Getting older comes with many benefits and a few drawbacks. Now that the population is living longer, people in their 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond are putting more emphasis on aging gracefully with an all around better quality of life.
One key to aging slower is looking younger. A long-running study from the University of Otago has found that, in addition to biological factors, how a person perceives their well-being affects the aging process. When we look younger we feel younger and in turn we age slower.
Genetics are a determining factor in how we look as we age, but there are many choices we make every day that also influence our appearance. Here are five ways you can age more gracefully and possibly even slow the aging process:
Improve the Look of Your Skin by Knowing What It Needs
As you age, your skin, like everything else, changes. Some things, such as sun protection, are a constant need while others depend on where you're at in life. Over time repeated facial expressions create fine lines and wrinkles, collagen and elastin production slows and exposure to UV rays and free radicals impede skin cell repair.
Fortunately, there are ways to reverse these affects. It all hinges on nourishing your skin with the right ingredients that can counteract the aging process.
- · Vitamin C is a vital nutrient that can help boost collagen production, aid in cellular repair and protect against UV damage.
- · Peptides are amino acids that convert into proteins and aid skin function.
- · The Vitamin A derivative known as retinol speeds up cellular turnover that slows with aging.
- · There are a number of antioxidants including green tea that stimulate collagen and protect against harmful free radicals.
Dermaclara Clarafuse is a new treatment that delivers these ingredients in a revolutionary way. With any topical cream or gel, penetration into the skin is key. Dermaclara's Clarafuse treatment utilizes surgical grade silicon pads that are infused with ingredients and can be worn up to 12 hours. This helps to ensure that the ingredients sink in where they are most beneficial.
Regardless of the products you use, creating a daily skin care regimen is key. You'll need to protect, cleanse, moisturize and nourish skin every day to keep it looking younger and healthier.
Be Conservative With Cosmetic Surgery
Cosmetic surgery can work wonders, but it can also have disastrous results. This is usually the case when people go overboard. Today's fillers and Botox injections are a perfect example of how someone as young as Kim Kardashian can negatively impact their appearance.
If applying eye cream is enough to enhance your skin and features, then surgical intervention may not be necessary. If you can work on replenishing moisture and softening lines over time a facelift can be overkill. Subtle enhancements will make you look great for your age. Overdoing it with cosmetic surgery creates an artificial appearance that never looks good no matter how old or young you are.
Support Your Body With Healthy Foods
What you put into your body has the biggest affect on how it looks on the outside, and more importantly how it feels. Food truly is the fuel that powers everything from your heartbeat to skin cell turnover. Without essential nutrients, vitamins and minerals our bodies aren't able to work efficiently.
Eating a diet of whole foods and minimizing the amount of processed foods will help to ensure that you are consuming fuel that will make you feel and look younger. The USDA Choose My Plate program provides invaluable advice on how to adjust your diet as you age and base meals on your activity levels.
Strengthen Yourself Inside and Out With Exercise
Exercise is just as beneficial for looking younger as it is for staying in shape. Since exercise can tighten and tone skin all over the body it's only logical that being physically active will help you appear younger.
Now new research shows that even people who begin exercising later in life can reverse the skin aging process with exercise. The outermost layer of skin called the stratum corneum gets more dense with age while the underlying layers of skin become thinner. This contributes to sagging and wrinkles. McMaster University researchers have found that regularly exercising three or more hours per week could reverse these results of aging.
One of the most enjoyable physical activities that have been proven to make people feel and look younger is sex. Scientists have found that engaging in regular sex can make a person look seven years younger.
Let Your Inner Confidence Shine
One of the biggest advantages of being an older woman is the confidence that comes with age. Inner confidence is one of the most attractive attributes of both men and women. It's an allure that you can't put your finger on, but draws you in all the same. When you let your confidence shine through people won't notice a few wrinkles.
