When it comes to keeping your skin beautiful, it's important to avoid inflammation, says Earle. This typically shows up in the form of eczema, psoriasis, puffiness, and rosacea. (Rosacea is actually a quite common skin condition that reveals your age via facial bumps, dryness, redness, and thickening of the skin, says Luftman.) Keep external inflammation to a minimum by steering clear of drying, irritating ingredients, such as fragrance, alcohol, peppermint, benzoyl peroxide, and sulfates. Also, trade in any harsh exfoliating scrubs for a gentler option, such as one formulated with jojoba beads, or a skin care brush. (Try OLAY Professional Pro-X Advanced Cleansing System, $29.99.) And, if you're prone to rosacea, avoid eating foods that act as "triggers" for redness and bumps. Alcohol, spicy foods, and chocolate are among the most common culprits.
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Eat what you are
Skin is roughly 70 percent water, 25 percent protein, and two percent lipids/fats, says Earle. So to support your skin, trade in caffeine and alcohol for lots of plain water (eight glasses a day) or fresh herb and spice teas. Eat foods rich in protein and essential fatty acids (oily fish such as tuna, salmon, and mackerel, as well as eggs, olive oil, yogurt, nuts, seeds, and dark green vegetables). And steer clear of processed foods and excess sugar, which can cause inflammation and ultimately lead to cell damage, wrinkling, and sagging.
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Get more sleep
There's a reason it's called "beauty sleep." Lack of sleep can not only make you look haggard, it can trigger a rise in cortisol, which increases your blood sugar levels and stimulates the release of insulin. This ultimately results in a sugar craving, and excess sugar can wreck your skin, says Earle. If you have trouble sleeping, she suggests writing down all the good things that happened that day in a notebook, or try making a to-do list for the next day to relieve anxiety that might be keeping you awake. Ideally, it should take you about five minutes to fall asleep.
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Love your wrinkles
Let's face the facts: Even if you practice all of the above, with any luck, you're still going to get old. And if you're what we like to call a late adapter (someone who doesn't protect her skin or waits until after signs of aging start to appear), you're going to get some wrinkles, perhaps sooner than your peers. It's at this point that you should rely on what Luftman and psychiatrist Dr. Eva Ritvo -- authors of "The Beauty Prescription: A Complete Formula for Looking and Feeling Beautiful" -- call the most effective beauty regimen in the world: "unstoppable, radiant self-esteem." Nothing's more beautiful than a woman who exudes self-confidence. Just look at Kate Winslet, Rachel Weisz, and Emma Thompson.
Recently Kate Winslet, Rachel Weisz, and Emma Thompson poo-poo'd all their plastic, frozen-faced Hollywood counterparts by forming what they call the "Anti-Cosmetic Surgery League," and I couldn't be happier. Three beautiful, accomplished women taking a stand against freezing their furrows and plumping their lips? Awesome.
But as much as I admire them for taking a stand, I'm starting to feel the societal pressure of having to stay young-looking. And I must admit that as the effects of gravity on my face (and other regions) begin to show themselves, I do sometimes daydream about getting cosmetic surgery. I think about how nice it'd be to have a smoother brow, a more taut jawline, a ...
That's when I usually snap out of it and wonder whether there's an effective way to shift course naturally, without the incisions, pain, expense, and risks that come with operations or injections.
According to natural beauty expert and author Liz Earle, I'm not alone in wanting to remain young-looking without heading to the doctor or med spa. Earle says that while it's true that most people start to notice visible signs of aging in their 30s -- signs like dullness, sunspots, dryness and fine lines -- with a few easy changes, you can age naturally -- and beautifully.
