This article on the wikihow blog claims to give good ideas on how you can prevent (or reduce) wrinkles. They get many things right but some are just a little off. Here are their tips.
1. Don’t blame it on your genes - They claim that genes only govern 30% of your wrinkle potential. This seems a dubious claim as they quote research from P&G who is certainly motivated to convince people that applying products isn’t worthless. Genetic effects are at least 50% of the battle.
2. Protect skin from the sun - The best advice you can get. Less sun = less wrinkles.
3. Eat, drink, slather antioxidants – While there is some evidence that Retinol can reduce wrinkles, there is limited evidence that any other antioxidant (when applied topically) has an effect. There is NO evidence that eating or drinking antioxidants will help prevent wrinkles.
4. Wear sunglasses – Can’t disagree with this
5. Sleep on your back – Makes sense but there is little evidence that this will help
6. Stop smoking - An excellent suggestion. Science has shown that people who smoke get more and earlier wrinkles than people who don’t.
7. Control facial expressions – This is silly, impractical and not proven to be useful in controlling wrinkles.
8. Be happy – The idea is that if you’re happy, you’ll look like you age less quickly. We can’t argue that being happy is a good idea but it’s doubtful that it will make you look like you have less wrinkles.
Interestingly, they forgot to include an obvious preventative measure. Use a good skin cream daily.
What do you do to prevent wrinkles? Do you think it works? Leave your comment below and let the rest of the Beauty Brains community know what you think.
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{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
my advice to avoid wrinkles : be rich ! You can compare poor people and rich ones, even without surgery, rich look younger. Money problems (and generally social problems) cause wrinkles, nobody says it but it’s just so evident (I’m french, sorry for the errors in english)
I can tell you that #5 about sleeping on your back is true. I have had surgery on both of my shoulders at two different times. That required me to sleep on only one side for months. I have new wrinkles around the side of my eyes that appeared after being forced to sleep on that side. And they are still there 3 and 4 years later.
I would add stay hydrated and get plenty of sleep. Wrinkles are more prominent on dehydrated skin and lack of sleep increases puffiness.
Don’t smoke, don’t tan. Literally, nothing else matters compared to those two.
Reduce facial expressions? Pete’s sake. HUmans have muscles attached to the surface of our skin on one place on our bodies only: our faces. FOR A REASON.
Maybe by “reduce facial expressions” they mean what my mom means – no scowling. I have a tendancy while reading to furrow my brow and draw my eyebrows together so I’m getting deep ridges in these areas.
I’m 32, and the only telling thing about my age are the serious wrinkles on my brow. I decided to try the Made from Earth “Vitamin Enhanced Face Firming Serum” as it wasn’t too expensive (look at other products – ouch!) and thought even a small improvement would be worth the price.
I have to say, I’m shocked.
After about two weeks, I saw noticeable changes, and it’s now been about 6 weeks, and the improvement has been tremendous. The wrinkles on my forehead are almost gone. I’ll definitely be purchasing more.
Since it is organic and chemical free (hypoallergetic) you can wear it around the eyes. It has become my favorite wrinkle cream ( and I have tried all of them) because you can actually feel it firming your face right away after you apply it. It is absorbed amazingly and works great. Highly recommended for people trying to tighten sagging skin and wrinkles around the eyes and brow.
you can find them at http://www.madefromearth.com
I agree on almost all of these tips except that they don’t apply to all people of all ethnicities.
1. Asian women tend to look younger than European women of the same age. African women’s skin seems to “hide” wrinkles better or maybe they wrinkle less than white and tanned women.
2. Staying away from the sun may dramatically help white women but for tan women there’s almost no visible difference.
3. agree
4. Sunglasses do protect your eyes and maybe the area around your eyes but I always think about how vision glasses give people bags under their eyes so maybe the weight of sunglasses will actually give you more to worry about in regards to your skin.
5. and 6. agree
7. If you frown a lot you get wrinkles on your forehead, that’s true.
8. Doesn’t this contradict tip number 7? If you’re happy that means you’re smiling a hell of a lot which leads to…the dreaded smile lines and marionette lines! Think Cameron Diaz, girl smiles a lot and her mouth has always made her look older.
I think good sex also tends to keep your face looking younger and fresher and more ‘dewey’
). It keeps your blood flowing and releases endorphins, which must be good for something – I’m 46 and everyone tells me I look more like 32.
I also agree with the other suggestions, but where is #9?
Sun exposure helps your skin synthesize vitamin D, which is one of the biggest nutritional deficiencies we have in our country right now! Get at least 20 minutes of sun exposure without sun screen daily. Also, where is the suggestion to drink more water? Staying well hydrated helps keep skin moisturized. Where is the science behind sunglasses preventing wrinkles?
I read the book “The Skin Care Solution” by my FAVORITE dermatologist Rebecca Baumann. Based on determining my skin type, I follow her recommended regimen to prevent wrinkles:
Morning:
-Cleanse with a cleanser containing AHA’s (recommended product: DDF Glycolic Face Wash)
-Apply a wrinkle preventing serum (I use Aveeno)
-Apply eye cream (I use one by Derm Doctor)
-Apply a moisturizer containing sunscreen
Night:
-Cleanse with the same cleanser containing AHA’s
-Apply wrinkle preventing serum
-Apply eye cream
-Apply moisturizer
-Apply a moisturizer containing retinol (I use Neutrogena’s Anti-Wrinkle Intensive)
I have found this regimen to be effective. In the colder months, I’ll forgo the regular moisurizer at night and use only the retinol moisturizer with pure vitamin E oil on top.
I tend to break out about 14-16 days after the first day of my period, so I’ll switch to a cleanser containing salicylic acid on those days.
Kate B (from above) – I complete agree that the Made from Earth skincare products work for wrinkles. Here is my story:
I wanted to wait a few weeks to use the Made from Earth Vitamin Enhanced Face Firming Serum before reviewing it. I have tried about 5 different kinds in the past 5 months, and refuse to buy if they don’t work! Anti-wrinkle creams are $$!
I am turning 35 in a month and have started to get self-conscious about my eye wrinkles…i think I smile too much:)
Anyway, I purchased the Made from Earth Vitamin Firming Serum on a whim JUST from all the positive reviews on the internet.
I have been using it twice a day for the past 3 weeks and I can honestly see a difference! My wrinkles don’t seem as deep and are definitely less noticeable.
I have very fair and sensitive skin, I wear under-eye concealer daily… and this anti-wrinkle cream has not caused any strange skin reactions. I am excited to try other products by Made from Earth!
Thanks for the recommendation Kate!
@ Becky: From what I’ve read, the vitamin D deficiency is mostly a fallacy, especially since a lot of foods today come fortified with it. Also, the time for sun exposure without sunblock should be more like ten minutes, not twenty.
I actually got the hydration advice from a doctor at my university’s health center years ago. I had a terrible stomach flu and hadn’t been able to keep anything down for about a day so I went to the clinic. She pinched me and could tell I was dehydrated because my skin didn’t rebound right away. I never really cared about staying hydrated before, but she recommended that I try Gatorade and clear juices until I could keep solids down and just really reiterated that you need liquids even if you’re not sick. I just drink a lot of tap water now and noticed my skin no longer does that creepy thing when you pinch it. It kind of makes sense, if you’re hydrated then your skin will be plump and push out wrinkles. But if you’re dehydrated you can tell because your skin gets kind of icky looking.
Ladies I too agree with you – I have been also using the Made from Earth Vitamin Firming Serum and have seen a major difference in the wrinkles around my eyes.
The Made from Earth Serum combined with some of the tips above, particularly the “stay out of the sun” and the get alot of rest have really helped me. You need to do alot of things in combination to reduce wrinkles not just one thing.
Taylor and Kate,
Thank you for the product recommendations! I am 33 and thinking maybe I should start using some products for anti-aging (even though I still look young.) Since I only use organic products, it is sometimes tough to find a safe yet effective product. But based on your experiences, I will try Made From Earth. I visited their site and their products seem to be wonderful. Thanks for sharing.
Oh and what do I do to stave off wrinkles? Drink lots of water, take vitamins and minerals, exercise, eat organic and use organic personal care and beauty products. Also banishing stress from you life through meditation is great for overall health.
Be happy and smile. It is an instant face lift. No one will notice a few dynamic wrinkles; they respond to a more pleasant, welcoming face. They’ll think that you look pretty good!