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Paint Your Nails to Get the Hands of a Teenager
Why: If your hands feel naked and blah without a couple coats of nail polish, there's a reason for that. A study shows that women who wear nail polish are perceived as younger than their true age. Subjects were asked to guess women's ages judging by photos of their hands alone; 49 percent of the subjects said women's hands looked younger when wearing nail polish. Another surprising tidbit: Wearing rings make hands look even younger.
Try: Keep those regular manicure appointments, and keep nails rounded and short (not longer than the edge of your fingertip) for the most youthful look. Red, light pink and creamy nude shades are timeless and universally flattering as long as you pick a shade with a complementary or neutral undertone. You can't go wrong with Chanel Le Vernis Nail Colour in Rouge Rubis or Essie nail polish in Really Red or Mademoiselle. Steer clear of grungy neutrals like greige or army green or very dark shades like black or navy.
While you're at it, keep the skin of your hands looking as youthful as possible with a spot-correcting, broad-spectrum SPF hand cream like Clinique Even Better Dark Spot Correcting Hand Cream.
Cover image via Imaxtree
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Try This Coloring Technique to Look Naturally Baby-Blonde
Why: Blondes may not have more fun, but they do look younger, at least according to men. A study shows that men perceive women with lighter hair as being younger than they are. Experts believe this has an evolutionary basis: Because hair naturally darkens as you get older, young people are most likely to be naturally blonde.
Try: Replacing the ombré color trend that swept the beauty world: babylights. Picture super, superthin highlights, hand-painted from root to tip in the balayage style, resulting in born-with-it, baby blonde color. The thinness of these highlights make regrowth look less obvious, which in turns makes the color look naturally yours -- unlike single-process color and foil highlights, which create obvious-looking contrast at the roots when hair grows.
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Wear This Scent to Look Seven Years Younger
Why: When men are sizing you up, they follow their noses. In a study performed by the Smell and Taste Institute (yes, it exists) in Chicago, women wearing grapefruit extract were perceived by men to be an average of 6.7 years younger than their actual ages.
Scent turns out to be a powerful influence where dudes are concerned: They judged women wearing vanilla extract as more overweight and lazier than subjects wearing different fragrances. Who knew?
Try: If you don't mind a strong grapefruit note, Jo Malone Grapefruit and Fresh Hesperides Grapefruit are great options. Fragrances like Tocca Cleopatra and Marc Jacobs Daisy Dream contain subtler notes of the fruit.
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Do This Mind Trick to Look 12 Years Younger
Why: Those who regularly meditate experience all kinds of mind-body benefits, from lower stress levels to reduced risk of heart disease. Another benefit: They're hotter than everyone else.
Experts have determined that meditation practitioners have a biological age (which includes factors like skin elasticity) of between five to 12 years younger than their true ages. Scientists aren't totally sure what, exactly, keeps meditators looking young and fit, but one likely explanation is that meditation curbs the fraying of telomeres -- aka DNA damage -- which may inhibit physical aging.
Try: To find out which type of meditation is right for you and how you can get started, try these easy tips. Also, if you're a techie, smartphone apps like Headspace and Take a Break are way helpful for getting into the zone.
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Make Over Your Mouth to Shave Off Five Years
Why: An annoying sign of aging: In addition to the yellowing that naturally happens by eating dark food and drink, teeth get more dull-looking as they wear and your tooth enamel thins. That's why having whiter teeth is shown to make people look five years younger, among a host of other benefits. (It makes you more employable!)
Try: There are so many teeth-whitening products on the market that it's possible to sport a smile that's several shades whiter within days. Look for tooth-whitening products with a concentration of 10 to 15 percent peroxide to avoid compromising your teeth's enamel; try GoSmile Speed Whitening System.
If you gnash your teeth at night, take steps to avoid wear and tear: Stay away from hard or chewy foods (gum, taffy, tough vegetables like raw carrots, etc.) that exacerbate grinding and/or use a mouth guard at night.
Most women think that looking years younger is going to cost them: time, money and/or pain. And anti-aging products and cosmetic procedures cost. But the truth is that looking more youthful -- by years, even a decade -- is much more about tweaking perceptions. These 10 science-based tips show how simple changes can help you turn back the clock by a decade or more.