Helena Rubinstein was the first female entrepreneur of the 20th century to sell skin care cream to wealthy women. Her selling strategy was simple; buy my creams to make your skin feel wonderful and make your friends jealous that you can afford it. Ever since then, skin care has been a luxury item for the well healed. With the 1990’s, however, the anti-aging movement began, and the swing toward youth in a bottle hit the stores. It worked, and we all bought the bottle and then some. Subsequently, the past twenty years have seen a caboodle of marketing campaigns targeted at older women and the cult of youth equals beauty.
Let’s be reasonable, this is cuckoo. Is aging bad? No, it’s neither bad nor good; it’s a fact and it’s up to you to decide what to do with it. I choose to age with love, grace, and a generous helping of self-care to look my highest and best self. Notice I didn’t say anti-aging? In truth, and I think many of you would agree with me on this, I don’t care what people say about my getting older. I love my age and welcome aging while treating my body with the love and respect it deserves!
With all of this in mind, let’s get to the topic at hand. How can we soften our wrinkles while loving our bodies? Here are my thoughts on the subject, and I’d love to know what hits you as the most helpful.
Aging is Deterioration of the Connective Tissue, So How Do You Build It?
25% of your total body weight is composed of connective tissue. With the depletion of oxygen (lack of exercise), collagen, a diet heavy in toxins including preservatives in foods, chemicals in water and air, and a diet with 300% more sugar than recommended, our bodies simply do not receive the nourishment needed to not only be at our best, but look our best as well. Therefore, the heart of aging-well lies in actively building and strengthening connective tissue by a change of diet and addition of supplements.
The best strategies to build connective tissue are in taking essential fatty acids in the form of Omega 3 and 6 oils, vitamin D, zinc, vitamin C (post-menopausal women need a greater amount of this up to 4000mg per day), vitamin A, hyaluronic acid, and protein. In fact, aging well is based in the fact that it’s 80% what you put IN your body, and 20% what you put ON your body. You can spend thousands of dollars on external (and pricey) strategies, only to have your skin go back to its original state once you stop doing them! The focal point here is in providing your body with the substructure it needs in order to encourage cell turnover and thus renewal.
How to Encourage Cell Turnover
In order to see a brighter complexion, you need to encourage cell turnover and this is accomplished by slightly damaging the skin. It seems counterintuitive to damage your skin, but in fact this theory is common knowledge for athletes. For example, when you lift weights, you tear the muscle and while you are resting the muscle heals and grows stronger. The same is true for your skin.
The main methods used to do this are things like retinol or Retin-A (the prescription and stronger form of retinol), microdermabrasion, micro-needling, micro-current, and exfoliation with AHA’s (Alpha Hydroxy Acids) through peels. Once the skin is a bit damaged, you can apply topical vitamin C (please see my article on vitamin C serums for more information on this topic), hyaluronic acid, and vitamin A (retinol) that will penetrate beneath the stratum corneum (surface layer of the skin) to the Dermis layer. This encourages cell turnover, and if your body has the nutritional foundation, healthy, vibrant cells make their way to the surface and your skin’s texture takes on a wonderful glow and softening.
What About Skin Care?
Bang for buck, the most important product you will use on your skin is C serum. Our bodies do not create vitamin C, and we desperately need it both internally and externally. By adding it topically, you will notice dramatic changes depending on the strength of the product you are using. In short, most middle of the road lines use l-ascorbic acid as vitamin C in products. This is the less expensive form of the ingredient, and my favorite serum in this category is Image Skin Care Vital C line. If you want to see larger changes in your skin, then try Truth Treatments Transdermal C Serum with 80% of premium ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate. Although it’s pricier than the Image Skin Care C serum, it’s more dynamic. I can relate this to buying organic instead of regular vegetables. Organic vegetables cost more, but taste better and are better for you. In the end, It depends on your budget and over-all goals.
In whatever way you decide to love your body and take care of it, do it with absolute love for all that you are and bring to this crazy planet! Always remember that you are loved and valued and perfect no matter what.
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