The Truth About Wrinkles: 12 Hacks to Have Healthy, Youthful Skin, Naturally

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Whether you are 24 and trying to prevent wrinkles or 76 and want to have more youthful-looking skin, these 12 natural beauty hacks are going to help you look and feel more energized and alive. And not only that, these tips might even help you actually live longer!

 

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Why Do Wrinkles appear?

1. Reduction in Elasticity: As you age, the part of your skin that is composed of elastin and collagen fibers begins to thin. What does this mean? The fibers in your skin that provide elasticity fade away, ultimately leading to fragile and sunken skin.

2. Reduction in Natural Oils: Aging skin is less able to retain and secrete oil.

3. Sun Damage: If you love basking in the sun and getting a golden tan, know this: the sun expedites the process of elastin destruction because the UV rays cause damage to these fibers, making the skin sag and stretch.

4. Stress: Stress impacts your aging skin in two major ways. Firstly, stress causes the changes of proteins in your skin that leads to wrinkle formation. It is a long complicated process that we don't really need to know the details of. Basically, stress causes the shortening of this thing called telomeres, which cause you to age. Secondly, and easier to wrap your head around, stress will directly make you more likely to furrow your brows frequently and repeatedly, directly creating wrinkle lines.

 

Can Wrinkles Be Prevented? What About Reversed?

Lucky for us, yes! Wrinkles happen because of these 4 things but there are 12 extremely helpful things you can do to turn it all around. These 12 things will promote elasticity and natural oils, while reducing sun damage and stress.

 

12 Natural Things You Can Start Doing Today To Prevent and/or Reverse Wrinkles

1. Drink green tea, especially Matcha.
Green tea has been found empirically to be the best solution to skin elasticity, circulation and hydration (over anything else on this list), while also decreasing roughness and scaling. Green tea has so many health benefits that while improving your skin, it might even cure your other health ailaments along with it!

 

 

2. Eat foods High in Omega-3’s
Add more walnuts, flaxseeds, chia seeds, and wild caught Salmon into your diet to promote healthy oil production. You can try adding these seeds to your oatmeal or smoothies in the morning, or even make chia seed boba, which is one of our favorites!

3. Trade coffee for tea.
Caffeine dehydrates our bodies and leads to increased stress (cortisol) levels and thus causes toxic buildup, inflammation, and collagen loss. Each of these effects cause acne, redness, and wrinkles. Instead, drink relaxing teas!

We highly recommend Zen AF and Lush Lavender, both made from herbs that help your mind and body chill, relax, unclench, and unwind.  

 

 

4. Exercise at least 20 minutes per day.
Exercise delivers nutrients straight to your skin cells and increases collagen production, keeping away those wrinkles.

Trust me, I know it’s hard to get up and get yourself moving sometimes, but tonight after dinner, instead of sitting down on the couch, go take a 20 minute walk in the park. Not only will it help your skin, it will also help with weight loss, stress reduction and a more positive outlook on life.

 

 

5. Use sunscreen.
When going out into the sun, use a sunscreen that has SPF 30 or higher and reapply every two hours. I reccommend this one, as it is more natural and has less chemicals than some of the others on the market.

6. Stop smoking.
Smoking cigarettes releases an enzyme that breaks down collagen and elastin. There are plenty of reasons to quit but not only is it shutting down your body and brain, it’s making you shrivel up!

7. Drink a Tea Punch.
Studies have found that the polyphenols in green tea and berries are shown to protect against harmful UV radiation. Together, they are super powerful. Check out this awesome recipe idea.

 

 

8. Eat more prunes and apples.
Prunes and apples were found to be the most protective foods against aging. Try adding these foods to your grocery list this week!

9. Drink Rooibos Tea.
Rooibos tea contains an enzyme that has anti-aging properties and helps to slow down the development of wrinkles. Drinking it will help you keep your skin youthful and wrinkle-free!

 

 

10. Try to sleep 7-9 hours a night.
Turns out, getting your beauty sleep is a real thing! Sleeping allows your skin to heal itself, creating more plump and youthful looking skin. Getting less than 7 hours prevents skin healing and actually breaks down more skin cells, making you look more wrinkly and sunken in.

 

 

11. Drink less.
Well, alcohol that is. Drinking alcohol dehydrates the skin, causing more fine lines and signs of aging. But, drink MORE water and tea to increase hydration and plumpness of your skin.

Try making a mocktail like this one:

Cranberry Apple Tart Mocktail I made over on the Instagram :)

The tea we used in the recipe: Cranberry Apple Tart Tea

12. Meditation, Yoga, Imagery, Listening to Relaxation Music.
Participating in some relaxation activity for just 12 minutes per day has been shown to both improve cognitive health and increase telomere activity, literally reversing aging.

 

You are strong and beautiful because of your age, but that doesn’t mean your skin can’t be strong and beautiful too. Start slow, so that you can really retain these habits long-term. The first week, try doing 3 of these things every day. The next week, add 3 more things. By the time a month rolls around, you’re going to be crushing this whole list and those stubborn wrinkles.

Cheers!

 

If you liked this post, also check out this one on Anti-Aging Green Tea Beauty Hacks.