What can you tell me about wrinkles?

I think it is where the skin bends in the same place. Over time it loses elasticity and makes a crease.

The best way to prevent wrinkles is to stay out of the sun (and of course, don’t smoke).

If you are outside, wear a broad-brimmed hat and sunblock. Sun block is not miraculous.

Neither a facial massage nor moisturizer will neither prevent nor improve the appearance of wrinkles.

If you plan to live to a ripe old age, you also have to contend with gravity.

I found the whole depressing story on google.

@gailcalled you’re breaking my heart, here.

I’m simply the messenger, remember?

I’m surprised you made it through this article. “Habitual facial expressions cause the skin to wrinkle as it looses elasticity.” ;)

I am no expert however I do have my own theories. I believe it is sun like @gailcalled but more than that it is genetic. My mom went into the sun a fair bit, in her youth and had no wrinkles, zero. I think in life you get two types of faces, the sagger or wrinkler. I am not a wrinkler I am a sagger!!

@DigitalBlue: Knowledge is power.

@Shippy sometimes I wonder, too. My mother has terrible wrinkles, she looks much older than she is… but she also looks like my grandfather, who also had really bad wrinkles. On my father’s side, however, my grandmother was 87 when she passed a few years ago, and she hardly had any wrinkles at all. My aunt (her daughter) is in her 60s, and she also has beautiful skin with very few wrinkles.
Makes me wonder.

I thought old folks viewed wrinkles as giving the face character.
Okay, no one wants to look like an un-ironed lumberjack’s shirt, but….....

Wrinkles happen when the collagen breaks down beneath the skin. Creams and lotions don’t do much for it, but keeping your skin moisturized can help. The most important thing to do to prevent wrinkles is protect your skin from the sun and don’t smoke. Both those things break down your collagen. If your skin is changing color, tanner or burned, you are having some damage down. But, beware, protecting from the sun means you must check your vitamin D level now and then. SPF that blocks tanning, basically blocks UVB rays, blocks absorption of vitamin D.

Also, good overall health helps. A good healthy diet. Actually, starting a new thyroid med has much improved my skin, I didn’t expect it. But, that only matters if you have a thyroid problem.

As you do begin to wrinkle when you are older there are several options to dimish them. Glycolic peels that remove the top layer of the skin so it appears young, fresher, and minor wrinkles are taken away. Laser that tightens the skin. Botox that relaxes the muscle. Surgery like face lifts.

When I was 30 I was hired for the agency I work for at present, and my health benefits kicked in. I went to the dermatologist for something and while there, I asked him how can I prevent the effects of aging? He told me to look at the underside of my arm and see how it compares to the top of my arm/hand. The underside of the arm is white and smooth, while the top is a bit speckled and the hands are wrinkled (even at age 30). He told me to wear sun block every day on my face – one that’s made to be a moisturizer. He suggested a few brands as examples – Olay or Aveda or Almay. They all make SPF 15 sunblock that’s non-comodogenic, (I think that’s the spelling) which means they don’t clog your pores. They don’t feel sticky like the sunblock you wear at the beach. They feel like nothing is on your skin. People that I have told (my hypochondriac friends) tell me “But you’re not in the sun!” Well I’m in the sun for my at least two hours per day commute to and from work, and I’m sitting in a sunny office all day, and I’m sitting on my deck or in my car driving to shopping or whatever. They also have said “But it’s another chemical on your skin!” Like as if the sun beating on my skin causing possible melanoma is any better.

At my age now, 46, people tell me they think I’m 35. My Jelly friends who are in my FB know, as I am of course, not objective. I think that’s the secret to not looking wrinkled, in addition to trying to avoid long stretches in the sun and not smoking, drinking or doing drugs.

@jca ah, I like your test, my hands don’t look much different from the underside of my arm. I feel better.

One more comment, protect your neck! I very much regret not protecting my neck and decollote from the sun.

@Shippy LOL…yeah me too. No wrinkles, really..at almost 53. No crows feet, no lip wrinkles, no forehead wrinkles, but..I am getting jowly puppet lines, ( laugh lines you know! ) and a bit of a wattle. I guess a wattle is better than full blown turkey neck though.
Now my boobs…again no wrinkles but, halfway to Panama in my PJ’s. I am also starting to get old lady butt, the worst of all…it is going flat on the bottom…my bottom is bottoming out at an alarming rate. lol

Yes, the sun thing is huge. Being a blonde, blue eyed person I did always get a beautiful tan, but burned plenty in my younger years. I started using sunblock and quit tanning by the time I was about 24. Along with taking daily mega doses of Vit. C for years too.
Inspite of my sun worshipping youth I think these preventive measures made all the difference over the last 30 years now.

Genetics do come into play as well through, my mother was amazingly wrinkle free well into her 60’s and had virtually no gray hair either.
When I was active with horses still in my early 40’s I had a riding friend who was my age and she looked like the Marlboro Man. The deepest wrinkles I have ever seen on someone under the age of 80, seriously! All that horsing around under the sun really did a number on her.

@JLeslie: Yes, the neck and throat too.

I can tell you that you will like Eva Fraser.

If you want to avoid wrinkles, the sun is your enemy. Many Australian women look much older than they are. People are often stunned when they hear my age because I look a lot younger than most Australian women my age. Not because I have taken wonderful care of my skin (I haven’t), but because I didn’t grow up in Australia. I consequently don’t have sun damage. If you were a sun worshiper in your youth and as a child, the chances are much of the damage is done but you should still wear sunscreen now.

For many years my husband was in his car for many hours a day. The windows in his car were not tinted for many of the early years in that job. If you look at his skin, you can see the damage the sun causes. One side of his face (the window side) has many, many more wrinkles than the other. He also battles skin cancer but that’s another story. He looks older than he is.

Genetics absolutely play a part too and while I don’t think moisturizers will reduce wrinkles or even prevent them, I think they can make your skin look smoother. They might plump the wrinkles out temporarily too. The cheapest moisturisers have been found to be just as effective as the expensive ones. Do a search for Choice reports on wrinkle creams.

In addition to @JLeslie‘s comment about your neck and decolletage, look after your hands too.

I’m thinking that genetics play a part. My Mom, sister and I have always looked young for our age. My Mom, in her 60’s had beautiful, smooth skin. So, yeah, genetics.

I have ‘em. :/

While all the lotions, creams and potions (aside from sunscreen, of course) don’t really help, certain products can reduce the appearance (and feel) of wrinkles. There’s some kind of make-up primer that has silicone in it, and when I used a sample of that, my skin felt like velvet. Smooooth! I could never find the actual product again.

They are my red badge of courage! I am 68 and proud of it and the wrinkles and sun spots. I am now pretty much one huge freckle. Why worry about silly stuff, I am healthy and I reckon it is simply a fact of life that as you age your skin just does not fit as well as it once did. Why fight it? I use a moisturizer when my skin gets dry and itchy but that is the extent of my anti wrinkle regime. And I love the sun, actually they are now saying people are using so much sun screen that we may have to start taking vitamin d tablets! Not me, I’ll have mine straight thank you.

Wrinkles will win unless:
1 You stay out of the sun;
2 You never smoke;
3 You never raise your eye brows ;
4 You never smile or laugh;
5 You talk without using your lips or eyebrows;
4 You don’t scar easily;
5 You are rich enough to afford dermatalogical treatments or surgery as often as you want it;
6 You don’t mind being considered a peculiar person who doesn’t react to to other people at all.
And even then, your neck and hands will give you away.

@DigitalBlue One good thought is that I know many gorgeous women in their fifty’s wrinkles and all. Some are very active, have great bodies also. Wrinkles really aren’t such a problem I promise!

Interesting story, one of the viewers to see my home for purchase, was running around the building checking out parking etc., and was so pretty well more attractive. Lovely blond hair in a pony tail. Nice white shirt, shorts and soft shoes. She had a lovely face. She turned out to be 67!! I am still reeling in shock.

Well, here’s hopin’. :)

@shippy – I find it astounding that you are amazed that someone in their late 60’s could be thus! Society has so brainwashed the populace to think that aging is a bad thing and us elderly folks are all decrepit and unwashed! I still manage to run 3 or 4 times a week, bike or something aerobic the other days as well. And while my taste in clothing runs more towards boardies and t shirt, I do scrub up pretty good when the situation calls for it!

@rooeytoo Yes well we live and learn, you know me being a baby at 50! and you are right. I know a lot of runners well into their 70’s. Also know ladies of 50 or 60 with full social lives. Well, it gives me hope!

Honestly, all other factors aside, the best way to look younger is to be HAPPY!
I swear, I looked younger at 40 something than I did in my 20’s and 30’s after leaving an unhappy marriage. Inner happiness makes a face glow like nothing else. It is truly remarkable how eliminating extreme stress from your life gives you an instant facelift! :-D

@Coloma So true.

@Coloma Wiser words never spoken :)

Er… and so to Eva Fraser…..............

I look like poop today, I have had the worst allergy/sinus infection the last 4 days.. Man…nothing like puffy lizard eyes to really age a face overnight. lol ;-)