SSBS #015: The truth about "anti-aging" skincare: part two
Hello Friend!
Let’s talk the idea of “anti-aging” skincare…PART TWO.
Last week we dove into all things skincare as it relates to the natural aging process of our skin, and it was complex, wasn’t it?? We talked about the false misconception around the idea that all we need is that one super expensive miracle cream that will leave us feeling like a million bucks. We also deep dove into the REAL causes of changes in our skin related to aging, which are mostly due to a decrease in collagen production and the proliferation of free radicals and oxidative stress causing damage to our skin on a cellular level.
Today we are going to talk about how we support our skin in the aging process and protect ourselves from free radical and oxidative stress damage.
Let’s keep this simple and direct - we don’t want to make it any more complicated than we need to friend!
Here’s what we’re going to cover today:
Nutritional collagen intake
Sun protection
Exercise
Sleep
Environmental Moisture
High performing skincare that specifically addresses collagen and oxidative stress
#1) Nutritional Collagen Intake
Collagen is a truly vital protein in the structure of our skin, hair, and nails. It's heavily present in the middle layer of our skin, and it's what keeps our skin supple, taut, and wrinkle free. By our late 20's and early 30's, collagen production starts to slow significantly down, resulting in less skin elasticity and plumpness.
One way we can offset this decrease in production is by consuming collagen and collagen rich foods in our diet! I love mixing collagen peptides in smoothies, coffee, tea, water, or basically ANYTHING to get an extra boost for my hair, skin, and nails. Collagen peptides should be grass-fed, hormone free, and tasteless - my top choice for quality is the Needed Collagen (you can use the code MODERNMAMAS for 20% off your order if you’d like!)
#2) Sun Protection
There are two types of sun rays, UVA (aging) and UVB (burning) and they both do damage to our skin. They both can damage DNA, contribute to skin cancer, and create signs of aging like wrinkles, sagging, loss of elasticity and pigment changes.
While UVA contributes to outward signs of aging more readily, UVB actually is what creates sunburn and then later a tan. A tan is a sign your body has increased melanin pigment which acts as a UV filter in an attempt to protect from damage.
While UVB damages DNA directly, UVA goes even deeper and causes potentially more damage through delayed wrinkling, tan, and cancer. They also injure lots of cells, especially the ones that produce collagen and elastin. BOTH types of rays also appear to suppress the immune system, which may be a factor in developing melanoma (the most aggressive form of skin cancer).
Click HERE to learn more about the effects of sun on skin, and HERE to see which products I love for safer, regular protection against the sun.
I feel like a broken record for this one, but I can't stress enough regular sun protection if you plan to be out in the sun for longer than 30 minutes at a time, at least on your face! The suns rays really do a number on our skin (take it from the girl who was a lifeguard from 16-21 and NEVER wore sunscreen), and it's not worth the tan (says the girl who is now 39 and regretting her decision to not wear sunscreen lol).
#3) Exercise
Researchers at McMaster University in Ontario studied a small group of adults between ages 20 and 84 and found that the frequent exercisers who were over age 40 had skin that resembled the more supple, elastic skin of people in their 20s and 30s.
The team theorized that exercise creates body substances that help to slow the signs of aging in skin, although there's still much research to be done to nail down the science behind this!
Other recent studies have found a link between regular exercise and the lengthening of the telomeres, which are actually tied to the aging process in your chromosomes. Preliminary studies have found that lengthening the telomeres can help turn off the aging process in your chromosomes!
HOW COOL IS THAT? There are many more benefits to exercise for your skin and for your health, but I think we can effectively say that exercise can help your skin reduce signs of aging!
Just make sure that you gently rinse the sweat off your skin post-exercise to prevent drying out, or tearing the skin with sweat crystals post workout.
#4) Environmental Moisture
Skin dehydration is a major factor in aging skin. And one way to slow water loss (aside from drinking more H2O) is through the environment!
"The outer layer of your skin is known as the Stratum Corneum and it's made up of what is called your Natural Moisturizing Factor. Water naturally binds to this NMF and it is this water binding that is what creates skin hydration. Balanced skin depends on the production and health of these natural moisturizing factors so that your skin can both attract and retain water." Click HERE to read more on this.
Signs of dehydrated skin include dryness, flakiness, roughness, irritation, and the overall look of AGING SKIN. Because we are exposed constantly to factors that pull moisture out of our skin and environment (Extreme temperatures, air-conditioning, heaters, soap, medications, sun, alcohol, and smoking) it's essential to create a moisture rich environment when we can, especially at night when we're sleeping and our skin is repairing itself! I love THIS humidifier, and we use it at night while we sleep!
#5) Sleep/Nightime Skincare
I know I probably don’t need to say this, but maybe I do - SLEEP IS SO IMPORTANT. For so many things! Our skin regenerates and repairs the damage from the day WHILE we sleep, so if we’re not getting enough of it, we aren’t fully allowing our skin to show renewed on the daily.
Aside from the physical restoration that comes from sleep, our nighttime skincare routine is so important because our skin is using whatever we put on it at night to aid in the repair and regeneration process. The better, higher quality ingredients we use, the more results we will see.
#6) High Quality Skincare
Lastly, while I sure don’t believe there is a magical miracle cream out there that will make you have the angelic skin of J.Lo (I LOVE YOU JLOOOOOO!), there are some really high quality and safer skincare options out there that will support your skin and help slow down and reverse the aging process.
First, ditch the retinol if you can and seek out products that use the safer alternative, bakuchiol. Retinal ranks a 9 out of 10 in terms of product safety (meaning NOT good), and can have some questionable health effects.
Second, look for products that contain peptides! Peptides in skincare are a topical ingredient related to collagen. Using them in your skincare can help to support your existing collagen and help supplement collagen loss in the skin, which we’ve discussed being a contributor to aging.
Third, seeking out creams, especially day time specific ones, that focus on providing antioxidant protection can be hugely beneficial! We know oxidative stress results in aging of our skin, helping mitigate that can be really integral to slowing down the process.
My favorite safer line that does all of the above and more is this one.
Now that we know the how and why, I hope you feel empowered to go-forth and support your skin!
It’s 90% lifestyle support and 10% the right skincare in my opinion friend.
TL;DR:
The key to slowing down skin aging is mostly lifestyle related
Increase nutritional collagen intake
Stay consistent with your sun protection
Move your body
Add in environmental Moisture
Find the right skincare line
Thanks for being here my friend! As I stated in the beginning of the newsletter, I’ll be taking a short break to spend time with family, and then based on feedback will be re-launching the newsletter in early 2023 (can you believe it’s already here?!!!) I hope you have a wonderful holiday season, and an OFF THE CHAIN New years friend!
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