Trying to tap into the “fountain of youth” has been the backbone of the beauty industry for a long time. There are countless products and methods designed to turn back the hands of time, advertised as “anti-aging” solutions. Unfortunately, the concept of anti-aging in the beauty industry can be a dangerous one.
Everyone gets older. You can’t stop the clock or officially reverse the effects of aging without potentially doing some serious harm to your body, your skin, and even your mind. However, the beauty industry puts a lot of pressure on people — especially women — to look younger.
No one wants to “look” old, especially if you feel young at heart. However, there’s a difference between anti-aging and embracing-aging attitudes. You can age gracefully and beautifully without having to give in to products and procedures.
By reframing the concept of anti-aging and changing your perspective, you can age naturally and gracefully, highlighting your features based on where you are in life. Let’s take a closer look at some of the natural changes you might go through with age, and how you can make the most of them without falling victim to anti-aging scams.
When you embrace natural aging rather than try to combat it, you can highlight the natural changes that occur. Some of the obvious ways in which your face ages and changes over time include:
Other areas of your body will start to change as you age, too. For example, the risk of developing varicose veinsbecomes heightened with age. By age 50, 41% of women will deal with them. They can cause an uncomfortable and heavy feeling in the legs, but most people are more concerned about the way they look, causing dark purple ‘ropes’ in the legs and leading to discoloration.
All of these things happen for a variety of reasons. Your ears might appear longer because of more cartilage. Wrinkles and fine lines occur as you lose elasticity and fat in your skin. These age-related changes are unavoidable no matter how many purportedly anti-aging creams and serums you use. While you can’t prevent these things from happening, you can take care of your skin, mind, and body to give yourself a more youthful, glowing appearance, including protecting yourself from the sun, staying hydrated, and maintaining a healthy diet.
If you’re ready to ditch the anti-aging products but you’re still interested in maintaining a youthful look, adopt healthy routines and regimens. Positive rituals framed around self-care can make a big difference in how you look and feel from the inside out.
Self-care routines are different for everyone, but try to include things like:
Things like a healthy diet and cutting out bad habits, like smoking, can benefit your mind and body in multiple ways. Diets rich in antioxidants can even help to prevent certain eye conditions and slow down the progression of cataracts.
In addition to improving your physical well-being, self-care can boost your mental health, too. Stress, depression, and loneliness aren’t uncommon for people as they age. Self-care practices can reduce the risk of developing these issues. Not only will you feel better, but you’ll tend to eat healthier and get more sleep as a result, which improves your appearance. Everything is connected, which is why it’s so important to take care of your whole being, rather than just focusing on getting rid of wrinkles and age spots.
Not all anti-aging products are inherently bad. The message behind them can damage your self-esteem and contribute to a culture that thinks aging is something to be looked down on. However, the right ingredients can make a difference. Your wrinkles most likely won’t disappear, and you won’t look exactly like you did 20 years ago.
That doesn’t mean certain products and ingredients can’t give you a youthful glow and improve skin elasticity. If you’re more comfortable purchasing products, do your research on the ingredients they’re using. Certain chemical compounds sometimes used in these anti-aging products have been linked to serious conditions, including breast cancer.
You can also use natural ingredients of your own to maintain a youthful glow. While it starts with eating the right foods, certain ingredients can be used to make your own products, including coconut oil, shea butter, green tea, and tea tree oil.
The bottom line is to embrace aging as it comes. No matter how young you try to look, the clock still moves forward. When you change your mindset about anti-aging, you’ll feel more comfortable in your own skin. If more people adopted that mindset, the beauty industry might be forced to change the impossible standards they’re pushing on people, too. Keep these ideas in mind to reframe the concept of anti-aging and focus instead on living a full, healthy life as you get older.
Author by: Jori Hamilton