How and Why Our Skin Ages

By Wilaiporn Kempka

We all want our skin to look young and be wrinkle free. It has always been like this and it is not going to change. Nowadays, there are hundreds, even thousands of treatments available to keep your skin wrinkle free and young looking. Anti-aging business is a multi-billion business as people are willing to do almost anything to stop their skin from aging. However, many people do not know why our skin ages, why wrinkles start to show and therefore spend thousands of dollars on products that give only short-time effects. To be able to fight the aging of the skin with success and stop wrinkles or at least minimize them, one should know the factors that cause skin aging.

We can distinguish two types of factors responsible for skin aging and wrinkles: internal factors and external factors. Internal factors are things inside our bodies, such as genes. External factors are those that affect our skin from the outside, such as lifestyle, sunlight, etc.

Internal Factors

We all age and there is really nothing we can do about it. Our genes determine how we go through this process of aging. Some people age faster than the others. However, the first signs of skin aging start to show when we are in our mid-20s! Early, isn't it? Of course those signs are very mild and wrinkles are not yet really visible but still, this is when the process starts. At this age, our skin cells are not able to regenerate as fast as they used to which results in older looking skin. Our skin is not as elastic as it was in our teenage days and wrinkles might start to appear. Luckily, those wrinkles are not yet really visible and most probably won't be for another few decades.

External Factors

As I already mentioned, those factors affect our skin from the outside. Out lifestyle greatly affects how fast our skin ages. Things such as sunlight, smoking, alcohol greatly affect how fast our skin ages and how fast wrinkles start to appear.

Sunlight

Sunlight is a big enemy of your skin and you should avoid it if you can. Yes, we all love a little suntan but remember, sunlight makes your skin age faster. Never forget to apply sunscreen when going out. And I am not talking here only about going to the beach. Whenever you go out, apply sunscreen! It is not only to prevent wrinkles but also protect you from even worse things such as a skin cancer. Sunscreen is a must especially for those who are fair-skinned. Fair skin is more prone to aging and wrinkles then dark skin, so wearing a sunscreen is obligatory.

Smoking

Smoking does not only causes cancer and other kinds of diseases. It does not only affect your internal organs but also your skin. If you want to look young, be wrinkle free and enjoy beautiful skin for a long time, you must stay away from nicotine. Nicotine intake speeds up the break down of skin cells. It results in your skin aging faster and wrinkles to appear very quickly.

You have probably noticed that those who smoke look older than those who do not. Their skin is yellow and full of wrinkles. Those effects are caused by nicotine present in cigarettes.

If you are smoking stop now! Good news is that the skin of those who stopped smoking shows signs of improvement. And those positive changes show shortly after one quit smoking!

Conclusion

We all age, some of us faster and some of us later. There is really nothing we can do about it. We can help our skin to look younger longer by protecting it from the sunlight and with healthy lifestyle. But wrinkles will come to us sooner or later. Beauty products and all sorts of treatments only delay the symptoms of skin aging. They can also hide wrinkles for some time but they will become visible. It is difficult to accept for some of us but it is how it is. Do not view skin aging and wrinkles as diseases. They are not. They are yet another stage of the development of our bodies.

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