Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

skin aging

Issues that affect aging skin
 by Mayank

Avoid These Environmental Agers

There are all kinds of little things you can do to prevent premature aging. Follow these types to keep you skin looking younger, longer!

Take Care of Your Pores
Making sure you cleanse your skin appropriately plays a huge role in maintaining the skin’s youthful appearance. Dirt, makeup, and bacteria can clog pores and cause blackheads and uneven skin tone. It is important to cleanse your skin and remove makeup before bed. Sleeping in makeup can really add years to your skin. You should also always cleanse your skin after you work out, so sweat doesn’t sit on your skin causing it to dry out and breakout.

Woman smoking

Don’t Smoke
There are many reasons not to smoke, but if you are looking for one more to add to the list, smoking also ages your skin. Smoking causes wrinkles and dulls the skin. Dewy, bright skin is youthful looking, and smoking causes it to take on a sallow tone.

Be Careful in Dry Climates
If you live in a dry or extremely hot area, keeping your skin hydrated will help preserve its youth. Using thick night creams or overnight masks to replenish your skin overnight can help combat dryness. Looking for products with collagen and hyaluronic acid will replace what your skin losing as you age, keeping it looking young.

Woman drinking

Limit Drinking
Alcohol takes a huge toll on your skin. Drinking dehydrates your skin, and can deprive it of nutrients it needs.

Avoid Sun Damage
The sun causes age faster and more easily than any other environmental factor. It dries out your skin very quickly, and if you are at the pool or the beach, it may be several hours before you can moisturize and rehydrate. Sun spots and liver spots can also form on the face or hands, and they tend to be a dead giveaway when it comes to age. Make sure you wear sunscreen every single day- yes, even during the winter and on cloudy days. Buy a sunscreen with SPF 30 or higher that is non-comedogenic and non-irritating. It also doesn’t hurt to pair your moisturizer with a foundation that also has sun protection. Wearing a hat when you know you are going to be out in the sun for an extended period of time is also a good idea. Sun damage can result in wrinkles and hyperpigmentation, which can age your skin immensely. Too much sun can also cause skin cancer, so protect your skin!

Basically, you should listen to what your mother told you to protect your skin from aging. You should also be taking preventative measures in your twenties to try to maintain youthful looking skin. Using an eye cream is a great way to prevent wrinkles from forming. The thin skin around your eyes could use the extra care. Using a retinol cream can also help prevent signs of aging and keep your skin looking young. Whatever measures you take to prevent aging, don’t forget the sunscreen!

in Live Well 0 comments
Woman smoking outside
 by Mayank

Smoking & Skin Aging

Smoking is an unappealing habit. It leaves you with bad breath, yellow nails, and moreover is linked to a vast host of health conditions such as lung cancer and even depression. What you may not fully realize however is that smoking also leads to significant premature aging of the skin and causes wrinkles, furrows and thinning lips. There’s really no soft way of saying this – if you smoke cigarettes, you need to stop. Many scientists have also stated that smoking adds between 10 and 20 years to your natural age.

It is estimated that around 1 million people start smoking in the United States every year and virtually all will go on to regret this decision as they find out the effect this poisonous habit has on their health, bodies and skin. Some studies have established that smoking is actually worse for women as the nicotine is more addictive. Women who smoke are also twice as likely to have heart attacks, strokes and lung cancer than their male counterparts.

How Does Smoking Age the Skin
The effects of smoking on skin have been known for a long while. One study as early as 1965 identified what is now known as ‘smoker’s face’. What has become more apparent in recent years is exactly how smoking causes premature aging. There are numerous mechanisms by which smoking accelerates aging. It begins with the formation of free-radicals in the body when exposed to cigarette smoke. Free radicals are unstable molecules that cause disease and damage to cell DNA. Smoking also restricts blood flow to the minuscule veins in your skin known as capillaries preventing oxygen and vital nutrients from doing their job. All in all, this leads to a dull, grayish skin tone which has an obviously discolored look.

Additionally, smoking increases production of enzymes that break down collagen in the skin which is integral to maintaining its elasticity. Smoking for many years will also deplete stores of vitamins A and C, both of which are involved in skin protection and health and help to keep harsh UV rays at bay.

Finally, the actions involved in continually sucking on cigarettes and squinting from cigarette smoke causes deep lines to develop around the eyes and mouth. Smoking doesn’t just cause wrinkling on your face, it is also associated with damage and sagging on nearly all parts of the body including your inner arms and neck.

Reversing Skin Damage
Many smokers wonder if they can reverse the damage they have caused to themselves by smoking. Simply put, the best thing you can do to begin the reversal process is stop smoking – although you must realize you will never fully undo the damage that you’ve done. Healthy diets and supplements are great at maintaining skin health. You should also be aware that skin damage won’t usually appear until 10 or 20 years after you began smoking. A proper skin care regimen using anti-aging and moisturizing creams can also assist in preventing the formation of further wrinkles and fine lines.

in Look Well 0 comments
 by Mayank

Resveralife Studies the Connection Between Menopause, Hormone Therapy and Skin Aging

Vine Vera tries to study the connection between Menopause, Hormone Therapy and Skin Aging with the help of various studies and trials available on the subjects. One of the most common examples of where enthusiasm for a drug’s supposed benefits surpassed supporting research is Menopause Hormone Therapy (HT). This therapy was a major feat in marketing and by the year 2002, almost 38% of older women in the US had taken one form or the other of HT. Although evidence of the relief offered by HT was properly supported by scientific data, there was no concrete proof of the supposed long term benefits that this therapy had to offer. Today, there is adequate data which shows that HT actually poses a number of health risks and as a result, many women have already stopped taking the therapy. However, some still continue to advocate that HT can help menopausal women by combating the signs of aging.

 

The main reason why menopause symptoms are quite evident on the skin is because of the reduction in the production of estrogen, which directly affects the moisture content and the elasticity of the skin. It is believed that lower estrogen levels lead to issues like dryness, sagging, wrinkles and skin aging. However, the converse of this assumption hasn’t been adequately proved either. For example, men with higher levels of estrogen don’t necessarily have better skin.

 

In fact, there is very little evidence which supports the theories that menopause leads to wrinkling. A study known as the Kronos Early Estrogen Prevention Study (KEEPS) had performed a clinical trial with 720 menopausal women. This study found that estrogen wasn’t the main cause which led to skin aging and wrinkling. This study also found that the time lapse in menopausal transitions did not affect the skin either. In fact, amongst all aging factors, only frown lines could be directly related to menopause. All other signs of aging were related to cigarette smoking and the aging process.

 

However, even if estrogen isn’t a major problem, women still prefer to use the therapies to minimize and prevent aging, provided the therapies work. Again, the evidence supporting the effectiveness of these therapies isn’t conclusive either. There were two trials that took place with regards to HT – one with Oral HT and the other with Topical HT. The Oral HT trial was conducted in the year 2008 by the Boston University. This study examined 485 women who were offered two doses of norethindrone acetate and ethinyl estradiol. The results did not show any improvements in terms of skin texture, fine lines or wrinkles. The second trial with Topical HT was also conducted in the year 2009 by the University of Michigan. This study actually found benefits upon topical applications. The study showed that the estradiol cream helped to stimulate collagen production. However, these benefits were only seen on areas of the skin where sun damage wasn’t prevalent. Thus, this study also suggested that topical estrogen also has a very limited use.

 

Another solution that was discussed about was the option of using topical progesterone creams. This cream was used in a clinical trial conducted in the year 2005 by the University of Vienna. The study examined the effects of applying topical progesterone cream daily on the face of a menopausal woman. This study also found that although the cream had significant benefits to offer when it came to reducing fine lines and wrinkles, it could not treat skin dryness. However, this study was preliminary in nature and it was too soon to be used in over the counter products.

 

This goes on to show that even though HT did not offer any significant improvements, progesterone could actually help to combat the signs of aging. This led to the question if there were other solutions available as well. Well, the best way to prevent aging is to actually prevent aging. When it comes to aging, having some level of common sense and self discipline can go a long way. Protecting the skin from sun exposure and quitting smoking can alone help you to ensure that your skin stays young and you don’t succumb to premature aging. Using Retinol based skin care products (a clinically proven anti-ager) can also work wonders when it comes to preventing skin aging.

 

Moreover, the supposed benefits of such treatments have always been talked about. But, what about the negative side effects? Side effects such as melasma, a condition which leads to dark spots on your skin. Melasma is perhaps one of the most well documented and long lasting side effects of HT treatments.

 

This leads us to believe that menopause might have a minor role to play in terms of skin aging, but it is in no ways the main reason behind skin aging among middle aged and older women. What ultimately lead to skin aging are factors like smoking, sun exposure and poor skin care habits. It doesn’t make sense to rely on drugs that have very little clinical data to back them up. What ultimately helps you to keep your skin beautiful and supple is basic common sense and the sense of differentiating the right from the wrong. 

in Live Well 0 comments

logo

UNLOCK
20% OFF

Sign up and get 20% off your first purchase!

No thanks, I'll pay full price