Understanding Why Your Skin Ages and What You Can Do About It

Having beautiful skin and looking young has been the quest of people from the beginning of time. Billions of dollars are spent every year in the beauty industry by people trying to achieve the appearance of youth and stave off aging skin. This hasn’t changed and now more than ever there are programs and skin products that promise that "youthful glow." Unfortunately, most of these products don’t work and billions of dollars have been wasted. The results that were promised were never realized or the results were short-lived, unsuccessful, and disappointing.
To truly achieve the appearance of youth and make your skin appear as young as possible, you have to know how skin develops and the "hows" and "whys" of aging skin. By knowing this information, you can develop the habits and treatments that can help you keep your youthful skin for as long as possible. There are two main causes of aging for the skin; intrinsic and extrinsic. Let’s look at them so you will know how to get to the heart of the problems that cause the appearance of aging.

• Intrinsic Aging – Aging is a natural process and our genes determine how you go through that process. You can’t do anything about the genes that you inherited, but you can become aware of them and combat them.
If you’ve inherited oily skin, you’re lucky – to a certain extent. People with oily skin have less wrinkles than people with dry skin simply because their own body keeps their skin moisturized. The drawback to having oily skin is that if you aren’t diligent about keeping it clean, the extra oil will lead to clogged pores, pimples that leave scars, and a build up of dry skin that makes your skin look dirty and dull. The solution is proper cleaning without drying out your skin. With proper cleaning, you can have beautiful skin and less wrinkles.
The dry skin you’ve inherited can age quickly with many wrinkles if you don’t follow the right beauty program. The good news with dry skin is that you will have fewer problems with acne. Purchase a good moisturizer and keep your skin properly moisturized to prevent the early onset of wrinkles.
• Extrinsic Aging – External aging is caused by factors outside your genes. Your lifestyle and habits play a big part in this type of aging. Some of the external factors are sun damage, smoking, eating habits.
Smoking not only causes internal damage to your body but causes external damage as well, especially your skin. Nicotine causes changes in your body that speeds up the break down of skin cells. Not only does smoking cause wrinkles, but also causes your skin to have a yellow appearance. It’s not uncommon for people who smoke to look ten years older than non-smokers. The good news is that you can quit smoking and your skin will begin to repair itself.
Sun damage is a big factor in premature aging. Sun not only causes sunspots, freckles, and wrinkles, it also causes skin cancer. If you add up your small amounts of time in the sun, it can mean a lot of damage. It is important to always wear a protective sunscreen when out in the sun, but to make sure you have protection, use a makeup foundation that has a sunscreen built in.
Eating Habits
If you thrive on junk food, fast food, processed foods and sugar, your skin is going to pay. Just like you have to pay attention to your skin on the outside with the proper cleaning and products, you have to feed it on the inside. Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables and drinking at least eight glasses of water per day will help your body produce healthy skin cells and will help them regenerate faster.
Some people age early and some fortunate people age later. Most people begin to show signs of aging in their mid-20s. As you get older, you skin loses its elasticity or the ability to snap back and retain its shape. This is happens because the skin cells don’t regenerate as fast as they did when you were young. Although your skin starts to age in your 20s, the signs of aging won’t be noticeable for a couple more decades. The best way to prevent the aging appearance of your skin is by being aware of the internal and external causes and make a plan to combat them while you’re still young.

Source: http://www.healthguidance.org/authors/324/Jason-Ladock