How to Avoid Wrinkles and Minimize Aging

Here are some ideas to stay wrinkle-free and look young even as a grandparent!
Keep wrinkles from happening way before their time!!!
A healthy young face is not something only the teenagers can have, most anyone, if they start working at it early enough, can have a youthful, wrinkle-free look for many decades past the teen years!

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Yourself, this article.

1. One of the first things we think of when we think of someone who is attractive, is a great tan. While it looks good on a teenager, after years and years of maintaining a dark tan each summer, the skin begins to wrinkle, and then starts to look like leather.
   
   Not only that, but much more importantly, it is very important to moderate our sun exposure (rather than seeking the darkest tan continually) to prevent potential skin cancer.
   The damaging effects of the sun's UV rays are cumulative over time and are not reversible.
   Overexposure to the sun over a number of years contributes GREATLY to the aged appearance of the skin. Tanning is actually the body's way of protecting the skin from the sun's harmful effects. No tan is a good tan!
   A sunkissed glow from occasional outdoor activities is much different than what would be considered a continual dark tan, and is far more attractive in years to come, than a permanent deep leathery and wrinkled tanned look.
   Sunscreen and sunblock should be used faithfully if one is out in the sun for long periods of time.

2. Another thing that can keep a wrinkle-free face for decades, is drinking plenty of fluids and avoiding dehydration. Just maintaining a nice fluid balance in your body allows the cells to stay plump and full and fine lines and wrinkles won't be as noticable.

3. Getting enough sleep is important as well, in order to keep from looking too haggard, wrinkled, and old.
   Even a "night owl" that doesn't really like to get in bed early, should try to find time during each day to take a nap for an hour or so, to avoid dark circles under the eyes, or fatigue and a stressed-out, tired appearance, which has a way of encouraging wrinkles.
   The deepest stage of sleep, called REM(rapid eye movement) sleep, is also the dream stage of sleep. This stage is what is needed when we sleep, for a large percentage of the sleeping time, in order for the body to repair itself and maintain a fresh healthy glow and minimize wrinkles.

4. Keeping stress under control is another way to avoid looking older and more wrinkled than necessary.
   This is often easier said than done, but deliberately cutting back on the number of voluntary, self-induced stress-causing activities in one's life, as well as finding ways to relax and counter some of life's stresses which cannot be avoided, can help keep the stress levels and accompanying emotions in balance.
   Doing this can help keep the stress from showing up as part of one's facial appearance in the form of furrowed brow lines and frown lines around the mouth.

5. Facial expressions can cause lines as well, so if someone frowns all the time or has a negative facial expression constantly, even when they do not realize it, the lines and wrinkles can form and make a permanent set-in facial expression, one that is aging as well as not attractive in general.
   Abuse of drugs and alcohol, and a wild lifestyle in general, all age a person much faster than someone that tries to live a healthy, stable, and risk-free life.
   Smoking also contributes to wrinkles, and can sometimes make a row of tiny lines on the upper lip of some chain smokers, although not always. It is sometimes easy to spot a smoker or a former smoker from the multitude of tiny vertical lines on the upper lip area. This too is something that ages one's appearance. Lipstick wearers end up with their lipstick flowing into the lines from the mouth, which draws the attention to the lines even more.

6. Keeping a happy cheerful disposition and laughing a lot, and looking for the brighter side of life will go far in helping make a person happier and healthier, and also help them look much more youthful and attractive in general.
   No amount of anti-aging cosmetics, or cosmetic surgery, can replace a merry heart and a cheerful outlook on life for keeping a youthful, optimistic attitude, which in turn shows up on a line-free and wrinkle-free face, even in middle age and beyond!

[EarthMother]

on 6/24/2009 How to Avoid Wrinkles and Minimize Aging had some great information. Smile!