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Skin is our body's largest organ. It covers and protects every bit of us and reflects all things - god and bad - we put in our bodies. A healthy diet and lots of water will obviously be reflected in glowing, hydrated skin; poor nutrition, smoking and tanning, and lack of exercise show just as much, if not more. Junk food has empty calories and makes you fat. Salt makes you puffy. Fried food id full of grease - guess where it goes! To much caffeine and alcohol make you look pasty and drawn out. Who needs it? Not you.
Wrinkles
Oh, those wrinkles, etched into our faces. They're not supposed to be there. We're supposed to be young and unlined and gorgeous forever. Or rather, lines and creases and all the experience of feeling are okay and even look sexy on a man's face, but women are running to cosmetic surgeons faster than you can say "face-lift" if they see the slightest hint of droop.
Our skin naturally loses elasticity and moisture as we age, mainly due to lower levels of estrogen and progesterone, but we certainly don't help it by our thoughtless behavior. Namely: sun worship. Most skin damage is not caused by aging but by overexposure to the sun. The sun's rays are harmful. A tan is not healthy; it does not prevent wrinkles or age spots - it causes them. Society and magazines telling us wee look good when we're tanned are wrong. But because, like so many other diseases, skin damage can take years to show upon your face, the damage has already been done. You need only look at Brigitte Bardot's leathery, lined face, to see what summer fun in the sun did to her.
We spend vast amounts of money each year on the newest moisturizers and creams to plump up our faces, yet we don't think to protect ourselves properly when we go out of the house. Two-thirds of skin damage is incidental, not from vacation - which means it happens every time you walk out of the house and into the light, no matter where you live or what time of year.
I firmly believe in the importance of a simple, consistent skin-care plan. Don't over clean your face and never use hand or deodorant soap on it; it's irritating, drying and not necessary. Drink lots of water.
Don't believe all the hype at the cosmetics counter. If you find a product you like, stick with it. Just remember that your skin gets drier as you age, so products that might have been adequate a few years ago might not be so effective now.
I'm not going to go on and on with a lecture about what cigarette smoke does to your face. Suffice it to say that nothing's less sexy than those horrid little lines etched around your mouth from years of puckering and puffing.