It always amazes me how much time, money and effort we put into trying to reverse the ageing process while at the same time, we are doing so many things that actually accelerate ageing.
We are all aware of at least one or two things we do that we really shouldn’t because they are prematurely ageing us, but I’ve got six things that you should really, truly try to stop doing.
Because we all want to look good for our age. Not young (we know we won’t look young forever), but “good for our age” – because that’s a pretty decent goal, don’t you think?
Nothing beats the feeling when people think you look younger than you actually are. Why is that? Vain, superficial, stoopid ego, that’s why.
So if we all stop doing these six things we will not only save ourselves time and money, but we’ll also stop the ageing process in its tracks.
Okay, okay, that might be a slight exaggeration – but these tips will definitely SLOW the ageing process in its tracks.
1. Sorry, I may as well start with the hardest one.
Drinking ages you. I know, I know, Alicia on The Good Wife drinks wine almost every night and she looks fine. Don’t make me give you the ‘TV Is Just Make Believe’ speech because seriously, nobody looks THAT GOOD.
Regular alcohol consumption ages you and that’s the bottom line. Of course you can choose to completely ignore this advice and just follow steps 2-6 but I urge you to cut back, or at least switch to red wine.
And don’t just stop drinking. You have to replace it with something. I am going to share with you the best recipe I’ve ever ripped off from somebody (my local cafe) in an attempt to curb my night time coffee habit.
Buy a really nice water jug, and fill it up with water. Then slice half a punnet of strawberries and half a lemon with the rind on. Place them in the water and put it in the fridge. The flavours infuse into the water and it tastes incredible.
It’s not as good as a glass of wine but it’s 97% as good.
2. Skin trauma. Your skin is not a pin cushion, nor is it a stress ball.
Any time you touch your face, squeeze a pimple, rub your eyes, rub any part of your face or even just lean your cheek on your hand for an extended period of time, you are ageing yourself.
Don’t touch the skin on your face under any circumstances.
Your skin doesn’t like to be ‘smooshed’ or moved in any way.
I’m not saying to stop smiling or sobbing or anything like that. Facial movements that come from the muscles in your face are actually good for you. Just don’t use your hands for any reason.
I used to be a bit of a pimple squeezer and skin scratcher and I started knitting to stop the habit.
3. Not using the right products.
Not many of us take the time to consider which skin products are right for us. We tend to just pick things up here and there. Every now and then we’ll purchase a skin ‘system’ but then fail to reconsider our use of it as our skin changes and ages. It’s a common mistake. It’s called the Product Rut. And it is also ageing us.