CHANGING THE WAY WOMEN AGE.

5 Practical Tips on How to Manage Holiday Stress

Wrinkles: What Are They,

What Causes Them, What Prevents Them

The Ancient Stoics were way ahead of their time when they recommended focusing on what you can control and letting go of what you can’t. And wrinkles are no exception.

While there are a few factors about wrinkles that we can’t control (there is a natural aging process after all), you may be surprised to learn that there are way more factors that you CAN control.

Thank the heavens for not leaving us helpless, right? It’s empowering to learn the handful of actions we can take to age gracefully and delay/reverse the appearance of wrinkles for as long as possible.

So let’s start at the beginning and get the skinny on what exactly wrinkles are, what causes them, and how we can prevent and reduce their appearance.

What are wrinkles?

Wrinkles are the lines and creases you see on your skin as you get older. They can either be fine (like those you see around your lips and eyes) or deep and furrowed (like those “11’s” between your eyebrows and those horizontal waves across your forehead).

They mostly appear in areas exposed to environmental influences, such as your face, neck, arms, and hands. My father always told me, “You can tell a woman’s real age by looking at her neck and hands”, ain’t that the truth!

Also, aside from the changes that happen to your skin, some occur beneath it that cause creases and folds, creating fine lines, crow’s feet, crepey skin, and any other unpleasant but natural results of growing older.

So if you notice yourself staring in the mirror for too long, getting annoyed by the wrinkles you see, and outraged when your makeup cracks and creases before noon, it’s time to own that power and take action against them.

What causes wrinkles?

1. Skin aging

Here’s a discovery — we experience two kinds of aging, intrinsic aging (starts on the inside) and extrinsic aging (starts on the outside) that cause wrinkles. Isn’t that great? We get to experience aging from both directions. But have no fear, we’re going to reveal ways to reverse and prevent wrinkles in a minute.

Intrinsic Aging

This type of aging pertains to the “natural” aging process, regardless of external influences (like exposure to skin products and sun damage).

Here’s what happens to your skin as you age:

As you approach your 30s, your body slowly starts losing muscle mass and reducing its collagen production by 1-4% every year.

Collagen is that important protein that keeps your joints healthy. It’s also a significant component of your connective tissues that make up your skin and muscles (among other body parts like ligaments and tendons).

In other words, when collagen and muscle break down (as it does with age, especially after your 30th birthday), the integrity of your skin and body composition is affected, causing your skin to lose its firmness and tightness while slowly depleting your muscle to lose its mass and tone.

Elastin production also lessens with age which gradually reduces your skin’s ability to stretch and snap back into place — hello sagging jowls.

And if you’re post-menopause, your sebaceous glands and sweat glands in your skin have already reduced oil and sweat production, which affects your skin’s hydration, resulting in drier skin.

Intrinsic aging starts with muscle and collagen breakdown, skin dehydration and thinning and leads to fine lines and deep wrinkles.

Extrinsic Aging

UV exposure, pollution, bad habits, and poor diet choices.

Extrinsic aging is the environmental impact on your face and body — the sun, dry climates, pollution, etc. Exposure and damage from these multiple factors combine with your diet and lifestyle (including the way you eat, alcohol intake, smoking and activity levels) to impact the health of your skin.

What Causes Accelerated Extrinsic Aging

These environment disruptors can greatly exaggerate the natural aging process, resulting in even greater loss of collagen, elastin, and key hydrating compounds, known as glycosaminoglycans or GAGs.

Yes, there is such a thing because the changes happening below your skin can affect how its surface appears.

Beneath your skin lies layers of subcutaneous fat, muscle, and cartilage. When you start losing muscle and ‘baby fat’, your appearance changes...skin wrinkles, thins, and looks crepey.

Losing the layer of fat below your skin makes your eyes and cheeks look sunken as well.

2. Photoaging

What can I say?

The sun can be a real health and beauty nemesis. We all know the importance of exposing yourself, unprotected by SPF, to the sun for a maximum of 30 minutes during midday (or longer if you have darker skin) for maintaining good levels of Vitamin D. However, bathing yourself in sunlight for too long and too often will harm your skin.

The ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun damages your elastin, which, again, affects your skin’s elasticity and makes it more likely to develop wrinkles. We’ve all seen “aligator skinned grannies at the beach”.

It’s also worth mentioning that the sun affects melanin production in your skin over time, especially if you don’t use sunscreen that’s at least SPF 30. You may not see it now, since it takes decades to develop, but this type of exposure manifests as those dreaded age spots, uneven skin tone, and dark patches.

3. Smoking

Tobacco smoke has toxic chemicals that do bad things to your skin cells. As a result, your skin will age prematurely.

Additionally, those with smoking habits had significantly more lower lip vermillion wrinkles and upper lip wrinkles. They also had more transverse forehead wrinkles and crow’s feet because of constant puckering.

To see the first hand impact of smoking on skin, this study published in the Journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons on identical twins revealed that those who have smoking habits have more visible signs of skin aging on their faces than those who don’t. Here are those twins.

4. Facial Expressions and Compressions

There are two types of wrinkles: static and dynamic. Static wrinkles form when your skin loses elasticity due to natural aging. When elasticity is lost, the skin loosens, wrinkles, and sags, thanks to gravity.

On the other hand, dynamic wrinkles are caused by muscle contractions when you make movements, including facial expressions.

You see, because muscles are attached to the skin, they press the skin together when they contract. And when the skin is bunched together, it forms folds, and those folds leave fine lines or deep furrows as you age. That’s why you eventually develop smile wrinkles and lip wrinkles.

Also, when you sleep with your face pressed against your pillow, you’re compressing your skin, and wrinkles will form over time. So, you might want to rethink your sleeping position.

How to prevent wrinkles and slow down the aging process?

Because wrinkles are a natural part of life, you can’t stop them entirely from forming. However, there’s so much you can do to slow down the aging process and prevent the early appearance of wrinkles so you can age beautifully.

1. Dermatological Procedures

Skin resurfacing is one of the most popular anti-aging dermatological treatments out there. It’s commonly done through dermabrasion and lasers.

Dermabrasion is done by scraping away layers of damaged skin to reveal a smoother, healthier surface. It’s especially helpful in removing rough patches, age spots, uneven skin tone and scars due to acne or accidents.

In addition, laser treatments address sun-damaged skin and facial irregularities like wrinkles, especially those on the forehead and around the mouth. They help you get rid of acne scars, too.

2. Protect your skin from UV Radiation

A study published in the American College of Physicians (ACP) Journals showed that sunscreen could delay skin aging.

Remember that although the skin is a self-repairing organ, the damage caused by the sun cannot be completely undone and will eventually result in visible signs of aging. So, slather on sunscreen - don’t skimp. And don’t forget the kids, they’ll thank you later!

3. Sleep on your back

Unless you’re willing to alternate which cheek gets compressed every night in the hopes of preventing wrinkles, sleeping on your back is recommended (and much less weird). Besides, there are other health benefits to lying on your back, so it wouldn’t hurt to try.

4. Make positive changes in your lifestyle and nutrition

First and foremost… if you smoke, it’s time to quit!

We know it’s easier said than done, but now more than ever, there are limitless resources to help you kick the habit once and for all.

Second, eliminate inflammatory foods from your diet that greatly accelerate your aging process. Adapt an anti-aging diet instead by consuming foods that help you look younger for a longer time. Focus on anti-inflammatory foods like (avocados, berries, colorful vegetables, walnuts and clean protein).

If you like drinking tea, try lemon balm leaf tea. Research has shown that it improves your skin’s elasticity and helps with tissue repair.

Third, get moving! Getting your heart pumping and blood flowing is your body’s way of bringing healing nutrients and oxygen into your tissues. Plus, preserving and building new muscle is essential to maintaining that youthful glow.

5. Improve your muscle mass and help your body create its own collagen

Because losing muscle loosens the skin, it follows that building muscle helps tighten it and prevent wrinkles from appearing. Read that again….muscle prevents and reverses wrinkles.

Now, working out has another important purpose. You can grab our free workout plan here.

But the most impactful action you can take to truly change the way you look and feel involves a unique nutritional supplement with patented, well researched ingredients.

Adding AgelessLX alone is the best and easiest change you can make to defy the clock!

AgelessLX is a proven formula that contains HMB, which activates protein synthesis and fights protein breakdown to increase muscle tone and strength while combating muscle loss.

AgelessLX is also rich in essential vitamins D3, K2, and biotin, enhancing your body’s collagen production for stronger nails and hair and more beautiful skin.

In other words, proper diet + workout + AgelessLX = unparalleled results in reducing the visible signs of aging (including fine lines and wrinkles) while enhancing muscle strength, mass, tone, and skin appearance!

Learn more about AgelessLX and how it’s dramatically changing the way women age! Join the Mission to Live Ageless today.

Takeaway

We can delay the inevitability of wrinkles and aging, and we can do it the right way by understanding the changes that are happening in our body and carefully choosing the right anti-aging solution for us.

AgelessLX is one of the most profound, breakthrough ways of addressing wrinkles and defying aging from the inside by enhancing your body’s ability to produce collagen and build muscle.

Click here to start living ageless!

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LINKS:

Facial Changes Caused by Smoking (lww.com)

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

**Individuals may have received free product or compensation in exchange for their honest review. Individual results will vary. All other benefits/effects noted in these testimonials/reviews are the individuals’ personal opinions and have not been studied.