Out of all the skin ailments, from cellulite to eczema, oily skin to scars, wrinkles get the most mention and rank as the highest concern among skin conditions.
Before we go into treatments and solutions, what causes wrinkles in the first place? Prevention is more important cure (it's so much cheaper and less frustrating than discovering new lines). There isn't one single factor that contributes to wrinkle formation but quite a few:
1) Sun Exposure (prolonged and unprotected)
2) Sugar or Bad Fats (inflammation)
3) Smoking, Alcohol & Drugs
4) Stress
5) Sleep (or lack of it)
Sun Exposure
Sun exposure, the prolonged and unprotected kind is usually to blame for the formation of wrinkles, pigmentation (brown spots, freckles) and most forms of skin cancer. The wrinkles that are formed from excessive sun exposure are preventable. I'm not saying you can't have tan skin, and I'm not saying that you should avoid the sun completely because we all need a little bit of sun to make vitamin D in our bodies.
If you want to tan, do it safely by using sunless bottled tanning products. This is the only safe and wrinkle-free form of tanning. Not tanning beds!
For those who don't want to tan but are worried about developing wrinkles, investing in a good sunscreen suited to your skin type is the best form of anti-aging product you can buy. Opt for at least SPF 15 to SPF 30. Anything below SPF 15 isn't doing it's job of being a sunscreen. Make sure the sunscreen has "broad-spectrum protection" -- meaning they block/absorb both UVB and UVA rays.
For those with sensitive skin, or if you're going to use it on babies' skin or if you want non-chemical sunscreens, look for products with zinc oxide on the ingredient list. There may be people who may develop sensitivities to the ingredient (and no ingredient is fail safe) but majority of the population can tolerate zinc oxide well.
Make sure you buy sunscreens suited to your skin type or you'll dislike wearing it. I know this is hard for those with oily or acne-prone skin because sunscreens are generally greasy but you'll be surprised, formulations today are getting better. Check all the department stores and pharmacies for a matte or non-greasy sunscreen.
Don't believe that the sun causes wrinkles? Compare the skin on the least exposed area on your body (the buttocks or the insides of your upper arms) to the area that has the most exposure to the sun (usually the face or hands). You'll notice there's a stark difference in quality of skin between these areas.
Sugar or Bad Fats
A diet of processed foods are usually made up of artificial flavours, colours, table salt, sugar, bad fats, white flour, processed dairy and additives. These foods aren't doing your waistline, your health, your body odour and your skin any favours. People find it hard to believe that certain foods can age them but it does. Diet plays a big role in how our skin ages or doesn't! The worse offenders would be sugar and bad fats.
How does sugar damage and age skin?
Your blood naturally maintains normal levels of glucose (sugar) to fuel your cellular processes, but consuming processed foods that contain high amounts of sugar will spike your glucose levels. Over time, damage caused by high glucose will accumulate and can lead to diabetes.
Skin has collagen and elastin which provides structure and firmness. Collagen is the fibrous protein that supports the skin, and elastin is the mesh which maintains skin's elasticity. When you consume excess sugar, your skin experiences inflammation, so it affects collagen and elastin -- their degradation will lead to wrinkles. Too much glucose in the blood not only damages the skin but also the capillaries and valves which carry the blood. Your blood provides nutrients and oxygen to the skin so if it's overloaded with glucose, it hardens the collagen over time. This is called cross-linking.
Substances that experience cross-linking become brittle, rigid and tears or cracks easily.
When it happens to the body and the skin, cross-linking can lead to the hardening of arteries, stiffening of joints, cataracts, broken capillaries (rosacea) and wrinkles.
Sugar also fuels the aging of skin. Age spots are a good example. Cross-linking not only causes wrinkles but thins the skin, making it more fragile. When the skin thins, it's much easier to see broken capilliaries (and redness) and it becomes more sensitive to the sun, wind and temperature changes (classic signs of sensitive skin).
So what can we do to avoid pickling ourselves in glucose? Everything made from cane or sugar beets should be reduced. This includes white sugar, caster sugar, brown or dark brown sugar, icing sugar, raw sugar, low-GI sugar and golden syrup.
It's not just added sugar but also foods made with sugar, such as doughnuts, candy, milk chocolates, cookies or biscuits, jams or jellies, caramel, pastries, cakes, cupcakes, sweet sauces, most breakfast cereals, sugary drinks and soft drinks (coke, energy drinks, hot chocolates, commercial fruit juices).
What do you do if you have a sweet tooth?
Try sugar replacements such as xylitol. Xylitol is made from birch tress. It won't spike your glucose levels so it's also safe for diabetics. It remineralises teeth (bacteria in the mouth cannot metabolise this sugar so it doesn't contribute to tooth decay). Xylitol is also equally as sweet as sugar and can be used in cooking, in drinks and many other applications. The only caveat is, it won't brown so it can't be used to make caramel.
Another replacement is stevia, which is a naturally sweet herb used in Central and South America for thousands of years. It is 100-300 times sweeter than sugar so you don't need to use as much to sweeten food and beverages. It doesn't spike blood glucose levels and it's also safe for diabetics.
The other alternative is agave nectar / syrup. It's not actually a syrup but the processed juice of the agave plant in Mexico. It's sweeter than honey and tastes great in beverages. It can also be used in place of maple syrup.
Note: Never use artificial sweeteners such as Aspartame (sold as Equal, NutraSweet) or Sucralose (Splenda).
These artificial sweeteners have controversial side effects. Most notably weight gain and memory loss. I do not recommend using these to replace sugar.
How bad fats damage and age the skin
Before we get into the bad fats, fat or oils are an essential, I repeat ESSENTIAL part of our diets. Humans require fats to function. Without adequate good fats or oils, our cells wouldn't be able to make their membranes that protect them.
Nearly half of the dry weight of the brain is made of fat. Our sex hormones (oestrogen, testosterone, progesterone) are made from cholesterol. Our skin contains lipids that naturally moisturise us.
According to the American Heart Association, consuming fat-free foods does not mean you will lose weight! Fat-free is misleading because some fat-free foods have even MORE calories than their full fat counter parts. This puts people who buy fat-free foods at risk because they're assuming that the manufacturer is doing the calorie counting for them -- which couldn't be further from the truth in most cases. Many people assume that by eating fat-free, they can lose weight without having to exercise or eat healthy foods. Yet if the fat-free diets worked, eating your way to weight loss should be easy. The reality is, it's not and obesity rates continue to climb around the world while fat-free products increase in numbers.
Fat-free eating isn't the answer, so what fats do we need?
People think of the word "fats" and they look disgusted. But without fats, we wouldn't be able to survive or look half way decent. Not all fats and oils are bad. There is a clear difference between good fats and bad fats. The bad fats are the ones that will cause weight gain, heart disease, skin problems and accelerated aging. The GOOD fats however, will do the complete opposite. There are good fats that can aid in weight loss, improve circulation, help people with heart disease, elevate some skin conditions and help our skin and hair look healthy and vibrant.
Bad fats to avoid:
1: Transfats (margarine and shortening)
2: Any fats (good or bad) that gets used in deep frying food
3: Omega 6 oils or linoleic acid (most vegetable oils: soybean, cottonseed, sunflower, canola, corn, safflower, peanut)
4: Poor saturated fats (refined palm & coconut oils, fat from factory farmed animals that are fed omega 6 rich grains or beans, fat from processed meat)
Good fats to love & enjoy:
1: Omega 3 oils or fats / EPA & DHA (fish, fish oil supplements)
2: Omega 9 oils or fats (extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil, macadamia oil, camellia oil, *flaxseed oil)
3: Healthy saturated fats (virgin coconut oil, organic butter, fat from wild or organic free-range animals that eat grass)
4: Omega 6 oils or fats that can be used in MODERATION -- especially for vegetarians (*flaxseed oil, evening primrose oil, borage oil & blackcurrant seed oil)
You're probably wondering why I don't recommend vegetable oils and margarines. We've all seen the ads on TV about margarines that lower cholesterol or how vegetable oils are good for the heart. But if you look at the statistics of the rise of heart disease and amount of vegetable oil consumption, they correlate to each other. Since WWII, the amount of saturated fats consumed have decreased and vegetable oils like soybean and sunflower have increased, yet obesity and heart disease continue to rise despite the switch to apparently "healthier" vegetable oils.
While humans do need a small level of omega 6 oils (which make up majority of vegetable oils) to survive, the oil that truly gives us health and beautiful skin is omega 3 oils (specifically EPA & DHA). I'm not saying you can't have any vegetable oils, but we should all take them in moderation. The typical Western diet favours omega 6 oils and it's even worse when they're used in deep frying.
When heated, omega 6 oils generate free radicals and any benefit they originally had goes out the door. If you consume high levels of omega 6 oils over omega 3s, your tissues will experience inflammation and inflammation accelerates aging. The reason behind this is because omega 6s and omega 3s fight for the same enzymes to get converted. So we can all benefit by increasing our intake of omega 3 oils or by eating fish and limiting the use of omega 6 oils. Just one to two servings of steamed / grilled / baked / stir fried fish a week or 2 x 1000mg fish oil capsules a day can make a difference in the way your skin looks after a couple of months.
Of all the bad fats, transfats would be the one type of fat to avoid like the plague. This means no margarine or eating pastries made with shortening. They have been well studied and implicated in causing coronary heart disease, obesity, cancer, diabetes and cataracts. This is not good news for your health or your skin. Find them by checking the ingredient list on foods you normally eat, they're usually listed as "hydrogenated [type of vegetable oil used]".
Most people have heard that saturated fats are bad. There is truth to that statement but that's not the whole story.
In the family of saturated fats, there are good and bad types too. Saturated fats from animals have provided a rich source of food for mankind for tens of thousands of years. Good saturated fats provide ample amounts of nutrients for our ancestors. Most tribal communities prize fatty animals as did our ancestors. In fact, statistics show obesity and heart disease rates have raised with the increased intake of vegetable oils not saturated fats. What's even more interesting is that cultures that value saturated fats do not have high obesity rates! Saturated fats are only bad if you consume high amount of the processed meat or refined palm oil type.
Saturated fats from animals that are factory farmed are usually fed grains and beans high in omega 6 oils (which tips our own ratio of omega 6 to even higher levels). When they get injected with hormones or other drugs, or eat grains sprayed with herbicides, those substances tend to reside in the animals fatty tissues. When we eat their fat, we're also accumulating these substances in us. This is why I don't recommend saturated fat from factory farmed animals or processed meat (processed meat usually uses factory farmed animals). Processed meat is usually high in additives and gets heat treated, rendering the fat unsuitable if you want to look slim and have nice skin.
Grass-fed animals have high levels of omega 3 in their fat, which we also get if we eat them. Not only are they healthier because they get to move and exercise but they have lower levels of pesticides, drugs and artificial hormones in their bodies. But the higher levels of omega 3 in their fats and butter make them a better choice over factory farmed animal fats and butter. Of course, even with this type of good saturated fat, it should not be used for deep frying.
By choosing the right oils to consume, you can improve your skin, slow down aging, and get a slimmer waist line while being able to enjoy the occasional melted butter on a grilled steak.
Smoking, Alcohol & Drugs
Inflammation is one of the easiest ways to damage the skin and accelerate the signs of aging. Cigarette smoke (first or second hand smoking), binging on alcohol and frequent use of illegal drugs can take their toll on your looks and your health.
Nowhere is this more obvious than by looking at the before and after photographs of long term chain smokers, chronic alcoholics and drug abusers.
The link between smoking, aging and cancer isn't disputed. The link between frequent drug abuse and mental illness and physical ailments are also undisputed. Binge drinking is the same. But recent studies are showing that having even one alcoholic drink a day puts women at risk of developing cancer (specifically cancers of the breast, liver and rectum).
The type of alcoholic drink (whether it's wine, beer or spirits) did not change the outcome. These are only accounting for deaths by cancer due to alcohol.
Smoking & Aging
Average smokers inhale about 4,000 other chemicals in cigarette smoke besides nicotine. Some of these chemicals include:
Tar - this substance can cause cancer. It also stains teeth and nails. Which is why smokers generally have yellow teeth with brown specks.
Carbon monoxide -- which suffocates your organs (brain and heart) as well as skin by preventing your red blood cells from taking in oxygen. Lack of oxygen in the skin makes it appear dull.
Free radicals -- they damage cholesterol (cholesterol isn't the culprit here) which leads to plaque building up inside of arterial walls, weakening and hardening them. This increases the chance of stroke, heart attacks and blood vessel disease. It also causes inflammation that could lead to broken capillaries on the face.
This is just a tiny list of harmful chemicals in cigarette smoke. With that tiny list alone, the damages to skin and health are huge. If you're a smoker and want to start looking younger, kick the habit. Join a support group or get help from quit smoking hotlines. Even your doctor can offer strategies to quit smoking. The rewards are immense - being able to breathe properly, looking younger, having better teeth and gums, no more bad breath, increasing your longevity, lowering the risk of cancer and disease.
Alcohol & Aging
Not only does alcohol have a toxic effect on the nervous system but also on your skin and how your age. Alcohol consumption can slowly cause brain impairment by causing memory loss, poor co-ordination, learning difficulties, changes in behaviour, poor judgement and slow reflexes. It is because of these mind altering problems why driving while under the influence of alcohol is so dangerous.
Alcohol ages the skin in two ways via inflammation and dehydration. If you have dry skin already, drinking alcohol can make matters worse. This also works when alcohol is applied to the skin. This is another reason why I don't recommend some natural skin care products that use no preservatives because they use high amounts of alcohol as the preservative system -- it dries and damages the skin. Inflammation caused by alcohol also causes red flushing of the skin. For sufferers of rosacea, this can damage facial capillaries even further and cause more redness. Some heavy drinkers actually develop rosacea-like facial flushing and broken capillaries that never goes away. As you know by now, inflammation also accelerates aging.
Drugs & Aging
Whether it's legal or illegal drugs being abused, both have aging and health consequences. I don't want to lecture as most people know about the side effects of drugs (mental retardation, HIV/AIDs, organ failure, seizures, depression, behavioural problems, death). Most people don't associate drug taking with aging as the majority of users are young people -- giving the misconception that they don't age you. Drugs do and can age their users. Anything that has such severe consequences on your health will have a profound effect on aging.
I think the best poster child examples are the before and after pictures of drug addicts. Those mug shots of drug addicts show how dramatically drugs can age a person. I know they're heavy drug users but even low alcohol use can cause cancer in women, so imagine what low drug abuse can do? Many reformed drug addicts find that they have to have plastic reconstructive surgery to repair their faces. Musicians who were former drug addicts look ten to twenty years older than their peers of a similar age -- Keith Richards is a good example.
Stress
Psychological stress related aging isn't tangible like smoking tobacco, being sunburned or consuming junk food. Stress isn't an external factor that you can see, hear or touch but its how an individual deals with a situation that raises their adrenaline levels, blood pressure and fear or anxiety.
In our evolutionary past, prolonged stress was rare and acute stress only occurred in short spurs, enough for us to recover and calm down. In short durations, stress can be easily dealt with by the body. Stress exists because in the past, it's saved our ancestors' lives. This evolutionary response is called the "flight or fight" reaction. Acute stress makes the heart pump faster, makes the person more alert, raises blood pressure and generates an immediate release of energy. That sudden boost of "oomph" for the body helped our ancestors run faster from predators, or gave them enough energy to fight for territory or with an enemy. But prolonged stress, particularly major life events such as the loss of a loved one, financial bankruptcy, separation or divorce, a high pressure job and cancer can turn mentally healthy individuals into nervous wrecks.
Chronic stress compromises the immune system, making it easier to contract viruses or develop diseases. When stress hormone such as adrenaline, norepinephrine and cortisol are constantly pumping throughout the body, your blood pressure remains high (putting stress on your heart and valves), depression may follow, as well as aggression or anxiety (which can cause panick attacks in some people), some people may develop ulcers, experience hair loss, become obese, have trouble sleeping or getting out of bed, experience headaches or migraines and the most obvious side effect of chronic stress is how fast people age when they can't cope with stress.
If you want to reverse or slow down aging, reduce the amount of stress in your life. If you can't, learn how to react in stressful situations. Meditation, yoga and breathing exercises are great tools to use to reduce stress and learn how to cope better. Studies show that people who meditate were on average physically 12 years younger than their peers of a similar age!
If you're in a demanding job, you really should consider taking breaks or holidays whenever possible to give your body time to repair and recharge. Without any relaxation, you may end up paying for it with your health.
The less you stress, the less you age. We've seen how fast people age when they're chronically upset and stressed.
Either remove yourself from stressful situations or find support to help you cope.
Your emotions, your mind and your health will be better off in the long run and you'll keep those wrinkles at bay.
Sleep
Lack of quality sleep for long periods is one of the easiest ways to age a person's face and body. Whether it's because of staying up late, shift work, partying, crying baby, noisy neighbors, insomnia, illness, jet lag, meeting a deadline or anything else, lack of sleep side effects are classic: dark circles or puffy eye bags, blood-shot eyes, mood swings, lack of energy and poor concentration. Add gravity and natural aging to that mix and you can understand why fighting dark eye circles have become high on the list of skin and aging complaints.
The eyes are the first part of the face people notice. Lack of sleep can alter the appearance of the area surrounding the eyes and make you look aged, tired and grumpy even.
As humans age, the capillaries underneath the eyes show more because the skin gets thinner -- resulting in a dark, hollowed out look. Sometimes it could be caused by darkening of the skin due to excessive sun exposure on the face.
The skin beneath the eyes will also slowly sag from aging (due to loss of collagen and elastin) and crows feet lines may appear on the side of the eyes. While concealers may help correct this problem temporarily, unless you correct it, the dark circles can only get darker. Skin lightening creams and gels do not work on dark circles because the thing affecting its appearance is how thin or translucent your skin is and how dark or prominent your capillaries are under the eyes.
No cream or gel can permanently alter the thickness of your skin or make your skin more opaque. Nor can they get in deep enough to lighten your capillaries and veins. If anything could it would be classified as a drug, not a cosmetic!
Sleep deprivation isn't just a cosmetic problem but it has dangerous health implications too. Poor sleeping habits can reduce people's ability to drive to the point that they are equal to a drunk driver on the road. Long term it can cause depression, anxiety, aggression, mental illness, headaches, migraines, chronic fatigue, insomnia, mood swings, memory problems, aches and pain, weight gain, hormone imbalance and slow reflexes.
What's going to help dark eye circles?
Quality sleep!
I don't mean just head to bed and sleep. Some people find it hard to get quality sleep. Quality sleep that refreshes you is what we're after:
Change your schedule to give yourself enough time to sleep for a full 8-7 hours every night.
Reset your body clock (yes, humans have an internal clock which dictates when they should wake up and when they'll feel sleepy). To do this, when you wake up, stand in an area where there is sunlight to expose part of your body (your arms or legs) for 10 minutes. Do this everyday for over a week. After you do this, wake up around the same time everyday -- regardless if it's a weekend -- so you can fix your sleeping pattern. Sleeping in on weekends alters our sleeping circadian rhythms (our internal body clock). This is why people who sleep in on weekends find it hard to wake up refreshed on Mondays.
Don't have sugary snacks or heavy meals before bed.
Avoid caffeinated drinks 4-5 hours before bed.
Make sure your room is completely dark when you go to bed, no light from electronics (unplug them) or street lights or night lights of any kind. Sleeping in total darkness also helps elevate melatonin levels (an anti-aging hormone that's released when you sleep).
Make the room temperature comfortable. If it's too hot, people find it harder to sleep. Either have the aircon on, wear thinner bed clothes or use thinner blankets or sheets.
Wear socks to bed. Believe it or not, cold feet actually makes it harder to have undisturbed sleep.
Sleep on comfortable sheets / pillow / mattress. What you sleep on can also affect how you sleep. If your bed makes it hard for you to sleep at night, then it's well worth the money to get better bed linen or a mattress.
Meditation, not only is it an anti-aging tool in its own right, but it also helps people sleep better!
By following these tips, you can have better sleeping habits, more energy, wake up renewed and hopefully improved the appearance of your lower eye area!
Solutions to get rid of wrinkles!
Use SPF 15 or higher sunscreen or skin care products that contain sunscreen ingredients to prevent new lines
Eating foods rich in vitamin A helps skin rejuvenate. Putting it topically on skin also helps. Vitamin A rich foods: animal liver, orange, yellow, red fruits and vegetables are rich sources of beta-carotene and other carotenoids (pro-vitamin A).
Sleep at least 8 hours everyday and wake up and go to bed at the same time. In a month, you'll notice more energy and your skin may improve. However, the elderly may require less sleeping hours (6-7 hours a day) whereas teenagers and children need more (8-9 hours sleep per day).
Eat less sugar (added sugar in cooking or drinks AND reduce buying sugary processed foods and soft drinks), eat less fried foods/margarine//trans fats and you'll notice a dramatic improvement in your skin in 1-2 months.
Meditate, go yoga lessons, get a life coach, go see a councilor or buy yoga DVDs and teach yourself to relax.
Quit smoking or remove yourself from smoky environments as much as you can. Join AA or other support groups to reduce or quit drinking. Cut back on the habit of drinking, smoking or drug use by getting professional help.
Don't use products that contain alcohol, it dries the skin and also generates free radicals (not good for aging or those with dry skin). It's usually listed as "alcohol, SD alcohol, ethyl alcohol or ethanol". Ingredients such as cetyl alcohol are not alcohol but a wax, so know the difference so you don't jump to conclusions.
AHAs (alpha hydroxy acids) or BHAs (beta hydroxy acids) are good products to use to exfoliate skin to keep skin looking younger and fresher. Remember to use sunscreen if you use these products or you'll get sunburnt and get more damage instead of reversing it. Always start on the lowest % before moving onto higher concentrations. Most AHAs and BHAs can be irritating to the skin but that's part of its action to work, that's why it's best to find the lowest concentration to see how well your skin can tolerate it.
Tretinoin is a prescription only cream/gel that is an acid form of vitamin A which works mildly on wrinkles. It works by normalising skin cells and getting them to rejuvenate. However, once you stop using it, the skin will revert back to its old state. Also, it's quite irritating to skin and pregnant women should not use it (as it's been known to cause deformities to the baby). Brand names Aberela, Renova, Retin-A, Avita, or Stieva-A. This treatment must be used on conjunction with a sunscreen if your skin will be exposed to the sun.
Microdermabrasion also works temporarily to reduce the appearance of wrinkles by literally blasting away dead skin cells with micro fine particles of matter. However, treatment is only temporary and effects aren't deep (cannot get rid of deep folds). Also, skin is highly irritated after treatment (it will look red and raw just after treatment). This treatment must be used on conjunction with a sunscreen if your skin will be exposed to the sun.
Injecting deep folds with synthetic or animal collagen, hylaronic acid or other fillers can temporarily make wrinkles appear "filled in". These treatments last 6-12 months (similar to botox) and have their individual risks, costs and side effects. Always find a qualified cosmetic surgeon to do these procedures.
Injecting wrinkles with botox can be risky, costly and effects only last for 6 months. Botox is a purified poison that's injected into the facial muscles to temporarily relax them (works similar to a nerve block). Unqualified or unskilled surgeons can paralyse the face, or make the facial muscles look droopy (which you'll have to live with for 6 months!) Also, users can also look "shocked" or expressionless after treatment if too much is used near the eyes and forehead. Always find a qualified cosmetic surgeon to do this procedure.
