Many of your day to day habits can have a surprising impact on the visible signs of ageing. Retaining a more youthful appearance involves more than just using a good anti-wrinkle cream. Try incorporating some of these anti-ageing lifestyle changes into your routine to help keep you looking younger.
How to Keep you Looking Younger
1) Exercise Regularly
Exercise has some great anti-ageing effects. It keeps your body in shape and it boosts circulation, which can improve the appearance of your skin and reduce under-eye bags. You don’t need to invest in an expensive gym membership, there are plenty of budget-friendly exercise tools and gadgets, which get you moving!
2) Apply SPF Every Day
Too many believe that wearing SPF is only important on particularly sunny days, but it should be part of your daily routine. As well as protecting against skin cancer, it’s one of the most effective ways of minimising signs of ageing. SPF prevents unnecessary extra wrinkles and brown spots.
3) Skip the Heat Styling
Heat styling tools damage the hair, leaving it looking dull and lifeless. Your hair will have more youthful bounce and shine if you give it a break from hairdryers and curling irons every now and then.
4) Use Hand Lotion
The skin on the back of your hands is prone to accelerated ageing because it’s very thin. Your hands also frequently lose a lot of moisture thanks to the various everyday tasks they handle. Using a hand lotion every morning will help keep them looking younger. Opt for one containing SPF to prevent additional wrinkles and brown spots caused by sun damage. And, while you are pampering yourself, don’t forget to use a general moisturiser for your whole body.
5) Paint Your Nails
An extra step you can take to make your hands look a little younger is painting your nails. Nail polish can do a good job of distracting attention from any imperfections on the hands.
6) Avoid Teeth-Staining Foods
Healthy, white teeth look more youthful, so try to avoid staining them. Limit the amount of coffee, cola and red wine you drink, as well as avoiding dark sticky foods like barbecue or soy sauce. You can easily swap these for more teeth-friendly substitutes.
7) Reduce Your Salt Intake
Eating too much salt can make you retain water, sometimes resulting in a slightly aged puffy appearance. Check the salt content of foods you eat regularly – some of them may contain more salt than you would’ve imagined.
8) Get Enough Sleep
Lack of sleep can have a negative impact on your appearance. When we sleep our cells rebuild and repair themselves, and sleeping badly interferes with this process. This can leave your skin and hair looking a little dull, increasing signs of ageing.
9) Deal with Stress in Healthy Ways
Stress not only affects you on the inside, but can show on the outside too. Research suggests that stress can lead to or exacerbate inflammation in the body, which affects the appearance of the skin. Keep your skin looking more youthfully fresh by finding useful ways to relieve stress, such as relaxation techniques, exercise or simply finding someone to talk to about everything.
Ageing may be inevitable but you can certainly do your part to reduce the toll it takes on your body. Making some of these simple lifestyle tweaks will help you hold on to a few more youthful qualities and help keep you looking younger for longer!
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