The dynamics of skin aging.

Met someone who looked years younger than his/her own age?Did you feel a twinge of envy?

Its not a mystical secret.There are parameters and dynamics to skin aging.Once you understand them, you can gear yourself up to combat, prevent or even reverse aging.

First and foremost.Beauty is in fact skin deep.

Understand how your face ages.When we are younger, we have an abundance of fat on our face, as we grow older this felt kind of 'melts off' hence the 'sculpting of features' effect.
Under this layer of fat lies the collagen layer, which is mostly a framework of elastic fibers which are responsible for keeping the skin firm and give it a taut 'cohesive' look which is the hallmark of youthfulness.

In my opinion men and women in their late teens and twenties are in their prime, beauty wise as their features are just sculpted enough, but they haven't begun to 'hollow out' with age.

If you don't exercise, take an imbalanced diet (lacking in protein and essential vitamins and minerals), indulge in smoking, excessive massages and tampering of the skin, it is the collagen layer which gets damaged.The effects may not show immedietely but once the layer of fat melts off , the face starts showing the signs of sagging, wrinkles and other collagen damage you may have acquired during your younger years.

There are other factors which contribute to aging of the face.Notice how women seem to have plump smooth faces as compared to men who usually tend to have more chiseled, craggy looks?

Yes the difference is in the fundamental hormonal structure.Estrogen, the female hormone is responsible for keeping the skin moist, smooth, plump, wrinkle-free and acne-free,(acne does strike girls in their teens, which is a normal result of hormonal surge) it also seems to keep dark circles at bay.On the downside estrogen imbalance is also responsible for certain gynecological problems such as mastitis (pain in the breasts), water retention and melasma (hyperpigmentation, usually on the sides of the nose, above the upper lip and on temples and slightly below the temples)

This is the reason why at times obese boys and men tend to have smoother than usual skin as their obesity causes estrogen dominance in the body.

Stress :- Under conditions of duress, the body produces a hormone called cortisol, which among other effects tends to increase the girth of the midriff i.e increase in abdominal fat and 'thins' out the facial skin.Thats why people who are stressed out or ill, tend to have a gaunt, sallow appearance.Long periods(months, years) of stress may permanently age skin.

Certain conditions such as hypothyroidism and diabetes also contribute to skin aging.hypothyroidism makes the skin coarse and consequently wrinkled.

You can run but you can't hide .. from your GENES.It may be unfair, but its true.Your genetics also contribute to how you'll age.For example, in my family, we tend to have crinkly thin skin around the eyes as we age, rest of the face stays youthful comparitively. my mum has it, most of my aunts have it and my older cousins too.So there isn't much I can do about it either.

Surprisingly,at times your face is the LAST of your body to show aging.Sometimes aging of the face is merely a symptom of a body which is not functioning optimally or has aged from within.

What you can do to retain youthful looks:

1) What happens when you cut off the blood supply to a body part? tissue death? Gangrene?

Exactly my point. The face being the 'summit' of the body, ages the most if you are leading a sedentary lifestyle which impedes your blood circulation.The better the blood circulation, the more oxygen will reach the skin and other tissues, so it stays moist, plump and youthful.

Exercise.A LOT. And dedicate at least half an hour per day to intense workouts, the kind which raise your heartbeat and make you perspire thoroughly. Even people with dry skins will find that the need for moisturizers is greatly diminished once you make it a point to exercise every day.Exercise can and will reverse premature aging in most cases.
maintain an optimal weight.yo-yo dieting, swinging from one weight extreme to another will leave the skin sagging
2)Stay out of sun during the afternoons when the rays are intense, a little sunlight exposure per day is very beneficial for health but make sure you get early morning sun, not when the heat and the sunlight are at their most intense.Use sunblock, if you must venture out in the sun.
3) get any skin conditions such as eczema, lichen planus, dermatitis and psoriasis treated promptly and make it a point to exercise, skin conditions often disappear magically once an optimal exercise routine has been established.
4)Do not smoke, do not indulge in recreational drug use.Drugs like cocaine and crystal meth EAT YOUR FACE UP literally, I am not exaggerating.There's nothing 'cool' about this.
5) Include essential fatty acids in your diet.Eat a balanced diet, organic in nature if possible.That way you can avoid the chemical onslaught of artificial hormones which almost everything is loaded with these days.
6) Ladies, if you notice a drastic change in your skin for no apparent reason, get a complete blood work and hormonal profiling done.
7) This is from my personal experience.Do not spend too many hours in front of a computer.It tends to make skin dull and ashen .. especially in darkly pigmented races.
8) Get full 8 hours of sleep, and please do not make it haphazard.Have a bedtime routine and stick to it, no matter what.
9) Do not indulge in excessive vigorous massages, facials etc, even if you have problem skin. too much tugging and manipulating the skin makes it sag.once a month is fine.
10) Do not apply harsh chemicals to the facial skin.
11) Last but not the least.Stay happy.Nothing will age you like sadness.Cut yourself off from negative people and situations.Do not hate the way you look.Chances are 5 years later you'll secretly wish you looked like this
Grief, personal loss, financial loss .. everything can be coped with.As my mother says "the secret to being happy is not having the time to be unhappy".

Stay busy, stay productive and your face will care of itself.Really!