Apr 10
19
How not to look old: Manage your wrinkles
This is the chapter I’ve been so anxious to get to, hoping that I will find a miracle for combating wrinkles without expensive treatments. But much to my dismay, there are no easy fixes, no magic serum for erasing lines around my eyes. Because I’m not a high-maintenance gal, and I don’t want to spend all our retirement money on my face, aging will just have to include a few wrinkles here and there. But that’s a whole lot better than looking like a plastic doll.
In her book How Not to Look Old, Charla Krupp says nothing ages you like “forehead lines, crow’s feet, lip lines, smile lines, marionette lines (lines below the mouth that resemble the lines that allow a puppet to open and close its mouth) , sagging skin, age spots and dry skin.” But how do you defy these effects of growing older? There are several options, depending on your pain tolerance and the size of your wallet.
The quickest fixes can be found at your dermatologist’s office, but trips may be frequent, depending on what you choose. Charla sings the praises of injectables because she has had great results with then herself. She recommends Botox for forehead lines and crow’s feet, and Restylane, CosmoDerm and CosmoPlast to fill lip lines. She saw slight improvements with two laser sessions, but did not complete the six-session series so can’t vouch for the results.
If you do decide to go with Botox, here is an interesting tip from Charla. Beware of Botox bargains. She says that Botox comes in powder form and must be diluted with saline before injecting. A nice discount on a Botox injection could mean that the doctor diluted it more to make the powder go further. The weaker the solution, the less time your results will last, meaning you will be back for another injection sooner.
There are several treatments you can get at the doctor’s office for immediate noticeable results.
- Lasers—the old lasers took off layers of your skin, leaving you looking like a burn victim for weeks. The newer versions like the Fraxel Skin Resurfacing Laser can be used to eliminate age spots, scars and uneven texture with a few days of recovery.
- Peels—A light chemical peel such as a glycolic acid peel will speed cell turnover so that skin tone and texture improve, but you need to have several treatments, increasing in strength, to see the best results. This is one of the easiest and least painful ways to brighten up your skin. I’ve had several glycolic peels, and I loved the results.
- Microdermabrasion—A machine is used to exfoliate the skin, scrubbing it using very fine crystals. A series of treatments can improve skin tone, texture, dark spots and fine lines.
- LED Photomodulation—With this treatment, you sit in front of a panel of bright lights that pulsate across your face for 45 seconds. It is supposed to give you more elastic, smoother skin, but the cost is steep, around $1,500 for eight 45-second treatments. That’s a total of six minutes, which is good if you have a busy schedule, but bad if you have a budget.
- Fat—Using your own fat to fill in wrinkles. Sounds like a winner to me! But the fat has to be injected very deeply with a big needle for the results to last, and there are no long-term studies on the process.
- Collagen—CosmoDerm and CosmoPlast are made from human collagen so they don’t require tests for allergies. Zyplast and Zyerm are made from bovine collagen (yes, from cows) and require testing before injections. The results can last up to nine years—great if you get good results, horrible if you get results you aren’t happy with.
- Hyaluronic acid—This actually comes from natural sugar, and is found in Restylane, Juvaderm, Captiqe and Hylederm.
- Silicone—Silicone 1000 is more permanent, and can last at least three years. Again, great if you like the results, but a disaster if it is botched.
Is the pain and expense really worth it? If not, then go the nonsurgical route. Dr. Neil Sadick of New York says,” If you want healthy skin, protect it with a high-dose antioxidant and a sunblock every morning. At night, turn over your skin. I truly believe you can turn back the clock at least a decade on wrinkles at night.”
A good skin care regimen is essential for healthy skin. These five steps will help you keep your wrinkles minimized.
- Cleanse with a gentle cleanser that won’t strip your skin. There are plenty of these available without spending a fortune, such as Cetaphil or Olay. Philosophy Purity Made Simple removes eye makeup at the same time. A 16 oz. bottle is $32 at drugstore.com.
- Exfoliate to speed up cell turnover and reveals smoother skin. The more you exfoliate, the brighter your skin will be. Use a microdermabrasion scrub with tiny beads so they won’t damage your face. Charla recommends Olay Definity Pore Redefining Scrub, Olay Regenerist Microdermabrasion & Peel Kit, and Estee’ Lauder Idealist Refinishing Treatment. I use Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant every day and I love it.
- Restore with vitamins and antioxidants to boost the skin’s defenses against damaging free radicals. For daytime, she suggests Garnier Nutritioniste Ultra-life Serum, available at grocery or drug stroes, Boots No. 7 Protect & Perfect Beauty Serum, available at Target, and Dermalogica Multivitamin Power Concentrate, available at drugstore.com For maximum nighttime results, use a Retin-A product like Renova. The most potent ones are only available at the doctor’s office, but you can get weaker versions at the drugstore. Charla recommends Clinique Turnaround Concentrate Visible Skin Renewer and Patricia Wexler Intensive Night Reversal and Repair Cream.
- Moisturize to temporarily plump up skin and diminish wrinkles, and make sure it contains a sunscreen. You can spend hundreds on designer label creams, but some less expensive ones are Olay Definity Deep Penetrating Foaming Moisturizer, Patricia Wexler Skin Brightening Daily Moistuizer, available at Bath & Body Works, and Olay Complete Defense SPF 30 Daly UV Moisturizer.
- Protect if your moisturizer doesn’t have sunscreen. This is absolutely essential for preventing skin cancer, and for defending against UV rays that age skin. Don’t underestimate the effects of your lifestyle on your skin. If you are going on vacation or will be spending the day outdoors, be sure to wear sunscreen on your face and body. Those made with Mexoryl have peak efficiency, blocking both UVA and UVB rays.
Lastly, a note about the eyes. If you got started too late like I did in taking care of your undereye area, you have a lot of catching up to do. Discoloration can be lightened up with Restylane, which can sometimes diminish the shadows of those hollow dark circles. Pads of fat have to be removed by a dermatologist. For intense moisture treatments, Charla recommends Clarins Super Restorative Total Eye Concentrate, and Elizabeth Arden Prevage Eye Treatment. She also mentions Olay Regenerist Derma-Pod Triple Response System, but the product gets mixed reviews for ease of use on several websites.
On a personal note, I’ve seen way too many women who have gone the plastic-surgeon route and turned out looking worse than they did before their treatments. There is nothing wrong with a few wrinkles—we don’t need to try to look like our daughters. I think clean, smooth, natural skin is much better than artificially enhanced skin. I follow the 5-step regimen myself, and most people think I don’t look my age anyway. For the past two months, I’ve been using Vitamin Enhanced Face Firming Serum from Made From Earth (you can get a special deal here), and my 25-year-old daughter says my skin looks better than it has in a long time.
Do you have experience with any of the above procedures? If you do, please leave a comment below and tell us about it. We’d love to know what works, and what doesn’t!
Charla Krupp is the author of the bestseller How to Never Look Fat Again, just out in paperback
And Charla’s other great book How Not to Look Old, reviewed on Flourish Over 50:
Previous articles on How Not to Look Old:
Determine your maintenance level
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