Radiate Youth

Posted: Monday 21 February 2011 11:31am

Forget lines and wrinkles (just for a change!). Dull, dry, dehydrated skin looks far more ageing than the tracks and cracks of time, whatever your age.

It’s a fact of life that, after our teens, the rate at which our skin cells turn over begins to slow down. This means that by the time we’re 25 most of us need a little help to achieve our full, luminous potential.

Radiant skin equates youthfulness, health and vitality. Only the fortunate few are genetically blessed with a natural glow throughout their lives. The rest of us have to work at it – but it is achievable no matter how old the calendar says you are.

Luckily we’re blessed these days with an arsenal of anti-ageing information, products and technologies – and let’s not forget basic commonsense.

Here are tips (in no particular order) for radiating youth, whether you’re 18 or 80.

GET GLOWING

There are a plethora of excellent skin care products and cosmetics especially designed to give your skin a surge of radiance. Try innovative “light reflective” formulationswith particles that scatter light, diffusing imperfections and mimicking the look of young, dewy skin. Or radiance-boosting primers and foundations that even out skin tone with light-reflecting particles rather than with a heavier physical barrier. Click here for our photo gallery Get Glowing – a guide to all the products you’ll ever need for youthful, radiant skin.

FEED YOUR FACE

The correct combination of minerals, vitamins, and herbs will rejuvenate your skin and fight premature ageing, applied topically or ingested.

Skin care should contain antioxidants and peptides. It’s not often you would get all these things in one formulation, so choose the one that’s right for you concern and not that makes the most lavish claims.

That’s where it get confusing because there are so many good products out there, with so many forms of antioxidants and other potent ingredients. Here’s a quick guide:

• Vitamin A helps speed up skin-cell turnover.
• Vitamin C has been shown to prevent premature skin ageing by stimulating collagen production, fighting free radicals, fading skin discoloration, and actually increasing the sun protection in a sunscreen!
• Other powerful antioxidants to engage in the war against free radicals include idebenone, Vitamin E, pomegranate, Coenzyme Q 10, Grapeseed Extract and Alpha Lipoic Acidare.
• Vitamin E encourages healing. When used nbefore sun exposure it reduces redness and swelling of the skin, results in less destruction of lipids and fewer sunburn cells.
• Peptides will signal to your brain that more collagen needs to be produced.
• When Vitamin E and Vitamin C are combined in high concentration, topical products offer amplified sun protection.

Your skin may be lacking in essential nutrients such as vitamins A and B. This, along with a poor and unbalanced diet, is one of the main reasons for dull, dry skin.

Oral vitamin supplementation is needed sometimes as a result of our fast-paced lives. Benefits of each are:

Vitamin A is required for all epithelial tissue (ie. that covers the whole surface of the body).

Vitamin B aids in carbohydrate, fat and protein synthesis, assists in hormone production, increases energy production, maintains a healthy nervous system, lowers cholesterol and triglycerides and assists in the growth of the body.

Vitamin C is needed for all connective tissue and capillaries

Vitamin E protects the fat in every skin cell

Zinc is necessary for connective tissue and immune function

Also ensure you have plenty of fibre; it helps removes toxins from the body and keeps the digestive system working most efficiently. If wastes are not eliminated, they often get re-circulated into the blood stream and therefore to the skin as a means of elimination which can cause a poor complexion and breakouts..

A diet that includes plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables and adequate protein will help. A good nutritionist can help you with a diet plan.

THE BIG GUNS

“Quite often people wait until their mid-50s to start skin renewal treatments, but I suggest that the sooner they start, the better,” says Dr Flora Galoustian of Skin Renu in Balmain, Sydney. “If you have a good base of collagen and also increase your collagen base you are you are extending the youthfulness, thus radiance of your skin.

“Fraxel Dual [fractional laser] and Thermage CPT [radiofrequency technology] are my treatments of choice and they complement each other so well. With Thermage and Fraxel in combination I’m able to address the three major skin issues: laxity, skin tone and pigmentation.

“I usually start treatments with Thermage, as it helps tighten the skin where there is laxity. With Fraxel Dual there are two levels of treatment choice, known as “1550” and “1927”. I work with the 1550 to further tighten the more superficial layers of the skin near its surface, effectively addressing fine lines and wrinkles. The 1927 helps get rid of pigmentation. It can also be used to treat melasma, one of the hardest skin conditions to treat.

“We sometimes then treat with dermal fillers to replace lost volume and we take a very subtle approach to their use so it looks very natural.

“I’m over 50 and thanks to this combination of treatments I look more like I’m in my late 30s or early 40s. It’s amazing the difference that this sense of youthfulness makes to your self-confidence.

“A lot more women are now in the workforce and when they look younger, they are sometimes taken more seriously and regarded as having more kudos.  That sense of vitality disappears when the wrinkles appear and the skin loses its radiance.

“They don’t want to look like they are 25, but they want to appear vital and youthful.

“There is no down-time with Thermage. There is 3-4 days down time with Fraxel Dual (1550) but you end up with beautiful radiant skin after a week.”

KEEP IT CLEAN

Applying anti-ageing and other nourishing products to skin that isn’t really clean is the equivalent of slapping a fresh coat of paint over a dusty, dirty wall. It looks dodgy. And is a waste of good money and product. Cleanse, tone and moisturise your skin – many experts advocate “double cleansing” – in the morning to remove the dead skin cells that accumulate at night, and again in the evening to wash off makeup and the day’s accumulated grime. Research also shows that while we are sleeping our body is in “repair” mode. This includes the body’s largest organ – skin. So give it the best possible chance to do its work. Even if you think your skin is squeaky clean you might be unpleasantly surprised.  Click here for Don’t be Dirty and discover why.

DRINK UP

If your body is dehydrated, it will show on your skin in the form of dry lines, especially around the eyes and lips (thin skin areas will show dehydration first). A properly hydrated body means generally healthier, more glowing skin. Drinking water – around six to eight glasses throughout the day is a good guide – helps the blood cells rejuvenate, washes out toxins from the body and keeps muscles flexible.

But don’t confuse optimum fluid intake with caffeinated, highly sugared or alcoholic drinks which, apart from a host of other evils, have a dehydrating, shrivelling affect on the skin that can eventually result in lines and wrinkles.

Some ways to enjoy the water more: add lemon, drink herbal teas (such as peppermint, chamomile, antioxidant-packed green tea, or rooibos – also known as “the skin” tea), add minty green chlorophyll to the water (available at most chemists and health food stores).

While freshly-squeezed fruit juice is healthful and vitamin/antioxidant-rich, don’t overdo the OJ et al. Concentrated fruit extract is very high in sugar.

SMOKE SIGNALS

If you’re still a nicotine ninny, think of this – premature ageing of the skin is the first and most visible sign of the adverse affects of smoking. Then comes lung cancer and heart disease.

Dr Nick Lowe is an internationally renowned consultant dermatologist with more than 30 years’ experience at the cutting edge of new treatments, technology and research into skin problems and ageing.

“At my clinics in London and Los Angeles I often see women and men – some as young as 30 – who want to rid themselves of the ravaged complexion that smoking has given them,” he says. “My first message to them is simple: stop smoking.

“The good news is that if you do give up, the skin will start to repair itself. The bad news for those who can’t or won’t give up (such as devoted smoker Kate Moss) is that the later you leave it, the more irreversible the problems.

“[When you smoke] the brain diverts vitamins away from your skin to be used elsewhere. Nicotine also reduces blood flow to the lower living layer of skin, or dermis, which results in less oxygen being delivered. Skin becomes sallow and the regularity and quality of cell production deteriorate, leading to dry, flaky skin.

“Over time the skin sags and wrinkles because the body cannot produce collagen effectively … leading to skin that is lined and less plump.”

Dr Lowe says he always advocates ex-smokers taking a lycopene* supplement [*an antioxidant found in red fruit, especially tomatoes] and a fish-oil supplement with a high concentration of Omega-3 to dampen inflammation, promote healing and aid moisture-retention in the dermis.

“Within six weeks the skin will be visibly benefiting from increased oxygen and anti-oxidant levels,” he says. “But you must adopt a strict skin-care regime.”

SCRUB-A-DUB-DUB

Gently exfoliating with a good quality facial scrub once or twice a week (ideally followed by a mask) helps rid your complexion of accumulated dead skin cells and speed turnover of new ones. Plus sends messages to the brain to produce more collagen.  It all adds up to clearer, more radiant and youthful skin.

However, avoid overdoing the “scrub” factor. Although abrasive scrubs give the immediate result of a smoother complexion, over time it has been shown that too frequent and vigorous use can cause microscopic tears in the cell wall and break down the skin’s integrity, leading to premature sagging and loss of elasticity. Better alternatives are enzyme or acid-based polishes.

PEEL AWAY

For extra oomph, consider treating yourself to a course of gentle skin resurfacing techniques like medi-peels, microdermabrasion or Microhydrabrasion.

Superficial facial peels, with glycolic, salicylic or fruit acids, work by dissolving the “glue” that attaches dead skin cells to the skin’s surface. While these milder peels may cause a little redness and flaking, they are not to be confused with the deeper chemical peels that can put you out of action for days. Your skin may sting while the peel is on, but this stops as soon as it’s removed and results are instant.

“Over the last 15 years I have performed many types of treatments but one has promoted a healthy, radiant skin – microdermabrasion,” says Douglas Pereira, clinical skin therapist at Pure Aesthetics Cosmetic and Plastic Surgery, and  Macquarie Cosmetic and Plastic Surgery, both in Sydney.

“This involves using a dry diamond tip with vacuum suction to blasts away dead skin cells, giving an intensive exfoliation. It also promotes increased circulation and skin oxygenation, thus a more radiant appearance.

“But now there’s an additional step with the use of water. This new treatment is called Microhydrabrasion and has been developed to ensure that you have the cleanest, most radiant skin possible.

“A secondary diamond tip disperses pressurised water to clean the pores and remove built up topical and environmental impurities – more commonly known as black- and whiteheads, congestion and blemishes.

“You could say that it’s like sucking up the loose dirt from your carpet with a vacuum cleaner in preparation for the second step of wet carpet cleaning that removes deeper dirt that we can’t see.

“The final steps are lymphatic drainage facial massage and a conditioning mask, followed by a hydrating moisturiser.

“Microhydrabrasion is suited to most skin types and is a non-invasive, pain-free treatment with no downtime. Many of my clients book their (one-hour) treatments during a lunch break and go back to work.

“I recommend investing in a course of one treatment a week for eight weeks, to work in conjunction with the skin’s cellular renewal cycle.”

Prices for Microhydrabrasion range from $150-$165 for a single treatment; packages are often available that make treatments cheaper overall. Click here for more peel options.

MASK THE PROBLEM

Skin masks are not only designed to draw impurities from the deeper layers of the skin but nowadays are infused with a host of radiance-boosting, anti-ageing goodies to enhance your daily skin care regimen.

Steal 15-20 minutes out of your busy schedule once or twice a week to put on your mask – take the opportunity if you can to run a bath with therapeutic oils, salts or crystals for maximum restorative benefits; rest and relaxation = radiance – and reap the holistic benefits. To boost the power of your mask, add a few drops of your favourite anti-ageing serum underneath to help it penetrate that much deeper.

DON’T FOLLOW THE SUN

As well as lines and wrinkles, brown spots, patches and other irregular pigmentation are hardly radiant. Sun worshippers take note (and in Australia’s climate, even a few minutes a day of unprotected UV exposure is dancing with the devil): if you don’t yet look like a leather bag, sun damage is cumulative. It can take 25 years for the damage to show. Broad-spectrum (UVA and UVB) sunscreen is essential to stop UV rays damaging the collagen that your body is producing.

Summer or winter, whenever you are outside and it is daylight you are exposed to UVA/UVB. Wearing sun protection will ensure you are protected. That means less risk of skin cancer, wrinkles, hyperpigmentation and redness in the skin (permanently dilated capillaries).

If you are treating hyperpigmentation, undergoing any peels/microdermabrasion or using retinoid/Vitamin A products, it is especially important to use SPF.

For anyone spending time in the sun, wearing a hat and sunglasses is also highly recommended.

MOVE IT!

Exercise for at least 20-30 minutes, five days a week. Go for a brisk walk, dance, skate, run, hike, bike, swim – whatever you like to do! It will keep you flexible, toned and strong. Your skin will benefit as the increase in circulation brings blood flow to the surface, carrying nutrients and flushing away toxins. Your skin looks younger, has a glow and is healthier.

Also, positive endorphins and other hormones that are released when we exercise have been shown to reduce stress. The latter is one of the leading causes of many skin disorders including, eczema, acne and rosacea. It is also thought that exercise slows down ageing.

SLEEP ON IT

For most of us, 8 hours is optimal. While we are sleeping our bodies rest and repair. Sleep is also the time when our bodies are most metabolically active—the body rids itself of toxins that would otherwise wreak havoc with your skin!

The reason why dark circles appear around the eyes when we are tired is because the eye area has the thinnest skin on the body and when we are tired, circulation in the body slows which means less oxygen in the blood and darker less oxygenated blood. Hence dark circles appear and we need to reach for the concealer.

For insomnia try stress reduction such as yoga, meditation, working out earlier in the day versus evening workouts, lavender infused essential oil, and consciously keep

LIGHT FANTASTIC

Cosmetic clinics and salons around the world are using various forms of light technology to help even out skin tones and kick-start natural skin-renewal.  Click here for more information about light treatments and other collagen induction therapies.

STABILISE YOUR WEIGHT

The endless cycle of losing weight, gaining it back only to go on yet another diet is terrible for the skin, not to mention dangerous for the body and exhausting for the mind. This constant rise and fall of weight can potentially cause wrinkles and saggy skin.

Maintaining your optimum weight keeps skin firm and youthful. Cutting out or at least dramatically reducing the amount of “dead” food such as bread, pasta and rice while significantly increasing the amount of living food like fruits and vegetables is a simple change you can make to find your ideal weight and enjoy optimum health.

by Jenni Gilbert

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