How To Target The 7 Common Signs Of Ageing
Most experts agree that skin starts to show small signs of ageing after the age of around 25. Granted, that sounds ridiculously early, but this is when your body starts to lose collagen at a rate of 1 percent each year, so it kind of makes sense, right?
Also, at 25 you’ve already been on this planet for two and a half decades which is quite a long time in the grand scheme of things. 25 years’ worth of sun exposure, environmental pollution, maybe a slack skincare routine somewhere along the way? It’s no surprise your poor skin begins to show signs of a little wear and tear.
Skin ageing comes in many forms. Yes, fine lines and wrinkles are the most obvious, but it doesn’t begin and end there.
Here, we take a look at the seven most common signs of ageing – plus what you can do to target and treat them at home.
1. DRYNESS & DEHYDRATION
Dry skin is something you’re born with, but it often gets worse as you get older. Why? For one thing, your number of sebaceous glands decreases which means your skin produces fewer natural oils to keep your skin soft and lubricated.
Your skin’s protective barrier also weakens, and when you couple this with the fact that everything around you (heat, sun, wind, pollution, heating etc.) is constantly trying to suck all the moisture from your skin, it’s no wonder your poor complexion becomes dry and dehydrated.
Your Plan Of Attack: Moisturise, moisturise and moisturise some more. But choose your products wisely and settle for nothing less than formulations that contain a careful blend of humectants, emollients and/or occlusives.
Humectants are ingredients like hyaluronic acid, aloe and glycerin which pull water into your skin. Then you’ve got emollients like shea butter and plant oils which work to soften and smooth your skin.
Finally, occlusives are thicker and form a physical barrier over the surface to lock in moisture. Think beeswax, cocoa butter and rich oils like olive. Imperial Moisturiser is a fabulous choice for most skin types as it’s carefully blended with vegetable glycerin, hyaluronic acid and a whole host of botanical oils to offer all your hydration and moisturisation needs in one.
2. DULLNESS
Depleted moisture levels in your skin are partly to blame for your skin becoming less glowy as it ages. But there’s another factor at work here and that’s cell turnover. Your skin has an average life cycle of around four weeks in which cells form, mature, die and shed.
However, after the age of 30 this cycle starts to slow down, causing dead skin cells to hang around at the surface for way longer than necessary. And with that, it’s farewell to naturally radiant skin.
Your Plan Of Attack: Regular exfoliation is one of the best ways to boost cell turnover as this sloughs off dead skin cells to make way for new ones. Depending on your jam, there are two ways to exfoliate.
First up is physical exfoliation which includes scrubs like our Natural Luminosity Scrub, as well as cleansing brushes and muslin cloths. The other is chemical exfoliation which covers any product formulated with exfoliating glycolic, lactic or salicylic acid.
3. ENLARGED PORES
You know that slowing down of your skin’s life cycle we just mentioned? Well, this is also one of the main reasons for your pores becoming more visible with age. You see, when dead skin cells stay around for longer, they become trapped in your pores, causing them to stretch and expand. The loss of elastin in your skin doesn’t help, either. For obvious reasons.
Your Plan Of Attack: Again, exfoliating is vital, so make sure this becomes part of your regular regime, no excuses. Also, ensure you cleanse twice daily with Crystal Cleanser to remove other build-up like oil, debris, dirt and make-up. If you leave these to sit on the surface of your skin, they could block your pores even further, potentially causing breakouts. And this is no fun at any time in your life.
4. FINE LINES & WRINKLES
Lines and wrinkles are undoubtedly the most common concerns for men and women over the age of 30 – and they’re often the most evident. First up, come those small, shallow lines at the outer corners of your eyes where your skin is the thinnest.
Then, you might start to see deeper wrinkles on your forehead, between your brows or around your mouth which will come and go at first, but become etched in as time progresses. All these are due to your natural decline of collagen which causes the structure of your skin to weaken and lose elasticity and firmness.
Your Plan Of Attack: Your collagen supplies inevitably decrease with age and there’s little you can do to stop that. Because biology. However, there are many other ways to help slow down collagen degradation. Limit your time in the sun, don’t smoke, sleep well and eat healthily. Yes, these might be obvious, but it doesn’t make them less effective.
We also recommend applying Imperial Eye Gel around your eyes and Pre-Eminent Beauty Serum over your face and neck before moisturising. This super effective serum contains retinol to boost your collagen supplies, plus hyaluronic acid to hydrate and help smooth lines and wrinkles.
5. ROUGH TEXTURE
Bumpy skin can be caused by any number of skin conditions including whiteheads, dermatitis, rosacea and psoriasis, but these come with a whole host of other symptoms above and beyond your skin feeling rough. So, if your skin’s texture feels a bit meh, but you’re not experiencing more serious issues like redness, itching, breakouts or irritation, chances are your slow cell turnover is to blame. Again.
You also lose hyaluronic acid as you age which causes a certain roughness due to dehydration. Not to mention your natural loss of collagen and elastin which means healing takes longer and your skin becomes more likely to scar.
Your Plan Of Attack: Exfoliation and a great moisturising routine are a must, but if you find your regular moisturiser isn’t giving your skin enough of what it needs, up the ante with Organic Age-Defying Facial Oil. This exquisite treatment won’t block your pores like some facial oils, yet it’s loaded with botanical oils to nourish, hydrate, smooth and protect your skin. Apply it over moisturiser, but always before sun protection.
6. SAGGING SKIN
Mature skin rarely remains as plump and firm as it was in your younger days, thanks to collagen and elastin leaving town. This makes your skin become looser and, dare we say it, droopier – especially around your cheeks and jawline. With age, you also lose bone density and fat below the skin, which does nothing but add to its slightly slack appearance. Sigh.
Your Plan Of Attack: Look out for firming ingredients like peptides, marine collagen, retinol and fruit acids on your skincare labels. Also, make sure there are plenty of antioxidants in both your diet and your skincare regime.
Antioxidants limit free radical damage which is a killer on your collagen supplies. Get them in berries, dark chocolate, nuts, beans and leafy veg. Then add Night Elixir to your nighttime regime which is packed with antioxidants like vitamin E and green tea to help heal damage as you sleep.
7. SUN SPOTS
Sun spots are a type of hyperpigmentation that occur when small patches of your skin become darker than the rest due to too many years of unprotected exposure to the sun. They appear when too much sun disrupts melanin production (the pigment that gives your skin its colour) making it erratic and giving your skin a mottled, uneven appearance.
Sun spots are flat, either brown or grey and can appear on any area of skin that regularly sees the sun. However, they’re most often found on your face, shoulders, hands and décolletage and they don’t half creep up on you. Speaking from experience, here.
Your Plan Of Attack: Sun protection is literally the best anti-ageing weapon you could ever use, so always apply broad-spectrum sunscreen to areas of exposed skin. Of course, in winter your entire body does not need to be slathered up on a daily basis, but your face, neck and hands? Absolutely. Our lightweight Organic Tinted Moisturiser with SPF 25 is a fabulous choice here and comes in four shades to suit all skin types.