Posted on 09 May, 2008 -
How’s Your Skin?
16 tips for great-looking younger skin including:
* What causes 90% of skin ageing?
* One of the best anti-wrinkle creams for just £1.89
* A tea that reduces redness - and a tea you apply to the outside
When I sent you the list of tips on readers’ supermarket bargains a few weeks ago, I held back one tip about a face cream from Aldi. It costs just £1.89 for 50ml, my reader tells me, yet has topped polls and has been recommended by all different kinds of beauty surveys and newspapers.
One of the testers from the Sunday Mirror’s 2008 Beauty Survey said “I was asked if I’d had a facial, my skin looked so fresh. I think it must be expensive”; Another said “My skin feels firmer, brighter and refreshed”.
It’s called Siana Anti-Wrinkle Day Cream. It contains lots of active ingredients found in more expensive creams. And has been flying off the shelves apparently.
Looking as young as you want to
And that tip from my reader got me thinking. Are creams really the only thing we can do for better skin? Are there other tips that could be more important than the face creams that we use? And…
... what else can I do to stay lookng younger longer!
Here’s what I found:
* Central heating can dry out your skin and make it look older and duller. Try opening windows regularly. Turn down the heat if it’s too hot. And put a bowl of water by radiators to rehydrate the air so that it doesn’t suck moisture out of your skin.
* A study at the University of Illinois revealed a link between moderate exercise and decreased inflammation of damaged skin tissue. Physical activity helps pump higher levels of oxygen all around your body bringing fresher skin cells to the surface.
* Foods that contain flavanoids help repair damage from toxins. These include blackberries, blueberries, strawberries and plums. To moisturise your skin from the inside, eat oily fish or fish oil supplements, nuts, seeds and avocados.
* Drinking raspberry tea can help strengthen capillaries so eases red skin and rosacea.
* Nutritional therapist Suzi Grant, author of Alternative Ageing, recommends moisturising with flaxseed oil. She says it is her favourite rejuvenating oil.
* If you have bad skin, go to your doctor. Many people feel that this isn’t something they can ‘pester’ their doctor about. But it is.
* Make sure you put sun tan lotion on your face from Spring to Autumn. Exposure to the sun is one of the top causes of aging skin. Some say it causes 90% of it!!
* If your doctor doesn’t help, try searching the internet for alternative information.
* Too much sugar in your diet can lead to the breakdown of collagen and therefore increased wrinkles. Ready-made meals contain a lot of sugar - as well as the more obvious.
* Exfoliate. Lines can look exaggerated if there’s a thick layer of dead skin sitting on the surface. It can also prevents the active ingredients in face cream from getting in deep enough.
* Daily facial exercises can put some of the bounce and elasticity back in your skin. It can also help improve the effect of things like frown lines and jawline sag. I read that there is even a new Nintendo face training game that can help you do it!
* If you like the idea of expensive face creams but are on a budget, look out for cheaper products that still contain active ingredients like retinols, peptides, antioxidants and hydroxy acid.
* Green tea is also said to be great for renewing your skin cells - as well as great for your health. Brew yourself up a cup and leave some of it to cool to apply to your face as a toner.
* If you’re overweight, losing some pounds could improve the look of your skin too. Researchers at St Thomas’ Hospital in London found that obesity speeds up the ageing process more than smoking.
And finally, Jerry Hall says that she helps herself look younger longer by sleeping a lot, meditating and doing yoga.
I guess this is similar advice to that of my stepmother who keeps telling me to stop frowning!
