There comes a point in every women’s life when they have a very pertinent question to ask – how do I look younger? Some of us are not ready to embrace the golden years when they hit our appearance. What simple habits can we start now to slow the aging process?|

1. Bleach any brown spots you may have. When you’re past the age of freckles, the brown pigments on your skin are a clear indication of aging skin, not to mention sun damage to your skin. If you lighten these age spots, you could also be lightening up some years that sun damage has done to your skin. If you decide to invest in a skin bleacher, opt for one with the ingredient hydroquinone.

2. Do exfoliate or peel more. Before you reach the age of 30, you might have invested in exfoliation or chemical peels for special occasions- too afraid of irritating the skin or causing damage. To reduce the appearance of aging skin, it’s necessary to exfoliate more often and invest in a peeling process to slough away at the top layer of skin to reveal fresher and younger looking skin. If exfoliating every three days isn’t enough, chemical peels, laser skin resurfacing, microdermabrasion and plasma skin regeneration are all minimal procedures that can help you in your quest for younger looking skin.

3. More moisturizing and more sunscreen. Preventative measures are key to maintaining younger looking skin. You want to invest in heavier and thicker moisturizer to continually replenish your skin and to keep skin plump enough that any sagging won’t be overemphasized. Sunscreen should also be a day to day routine, even if you just plan on driving to work every day- window exposure is enough to give you a sunburn.

4. Invest in a Vitamin A fortified cream. Also known as retinoids (such as Lifecell), these topical gels are formulated to reverse the clock on the aging process and help boost your collagen production. You can get a prescription from a dermatologist for the strongest Vitamin A topical cream, or you can invest in a skin cream that already has retinoids in it.

5. Lifestyle tidbits. Believe it or not, stress can wear you out mentally as well as physically. When you experience an excess amount of stress, your body releases cortisol. Cortisol is that nuisance mechanism in our body that turns inflammation bright red, induces breakouts and causes irritation. To combat stress, it’s important to incorporate more antioxidants in your diet and to also take a psychological breather with methods of relaxation such as yoga or a type of breathing technique.

Sleep is absolutely necessary and you should set aside at least 7 hours a day to good quality shut-eye. Sleeping is your body’s way of recuperating from day-to-day functioning and also balances your body. As you can imagine, any disturbance in sleep can greatly disturb your anatomical balance.

Besides just your outward appearance, be sure to always be focusing on your inward beauty too. Spend quality time with a good support system (friends and family) and invest in time to reflect internally within yourself. Beauty should really be the output of a healthy lifestyle- no matter what age you are.