“IT IS THE EARLY BIRD THAT CATCHES THE WORM”, THE FAMOUS QUOTE PREACHES. I SAY “IT IS THE EARLY BIRD THAT CATCHES THE YOUTHFUL LOOK” THAT WE ALL WANT.
SMOOTH, FIRM AND SPOT FREE COMPLEXION IS DESIRED BY US ALL.
WHILE THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH HAS NOT BEEN DISCOVERED, PREVENTION IS THE KEY TO YOUNGER LOOKING SKIN.
ACCORDING TO THE EXPERTS AT THE NEW BEAUTY MAGAZINE,IT IS NEVER TOO EARLY TO START PREVENTING AND CORRECTING THE FIRST SIGNS OF AGING.
READ ON TO FIND WHAT YOU CAN DO TODAY TO LOOK YOUNGER TOMORROW.
AS EARLY AS YOUR MID 20S AND INTO YOUR 30S YOU MAY START TO NOTICE THE VERY FIRST SIGNS OF AGING, WHICH ARE USUALLY SUBTLE BUT STILL BOTHERSOME. WHAT WAS ONCE A SMOOTH COMPLEXION MAY NOW BE HOME TO SMALL SUN SPOTS, CORW’S-FEET, DARK UNDER-EYE CIRCLES AND UNEVEN TEXTURE. INSTEAD OF LETTING THE SIGNS OF AGING GET THE BEST OF YOU, TAKE MATTERS INTO YOUR OWN HANDS AND CORRECT THE CHANGES THAT YOU ARE SEEING-YOU MAY EVEN BE ABLE TO PREVENT THEM FROM PROGRESSING AS YOU GET OLDER WITH THE PROPER PLAN OF ATTACK.
1. UNDER-EYE BAGS, DARKNESS AND PUFFINESS-WITH AGE, THE AREA UNDER THE EYES BECOMES DARK AND PUFFY. MAKEUP CAN HELP CAMOUFLAGE BAGS AND CIRCLES, BUT INJECTABLES AND PROPER SKIN CARE CAN REVERSE THEM.
THE EYES ARE USUALLY THE FIRST AREA OF THE FACE TO AGE, AND CROW’S –FEET CAN DEVELOP AS EARLY AS YOUR LATE 20S. THESE SMALL, DEEPLY INDENTED LINES START AT THE OUTER CORNER OF THE EYE AND EXTEND OUTWARD AND CAN CAUSE YOU TO LOOK OLDER THAN YOU REALLY ARE. PREVENTION IS KEY: MAKE SURE TO LIMIT SUN EXPOSURE AND WEAR SUNGLASSES AND SUNSCREEN EVERYDAY.
IN YOUR EARLY 20S, YOU SHOULD USE BOTOX(R) AS A WAY TO PREVENT CROW’S-FEET AND SOFTEN ANY LINES. IT’S FANTASTIC FOR PREVENTING WRINKLES FROM EXPRESSIONS, BUT NOT THOSE FROM SUN DAMAGE.
REGULAR USE OF HIGHLY MOISTURIZING EYE CREAM HELPS KEEP THE DELICATE EYE AREA SUPPLE AND LESS PRONE TO LINES AND WRINKLES.
DARK CIRCLES AND UNDER-EYE BAGS DEVELOP WHEN THE FAT BENEATH THE LOWER LIDS PROTRUDES AND THE MUSCLE BECOMES LOOSE. WHEN YOU ADD IN EXCESSIVE DRINKING, SUN EXPOSURE, LACK OF SLEEP AND EATING TOO MUCH SALT, IT CAN ONLY MAKE MATTERS WORSE. WHETHER THE RESULT OF GENETICS, A MEDICAL CONDITION OR ALLERGIES, THE BEST WAY TO COMBAT DARK CIRCLES AND UNDER-EYE BAGS IS BY REPLACING LOST VOLUME AND USING PRODUCTS THAT REDUCE PIGMENTATION.
PATIENTS WITH DARK CIRCLES AND BAGS, FOR WHICH SURGERY IS NOT AN OPTION, THE BEST MODE OF TREATMENT IS WITH HYALURONIC ACID FILLERS, WHICH FILL IN HOLLOWS TO GIVE THE ILLUSION OF FEWER BAGS. THERE WILL BE NO SHADOWS, AND THE DARK PIGMENTATION WILL BE DIMINISHED.
CHEMICAL PEELS, IPL OR FRACTIONAL LASER CAN ALSO HELP TIGHTEN THE UNDER-EYE AREA.
2. ONCE A WRINKLE HAS MADE EVEN THE FAINTEST EMERGENCE ON YOUR SKIN, IT’S HARDER TO GET RID OF THAN IF IT WERE TREATED WHILE IT WAS FORMING. BOTOX(R) CAN BE USED TO INHIBIT WRINKLES FROM OCCURING, ESPECIALLY IN WRINKLE-PRONE AREAS, LIKE AROUND YOUR EYES AND FOREHEAD. IT’S NEVER TOO EARLY TO START TAKING PREVENTATIVE MEASURES.
KNOWN AS NASOLABIAL FOLDS, THESE UNPLEASANT LINES THAT STRETCH FROM THE NOSE TO THE MOUTH, RESULT WHEN FAT IS LOST FROM THE AREA AROUND THE MOUTH. ALTHOUGH NASOLABIAL FOLDS DON’T TEND TO BECOME REALLY DRAMATIC UNTIL YOU 40S OR EVEN LATER, SOME WOMEN ARE AFFECTED BY THEM AS EARLY AS THEIR 30S. WITH AGE COMES CHANGES IN FACIAL FAT, AND THIS LOSS OF VOLUME RESULTS IN NASOLABIAL FOLDS. THE MORE FAT THAT’S LOST, THE MORE PROMINENT THEY ARE. HYLAURONIC ACID FILLERS LIKE JUVEDERM OR RESTYLANE(TM) ARE BEST FOR FILLING IN THESE LINES, ESPECIALLY AMONG WOMEN IN THEIR LATE 20S AND EARLY 30S. FOR PATIENTS THAT COMPLAIN OF SOMEWHAT DEEPER FOLDS, FILLER IS INJECTED IN THE CHEEKS TOO, TO LIFT THE FOLD.
3. SUN SPOTS, WHICH ARE MORE COMMON ON THE LEFT SIDE, OR DRIVING SIDE, OF THE FACE, ARE CAUSED BY DAMAGE INCURRED FROM YEARS SPENT IN THE SUN-THE AMOUNT OF SUN YOUR SKIN WAS EXPOSED TO IS PROBABLY SHOWING UP NOW. IT SEEMS LIKE THE SUN SPOTS MAY APPEAR ALL OF A SUDDEN, BUT IT TAKES YEARS FOR THE DAMAGE TO ACCUMULATE. IF NOT ADDRESSED, THEY MAY TURN DARKER AND MAY ONE DAY BE ACCOMPANIED BY CREPEY SKIN.
WHEN TREATING SUN SPOTS, THE FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE IS ALMOST ALWAYS HYDROQUINONE, WHICH STOPS THE PRODUCTION OF PIGMENT IN ITS TRACKS. HYDROQUINONE-FREE GELS LIKE KOJIC ACID OR VITAMIN C ARE OPTIONS, TOO. THEY HELP DISPERSE MELANIN EVENLY. IF YOUR SKIN IS STILL DISCOLORED, YOU MAY CHOOSE TO USE A LIGHT LASER, LIKE IPL, OR FRACTIONAL LASER FOR MORE SEVERE SPOTS.
THE WAY YOU CHOOSE TO CARE FOR YOUR SKIN PLAYS A ROLE IN HOW QUICKLY YOU WILL AGE, BUT THERES’S ONE AGING FACTOR THAT THERE’S NO CONTROLLING: YOUR GENES. YOUR GENES DICTATE AT WHAT RATE YOU WILL AGE AND WHAT AREAS OF THE FACE WILL AGE FIRST AND BE MOST AFFECTED. EVEN THOUGH THERE IS NOTHING CURRENTLY AVAILABLE THAT CAN BE DONE TO GENETICALLY ALTER HOW YOU WILL AGE, THERE ARE MANY-SKIN-CARE PRODUCTS THAT PURPORTEDLY ANALYZE YOUR DNA AND USE THAT INFORMATION TO PRESCRIBE A SOLUTION TO STAVE OFF THE SIGNS OF AGING. KEEP IN MIND THAT MOST OF US TEND TO AGE SIMILARLY TO OUR PARENTS.
WHETHER YOU HAVE BEEN BLESSED WITH GREAT GENES OR NOT, TODAY YOU CAN PREVENT WHAT YOU DO NOT WANT TO SEE ON YOUR FACE TOMORROW. LITTLE EXTRA EFFORT AND THOUGHT IS A SMALL PRICE TO PAY FOR YOUTH AND BEAUTY.
Jim Harrison once said that beauty is “the injustice of the given.”
