Dr. Irene Araya, director of the Chilean Society of Dermatology, points out that "nobody can stop the years from taking their toll on our skin (chronological aging), which is very influenced by genetic factors, but we can continue some tips to prevent wrinkles from appearing prematurely or to mitigate those that we already have. "
Recommendations, that the doctor gives us, to have a good complexion:
- Sleep well : we should sleep on average eight hours.
- Environment : smog, dry and cold weather are aggressors for the skin. If we live in a city with these characteristics as Santiago de Chile, we must emphasize proper hygiene by washing the face twice a day: after getting up and at night, to remove makeup and all the dirt accumulated during the day. In addition, general hydration is very important, drinking about two liters of water per day and specific hydration when using moisturizing creams (depending on your type of skin), hopefully after the shower, which is the best time to moisturize the face and body. As for the photo-protection, even if we are in winter, the ultraviolet radiation coming from the sun reaches our skin causing photo-aging, which includes the appearance of sunspots and new wrinkles on the exposed skin.
- Food : saturated fats generate free radicals that promote the appearance of furrows and folds in the skin. Therefore, it is necessary to prioritize the consumption of carotenoids, omega-3 fatty acids and vitamins, which protect the skin from external damage that ages it. Examples of carotenoids: carrot, tomato, melon, mango, apricot, peach, spinach, cabbage, lettuce, broccoli, among others. Its restorative function turns these vegetables and fruits into great allies of the skin, and the best thing is its accessibility, since they are in any fair or supermarket. For its part, omega-3 fatty acids are found in: pumpkin seeds, sesame, walnuts, seaweed, soy, salmon, sardines, trout, among other foods. On the other hand, vitamins C and E not only defend the dermis of photodamage, but it has, in the case of vitamin E, anti-inflammatory effects.
- Tobacco: various scientific studies indicate that the cigarette promotes aging, since tobacco hinders the correct body oxygenation and free radicals damage the tissues. The above is mainly notorious in the facial skin.
-Makeup : by itself is not harmful, but not remove the makeup if it can be because it can cause occlusive problems, such as acne, but there would be no relationship with skin aging.
They do not help in preventing aging:
- Masks of oats, fruits, vegetables, cool the skin a lot, but do not help in aging.
- Facial Gymnastics : is used to mark the facial muscles, but it is not useful in avoiding facial drooping and wrinkles, since these processes occur at the level of the dermis (skin) and not of the muscle.
Finally, to say that healthy living habits, daily cleansing and moisturizing of the skin, and most importantly, photoprotection, can prevent the appearance of premature wrinkles, and even attenuate those that we already have.