Looking for a way to achieve younger-looking skin? Dermatologists have been researching anti-aging for years, and they’ve found the best solutions to rewind the clock on your skin. There are a lot of companies out there who have taken these solutions and blown them out of proportion. As our dermatologists say, be careful with these expensive brand alternatives. Many of them are simply weaker, but prettier versions of medicine designed to make you buy the look instead of the solution. Cutting to the chase, you don’t need fancy bottles. You just need a few key anti-aging strategies to make your skin look 10 years younger! Here’s a guide with a ranking of the top 3 anti-aging techniques and why they work:
Sunscreen
90% of what we consider aging (wrinkles, age spots, etc) is a result of the sun damage according to studies done by the skin cancer foundation. (https://www.skincancer.org/skin-cancer-information/skin-cancer-facts)
A study by Dermatologic Surgery shows that 100% of its daily sunscreen users show visible anti-aging in skin clarity, texture, discoloration, and more. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27749441)
So, aging is caused by the sun, and sunscreen has a 100% success rate in anti-aging. When it comes to anti-aging, there’s no question that sunscreen is the best way to prevent it. It essentially does the anti-aging work of a lot of the anti-aging products in one cream, but better. This miracle technique is cheap as $5 on Amazon, and it’s easy to work into your morning routine too.
Let’s do the math. 90% of aging is due to the sun, 100% of it is solved by sunscreen, and SPF30 is $5 on Amazon. If we’ve done the math right, it only takes $5 to solve 90% of your problem. So you might be thinking, “WOW. Why don’t more people do this??”
The simple answer to that is because it’s hard to be consistent with it, and big skincare companies aren’t going to tell you about a miracle cream that costs $5. Luckily for you, we’re here to solve your problem, not to sell you a line of products. So we have no problem with telling you the cold, hard facts that are proven to work.
So what sunscreen do you buy? You can use your preferred sunscreen, but make sure that it’s safe for sensitive skin. SPF 30 protects you from about 97% of UV rays, so there’s little reason to break the bank over a stronger sunscreen. Some sunscreens actually make acne worse (as I have unfortunately learned through experience), so it’s important to get either oil-free or non-comedogenic sunscreen if you have acne-prone skin.
Retinoids
“I don’t have a year to wait for my youthful look to come back. I WANT TO LOOK YOUNG NOW!” I hear you. We medical staff hear this all the time, and honestly, I’m right there with you. If you already have wrinkles and other aging signs, then there’s not much sunscreen can do to take care of it if you don’t have a year to wait. But fear not! Dermatology has a solution to that too.
Again, the science doesn’t lie. A study (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17515510) shows that retinoids significantly improve wrinkles on the skin. It works by actually making the skin stronger and tighter, where skin in wrinkles have become weak and loose due to sun damage.
Retinoids are also great for age spots! Retinoids actually have your body make healthier skin essentially getting rid of the discolored skin damaged by the sun.
When you want to reverse the clock, retinoids are the miracle cream you need. It gets rid of wrinkles and brings your youthful color back to the skin. Another miracle cream? Maybe, but reversing the clock definitely doesn’t come cheap. There are cheap options on the market that are variations of the chemical used in medicine, but the medical grade version of retinoids can’t be beaten. Some dermatologists say that medical retinoid variations are at least “100 times” more effective than anything you can get over-the-counter.
Conclusion
With sunscreen and retinoids, you’re preventing aging with sunscreen while you’re turning back the clock on your skin. Both are proven to make your skin look younger. There are a lot of anti-aging strategies you can try, but none are tried and proven to work like these two. Those looking for powerful anti-aging solutions can ask for the advice of our dermatologists. Our board-certified dermatologists know the best sunscreens and prescription-strength retinoids to effectively turn the clock back on your skin!
**The information in this article is not a substitute for professional medical advice.
References
Kafi, Reza, et al. “Improvement of Naturally Aged Skin with Vitamin A (Retinol).” Archives of Dermatology, U.S. National Library of Medicine, May 2007, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17515510.
Randhawa, Manpreet, et al. “Daily Use of a Facial Broad Spectrum Sunscreen Over One-Year Significantly Improves Clinical Evaluation of Photoaging.” Dermatologic Surgery : Official Publication for American Society for Dermatologic Surgery [Et Al.], U.S. National Library of Medicine, Dec. 2016, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27749441.
“Skin Cancer Facts & Statistics.” The Skin Cancer Foundation, www.skincancer.org/skin-cancer-information/skin-cancer-facts/.
