Healthy-aging, well-aging, pro-aging, smart-aging or natural-aging are the expressions that define the new vision of healthy beauty renewal: instead of "perfect" skin, value healthy, firmer, radiant and luminous.
The new trend favors natural and healthy aging, reconciling naturalness and harmony, rejecting artificial results and including a healthier lifestyle. Prevent and correct the signs of skin aging and give your skin more luminosity, but naturally.
There are genetic factors that we cannot control, but by adopting healthy lifestyle habits, a positive attitude and routines adapted to each skin type and concern, with science on our side, we will have a healthier aging process.
The key steps that should not be missing in your daily routine are cleansing, moisturizing, and sun protection.
We should cleanse our face in the morning and at night (to remove impurities, makeup, and dirt), and incorporate masks for deeper hydration and exfoliating ingredients to aid in cellular renewal. If our skin is balanced, it will be better protected and more beautiful.
When aiming to prevent and counteract signs of aging, we should include more specific care in our routine, such as ingredients that stimulate the production of collagen and elastin, combat free radicals, provide deep hydration, and plump the skin. In the morning, it is essential to finish the routine with sun protection (to protect against photoaging). In the evening, we can opt for more reparative and renewing treatments (bearing in mind that some ingredients can be photosensitizing).
We have selected 8 products that you can include in your routine and that will help prevent and correct the first signs of aging on your skin:
AVENE | Makeup Removing Micellar Water
Remove makeup, cleanses, moisturizes, and soothes the face and eyes in one step.
MIZON | Joyful Time Essence Mask Royal Jelly
Infused with royal jelly extract, it hydrates, brightens and smoothes the skin, leaving it radiant and rejuvenated.
CLARINS | Total Eye Revive
Smooths fine lines, minimizes signs of fatigue (dark circles, puffiness) and provides an immediate illuminating effect!
EUCERIN | Hyaluron-Filler 3x Effect Vitamin C Booster
Strengthens the skin and reduces wrinkles, giving it a smoother, younger, and more radiant appearance in just 7 days.
FILORGA | Time-Filler 5xp Cream
Inspired by 5 techniques of aesthetic medicine, it smoothens the 5 types of wrinkles on the face and neck.
ISDIN | Fotoprotector Fusion Water Magic SPF50
High UV protection, with moisturizing and antioxidant action, ultra light texture and immediate absorption.
BIODERMA | Sensibio Defensive Serum
Formulated for sensitive and sensitized skin, with moisturizing, soothing, and antioxidant action.
ENDOCARE | Renewal serum
Promotes epidermal renewal, retexturizes, and rejuvenates the skin, thanks to the presence of retinol.
Signs of healthy skin aging
The main signs of natural skin aging are the appearance of sagging, wrinkles, blemishes, which can be earlier depending on our lifestyle and environmental factors.
There are many internal and external factors that lead to premature aging of the skin caused by the increase of free radicals in the body that damage cells at different levels: excessive sun exposure without protection, pollution, smoking, sedentary lifestyle, stress and “bad” food… Although our body manages to neutralize these free radicals, the process is not always effective or sufficient. And with age, there are also structural changes in the skin and the efficiency of cellular functions is decreasing with each passing year.
Some of the signs of healthy aging skin include:
Thinning: The basal cell layer of the epidermis slows down its cell production rate and thins the epidermis. The dermis can become thinner. Together, these changes mean the skin is more prone to wrinkling.
Sagging: Older skin produces less elastin and collagen, which means it is more likely to sag and becomes more vulnerable to the effects of gravity. For example, double chin along the jaw and bags under the eyes are simply skin that has given way to gravity.
Wrinkles and expression lines on the forehead, around the lips (chinese mustache) and eyes (crow's feet): they arise due to the loss of collagen and elastin, causing the skin to lose its usual firmness and flaws in these areas of greater “movement”.
Dark spots: Melanocytes (produce melanin, responsible for our skin tone) tend to increase in number and cluster in certain areas, forming what are known as age spots. Areas that have been exposed to the sun, such as the backs of the hands, are particularly prone to age spots. When sun exposure is excessive and without photoprotection, as UV rays are aggressive to the skin, dark spots associated with photoaging can appear. Dark spots can also appear due to hormonal changes in pregnant women or the elderly, which stimulate pigmentation.
Excessive sagging: premature aging makes the skin thinner and without firmness, due to the lack of hydration and loss of its fat layer, which makes it lack shine and vitality.
Dark circles: the area around the eyes suffers a lot from the effect of aging, so dark circles that are intense or worsening can be a sign that the skin is not healthy.
Dryness: Older skin has fewer sweat glands and sebaceous glands. This can make the skin more prone to conditions related to dehydration, such as dryness, irritation and itching.
Vascular spiders: Blood vessels are more visible in older, thinner skin and are more likely to break and hurt. They can also become permanently enlarged.
Bleaching of hair strands: it can become worse due to the action of free radicals, stress and lack of vitamins and minerals, in addition to genetic and hormonal causes.
Habits for healthy skin aging, combat premature skin aging and reduce its signs
1. Use sunscreen daily
The use of sunscreen, adapted to your skin, with a high level of protection, is essential to protect the skin from the action of UV rays, preventing not only aging but also skin cancer. Find out more about sun care HERE.
2. Cleanse the skin
Daily cleansing of the face with specific products helps to keep the skin soft and refreshed. It is also very important to always remove make-up after using it, especially before going to bed. This is very important to prevent dryness and damage caused by product buildup on the skin.
Also, doing weekly exfoliation or periodic peels helps to remove layers of dead skin and renew the skin.
3. Consume antioxidant foods
Food care is essential to allow the skin to be young, working from the inside out. Thus, antioxidant nutrients such as vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium, zinc, isoflavones and resveratrol, for example, found in vegetables and fruits, such as carrots, beets, grapes, tomatoes, apricots, papaya and eggplant, for example, help not only to slow down skin aging, but also to maintain a healthier body.
4. Have healthy habits
It is proven that harmful habits such as smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, sedentary lifestyle, stress and lack of rest damage the appearance of the skin, and it is very important to reverse these attitudes so that the skin tissues are well nourished, hydrated and healthy. So, it is recommended:
- Maintain a healthy diet - what we eat definitely plays a role in how your body looks, especially your skin. As the first line of defense for the rest of your body, it's crucial to ensure you're eating ample nutrition. That means eating vegetables, healthy nutrient-dense foods, and healthy fats will go a long way in protecting your skin, maintaining its function, and delaying aging.
- Practice physical activities 3 to 5 times a week - walk or run outdoors, go to the gym, hire a PT, meditate, swim, dance… choose what you like to do and exercise your body and mind.
- Drink 1.5 to 2 liters of water a day - Most people don't drink enough water. While we may not feel thirsty right now, our body probably wants more water to ensure it functions at its best, including your skin's function. The more you drink water, the more naturally your body will thirst for it. Find strategies to be able to drink water, and you can also opt for teas or other natural drinks with no added sugars.
- No smoking - in addition to all the respiratory harm and acceleration of aging, smoking wrinkles the skin, and the repetitive wrinkling movement around the mouth increases the likelihood of wrinkles.
- Sleep well, avoiding wasted nights - Sleep is the time of day when your body recovers and is especially important for your skin's ability to restore itself overnight. By not getting enough sleep, your skin cannot fully recover from the day before. Repeat this over time, and your skin may start to age prematurely. It's best to get between 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night as an adult.
- Avoid excessive stress - find ways to reduce and combat everyday stress. Start by identifying and reducing the causes of stress, practicing sport or other activity that allows you to abstract yourself from work or problems that you have to face daily.
- Routine medical consultations - important for screening for dysfunctions or diseases (physical or mental) in order to act in a timely manner and have quality of life.
5. Skin treatments
You must have a daily routine suited to your skin type and concern to hydrate, protect and counteract skin aging. You can move on to dermatologist-guided skin care techniques that will not only fight the signs of aging, but also help give your appearance a more youthful appearance, diminishing expression lines and eliminating blemishes. They can also opt for facial filler treatments or even plastic surgery. The most important thing is that each person is free to choose what will make them feel good and be happy.
Additional Reading:
https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/what-do-we-know-about-healthy-aging
https://thederm.com/healthy-skin-aging/
https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/healthy-ageing-the-skin#anti-ageing-treatments
https://www.tuasaude.com/envelhecimento-precoce/