Everybody’s skin loses elasticity as time goes by. Examining someone’s skin is the quickest way to determine their age. But are you doing things that make your skin look unnaturally older than it really is? There are skin enemies out there lurking, waiting to steal the youthful dew from your face. You can defeat them one at a time.
Public Enemy #1: The Sun
You might have already learned that everything fun is bad for you. This particularly applies to your skin. Alcohol is severely dehydrating, pulling moisture out of your body (and skin) as your liver struggles to clean itself. The less alcohol you drink, the better for your skin. Smoking is a double-whammy for your skin. Not only does tobacco constrict the blood vessels, making it harder for healthy, nourishing blood to reach your skin, but the act of smoking itself causes wrinkles. Smokers over age 50 will notice pucker lines around the mouth from repeatedly closing the lips over a cigarette filter.
Remember how mama used to warn, don’t make that expression or your face will get stuck that way? She was just teasing, but there is a bit of truth to what she said: If you keep making the same facial expression, it will create lines in your face. Squinting into the sun is the prime cause of “crow’s feet,” those little wrinkles at the outer edge of the eyes. Worried eyebrows create those vertical lines above the nose. Scowling with disapproval—repeatedly, over half a lifetime—will leave you with both of the above and also those sad parentheses around your mouth. Lighten up to save your skin! Or at least, as an elderly friend told me: “Smile, so when you get old, all your wrinkles will be in the right places.”