- Protect your skin every day!Long termsun, wind, and UV rays can lead tophoto-aging and all cause significant damageto your skin like wrinkles. So whether you’rerunning errands or spending the day outside,sun protection is vital. You can protect yourskin with a hat, shade, and covering up withclothing or using a natural sunscreen. If youchoose a natural sunscreen, apply liberallyand often to all areas of skin not covered by clothing.Pumpkin andstrawberry both contain Zinc-Check out the treatmentson page 92 (Canada)and 107(Columbia).
- Cleanse your skin twice a day and after sweating heavily.Sweating,especially while wearing a hat/helmet can irritate the skin, so you want towash your face as soon as possible after you’re done exercising or sweating.
- Wash your face with a gentle scrub twice a week.Gentle washing helpsremove pollution, environmental toxins, makeup, and other substances.Oatmeal is a terrific exfoliate-Check out page 39for Kenya’s favorite scrub!
- Apply a facial, neck and chest moisturizer every day. Moisturizing trapswater in our skin, giving more of a supple, full and youthful appearance.Thewoman of Japan are very cautious about skin treatment and keeping theirskin white and bright-the treatment on page 51is one of the best aroundfor moisturizing.
- Stop using skin care products that burn/sting.Most chemically latentskincare products subtly irritate your skin.Whenever irritation is present so it theappearance of looking older.
- Stop smoking.Smoking quickly degrades theintegrity of your cells. According to a Johns Hopkins, smokers were four times as likely as nonsmokers to report feelingunrested after a night’s sleep. Restless sleep is one of the extrinsic factors toaging.
- Drink less booze. This is my least favorite, but it’s true. Alcohol is ultimatelydehydrating, robbing our skin of the well needed moisture and full cellularcapacity. Dehydrated skin is noticeable with puffy eyes, fine lines andwrinkles.
- Avoid repetitive facials expressions. Every time you make a facialexpression, you contract the underlying muscles. By repeatedly contractingthe same muscles (often done over years and years), these lines becomepermanent. Sunglasses and hats can help reduce lines caused by squinting.
- Exercise most week days. Increasing blood and oxygen flow throughout yourbody will increase circulation. Additionally, exercise gives your immunesystem a big boost, causingfor toxins to be removed faster, allowing yourface and skin to shine with radiance.
- Eat a healthy, well-balanced diet.Findings from many clinical studiessuggest that a diet high in fruits and vegetables can help prevent damagethat leads to the appearance of premature skin aging. Eating between 5-8servings of antioxidant richfoods a day can benefit you greatly! Whereas,diets high in sugar and simple carbohydrates can accelerate aging.
Maintaining a youthful appearance and turning back the clock from years ofdamaging habits, without paying the heftycost, is an uphill battle for most people.Some women deliberately choose to avoid spa and medical spa treatments becausethey KNOW that they are ingesting dangerous toxins withpotential side effects.
We certainly are not helpless against fighting off aging, oxidized stress andtheirbyproduct, free radicals. We just need to knowwhatto do and what our bodiesneed to combat them.
Our body can actually create a physical barrier to contain free radicals at their siteof production within a cell. There are also enzymes that neutralize dangerouslyreactive forms of oxygen.
What we put on and in our body can make a big impact as well. Certain foods canneutralize free radicals by contributing electrons to them. This cuts off thecascading events early in their course, allowing repair to take care of the oxidativedamage to the DNA, fats, proteins and membranes.
Our skin requires certain vitamins,minerals, hydration and nutrition tomaintain suppleness, form, and functionand fight against oxidization and freeradicals. VitaminsC and E are greatexamples. Biotin and zinc are greatprotectants against UV rays for your skin.All together, these “antioxidants”neutralize the harm caused by free radicals, so they aren’t able to rob, steal healthyliving cells causing rapid cellular degradation.
The great news is by balancing your antioxidant defenses, as we do all throughoutthis book, with the oxidizing stress (you’ll inevitably experience), there is great hopeto look younger, sexier and healthier for a longer time than you ever thoughtpossible!
