Anti-Aging Skin Care For Free!

Here is a photo of me back in my twenties visiting the ruins of the

old fort in Manama, Bahrain.  I was young and beautiful.  No, I am not

bragging, everyone is beautiful in their twenties.  Super slim, long hair,

deep dark tan. Young, beautiful and stupid!  Why stupid?  Because 

here I am standing out in the hot and blistering sun in midday and no doubt,

not wearing sunscreen!  My idea of skin care back then was a quick shower,

throwing on some lotion, shorts and a tee and heading out the door.  I,

like others who are young, thought I had all the time in the world and

that aging was just not in my future.

Jump ahead to 2017 and I have a completely different perspective.

Now I take care of myself and learn all I can to slow down the 

aging process.  So, let me share with you what I have learned 

about how to care for your skin and slow down and help prevent

the dreaded wrinkles and sagging that the passing of the years

can bring.

First of all, not everything we do to look younger must have a big

price tag.  Many of the things we can tweak to make us look

younger are free or close to being free!

1.  SLEEP BABY SLEEP

During sleep our bodies repair tissues.  Sleeping less than 7 hours per

night can prevent us from rebuilding the collagen that keeps wrinkles

at bay and helps to prevent the dreaded sag.  Sleep heals and restores and

aids in flushing out toxins.  How can we help ourselves to get a good

night's sleep?  Turn off the TV (I know that most of us have them in our

bedrooms) because the TV is not our bedtime friend.  Keep the room as

dark as possible.  Get a sleep mask to block out the light from clocks,

street lights, etc.  A sleep mask works wonders for me.

Also, sleep on your back if you can.  Dreaded chest wrinkles can be

avoided by doing this one little thing.  I try to do it, but so far I have

been unsuccessful.  I start out on my back, but during the night I end

up on my side.  Hopefully, you will have more luck than I.

2.  ADD SUPER FOODS TO YOUR DIET

I start almost every day with a bowl of slow cooked oatmeal and

a handful (well, more than a handful because I am an overachiever)

of berries.  I love raspberries and blueberries.  I buy frozen because

they are picked ripe and freezing keeps their vital nutrients fresher

longer.  

Learn to love salmon.  It's on every anti-aging diet regimen I have

read.  Get it fresh, frozen or canned.  Grill it, bake it, use it in salads.

Salmon is heart healthy and full of Omegas that help keep our skin

plump and happy.

Eat your leafy green veggies.  My husband will be cringing right

now if he is reading this.  He is not a fan, but I am, so I often eat veggies

for lunch.  

Other super foods are walnuts and almonds.  Other fatty fishes like 

tuna and sardines.  Slow cooked oatmeal is good too.  

While on the subject of superfoods, let's talk about wine.  There are

many studies that show that the resveratrol in red wine is beneficial

to our health.  I am not disputing those studies, however I also know

that too much of a good thing can be bad for us and will be wrinkle

producing.  Alcohol in all forms is dehydrating and we need to

remember the old saying from biology class ~ a turgid cell is a happy

cell.  Let's keep those skin cells fat and happy!  So, limit that glass

of wine or spirits to one, or not at all.  We want to always be

friendly to our livers too if we want it to keep clearing out the toxins.

Also, cut back on sugar.  Sugar is not our friend in the anti-aging

battle!

3.  SLATHER ON THAT SUNSCREEN!

There is no doubt that the very most important anti-aging skin care

we can purchase is sunscreen.  We need to wear it every day, all day,

365 days a year.  It doesn't matter if it's cloudy because the rays of

the sun sneak right through and onto our skin.  Although we are 

talking about wrinkles here, we want to prevent skin cancer too.

Don't forget to reapply!

4. LEARN TO LOVE HATS

Last summer when we were staying up in Austin at the Barton Creek Resort,

David bought me this hat with UVA protection built into the fibers.  I wear it 

when I am working out in the garden along with my sun glasses and my

sunscreen.  Lots of long sleeve swim shirts come with UVA protection in 

the fabric fibers also.  Check them out!

5. EXERCISE!!!

Exercise keeps us lean and limber.  It aids with keeping our bones strong 

and our hearts healthy, but did you know that it also thickens our dermis?

Well it does and a thicker dermis means less wrinkling and sagging.  

The outer layer of our skin ~ the stratum corneum, is what we see when we

look in the mirror. The dermis lies underneath providing support for what

we see.  As we age, this dermis gets thinner and loses its cushioning

effect.  The good news is that no matter what our age right now, we

can build up our dermis with exercise and we can do it in just a few 

short months!!!  I am going to send you to this LINK where you can

read for yourself.  Now you have no excuse not to exercise if you are

serious about keeping your skin looking beautiful.

Next time I will talk about lotions and potions that help to

turn back the clock, but remember that although there are

products that we can slather on our skin to help us to look younger,

a good healthy foundation is what we all need.  No lotion or

potion will help us look younger if we don't sleep, eat a 

healthy diet, forget to protect our skin from the sun and refuse to

exercise.  

We all want our houses to look their best and we want to 

look our personal best too.  To give you a jump start on this 

process I want to introduce you to my favorite YouTube anti-aging

personality, Angie from Hot and Flashy Over 50.  Some of

you already know her, and if you do not, you will find her

no nonsense approach to anti-aging refreshing.  You can read

her blog HERE and you may visit her YouTube channel

HERE.

Every 28 days we have a chance to build healthier and younger

looking skin.  It's never too late to get on track!

Big Texas Hugs,

Susan and Bentley