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Reduce Wrinkles Naturally
By: Chris Chenoweth
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There are many simple guidelines you can follow that will help your skin stay as healthy and wrinkle-free as possible. All of these suggestions are simple and can be started immediately.
Don't be a raisin:
Stay out of the sun. This is the first line of wrinkle defense suggested by everyone. Too much sun eventually does the same thing to your skin that it does to dried fruit: It shrivels it up. This is especially true today, as depletion of the earth's ozone layer allows more of the sun's harmful rays to reach your vulnerable skin.
Avoid tanning booths:
They produce the very same wrinkling rays as the sun.
Do Not Scrunch:
It's okay to occasionally make a funny face, but constantly furrowing your brow, squinting, or puckering your lips will, in time, create wrinkles or make those you already have worse. How do you know if you're scrunching? Wear a piece of cellophane tape over your forehead. Every time you furrow your brow, you'll feel the tape start to crinkle.
Keep pillows away from your face:
Sleep wrinkles are wrinkles that are caused by pressing your face into the pillow at night. If you're guilty of this habit, learn to sleep on your back instead, or experiment to find a position where your face is not pressing the pillow. You may see some of your smaller lines fade away.
Don't be a yo-yo dieter:
Gaining a lot of weight can stretch your skin. Then losing weight (especially if you're older and your skin is less elastic) can result in wrinkles because the skin will not completely retract to its original size.
Exercise regularly:
People who are generally in good shape seem to have healthier, more elastic skin than those who aren't. The elastic quality that allows the skin to spring back to its original shape after being stretched is significantly better in athletes and people who are active.
Eat right:
Vitamins and minerals are important to maintaining youthful skin. Among the most important are the B-complex vitamins (found in beef, chicken, eggs, whole wheat and enriched flour, and milk, among other food) and vitamins A and C (found in fresh fruit and vegetables). The best foods for healthy skin are green leafy vegetables, carrots, and fresh fruit.
Don't smoke:
Smoking, in addition to being bad for your general health, can result in premature wrinkling around your mouth due to all those years of puckering lips around cigarettes. Smoking also tends to decrease blood supply to the small blood vessels under your skin, which could exacerbate wrinkling.
Stick with something sobering on Saturday night:
Partygoers and others who hit the bottle too heavily may find that while alcohol drowns their sorrows, it also brings on wrinkles. Why? Because your face puffs up in the morning after you've had too much to drink. And that temporarily stretches the skin. This swelling and subsequent shrinking can create wrinkles.
Use a moisturizer:
No moisturizer on the market can reverse the aging process. If you have dry skin, however, the use of a moisturizing lotion can hide some of the smaller wrinkles that form on the surface. It is important to dampen the skin first before applying moisturizing cream. NOTE: The best natural moisturizer is water. Drink lots and lots of it. Water hydrates your skin from within.
Deal with Wrinkles the Oriental Way:
The way wrinkles are dealt with in oriental medicine is "from the inside out". Massage your face. Using your fingertips, your thumbs, and the palms of your hands, rub every part of your face and neck. Any kind of massage will help to maximize stimulation and circulation. It can also round out the facial muscles, whose symmetry is often lost in fixed or rigid expressions.
Don't be fooled into buying "miracle" creams:
False advertising about certain over-the-counter lotions has popped up everywhere. The claims being made by certain cosmetic companies for anti-aging creams have been found by the Food and Drug Administration [FDA] to be misleading.
Go easy on the suds:
If anything, people in our society tend to over wash. Over washing can lead to dryness, which can create temporary wrinkling. Solution? Wash less and use only extra-mild soaps and rinse extremely well. Spend more time rinsing and less time washing.
Use a humidifier:
Keeping the air in your house moist is great for your skin and may prevent the smaller, temporary wrinkles that sometimes come with dry skin.
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Chris Chenoweth, author of the Do-It-Yourself Home, Health & Money Guide, writes articles pertaining to nutrition, health issues, and household budgeting tips.
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