This is something I hear so often! Women and men compare themselves to other friends or celebrities who have ‘good’ or young looking skin and assume they just look good as they have good genetics. Well is it true?
Our skin is as unique as we are. Genetics, ethnicity, diet and climate can all play a role. These are known as intrinsic and extrinsic ageing factors.
The natural process of ageing is known as ‘intrinsic ageing’. Our genes, largely determine exactly when this happens and how it shows on our skin.
However, this only contributes to less than 20% of what we actually look like when we have aged. Why? Because other factors (that we have far more control over) like environmental, lifestyle, products and dietary choices can either cause the skin to remain youthful for longer or age us prematurely. These are known as ‘extrinsic ageing’ factors.
For example, If you were to compare two identical twins - one who smoked daily and used tanning beds regularly and the other didn’t, would they still age similarly? No, their skin would look visibly different due to the huge amount of free radical attack on the twin who was exposing her skin to cigarettes toxins and UV attack.
So think about what you could be exposing your skin to on a daily basis that could affect the way your skin ages…it’s 80% your choice how quickly you age!
Thanks for reading. Rachel Eve x