Looking ten years younger

By Suzie Wokabi

Last week’s article on make-up for mature skin sparked many enquiries. Our readers wanted to know how one can actually reverse the skin’s ageing process.

The good news is, by adopting healthy skin care practises; you can slow down the ageing and erase some prior damage. Here are a few tips:
• Our skin’s health lies squarely in our hands. Find the right products and habits that work for you, and use them consistently. Get professional advice about what is not working, and stop doing it.
• Cheap quality make-up and fake imitations can get expensive in the long run, due to harsh ingredients that gradually damage the skin. Sleeping without washing off make-up is another terrible culprit in ageing the skin.
• Remember, thirsty skin is wrinkly skin.  Many women make the mistake of washing their faces with bath soap (another wrong product choice), which strips it of vital oils. Others fail to use a good moisturiser and sunscreen. Such harsh treatment can result in rashes, sensitive skin, age spots, hyperpigmentation and an uneven skin tone.
• Always use sun protection. That means products with an SPF, every single day.  Avoid staying under the sun between the hottest hours of 11am to  2pm. Do not avoid the sun altogether since it provides vital vitamin D. But do cover up well when you must be out.
• You can do this by wearing a wide brimmed hat and good quality sunglasses. Cheap shades may look chic but the only thing they do is help keep dust out of your eyes.
Invest in high-quality sunglasses with UV protection. Ever wondered why most Kenyans often have yellowish or red eyes instead of white? Ophthalmologists attribute it to sun damage. Just like your skin gets tanned to protect it from the sun, the cornea becomes darker in response to sun exposure. So cover up ladies!
• Your lifestyle will show on your face. Nights on the rave, smoking, stress and poor nutrition will have you looking haggard even under make-up.

So, in short, the secret of youthful skin is no secret. We can all look ten years older or ten years younger. It just depends on how we take care of ourselves.

Create good skincare habits and lead a healthy lifestyle. Cleanse, moisturise and use sun protection.
This way make-up will serve as a tool to simply enhance your ageless, radiant beauty.

The writer is the founder of SuzieBeauty Ltd. Her Email is  [email protected]