Aging is hard. I said it. Most of you agree (and if you don’t, share your secrets with us!). Looking in the mirror and seeing that the years are starting to show on your face, the gray hairs are popping up, feeling your body’s aches and pains are more frequent and knowing that your metabolism is slowing is a challenge to accept.
Thankfully, there are a few tricks we can apply without doing major surgery or spending a fortune on treatments at the dermatologist.9 Tips to Help You Look Younger Than You Are
- Prevent brain fog and depression, as well as weight gain, with movement. Exercise for a minimum of 20 minutes a day. Minimum. Walking is the easiest and least expensive form of exercise. Fresh air, getting your blood flowing and clearing your head will help turn back the clock as well as put you in a good mood! Feeling mentally and physically healthy is a sure way to feel (and look) younger!
- Keep your skin healthy from the inside out. Eat more avocado. This is probably my favorite tip because I absolutely LOVE avocado! Avocado is filled with Vitamin E, monounsaturated fats (the good kind of fat), fiber, potassium, folate and magnesium. They benefit your heart health as well as help your body fight the damaging effects of free radicals. For an added bonus, use avocado as a facial mask. The fatty acids they contain will help replenish the skin’s natural protective barrier
- Giggle with your girlfriends! Don’t let your crazy schedule keep you from social time. We are created to be social (yes, even the introverts!) and interaction keeps us happy and living longer! Besides, you look younger when you are smiling than you do when you are straight-faced or frowning.
- Scrub away the years. Exfoliating your skin from head to toe gives your skin a youthful, glowing appearance. With dead skin cells banished, your skin will be healthier, softer and more touchable. Try Frank Body Coffee Scrub for stimulating shower experience! Nothing like a little morning stimulation to wake you up!
- Be a sleeping beauty. Without your rest, you’ll definitely appear to age more quickly. Trust me, I know this one well. When you sleep is when your skin rejuvenates. Without enough zzzz’s your skin is not properly renewing it self and you’ll notice dry, dull skin, dark circles under your eyes and red blood-shot eyes. Not to mention, you’ll be stressed and irritable, giving you the crabby neighbor reputation.
- Be sweet but don’t have a sweet tooth. Sugar is poison in your body, leading to an increased waistline and dull, wrinkled skin, not to mention the mood swings it causes! Eliminate simple sugars like the obvious cupcakes, donuts, soda, and candy, as well as hidden sugars.
- Bliss out. The more stress you feel, the higher the concentration of the hormones cortisol and norepinephrine in your bloodstream, causing increased blood pressure and suppressing immunity. Having health concerns adds to your stress and certainly doesn’t make you feel younger so practice some meditation, prayer or journaling to keep your feelings under control. Your daily exercise will help too!
- You don’t have to act your age but please dress it! Some fashion pieces are just meant to be left in your 20′s like 3 inch shorts and mini-skirts, 7 inch platform heels and crop tops. I don’t want you to feel like you have to dress in a boring manner but the junior department should not be your favorite place to shop once you hit 30. You make yourself look older when you look like you pulled your outfit from your daughter’s closet.
- Break free of breakouts. Typically when we are talking about age-proofing your skin, we talk about wrinkle and retinoid creams While both are needed as part of your anti-aging formula, it is important to also discuss acne. Many women have acne and wrinkles at the same time and this double-whammy is no fun! Nothing makes you feel like an adolescent like acne. We want to look more youthful but not in that way! All of these recommendations will help improve breakouts too! Just add great skin care to your daily routine and will see improved behavior from your skin. The Clear Proof Acne System from Mary Kay soothes irritated skin with a 4-product system. The skin regimen uses a combination of salicylic acid and benzoyl peroxide which are proven acne fighting ingredients. Not only do they help clear up your existing acne, they help prevent further breakouts. Consistency is key to treating acne.
While we can’t stop aging, we can fight a good fight! Make smart choices and stick to them! Give them a try for a good 6 weeks and see if you can tell a difference. I recommend you take a before/after picture so you can see the difference at the end because you may not see the minor changes from day to day. Most important of all, do this for yourself and do not compare yourself to anyone but yourself. We will never be Cindy Crawford, who seems to have stopped aging at age 32 so do this to look and feel YOUR best!