One of the greatest boxers of our time, Muhammed Ali was quoted saying “Age is whatever you think it is. You are as old as you think you are.” This is the right mindset to adopt to get by. However, when the first signs of aging show up, maybe in that first grey hair or first wrinkle, one may fret. No need to fight the process, you can invest in the following that are science-backed ways to look younger without any fuss:
1. Groom your grey hair
Whether you consider them a sign of wisdom – or just that you’re starting to become wizened – grey hairs are one of the first signs of ageing, with most men spotting their first in their thirties. Stay well away from the hair dyes. Skin pigmentation naturally lightens as you get older. So no matter how subtle the results you’re promised, bottled hair colour won’t bring back your youth. Try using a hair shampoo once or twice a week to help strip grey hair of any brassy, grey tones.
2. Wear SPF
Sun exposure is the leading cause of visible aging. While smoking definitely isn’t good for your skin, never wearing SPF is probably worse. SPF helps prevent UV damage that can increase photoaging. It prevents pigmentation, slows the rate of collagen breakdown and wards off fine lines and wrinkles.
3. Sleep
A good night’s sleep plays a key role in keeping you young-looking. A study at University Hospitals Case Medical Center found that subjects who didn’t sleep well exhibited more signs of skin aging including fine lines, uneven pigmentation and reduced skin elasticity. That’s because shut-eye helps the skin regenerate and repair itself in a variety of ways, including by promoting human growth hormone (which boosts cell production), reducing inflammation (which can lead to dry skin) and lowering the body’s cortisol levels (which can lead to the breakdown of collagen and fast-track the formation of lines and wrinkles).
4. Tame your beard
It is a known fact that facial hair ages a man. Why else did so many of us spend our teens begging the beard gods to make our bum fluff grow faster? A sign of physical maturity, virility and dominance, hair on a man’s face instantly ages him – for better or worse. As with most things in your twenties, you can get away with going wild, but come to your thirties, and especially when you hit your forties, big, unruly beards look older. As you get older, you lose definition in your cheeks and jawline, so keeping your beard neatly groomed will help you look less aged.
5. Invest in eye cream
Your eyes might be known as the windows to the soul, but the skin around them serves a different purpose: letting everyone know how long in the tooth you are. Along with browlines, crow’s feet are the first facial wrinkles to develop, starting to form as early as in your mid-twenties. Eye creams. While they won’t work miracles, they can help reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, as well as make your skin look fresher.