Anti Aging Skin Care - 5 Rules You Must Follow to Maintain a Glowing, Youthful Skin

Do you use an antiaging skin cream? Do you have an anti aging skin care regimen in place? If so, does it include a ritual for morning and night cleansing, and a set of "rules to live by" that guarantee you're doing all you can for your skin? If you haven't got such an anti aging skin care regimen yet - well, you haven't a moment to lose! The clock is ticking, and aging is going to happen whether you like it or not.

But you don't have to look any older, year by year, if you make these five rules part of your life.

1. If you're a smoker - stop right now. The single worst thing you can do to your skin over your lifetime is to smoke. According to the Mayo Clinic, after only ten years of smoking, irreversible wrinkles may appear in your facial and body skin. How does this happen? When you smoke, blood vessels in the outer layer of the skin - the epidermis - are constricted, and oxygen and important nutrients cannot reach the skin. In addition, collagen and elastin - the fibrous proteins that lend strength and elasticity to your skin - are damaged by smoking. Your skin begins to wrinkle and sag, long before it ought to.

2. You really are what you eat! The largest organ of your body is your skin. Your skin, along with all the rest of your organs, needs proper nourishment to be youthful and healthy. Stay away from the junk foods, deep-fat-fried stuff, sugary sodas, and baked goods made with refined white flour. Instead, add these to your diet each day: i) monounsaturated, or "healthy" fats - the kind that are found in salmon, avocados, nuts, and flaxseeds; they are important for regeneration of skin cells. ii) antioxidants like vitamin C, beta-carotene, and phytonutrients - found in colorful fruits and vegetables; they make your skin glow from within. iii) B vitamins and magnesium - found in whole-grain cereals and breads; also important for skin cell regeneration.

3. Make sure you get eight hours of sleep each night. Those eight hours are just an average, actually: some people may need ten hours a night, while others function best with six hours. Some experimentation ought to give you an indication of your own needed amount. Sleep is an extremely important part of anti aging skin care. For example, did you realize that the skin under your eyes is almost 50% thinner than the skin on the rest of your face? If you sleep an insufficient amount, this fragile skin may show puffiness, dark circles, or a network of fine lines. An antiaging skin cream can only go so far; adequate sleep is necessary to combat stress to the skin.

4. Don't go outdoors without your sunscreen! Ultraviolet A and ultraviolet B rays from the sun are the cause of most premature skin aging. But even worse: UVA rays have been implicated in three forms of skin cancer (melanoma, and basal and squamous cell carcinoma). While sunscreen is not enough by itself to protect you from skin cancer, it is, nonetheless, a critical component of a protection program. Take a look at the labels when you're buying sunscreen; choose one of at least SPF (Sun Protection Factor) 15, and preferably find a sunscreen with SPF 30 or SPF 50. When you're selecting foundation and other makeup, or antiaging skin cream, look for products that show an SPF of 15 or more. By the way, a cream for night-time use should not have sun protection in it!

5. Be sure to cleanse your face thoroughly at night, removing every trace of makeup. No matter how sleepy you are at bedtime, never skip this step. Wash your face gently, using a clean washcloth and a non-drying cleanser. Blot your skin dry on a towel. Follow with a mild, alcohol-free toner on a cotton pad, to remove every speck of dirt and dead skin cells. Finally, apply an all-natural antiaging skin cream to your face and neck. Your morning cleansing routine can be briefer; no need to wash your face thoroughly, just rinse it with warm water, perhaps in the shower. Use your toner again, and a daytime moisturizing lotion (or cream, if you have dry skin) that contains - yes, that's right: sunscreen, minimum SPF15.

Remember these five rules, and never miss a single one of them from now on. You'll be rewarded with beautiful, glowing, youthful skin as a result of your improved anti aging skin care regimen!