In our previous blog, we discussed factors that make our skin start to show signs of aging. While the main goal of skin care is to make sure our skin is in its healthiest state it’s also important to a lot of us to keep our skin looking youthful. Sagging and lines tend to make our skin a bit dull or tired-looking; we want our faces to look fresh, firm, and bright! Today we are teaching you our philosophy on anti-aging. For our anti-aging methods, we avoid injectables like botox/fillers and focus more on maintaining the health of the lymphatic system, skin tissues, collagen, & elastin. We also have some product tips on what we’ve found best to preserve your youthful-looking skin.

scrub me secret: while there are injectables like botox and different dermal fillers that aren’t necessarily harmful to the skin/body we feel that a less “cosmetic” and more “aesthetic” approach to anti-aging is better for the skin’s integrity, overall. We like to focus heavily on facial massages, anti-aging home care products, and facial treatments to keep our skin from sagging or forming wrinkles.

Antiaging Skincare Products:

Age fighting serums:

Serums are a total must-have in your skin care regimen. Serums are formulated with smaller molecules that can sink deeper into the skin than moisturizers and facial oils. This is why you should always use serums before applying your moisturizers or hydrators, otherwise, your serums won’t be able to effectively penetrate your pores. Ingredients like peptides, collagen, and hyaluronic acid work to firm the skin & smooth fine lines and wrinkles by providing moisture and supporting/restoring collagen and elastin. We like serums like Juice Beauty peptide serum, PCA exlinea serum, and Tata Harper rejuvenating serum.

Antioxidant-rich serums with vitamin C and E help to protect the skin from aging further, keep the barrier strong, and smoothe the overall tone of the skin. We like Ursa Major vitamin C serum and PCA vitamin C&E advanced serum. Antioxidants like vitamin A and some fruit extracts work to turn over cells more quickly, thus creating a smoother appearance and helping other anti-aging products work their best. Products like these may be slightly sensitizing to the skin so it’s great to ease into these items with something on the gentle side and then going from there. We like Arcona advanced A serum and Tata Harper retinoic serum.

scrub me secret: we are obsessed with antioxidant serums that work to protect the skin. products that contain vitamin C (specifically L-ascorbic acid) can be and should be used on a daily basis for the best results. Daily vitamin C can really give your skin a healthy youthful glow and even looking tone. Also, you’re helping protect your skin from further damage. If you don’t have a great vitamin C serum in your routine we suggest you start using one.

SPF is the ultimate anti-aging product:

there are so many SPF options to choose from! We personally love a tinted SPF.

If you’ve read our other blogs you probably know what we are going to say. SPF is a non-negotiable in your skin care routine. Using SPF consistently on a daily basis will protect your skin from UVA and UVB rays. Without sun protection, the skin is absorbing harmful UV rays from the sun (even on cloudy days) that deeply damage the collagen and elastin of our skin. Without a daily SPF we will see signs of aging sooner than we would like. Our favorite sunscreen line is Suntegrity because of its clean ingredients.

scrub me secret: Learn more about how UVA/UVB rays affect the skin and more about sun protection in these blogs: New Years Resolution to Sun Protection, Protect Yourself Before you Wreck Yourself, 10 Tanning Bed Facts You’ll Want to Know, scrub me’s Sunless Tanning Tips.

Antiaging Facial Massage Techniques:

Lifting Massage:

Certain facial massage techniques can help strengthen and lift the facial muscles and tissues in the face. This is something that your esthetician can do for you in the treatment room and something you can try out at home. Use your hands and a little facial oil to glide upwards along your facial muscles and hold for a few seconds at the end of each glide. Estheticians are trained in more advanced lifting massage techniques that you can get during a facial. In order for facial lifting massages to show results, it’s best that your face is massaged 3-5 times a week. We suggest getting a professional facial massage from your esthetician a couple of times a month and keeping up at home by giving yourself short facial massages.

scrub me secret: If you feel uncomfortable or a little confused about how to give yourself an anti-aging facial massage at home we have a little trick for you! Just apply facial oil and use your fingertips to massage your skin in small, circular motions all around your face. Use medium pressure when performing this massage. Do this until your skin turns pink or flushed looking all over. It’s that easy!

Lymph drainage Massage:

Lymphatic drainage facial massage has so many wellness benefits. Lymph drainage facial massage can help us look younger by draining puffiness from the face. Stagnant lymphatic fluid in the face can make the eye area look especially puffy; when fluid is drained the eye area can look smoother and brighter. Puffiness in the sides of the face can cause jowling and sagging skin to look even worse; after lymph drainage skin will look more lifted and feel less sallow. Next time you get a facial ask your esthetician about lymph drainage facial massage.

Gua sha massage:

This is a gua sha stone. There are a few different kinds.

gua sha stones are amazing tools to help with both lifting and lymphatic drainage massages. These stones can hit different pressure points, help lift tissue, manipulate lymph fluid, and release facial muscle tension. There is a small learning curve to using these stones but there are so many great videos out there about gua sha. We love Britta Beauty’s gua sha videos. You can also find gua sha facial massages at some skincare studios or spas. We offer gua sha at our scrub me skin care studio!

scrub me secret: Muscle tension in the sides of face and jaw can start to cause the deeper lines around the sides of mouth or “jowl lines”. When the jaw and facial muscles are massaged, loosened, and relax the muscles can sit correctly and the face will look more lifted.

Antiaging Facial Treatment Options:

Microdermabrasion:

Microdermabrasion is a suction machine that uses a textured tip or small crystals to deeply exfoliate and treat the skin. Microdermabrasion is helpful for anti-aging because the suction element paired with exfoliation helps regenerate and strengthen collagen and elastin. This is best paired with targeted anti-aging serums like the ones we mentioned above. Fine lines on the forehead, eye area, and neck can be smoothed out. This treatment can only be performed by a trained technician.

Peel Treatments:

Peel treatments are professional products that contain different ingredients like lactic acid, glycolic acid, salicylic acid, and TCA, to name a few. Peels resurface skin, stimulate cell renewal, and rejuvenate skin’s proteins. This means skin will look and feel smoother, tighter, and more youthful after treatments. There are a lot of different peel formulations and product lines, your esthetician or dermatologist can recommend what’s best for you. Depending on the condition of your skin and what results you are looking for your esthetician may suggest a series of peels or just a singular treatment. We don’t suggest getting a peel as regularly as you would get a normal facial, we think just a handful peels a year is best for your skin’s health. Peels like the ones we discussed can only be performed by a trained esthetician or dermatologist.

LED Light Therapy:

LED red light therapy is the best color LED for anti-aging. Red light therapy stimulates collagen and elastin using a low wavelength light. This treatment is gentle, comfortable, and requires no down time. After consistent red light treatments you will see skin to start to firm. This also prevents future aging. LED therapy can be done as much as once a week. You can get a LED treatment at a skin care studio or spa. Or you can order your own machine and treat yourself at home. We like the handheld LightStim LED light. We also offer LED therapy at our skin care studio.

scrub me secret: regular facial treatments by an esthetician, every 3-6 weeks is important for remedying skin issues like lines, sagging, and deep wrinkles. Regular facials are also a necessity for healthy and youthful looking skin types! keeping up with esthetic treatments even when your skin is looking great will help preserve it and keep your face looking amazing.

We think no matter what age you are, anti-aging products and tools like antioxidants, sun protection, and facial massage are great. Preservation of youthful skin will just make the journey of aging a little bit easier. And not to worry if you’re starting the anti-aging process a little late! Treatments and products we listed above and help from a wonderful esthetician will have you on track.

Our Ways of Fighting Aging Skin.