Don’t you wish you had the confidence now that you had when you were 20 and carefree? But with age comes wisdom. You know what also comes with age? A few signs of ageing that perhaps aren’t too welcome – oh hi there wrinkles, age spots and fine lines! Annoying right? And while living in gorgeously sunny South Africa, means warm happy days, but definitely a little extra anti-ageing prep work. Just by exposing our skins to the sun, causes 90 percent of the visible changes we notice on our face. And that means premature ageing. You may notice signs such as loss of density, thinner skin, wrinkles, dullness and uneven skin tone. Simply by leaving skin unprotected from UV radiation equals skin damage that could have been avoided. It’s like this: Wear SPF every day year-round to avoid early signs of skin ageing.
How Skin Ages: Same But Different
Skin ageing is a natural process. And while you notice its signs on your own very personal timeline (for every woman it’s unique) from around 25, the skin structure starts to decline. The sun is the biggest culprit for damaging skin fibres. However, stress, lack of sleep, incorrect skincare products, smoking, too much alcohol all factor in. What about those genes from Mom and Dad? You could be more genetically predisposed to have thinner skin or more wrinkles. If you know this, you can do the necessary to put back the volume into skin (with the right active ingredients) and take extreme care applying a high factor SPF 50 sunscreen when exposed to UV rays. While we all age, we age differently. Dark skin tones may not see as many wrinkles as those with lighter skin tones, but sagging skin and dark marks over the years may be more visible. Again, it’s genetics, but the sun too ages dark skin tones. Uneven skin tone is a result of an overproduction of melanin (which gives our skin colour) produced from UV radiation exposure.
Breaking Down and Breaking Up: Meet Collagen and Elastin
So now you know what and who to blame for your age spots and wrinkles, but what’s actually being done to cause it all? You are losing elastic tissue, collagen and elastin, formed by fibroblasts in your skin. Before we go full Biology 101, these are simply the support fibres for strength (collagen) and stretch (elastin). Why does your beautiful complexion have that plump, fullness with youth? Well, you have (lots) of collagen and elastic to thank for that. As you get older, these naturally occurring substances breakdown. Add beach days, lack of sleep, together with your facial DNA thanks to the genetics bank of Mom and Dad (and those lifestyle choices), and you have your personal skin ageing recipe. But before you break up with summer entirely, remember we live in the age of modern skincare technology.
Your Skin Ageing Journey: What You Need to Know Right Now
Yes, skin ageing does feel a bit overwhelming; but ditch the marathon approach and rather break it down into short sprints. Where are you on your skin ageing journey?
Stage ONE: First Signs of Ageing
- Tired looking skin
- Fine lines
Stage TWO: Later Stage of Ageing
- Wrinkles
- Dry skin
- Lack of elasticity
- Dark marks
Stage THREE: Advanced Ageing
- Dull and Pale Skin
- Very dry skin
- Sagging/loss of volume
- Thinner skin
- Dark marks
Once you’ve hit your specific anti-ageing need, it’s far easier to treat those tell-tale signs thanks to advancements in skin science from brands such as NIVEA. Fine lines, wrinkles, sagging and age spots are nothing to be ashamed of. They’re all part of a natural process that mean you’re living the life you were meant to – the rest can be taken care of with innovative active ingredients in anti-ageing products that suit your skin to perfection.
