines and wrinkles isn't impossible and it's time men jumped on the bandwagon, too. The key is to keep your skin moisturized and plump-even if you can't actually erase wrinkles, you can certainly reduce their appearance. Now is the time to start hydrating your skin. In the morning, slather on lotion that contains SPF. At night, use a thicker lotion to get you through the evening. Also, cut back on sugar-too much sweet stuff can produce advanced glycation end products, which are molecules that will damage your skin's collagen, leading to more wrinkles.
The Problem: Yellow Teeth
The foods you love, like red wine, coffee and berries, will stain your teeth over time, making them look yellow and dingy (old, to put it bluntly). You can naturally exfoliate the stains on your teeth by eating other types of healthy foods, like celery, raw carrots, apples, broccolis and greens with a crunch. If eating salad every day doesn't brighten your smile enough, try a whitening toothpaste or a teeth whitening kit.
Published on behalf of Terrie Reynolds, a professional blogger that provides consumers with new and information on ethnic skin care and grooming products. He writes for Chemistry, a top distributor of men’s grooming products.
