Youthful skin!!

Having turned 26 this year *sob* I'm becoming more aware of needing to keep my skin looking young and prevent wrinkles. There are some really important steps which will help fight those wrinkles and keep us looking younger for longer!

First, and this is one I really struggle with, drinking plenty of water. Letting your skin get dehydrated reduces its elasticity and becomes thinner and more prone to wrinkles.

The sun is the skin's biggest enemy, along with the risks of skin cancer the sun can cause dark spots on the skin and leads to premature ageing. Now I'm not innocent when it comes to sun exposure, I've been silly and burnt my face on a number of occasions and had a number sunbeds before my wedding. Sunbeds are really not good for your skin, go to any tanning salon and look at the people that work there I can almost guarantee that whilst they will be a lovely golden shade of brown their skin will definitely be more lined than someone of the same age who has not used sunbeds on a regular basis. To counteract the sun I always use facial products with an SPF, whether it is my moisturiser or my foundation. BB creams are great in the summer as they provide protection from the sun but also are lightweight.

Next, always take off your make up at night! Yes I know there are nights when I can't be bothered (or am slightly under the influence) to fully cleanse my face and for these instances I always have a pack of face wipes in the house so laziness never gets the better of me!! This not only saves your pillows from getting covered in make up it also stops your pores from becoming clogged.

Use the correct skin care for your skin type. Using the right skin care means that that product will take care of the specific needs of your skin, so for example balancing an oil ucomplexion or hydrating an dry skin. Having said that there are some great products on the market which cater for all skin types, such as the Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser.

Exfoliate! Using an exfoliater twice a week helps to slough off dead skin cells and let the new skin underneath shine through. It's important to use a scrub with fine particles such as the St Ives scrub for sensitive skin as exfoliaters with large particles can damage the skin leading to broken capillaries.

Use a good moisturiser. Having oily skin is no excuse not use a moisturiser. If you have oily skin your skin's sebaceous glass produce excess amounts of oil because it believes it needs to hydrate the skin. Therefore using a moisturiser for oily skin can actually help reduce the amount of oil produced by the skin.
Keeping dry skin hydrated will help prevent the skin from drying out and causing wrinkles. Using a cream such as Clinique Youth Surge which is specifically designed to slow down the ageing process and is available for all skin types will help prevent premature aging.

Finally using a good eye cream is also important to prevent crows feet and help keep the fragile skin around your eyes hydrated. It is important to apply the cream not only to the under eye area but also around the eye and up into the brow bone to ensure that you are treating the entire area. It is crucial to be gentle when doing this as the skin around the eyes is very thin and fragile, using your ring finger to pat the cream into the area will help the product to melt into the skin and be gentle on the skin.

It's never too early to start using anti aging products, I use anti ageing products which are designed for those in their 30s which will help deal with the changing needs of my skin as I move towards the scary "30"!

I hope that this is helpful to you all!

Lauren x x x