#11 Daily Habits For You To Prevent Skin Aging

At a certain age, negative signs on the skin begin to appear, signaling that your skin is facing a common issue – skin aging. This condition comes with symptoms of skin damage, affecting skin health, aesthetics, and your self-confidence. Let’s explore skin aging and go through 11 simple daily habits that help fight skin aging effectively.

At what age does the skin start to age?

Our skin can begin to age from around 25 years old. The reason is that at this age, the production of collagen decreases, with an average decline of 1% per year. Collagen-deficient skin loses its elasticity and firmness, making it susceptible to sagging, wrinkles, and the appearance of skin imperfections like freckles, age spots, and moles. The timing of skin aging varies for each individual, depending on their skincare habits and daily lifestyle.

#11 Habits to Fight Skin Aging

1. Use Sunscreen

UV rays from sunlight carry harmful effects on the skin, and prolonged direct exposure can lead to skin cancer. Using sunscreen helps reduce the penetration of UV rays into the skin. Rough texture and wrinkles are typical signs of skin aging. However, a scientific study showed that individuals who use sunscreen exhibit less than 24% of skin aging signs.

Sunscreen products come in various forms such as creams, lotions, sprays, or even sunscreen pills. Depending on your skin type and individual skin condition, you can choose the appropriate type of sunscreen. This is an essential skincare step before heading out during the day.

2. Exercise Regularly

Engaging in daily exercise and sports activities helps improve the immune system and promotes a relaxed and joyful mood. Physical activity enhances joint flexibility and supports a positive metabolic process that nourishes and enhances skin cells. Exercise also influences collagen and elastin fibers, maintaining their continuous daily production, which keeps the skin elastic and firm. This helps prevent skin aging, as after the age of 25, collagen production significantly decreases.

3. Exfoliation

New skin cells continuously regenerate, and dead skin cells need to be removed. On the other hand, an excessive buildup of dead cells provides a favorable condition for bacteria to affect the skin, leading to clogged pores, dull complexion, acne, pigmentation, freckles, and more. That’s why you should exfoliate your skin regularly, twice a week. With this frequency, the dead skin cells will be removed, making way for new skin to improve its health and freshness.

There are two typical methods of exfoliation: physical and chemical. Exfoliating products are also categorized based on these two methods. You can choose a suitable exfoliating product or use natural ingredients with exfoliating properties to apply on your skin.

4. Facial Massage

In your daily skincare routine, it’s essential to incorporate facial massage.

• Rub your hands together until they become warm.
• Press your hands onto your face and massage evenly from the inside out, from the bottom up, repeating about six times.
• Move your hands up to the forehead, using two middle fingers to massage in a spiral motion between the eyebrows.
• Next, for the eye area, use your index and middle fingers to gently tap the skin around the eye area from the inside to the outside, following the orbital bone.
• For the nose and mouth, you can use three fingers to massage from the center of the chin, around the mouth, and up to the philtrum.
• On both cheeks, continue using three fingers to lightly stroke from the bottom up, from the inside out.
• The final massage step involves lifting the facial muscles as follows: Massage from the chin, along the mouth to the philtrum, then continue from the philtrum up to the cheeks and temples, tapping the temples and finally ending at the jawline.

5. Moisturizing

The skin needs daily moisturization to maintain its health. Any water imbalance in the skin, regardless of the cause, poses a risk for various skin issues, including aging. Without enough moisture, the skin’s natural structure breaks down, leading to dryness, wrinkles, sagging, roughness, and a lack of vitality. Even if your skin is not dry, you still need to moisturize it daily. Proper moisturization keeps the skin vibrant, prevents signs of aging such as wrinkles, dark spots, and crow’s feet.

6. Proper Makeup Removal

After a long day, the skin comes into contact with air, causing dust and dirt to accumulate on the surface. Makeup and daytime skincare products also need to be thoroughly removed to prevent clogged pores and congestion. Before washing your face with a facial cleanser, you should remove all makeup with oil or makeup remover, depending on your skin type and condition. When removing makeup, keep the following in mind:

Choose a makeup remover suitable for normal, dry, oily, or combination skin. Wash your face with warm water or use a damp cloth to moisten your face before removing makeup. If using an oil-based makeup remover, apply the oil to your hands and massage it evenly on your face to remove all dirt, then use a cotton pad to wipe it off. If using a water-based makeup remover, pour it onto a cotton pad and wipe your face in one stroke. Rinse your face with clean water and then use a facial cleanser. The makeup removal process should not take more than 1 minute, and the movements should be gentle and decisive. Choose soft makeup remover pads that won’t irritate the skin.

7. Get Enough Sleep

A good night’s sleep is crucial as it provides the body with time to rest. Adequate sleep promotes comfort, stable mental state, and improved metabolic processes, nourishing the skin cells for a healthy complexion. Those who get enough sleep will wake up with more energy, enjoy better appetite, and perform better in workouts, creating favorable conditions for skincare and anti-aging.

During deep sleep, the hormone cortisol decreases, while insulin hormone is produced more effectively, stimulating collagen production to counteract the effects of aging. Individuals who frequently stay up late or lack sleep are prone to acne, wrinkles, dark spots, and freckles.

8. Taking Vitamin Supplements

The skin requires vitamin and mineral supplements to stay healthy, maintain firmness, and smoothness. Therefore, it’s essential to have a healthy diet, limiting foods high in oil, sugar, or salt. If you cannot meet the recommended nutritional needs through daily food intake or your meals do not provide enough nutrients, you can provide additional vitamins for your skin through supplements. These are supportive products containing beneficial vitamins or minerals for the skin.

9. Quit Smoking & Alcohol Consumption

Stimulants like alcohol, beer, and tobacco carry many harmful substances that can lead to metabolic changes in the body. Regular smoking and alcohol consumption can inadvertently disrupt the skin’s structure, leading to dull complexion, acne, rashes, numerous wrinkles, and especially pigmentation, darkening, and freckles. These are typical signs of skin aging. To prevent aging symptoms and keep the skin radiant and youthful, you need to quit smoking and limit alcohol consumption. Instead, focus on eating more fruits and vegetables to hydrate your body and supply it with fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

10. Maintain a Happy Mood

Prolonged stress and fatigue contribute to 30 – 60% of the causes of negative skin issues such as acne, eczema, psoriasis, and pigmentation, even if you use external skincare products. An unstable mood can also lead to insomnia and sleep disorders, inadvertently affecting the skin’s structure, creating conditions for aging symptoms to appear.

Your skin has a close and essential connection with the central nervous system. An optimistic and happy mood helps neutralize cortisol hormones, resulting in healthier, more vibrant, and youthful skin. When the brain is at ease, the skin receives sufficient nourishment, ensuring optimal skin condition and preventing premature aging.

11. Using Functional Foods

Taking care of the skin from within with functional foods is a modern beauty trend embraced by many people. Especially in busy lives when you can’t dedicate time to ensure a well-balanced daily routine. Anti-aging functional foods will provide you with various nourishing elements that participate in the process of preventing aging and promoting smooth skin. You can freely choose between supplements in the form of pills, liquids, or powders, with ingredients suitable for your current skin condition.

Just follow these guidelines when using these products:

• Choose products with clear origins and sources.
• Look for ingredients that are beneficial to the skin, easily absorbable, and well-adapted to the body, with optimal concentrations.
• Check for effectiveness reported by multiple users.
• Prioritize products with natural extracts to ensure safety for the body and skin.
• Ensure that the products are certified for safety and quality by reputable evaluation organizations.

Skin aging starts to appear around the age of 25 and beyond. At this point, your skin also becomes thinner, with a decrease in essential substances, making it less firm and smooth. Many people spend a lot of time and money to treat aging symptoms. Therefore, “love” your skin more and proactively prevent skin aging with 11 simple daily habits that we have just shared. We hope that you will always have a youthful and radiant complexion, regardless of your age.