Anti aging skin care tips:
Good Ones to Know

Entire industries have been built around anti aging skin care tips, some good, and some bad. Most are trying to sell you something, usually the latest fad cream or diet to tighten up your pores, or reduce lines caused by aging.

Before evaluating anti aging skin care tips, let's look at what's really happening. As you age, your skin loses some of its elasticity. The small weave of tendons and muscles that underlie your skin lose their ability to contract, much the same way that an old elastic or rubber band loses its ability to contract back to its shape.

Couple this with damage caused by UV rays to the surface of the skin, and changing chemical compositions in the sebaceous glands (the glands that cause pimples), and there's a lot of mechanisms that anti aging skin care tips can address in giving you firm, youthful skin.

We'll start with the free ones first:

The number one of our anti aging skin care tips is to avoid excessive amounts of sunlight. The Sun's UV rays are one of the major causes of skin cancer (melanoma), and one of the causes of the "aged leather" look. If you spend time outdoors for work, wear sun block. At least SPF 30 and 45 is better. Cover up anything you don't need to expose to the Sun's harmful rays.

The second tip is to eat lots of fruits and vegetables, and avoid excessive amounts of starchy carbohydrates. An important anti aging skin care tip is that your body breaks down over time; collagen and the fibers that make up your cartilage and joints all rely on components that at are made less elastic by interaction with oxygen compounds. They release free radicals when they break down, which cause further problems down the road. Think of free radicals as a corrosive byproduct of your cell's nutritional life, and you won't be too far off. Your body uses vitamins, most notably vitamins C and E, and several B complex vitamins, to clean up these byproducts and keep them from doing further damage – they can even help repair some of the damage that's already done. Think of them as a sponge that will scoop up the toxic byproducts of metabolic processes and convert them into something that's less harmful.

The third anti aging skin care tip to be aware of is, frankly, awareness. Be aware of your skin. Every two weeks, stand in front of a mirror and examine your skin for dry spots. Is there a part of your skin that regularly gets rough? Are you mostly worried about your face? Use general good hygiene first and foremost – use a moisturizing and mild soap to clean, and use a moisturizing lotion as well.

The fourth tip is one that's always unpopular: Get regular exercise. Don't skimp on the sunblock, but do get out and move around. Jump, run. Swim. Do something that gets your heart rate up and gives an endorphin rush. This improves circulation to your entire body, and as an anti aging skin care tip, it's important that your skin GET lots of circulation. Plus, you'll feel more energetic and feel healthier.

Now, on to the anti aging skin care tips that go beyond common sense:

Creams and exfoliants: Nearly every anti aging skin care tip site tries to sell you on someone's skin cream. Nearly every skin cream can be thought of as a three part process:

The first part is that it removes dead skin cells; your body is shedding skin cells constantly – the major constituent in household dust is dead skin cells. Removing dead skin cells is a process called exfoliation, and it's the part that gives you that immediate appearance boost – it clears up your skin and makes you, well, look younger.

The second part of most skin creams of interest for those looking for anti aging skin care tips is the toner and moisturizer. Remember when we said that microscopic parts of your skin get less elastic as you age? A toner/moisturizer helps tighten those up, much like taking in a band of elastic gives a snug fit. This works because they're basically moisturizing the skin – and causing things to contract on a microscopic scale. Unfortunately, this part is temporary – as the skin dries again, these relax.

The third part is that most of these skin creams offer topical (skin based) application of micronutrients. It's not certain if those micronutrients are doing any appreciable good, but they aren't doing any harm either.

Related links:

Anti Aging Cream - Choosing one that's right for you

Best Anti Aging Creams for Your Skin