Anti-Aging Skin Care: The Three Main Anti-Aging Skin Care Classifications

Anti-aging skin care should be a process, and not a reaction to years of sun damage or neglect. Anti-aging should be practiced in a preventative and proactive manner as opposed to reactively, albeit that it's never too late to begin an anti-aging skin care program.

If you consistently apply the correct anti-aging techniques in the correct combination over a period of time, the results will soon be noticed by yourself and others, and will encourage you to continue the process, thereby giving you the affirmations and confidence indicative that you're on the right path to looking younger.

To simplify, there are 3 main classifications of holistic anti-aging skincare to looking younger:

Avoidance:
• Don't lie in the sun tanning for hours on end especially during the sun's zenith (11am to 2pm). If you ever do decide to tan, do it in short intervals, never more than an hour at a time. Additionally, use a good waterproof sun block cream on your body and especially your face. The harmful UV rays of the sun dries the skin and damages the skin's cells and collagen, and can result in permanent damage to the DNA structure in the skin cells.

• Refrain from excessive alcohol intake, illegal narcotic usage, and reduce or halt smoking and sugar consumption. These substances damage the skin over long periods of time, and cause you to look prematurely older than your years.

• Limit intake of prescription drugs, excessive use of pain killers. If you think that because certain medications or painkillers can be bought off the shelf or via a prescription from a medical practitioner, that they are harmless, think again! These can be just as addictive and harmful to the skin and body as illegal narcotics.

Oral ingestion (By mouth):

• Take vitamin supplements, inter alia, Vitamin A, C, E, Zinc and Folic Acid. These are all good for the skin, help repair skin cell damage, and assist with collagen levels.

• Eat as much fresh fruits and vegetables as possible, especially foods that contain the Omega 3 and Omega 6 EFA’s (Essential Fatty Acids). Examples of foods that contain Omega 3 are oily fish (herring, sardines, salmon, and mackerel), walnuts, wheat germ, sunflower seeds, soybean oil, Brazil nuts, and pumpkin seeds. Examples of foods that contain Omega 6 are olives, avocados, most nut types, and most leafy green vegetables. The ideal ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3 EFA's in your diet should be 2:1. The Mediterranean diet is an ideal example of how this ratio is typically balanced.

Topical applications or solutions (On the skin):
• Face masks, creams or moisturizers that contain Vitamin A, E, avocado, and jojoba are excellent for anti-aging skin care. Almond oil or the Vitamin E oil squeezed out of a capsule and applied to the skin is excellent to stave off, and treat wrinkles and lines.

• Undergo laser treatment of facial crinkles and wrinkles, crow’s feet, eye bags, and of course, let's not forget Botox treatments.

• Acupressure applied to various parts of the face, neck, arms and hands as means to a DIY non-surgical facelift is becoming increasingly popular these days. It entails using your own fingertips to apply pressure to 20 acupressure points mostly on the face, one minute on each point, and it can result in you looking years younger within a month or so. You are in control of your own facelift, and you can literally watch the skin firm and the face lines, eye bags, crow’s feet and wrinkles melt before your eyes.

Avoidance, oral ingestion, or topical solutions will stave off, or reverse the signs of aging. My advice would be to apply all 3 of these methods. As was mentioned earlier, it's never too late to start anti-aging skin care. Do it as a way of life, and as a process that filters through your day-to-day living, and you will be well on your way to looking younger than your years over time!

Wendy Wilken is the renown author of Facelift Without Surgery and a practitioner of natural anti-aging techniques. See her other products too.