Anti-Aging Hacks to Start in Your 20s

During your 20s, your routine and lifestyle habits can drastically affect the health and look of your skin. If not careful, your bad habits can actually accelerate the aging process causing you to look older, sooner. To prevent this from happening, here are a few hacks to keep in mind!

Double-Cleanse Before Bed

Your skin experiences a lot throughout the day. Makeup, oil, and pollution in the air can all build upon the surface of your skin leading to clogged pores, breakouts, and even a dull complexion. Double-cleansing is the process of cleaning your face twice, with two different types of products. This ensures that you remove all of the excess dirt, oil, and bacteria from your skin before going to bed. 

Start with an oil-based cleanser to break down makeup and oils on the skin. If you are wary about using oil on your face, you can just use a makeup remover to start, such as micellar water or a cleansing balm. Then, follow with a cream cleanser to wash away anything that’s leftover. 

Retinol

Some will tell you that you don’t need to start using anti-aging products until you’re actually aging, but they’re wrong. Starting in your 20s sets your skin up to look younger as you age. The best ingredient to use for this is retinol. Using skin-care products formulated with retinol can help boost cell turnover in the skin, leading to clearer, smoother, and younger-looking skin. 

In order to ensure retinol works the way it’s supposed to, you should only apply it at night and make sure you give your skin time to adjust. Gradually introduce a retinol treatment into your routine by using it every other night. Once you no longer experience irritation, you can move to nightly use. It’s also important to follow up with a hydrating moisturizer as retinol tends to dry out the skin.

Eye Cream

The fragile skin around your eyes is one of the most delicate areas on your body. This area is also constantly moving, which explains why it’s more prone to fine lines and wrinkles. Starting an eye cream in your 20s will help restore moisture and boost collagen, which will delay signs of aging, such as crows feet.

Some eye creams work better than others, but what’s most important are the ingredients in them. Caffeine is a great ingredient as it shrinks blood vessels and reduces under eye darkness. Another great one to look out for is the combination of vitamin C and hyaluronic acid, as they work to brighten the skin and improve hydration. Additionally, it’s best to use eye cream twice a day; once in the morning and once at night.

Exfoliate

One of the most common skin-care mistakes is over-exfoliating. While exfoliating is crucial for the health of your skin, there’s a right and a wrong way to do it. You should only exfoliate twice weekly at most and use an exfoliator based on your specific skin type to ensure there’s no irritation.

When looking for an exfoliant, there are two types to keep in mind, physical and chemical. Physical exfoliants remove dead skin cells through friction. Chemical exfoliants remove dead skin cells by dissolving the “glue” that binds the skin together. Both are okay to use, but just be sure to assess what’s most comfortable for your skin.

Always Apply Sunscreen

Did you know that 90% of skin aging is due to sun exposure? Sun damage is easy to get, but harder to reverse. It can occur year-round, such as when the sun reflects off of the snow in the winter, on hazy overcast days, and even on your drive into work. That’s why it’s essential to apply sunscreen on exposed skin daily to protect yourself from damage.

This will not only help prevent premature wrinkles from developing but also age spots and hyperpigmentation. You can ensure sun protection without a second thought by investing in skin-care and makeup products that already contain SPF. Look for SPF products like body and face lotion, foundation, lip balm, hair mist, and so on. Make this a habit that sticks, and you’ll thank yourself later.

Satin Pillowcases

Sleeping on a satin pillowcase can be the difference between maintaining your youthful skin and prematurely aging. While they may be comfortable, abrasive fabrics like cotton or flannel can cause lines and wrinkles to form around your eyes, forehead, and mouth. They can also absorb oil and bacteria far more easily, leading to increased breakouts and skin irritation.

Satin, on the other hand, allows your face to glide along the fabric without causing facial folds. Additionally, satin allows your skin to breathe and doesn’t suck the moisture from it. Not sure where to start? Here’s a list of pillowcases that will transform your skin!

Find Stress-Coping Mechanisms

Prolonged periods of stress can take a toll on your physical and mental well-being. They can lead to unhealthy habits, sleep deprivation, and chemical changes within the body. Additionally, stress can affect the aging process in a negative way. It can have a harmful effect on DNA in the cells leading to cellular damage and premature aging. In some cases, just the anticipation of stress alone can accelerate the aging process.

You’re likely to experience an array of life changes throughout your 20s, making it a stressful period at times. In order to maintain your health and youthful complexion, it’s crucial to start practicing healthy coping mechanisms for stress sooner rather than later. This can be done through meditating, journaling, reading, or going for a walk. Whichever method works for you, be sure to practice it whenever you begin to feel overwhelmed.

Exercise

The trick to staying young, both in the way you look and feel, is by being active. Getting into exercise while you’re young makes it more likely that you will continue this practice as you get older. Exercise not only keeps you looking young by slowing down cellular aging but can also boost your mood, flexibility, posture, vigor, and improve sleep. 

If you’re not someone who enjoys going to the gym, it’s important to find a form of exercise that works for you. You can try fitness classes such as kickboxing, yoga, pilates, or Zumba. Or instead, you can work on staying active throughout your day. Try taking the stairs instead of the elevator, parking further away to increase your walking distance, or getting up every hour to walk around your place of work. Exercising every day doesn’t have to be difficult, it will just take some motivation in the beginning before it becomes a habit in your routine.


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