My best anti-aging tips
What you can do to preserve your natural beauty
A long time ago there was a silly web-app that guessed your age. In all cases, it failed to guess my correct age — didn't even come close.
When I bought booze recently as a party favor, the man behind the ABC counter looked me up and down and exclaimed, “You've aged well young lady.”
I get this often; a double take from cashiers, bouncers, or door guys who look at my ID and exclaim loudly they can’t believe how old I am.
Once, I had a guy chat me up in a club. He asked how old I was and when I told him, he demanded to see my ID.
I don’t say all this to brag, because frankly, looking a whole lot younger is both a blessing and a curse.
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While you do your best to take care of your skin, you also attract a certain kind of attention – socially, romantically, and professionally.
For starters, genes have a lot to do with how you will look over time. I’m grateful to my mom and dad for my skin.
But I’m also super careful about sun exposure, the products I put on my face, the food I put in my body, and how I generally treat my skin.
Despite my hang ups with aging gracefully (my age is closer to Kim and Kourtney, less Kendall and Kylie), I’m happy to share all my tips for looking younger and preserving your natural beauty.
I of course support anyone who pursues anti-aging procedures or fillers to feel better and more confident; I’ve definitely benefited from the occasional technologies like lasers, facials, and radiofrequency to fight gravity.
The following however, are simple lifestyle tips you can do on your own to protect your skin.
Avoid the sun
In the far east, the sun is avoided at all costs, with beaches at high noon mostly empty, and women carrying sun parasols and wearing comically large visors.
What’s “beautiful” tends to favor paleness or pale luminosity and radiance.
Meanwhile, in the U.S., people lay out to get tan, in hopes of achieving a gorgeous summer glow.
Regardless of eastern or western beauty standards, make no mistake the sun is a huge contributor to aging skin.
Prolonged sun damage is called photoaging; over time harmful UV rays can create cellular changes which may lead to skin cancer.
It’s important to absorb Vitamin D, however, so I advise getting sunlight in the earlier hours to help your circadian rhythm and when UV rays aren’t so strong.
Since I’ve been living in Miami, I’ve been way more cautious about repeated sun exposure to the strong Florida rays.
When I’m on the beach, I’m almost always under the umbrella.
But the sun can still seep through most cloth umbrellas.
So I wear a hat and beach cover-up, and I always try to find a coverup that is thicker or UPF fabric. Which leads me to my next tip …
Wear protective clothing, hats, and sunglasses
I have a wide assortment of cowboy hats, panama hats, wide brim hats, bucket hats, and baseball caps.
I’ve recently discovered this style of hat that rolls up nicely for travel, and lets me lean back in a chair while reading.
Under my sun hat, I’ve usually got on a pair of polarized, UVA/UVB protection sunglasses, like my Oakley sport sunglasses.
Your eyes are susceptible to sun damage too, which can cause issues like cataracts and even eye cancer.
This may sound silly, but I feel like the less I squint, the less I’m subjecting my eyes to develop crow’s feet wrinkles.
When I paddleboard, I always wear a hat and a UPF fabric rashguard; some have hoods, some cover your hands; doesn’t matter as long as it covers the top half of my body.
Adopt a skincare regimen
For the face
During the day, if it’s a sunny day, I aim for a minimum SPF 30 cream under makeup.
Bonus points if my makeup includes sun protection.
I alternate between Ilia Beauty Super Serum Skin Tint SPF 40 (a sun protector + foundation in one, with healthy skin ingredients) and Chanel UV Essentiel with SPF 50, which goes on light and has a lovely subtle scent.
On cloudy days I use Estee Lauder Daywear SPF 15.
Men have wonderful sunscreen options too; try Kiehl’s Facial Fuel SPF 20 or consult this list.
For the body
My dermatologist recommended that the best sunscreens are mineral-based.
I found this SPF 30 one by NATIVE that I like; it’s not heavily scented and generally blends well without too much white cakeiness.
Other than that, I like the feel of SuperGoop’s PLAY Everyday Lotion which is lightly scented and offers SPF 50.
Avoid excess alcohol and smoking
This is kind of obvious, but excess alcohol takes its toll on your face.
The dehydrating and bloating effects of alcohol, over time, will and do show.
Smoking results in lip lines and also directly pollutes your skin.
While you don’t have to live like a monk, just know that these excessive behaviors will imprint themselves over time onto your face and neck and make you look older.
Have I missed any tips? What are your favorite pieces of anti-aging advice?
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Until next time,
Shindy
On Instagram + TikTok
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