Anti-Aging Secrets from my Skincare Routine
Spoiler alert: it isn't just what you put on your face, it's how you LIVE.
I recently turned 40, and relish it when people find out and tell me they think I'm in my late 20s or early 30s.
If 30 is the new 20, then 40 is the new 30, and 50 is the new 40.
Let’s set the record straight: Aging is a gift. We’re lucky to be living longer, fuller lives than ever before. (In another century, I would be an old crone. At the turn of the 20th century, the life expectancy for women was 40.) Unfortunately we’re afflicted by more daily stressors than our predecessors.
Humans throughout history were originally socialized for small communities. Let’s imagine for a moment that you were born 500 years ago. You married one of a handful of eligible candidates from your neighborhood. This decision might have even been made for you as a political alliance. You continued your family’s legacy. You had children.
Compare this to today. Now with online dating, we worry about finding the one for us from the tens of thousands of options available. The options are unimaginable and can cause us to freeze.
Not to mention the 24-hour news cycle and social media comparison trap, we have the whole world knocking on our door before we’ve even left our bed each morning.
Back during human hunter and gatherer days, our ancestors worked three or four hours a day. Compared that to today’s full time jobs, side hustles, and soccer mom pick-up’s and drop-off’s. It’s enough to make your head spin.
It’s not the sabertooth tiger we’re escaping: it’s modern life.
Here are 8 secrets from my anti-aging skincare routine that will help alleviate the stress and environmental hazards of being human!
Make skincare a ritual
Turn your skincare routine into a ritual. Instead of a chore, make it something that you can look forward to.
Our western culture is starved for ritual—short of birth, marriage, death, and maybe baptism, these are the only ritual markers our cultures has to honor our lives.
A regular ritual brings the sacred into the everyday. Cultivating a regular beauty ritual shows the body how it matters.
Ritualize your personal care. Sent an intention to slow down and bring presence and thought to your process. Say sweet things to yourself in the mirror. See how it changes when this time becomes an offering to your body and your beauty.
Meditate
A daily meditation process has been proven to turn back your aging clock anywhere from 8 to 15 years. Um yes, please!
Since our largest organ is our skin, when we’re stressed, it literally begins to show on our faces. Meditating daily (ideally twice a day if you can!) helps to release the stress from your brain and biology so that you can live better. My meditation teacher Emily Fletcher says that meditation isn't meant to make you a better meditator, but a better person.
The best way to integrate a new habit is to connect it to something that you already do regularly. For example, once I wake up, after I feed my cats, I sit down to meditate for 15 minutes.
As a graduate of the Ziva Meditation technique, I can safely say that there is no such thing as a bad meditation session. Even if you’re distracted, you still reap the benefits of stilling the mind.
Have an orgasm—or several
The benefits of sex are many. During sex, your body releases feel-good endorphins that relieve pain and anxiety.
A recent study found that couples in their 40s and 50s who had twice as much sex as their counterparts looked up to five to seven years younger.
“Orgasms make your heart rate and blood pressure go up, which increases circulation, providing essential oxygen and nutrients to the skin, as well as flushing out toxins and helping you achieve a glowing complexion.”
- Dr. Paris Acharya
No partner, no problem! Take it from your Sex Coach (that’s me!), cultivating a self-pleasure practice is a safe and sustainable way to get that O glow!
Remove your makeup and wash your face
As we move through our busy days, we pick up sweat, grime, and pollution. If you don’t wash it off each night, this becomes fertile ground for clogged pores, blackheads and breakouts. No, thank you!
Each night your skin repairs itself as you sleep, so when you leave your makeup on, this interrupt the renewal process. This can slow down collagen production (collagen is what keeps your skin youthful and firm) and speed up the aging process.
It’s simple. Girl (or guy), wash your face.
Moisturize day and night
The skin cells on your face, ears, neck, and chest replace at a faster rate than the rest of your body. This turnover can leave your skin vulnerable to the elements. Apply moisturizer as a protective barrier twice daily to help prevent fine lines and wrinkles.
I recommend a moisturizer with retinol which helps support collagen production, prevents acne and keeps your skin supple.
Whatever skincare efforts you do with your face, make sure you extend it to your neck and décolletage (a fancy French word for your chest area).
When applying moisturizer, keep your pressure light and always apply in an upwards motion.
Wear sunscreen and reapply often
No amount of orgasms can give you what sunscreen does in protecting your skin from harmful UVA and UBV rays.
One of my personal favorites is Paula’s Choice Healthy Glow Invisible Sunscreen Oil which absorbs quickly and leaves my skin looking glowy, not greasy. Paula’s Choice is a Seattle brand (you should see Paula!) that carries lots of different light sunscreen options. You’re bound to find one that you love.
For your body, try Supergoop, the feel good sunscreen that has refillable bottles so you prevent landfill waste. It’s light and invisible!
For someone who lives in the desert, not wearing sunscreen is just not an option.
Sweat it out
The season I did Bikram yoga, the biggest benefit I saw was in my skin. When you sweat, you increase your blood circulation which encourages oxygenated, healthy cells. It’s another way to glow from the inside out!
Whether you get it from a dance class, the gym or the sauna, sweat it out!
Cut back on alcohol, sugar and caffeine
Alcohol dehydrates your skin, sapping you of necessary fluids that keep your skin looking supple. I didn’t start drinking until my 30s (former Mormon here) and always recommend drinking in moderation. If you enjoy a glass of wine or a cocktail, drink a glass of water to stay hydrated.
Sugar impacts your skin’s collagin creation which results in less skin elasticity.
“Aging is part of growing older, but it’s accelerated by sugar. Without getting too technical, at the end of each strand of our DNA is a little cap, called a telomere, which protects our DNA from damage. Every time our DNA is read and duplicated, those telomeres shorten. While our bodies normally replace those telomeres, sugar quickens that shortening, and thereby, advances the aging process.”
Caffeine causes your blood vessels to constrict, which prevents your skin from getting important anti-oxidants and leads to premature aging.
At the end of the day, it’s the little things that make a difference! While you just learned plenty of ways to protect your skin, let me simplify it for you:
Do one thing today to help your anti-aging efforts!
It’s such a pleasure to have you here at Sex and Style! I’m a Certified Sex Coach that makes a safe space to explore and reclaim your desire. I hope you’ll stay a while. These posts are crafted with love and care, it would be an honor to be passed along to someone you love.
Sarah, I’m sorry but you don’t look like 40 at all! Whatever you’re doing, keep it up 👍🏻😊