In this day and age—when 80 is the new 50 and 50 is the new…well, you get the idea—there are actually a lot of advantages to getting older. There is more wisdom and experience, less comparing yourself to the next guy (or gal), and more freedom just to be your beautiful self!

That being said, we all know that there are also some (surprise, surprise) definite downsides to getting older too, not the least of which is what happens to our skin. 

But are wrinkles, blemishes, and sagging just par for the course when it comes to getting older? Or can we really get back that rosy glow we had when we were young? 

The answer, in large part, is YES! While we can’t stop the clock, there is a lot you can do RIGHT NOW to slow the aging process when it comes to your skin. Here are three tips– and a few “Action Steps” to go along with them—that will get you moving in the right direction towards youthful looking skin at any age. 

Tip #1:  If You Smoke, Quit Now

This may go without saying, but if you are still smoking cigarettes, it’s time to stop now for the health of your skin (and health of your whole body). The litany of overall health effects from smoking is too long to go over in this article. When it comes to skin, however, there is no question about it. Smoking is just bad news. 

Collagen synthesis is the process of creating and utilizing collagen, the essential ingredient needed to make all tissues in the body, including muscles, soft tissues, and also skin. According to an investigation at the University of Oulu in Finland, cigarette smoking can absolutely interfere with collagen synthesis in the skin because of its ability to significantly stunt vitamin C absorption. (1) 

Action Steps: Need help quitting? One of the best resources to begin the process is the “Quitline.” The Center for Disease Control provides a listing of both national and state-run Quitlines designed to support those who are wanting to quit and coach them about their options. 

And as you are on your way towards kicking the habit, you can begin to rebuild your vitamin C levels both internally and externally. For external support, a would suggest  CHARLíS Revitalizing Daily Moisturizer applied throughout the day. This moisturizer is truly remarkable, since it contains 100% natural, lab tested essential oils of vitamin C-rich grapefruit peel. It also contains both organic Theobroma Grandiflorum seed butter and Perilla Ocymoides seed oil. Both of these little-known, wild harvested plants are powerful antioxidants to add support for your skin as you work on building C absorption on the inside. 

Tip #2:  Cut the Stress 

The next big skin-ager is chronic stress. On this topic, let me just state the obvious. It’s a really stressful world out there these days; more than likely your life reflects this as well. In 2019 (i.e., pre-pandemic), already three-quarters of all Americans claimed that their sleep issues, fatigue, and general health issues like headaches were really symptoms of stress. (2) Stress can affect your skin as well, since chronic stress means systemic inflammation and lower vitamin C absorption as well as lower rates of “collagen synthesis.” Be sure to read my article about the stress-skin connection for more information! 

The number of “stressors” coming at us every day probably isn’t going to change any time soon. What can change, however, is how we perceive those potential mini crises that inevitably will keep on coming.  

Research has found that regularly employing stress-reduction techniques such as diaphragmatic breathing can improve nutrient absorption in the gut, and this can lead directly to restored, healthier skin. (3) 

Action Steps: Get out that calendar and pencil in time to unwind, restore, and just be. Time management experts all agree: if you don’t “schedule it in” there is a good chance that it just won’t get done. If this feels impossible in an already tight schedule, take heart: it doesn’t take much to have a long-lasting effect when it comes to lowering stress. Research has found that just 10-15 minutes a day of stretching, deep breathing, brisk walking, or being in nature can have a profoundly calming effect on the nervous system, especially when you take the time to destress every day. (4) 

Tip #3:  Hydrate!

The hallmark of youthful-looking skin is plumpness and fullness. Maintaining these characteristics as you get older has everything to do with how well your skin is able to hold in moisture. Of course, there is a complicated matrix of just-under-the-surface reactions which all contribute to how well your skin is able to do this. 

None of these mechanisms can work, however, if you don’t first hydrate your body with enough fresh, filtered water every single day. Getting enough is really important, and here’s why. Whenever you drink, your body will first automatically move that water to the internal organs for detoxification and lubrication. Only after these organs have had enough will it then move whatever is left in the direction of the skin. (5) A very recent 2023 study on athletes conducted at Waseda University in Saitama, Japan found that simply observing the look and feel of the skin can give definite clues as to the state of dehydration of the body as a whole. Not getting enough water can be almost immediately noticeable in the form of dryness, flakiness, discoloration, and wrinkles. (6)  

Action Step: Your first goal should be pretty obvious– get just the right amount of fresh, filtered H20 for you every day. However, this is often easier said than done. Luckily, if you need help remembering (and who doesn’t), there are dozens of clever strategies out there that can help. Apps, calendars, timers, specially marked water bottles – there is literally something for everyone. Why not give one or two of these a try? And if you are confused as to just how much you are supposed to consume, here is a simple equation. Take your weight in pounds and divide it in half. This gives you a good starting point as to the amount of water in ounces you should be consuming daily.  

While you are hydrating yourself on the inside, don’t forget to hydrate on the outside too. I recommend CHARLÍS Restorative Anti-Aging Overnight Serum to help with deep moisture retention and repair while you sleep. This unique nighttime formula contains aloe vera, designed by nature to soften skin and treat dryness without leaving your skin greasy. It also contains naturally derived sodium hyaluronate, best known for addressing skin concerns that stem from a lack of moisture and less than functional moisture retention mechanisms in the skin. Sodium hyaluronate and its derivatives have been shown in human trials to assist in the repair of the skin’s natural moisture barrier. (7) 

Youthful Skin Starts on the Inside 

I believe that, as we age, we can embrace all the good stuff that comes with getting older – wisdom, experience, freedom– while leaving the bad stuff behind. Living healthy lifestyle can help, and so can 100 % natural, wild-harvested, non-GMO and lab tested CHARLíS products like CHARLíS Revitalizing Daily Moisturizerand CHARLÍS Restorative Anti-Aging Overnight Serum. 

You can be the best that you can be, and CHARLíS can help you get there! 

References: 

(1) Smoking decreases the synthesis rates of type I and III collagens in skin in vivo and alters the balance of extracellular matrix turnover in skin
(2) Generation Z Graphs Stress
(3) Healing Irritable Bowel Syndrome with Diaphragmatic Breathing
(4) Stress, stress management, and the immune system
(5) Water, Hydration and Health
(6) Changes in the skin characteristics associated with dehydration and rehydration
(7) Oral Hyaluronan Relieves Wrinkles and Improves Dry Skin: A 12-Week Double-Blinded, Placebo-Controlled Study