Top Wrinkle Fighters

1. Drink lots of water- drink 6-8 glasses per day as hydration  is critical.  It automatically improves circulation and makes skin look more radiant.

2.  Sleep on your back– yes, good old gravity can help or hinder wrinkles on your face.  Sleeping for hours every night while gravity pulls back your face back is a great nightly face lift.  Conversely, sleeping on your stomach or your side can cause sleep lines to eventually turn into wrinkles.

3. Wear sunglasses- this can keep you from squinting which can lead to permanent lines from this repetitive action and also keep damaging sun away from delicate areas around eyes.

4.  Use sunscreen- as you all know, the sun is damaging to skin.  Make sure your sunscreen has UVA protection (against the sun rays that age us).

5.  Eat more fish (such as salmon)- Eat fish rich in Omega 3 fatty acids  as it nourishes the skin keeping it plump and youthful and fights inflammation.

6.  Eat more brightly colored fruits and vegetables- foods rich in antioxidants fight against free radicals which cause wrinkles and disease.

7. Avoid rubbing your eyes- the skin around the eyes is the most delicate on the face.  Rubbing can cause swelling and lead to permanent wrinkles.  When applying makeup or moisturizer to the eye area, always use your ring finger lightly as it applies the least pressure of all the fingers.

8. Moisturize with vitamin rich anti aging creams- Dr. Nicholas Perricone, author of The Wrinkle Cure, has had great success recommending creams with alpha lipoic acid, vitamin C Esther and alpha hydroxy acid.

9. Avoid sugar- yet another reason to avoid sugar…it is exceptionally damaging to your skin because it attaches to the proteins of collagen, causing collagen to “cross link.”  When collagen cross links, it becomes stiff and inflexible, leading to the wrinkling and stiffness of old skin.

10. Get 7-8 hours of sleep- when you don’t get enough sleep, the body produces excess cortisol, a hormone that breaks down skin cells. The more sleep you get, the more you’ll produce HGH (human growth hormone), which helps skin remain thick, more “elastic,” and less likely to wrinkle.