As you age, wrinkles are inevitable. You develop crow’s feet around the eyes and laugh lines around the mouth. How many times have you looked at a model or celebrity and wondered what was their secret to youthful skin, and how do they smooth wrinkles to have such a flawless appearance? You can’t completely eradicate them, but you can smooth wrinkles to improve their appearance.
Do you need some expensive elixir that you can slather on your face to turn back the hands of time, or are there changes in your daily routine that will alter things? Having firm skin is a plus as you get older, but rhytids or wrinkles or inevitable. During the aging process, your skin doesn’t have the proteins it needs to keep it tight.
The production of elastin and collagen is diminishing, which is why wrinkles form. Over time, your skin can’t fight off damage as it becomes thinner and less resistant to the elements. Thankfully, there’s no reason to dread a few lines on your face, as you’re not the only one with these marks.
Ten Skincare Habits to Smooth Wrinkles
While you don’t have superpowers that can turn back the clock on your skin, you can help smooth wrinkles by enhancing your beauty routine. By making a few alterations in your habits and care plan, you can diminish the appearance of fine lines or keep wrinkles at bay.
1. Moisturize Daily
Hydrated skin looks better than skin left to time and chance. Do you use a daily moisturizer? A moisturized face always looks better than a dry and brittle one.
Plus, women will find that their makeup glides on more easily when their face is well nourished. When you use moisturizer, it provides a barrier for your skin that shields it from damage. Use a moisturizer with lipids and ceramide in it, as this product can imitate your skin’s nourishing system.
2. Use Facial Masks
You can find facial masks using just about any natural element you can imagine. Some of the best ones include clay and mud. It would help if you used a mask to moisturize and help clear your clogged pores.
These inexpensive treatments can smooth wrinkles as well as give you clean skin that glows with health.
3. Try Anti-wrinkle Cream
There are numerous anti-wrinkle creams on the market. Thankfully, you don’t need some concoction with caviar or some other exotic additive to have healthy skin. The most critical area to focus on is under your eyes.
The skin under the eyes seems to have the most problem with thinning as you age. The eye skin can become loose and develop wrinkles quite quickly. If you want to smooth those wrinkles and keep new ones from forming, then investing in a good eye cream is worth the sacrifice.
4. Drink Water
Is it possible that having glowing skin is as easy as drinking water? Hydrated skin looks better and has a glow that doesn’t come from any product you can buy. Your skin needs water to maintain proper health.
Remember, it’s the largest organ in your body, so it needs plenty of fluids. When your skin is dry and brittle, it will be more prone to showing lines and having poor tone. Dry skin looks rough.
However, if you consume the recommended daily allowance for your weight, it can make your skin look and feel much better. One trick to making sure you get the right amount of water is to keep a bottle with you all day long. Sipping continuously throughout the day is much better than sitting down with a gallon jug and a straw.
5. Use Sunscreen When You’re Outside
There’s nothing better than sitting outside and allowing the golden rays of the sun to penetrate your body. It’s a great way to get the necessary Vitamin D that your system needs. However, while you may pick up some vitamins, you can also cause damage if you’re overexposed.
Harmful rays from the sun, also called ultraviolet light, can be very damaging to your face. Thankfully, there are ways that you can protect your skin when you need to be outside for long periods. Using sunscreen and a hat can help to shield your face.
If you tend to burn, you want to use a product with an SPF of 30 or better, and some products offer 100 SPF protection. While tanning lotions seem like the best choice to give you a golden hue, opt for a sunless tanning cream instead.
These products still let you absorb the nutrients from the sun, but they block harmful UV rays.
6. Petroleum Jelly Maybe the Key
It sounds bizarre to slather your face with petroleum jelly, but it’s a beauty hack that’s been used for centuries. It was the Native Americans who discovered this oil-based jelly, and they used it for burns, to remove makeup, and for their overall beauty treatment.
This jelly can keep your face from getting dry, which is the problem with most cleansers with an alcohol base. You may be concerned that putting all that oil on your skin can clog pores and contribute to acne, but studies from the National Institute of Health show that it penetrates and doesn’t clog.
While this shouldn’t be used as your primary moisturizer as it will make your skin too greasy, it should certainly be done on occasion to help smooth and prevent wrinkles.
7. Stop Smoking
You know smoking is bad for you, and it can be very detrimental to anyone around you. Most people don’t realize that smoking can be a significant contributor to wrinkles and aging skin. A study referenced by the Journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons examined 79 sets of twins.
One of the twins smoked, but the other twin didn’t develop this habit. The purpose was to examine the skin and how smoking cigarettes affected the development of wrinkles. Shockingly, the study found that smoking aged the skin by about five years.
Additionally, it has other harmful health concerns like an increased chance of developing cancer. Plus, smoking is quite expensive. Think of all the money you could save if you quit.
8. Increase Beta Carotene Consumption
You know beta carotene is suitable for your eyes, but there is a medical debate that enhancing this red-orange pigment can also help your skin. If you scan the ingredients of any of the expensive wrinkle creams, you will see components such as Vitamin A, retinol, and beta carotene. Isn’t it funny that creams include ingredients that you can get naturally from food?
If you want to boost your beta carotene levels, you can eat more carrots and sweet potatoes or take an herbal supplement. Research from the National Library of Medicine shows that by increasing this pigment, you can keep wrinkles or photoaging at bay.
9. Cleanse Your Face Twice Daily
How many times do you wash your face each day? It would help if you always wash your face first thing when you wake up in the morning. During the night, you sweat and pick-up dirt and oils from your pillowcase.
Washing these impurities off your face in the morning can help to relieve oxidative stress on your skin. Additionally, you should also wash your face before you go to bed, especially if you wear makeup.
Even the best makeup clogs pores and has harsh chemicals that can irritate the skin when left on for long periods. Once you’ve washed your face with warm water to open your pores, splash it with cold water to close them again.
By simply developing a good face washing routine, you can smooth wrinkles or keep them away.
10. Alter Sleep Positions
The way you sleep may be putting wrinkles on your face. When you press your face into the pillow at night, it leaves these areas of your face more susceptible to wrinkles as that skin becomes weaker. A study referenced by the Aesthetic Surgery Journal states that when you sleep on your back, you’re less likely to develop as many wrinkles as when you sleep on your stomach.
Final Thoughts on Ways to Smooth Wrinkles
For much of history, people have searched for the fountain of youth. Remember Ponce de León and his infamous journey that located sacred and restorative water. Sadly, History Channel states that this is a myth-based on hype more than fact, but there are ways to help the stave the process of aging.
What most people don’t realize is their daily habits have a significant influence on their skin. Sure, you can’t turn back the hands of time and change the thinning and loss of collagen that comes with age, but you can do things to improve your skin’s health.
Whether you suffer from crow’s feet, necklines, tear troughs, or nasolabial folds, there are ways to smooth wrinkles or fine lines and lessen the appearance. By incorporating a few of the ten habits listed above, you can improve your skin’s appearance and overall health.