SSBS #014: The truth about "anti-aging" skincare: part one
Hello Friend!
Let’s talk the idea of “anti-aging” skincare.
As I’m coming up on my 39th birthday next week, I’ve been thinking a lot about the concept of aging and how hard we work to stop it. For many reasons, keeping our body and physical health as functional as possible for as long as possible isn’t wrong, but today we aren’t going to talk about health in general, we’re going to really hone in on the concept of “anti-aging” in relation to our skin care and skin health. Explicitly, we’re going to talk about the misconception that combating aging in our skin is as simple as finding the right skincare product…the truth? It’s actually more complicated than that.
And before we continue, I do want to acknowledge that I have issues with the term and concept around “anti-aging," as if getting older is the worst thing that could happen to us. I want to confirm that while I don't love the persistent societal pressure to look young, I do understand that skin that is maturing faster than our biological age can be a sign that we need to be more intentional with it's care - poor skin health can be an outward sign of poor internal health as well.
For the purpose of our conversation, I'll continue to use the phrase “anti-aging” as it's one that is commonly understood around this conversation.
What’s the problem…
Ads for the next “miracle” cream or skin treatment that promises to deliver the fountain of youth are EVERYWHERE. And I promise you, the older you get, the more prominent they become! What person wouldn’t click “add to cart” on a product that delivers “never seen before” results, where the only thing we have to do is hand over our credit card number and promise to slather it all over our face? The problem is we believe that it’s that simple. Many of us, myself included, don’t actually want to have to do that much work to get the results. We put our faith in a lotion or serum and then we get disappointed when it doesn’t fully deliver.
This belief has resulted in quite a few problems:
Lots of wasted dollars
Piles of products that aren’t delivering the results you want
Lack of ownership when it comes to lifestyle factors
This belief that the secret to anti-aging skincare is found in a bottle is flawed because the most impactful steps we can take to keep our skin youthful lie in our lifestyle choices.
Your skin is heavily influenced by your diet, water intake, and lifestyle factors like sun exposure, humidity, smoking and more. These are aspects of your skin health that can’t all be fully addressed by a skincare product.
As we age several things are occurring simultaneously that can affect our skin health, including things like collagen loss and the decreased ability to combat oxidative stress aka free radicals in our body. Amazing things can happen when we look for ways to aid our body specifically related to these changes. When we seek to offset the changes to our skin from collagen loss and free radical damage through lifestyle choices and yes a few specific products, we will see amazing results.
You have to ditch the idea that there’s a miracle product and embrace the idea that lifestyle changes will be your biggest “anti-aging” hero when it comes to skin health.
Let’s chat about some of the most important considerations for aging skin:
#1 COLLAGEN LOSS
First, you need to address collagen loss. Collagen is a truly vital protein in the structure of our skin, hair, and nails. It's heavily present in the middle layer of our skin, and it's what keeps our skin supple, taut, and wrinkle free. By our late 20's and early 30's, collagen production starts to slow significantly down, resulting in less skin elasticity and plumpness. What you might see is a thinning of the face, and skin that starts to feel more...well...saggy!
Next week, we’ll chat some solutions to collagen loss through both lifestyle changes and product suggestions.
#2 OXIDATIVE STRESS AND FREE RADICAL DAMAGE
Second, you need to mitigate the causes of oxidative stress or free radicals in your body as much as possible. Free radicals are components in our body that cause damage on a cellular level - I recently heard the BEST description of what a free radical is/is doing to our cells and I HAVE to share it with you.
They're actually unstable molecules - think of them as super active inside your body, bouncing around chaotically - because what they're looking for is a molecule that they can steal an electron from to become balanced and "stable". Great for the free radical, really not so great for the molecule they steal from. Typically the molecule they steal from either dies, is broken, or just doesn't function properly. As we age, we are less able to protect against this oxidative stress on our skin, and this can increase the speed at which we're aging, resulting in dull or sallow skin.
Lots of things can create free radicals in our bodies, but when talking about skin there are a few key ways in which we are creating free radicals:
pollution
UV rays
smoking
alcohol
poor nutrition
Next week, we’ll chat both lifestyle changes and product suggestions that can help mitigate free radical damage to your skin.
I KNOW, IT’S A LOT TO TAKE IN. That’s why as I was writing this email, I made the executive decision to make this a two parter. For me, it’s always about the why and the education FIRST, and then empowering you with solutions second. I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again, we have to fully own the why behind our choices in order for change to stick and I’m here to help you navigate this why friend!
After today and next week’s email, you’ll be empowered to understand the aging process of our skin, how to support yourself through simple lifestyle changes, and what products actually CAN help reverse or slow down the aging process of our skin. Life will be so much clearer - at least when it comes to your skincare!
The old belief that a single product will wipe away all your fine lines will be gone, because you’ll understand that the power really lies with you and not just that $100 bottle of “miracle” cream.
You’ll say goodbye to piles of half used products, you’ll say hello to extra funds in your bank account now that you know simple ways to support your aging skin that don’t cost an arm and a leg, and you might actually pick up a new habit or two that changes your life in the process.
If you’re down to learn more, tune in next week where I offer all the solutions to your aging skin problems friend - I got you!
TL;DR:
There’s a misconception that there is a miracle product to combat aging skin
We’ve wasted a lot of time and money on this misconception
The truth is our lifestyle choices affect our skin age so much more than a product
Collagen loss and oxidative damage are huge factors
Stay tuned for next week when we talk solutions
I can’t wait to dive in next week to some of my favorite skin “hacks” to combat the aging process! You’re going to want to tune in, I promise!
Whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you:
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