Please can I have all you anti ageing tips thrown this way...?

[NewStartAgainReallyThisTime]

I had a horrible moment in a changing room yesterday. My face, especially looks so tired and droopy

I can easily:
Eat more fruit and veg
Work on sleeping better
Drink more water.

I clean my face and moisturise (whichever is on offer at the time - what creams should l look out for?).

I use sun cream.

I take vitamins (but have to remember to take them every day).

What else can I do?

I think I have low collagen, so have been researching into infra red treatment at home. Does anyone use something that they can recommend?

What other home treatments can I use? I can't afford £££, but I decided yesterday that I would regret not having a go at doing more.

I know creams do not always work and I really don't want to use Botox. At the moment, I want to try things that help my body produce the right things (technical term).

Start off by doing face exercises? I do them and I think they work. They're also supposed to stimulate collagen too.

Otherwise, get plenty of sleep!

I second sleep. The difference is astonishing. I sleep even better if I can resist a glass of wine with dinner.

A good diet with plenty of fresh food helps, too.

Finally, a sensible level of exercise that isn’t bonkers can give your skin a glow and keep your body looking younger/firmer. However, taken to extremes it can make you look older. I’m a runner but I seldom run more than 15 miles in a week. I see women who have done gruelling, hardcore marathon training for years and their faces look wrecked. I don’t think it’s just thinness; perhaps the body’s reaction to hard physical labour?

Almost forgot, I met a sports nutritionist who said that the best thing to do, to keep your joints and skin healthy, is to eat good animal protein so that you get the right amino acids. So chicken with the skin on, eggs, cheese, etc.

Eat good fats - eggs, avocado, olive oil etc
Keep skin very hydrated
Face exercises for droop
Invest/research in the best eye and neck creams for you as this is where people seem to show ageing first and gives away age in an otherwise youthful face. Avon clinical eye lift is excellent for droopy eyelids

Retinol 1.0% is the only thing I’ve ever put on my face that’s made a difference. I like the Skinceuticals one. Start off with 0.5% and build up if you haven’t used retinol before.

Other than that:

SPF50+ sunscreen, 365 days a year
Whole foods diet
Regular exercise
Enough sleep

Retinol really would take my face off plus I understand it makes your skin sun sensitive - arguably the most ageing thing of all in the longer term. So then you need to use even stronger sunscreen to compensate and so it goes on. And who benefits the most from all this?

Apart from eating and living reasonably healthily - and it sounds like you're onto all that - the main tools in my weaponry are a good hairdresser and nice clothes. Wearing colours that suit me makes a real difference too. And they're all much more fun than creams, pharmaceuticals and injections.

silk pillowcase

Flo: Retinol is one of the few treatments that reverses the signs of ageing. As long as you only apply it at night and use sunscreen during the day (which you should be doing anyway), it’s not going to age you more.

Don’t take my word for it, though, google what medical professionals have to say.

Thank you but I am familiar with google, hatty I am sorry if my post wasn't clear although I don't think there's any need for the hmm face. I am perfectly aware that retinol can be effective.

My situation is that I am fair skinned and prone to moles so have to be extra careful about sun exposure and even talk to real live medical professionals sometimes. The advice I was given was that, although retinol can be effective in counteracting the effects sun damage, it can also make the skin more vulnerable to it. Basically, if you're not extra careful with sun protection, it can give with one hand and take away with the other. Or so I was told.

It's immaterial in my case as these days I would never be able to tolerate even a low concentration of it. Nor can a lot of skins - it's heavy duty stuff.

Sorry that should said Husky

Apologies for dragging you into it Hattie. As far as I know, there is no conection between silk pillowcases and sun damage!

I'm confused about Retinol. I never know how much % to use.

Any recommendations?

It’s not about you, though. Unless you’re the OP with a name change, I really don’t know why you are acting as if it is.

Nor can a lot of skins - it's heavy duty stuff.

This is just plain wrong. It’s used by loads of people.

Anyway, am sure OP can make up her own mind.

m.huffpost.com/us/entry/5845764

Ask a dermatologist for her No. 1 skin-care recommendation and you know you’ll hear something along the lines of: “Wear SPF! Seriously! What’s it going to take to get you people to put it on?!” So we asked our experts for their second most important piece of advice, and every one of them said the same thing: “Use retinoids.” These vitamin A derivatives have been proven to boost collagen production (reducing wrinkles and preventing fine lines), speed cell turnover (evening out discoloration and brightening skin tone) and unclog pores (making them look smaller and reducing acne). “I can always tell when a woman uses these. She’ll have that dewy, fresh-faced look—like she just had a facial,” says Emmy Graber, MD, a dermatologist and assistant professor of dermatology at the Boston University School of Medicine.

It's not about me. It's not about you. It's about retinol.

The other point I forgot to make is that although Husky is correct about only using retinol at night, you do see it in featured - in tiny %s or derivatives of it - in some products that are intended for daytime use. I'd really like to know why they do that.

It is confusing. And yes, it is powerful stuff. That's why it works for some people but definitely not for all skins.

After trying lots of different night creams over the years I found that plain old Nivea Creme is the richest.

I recently started taking astaxanthin supplements after reading amazing things about it (including but not only anti aging effects). To early to tell if it's working yet though! Some info here m.huffpost.com/us/entry/2750910

Reading with interest the posts about retinol here ... what are the best retinol products?

Cleanse and moisturise with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, also apply a small amount to eye wrinkles...within a few weeks the results are great.

I'm out of this shortly as I don't want to get drawn in any further but I don't know why Husky is so insistent that it's not heavy duty stuff. If it wasn't powerful, it wouldn't work.
That means going very carefully with it, especially if you have any skin sensitivity as lots of people do.

Alpha H beauty sleep power peel

SPF30 or above every single day. Unless you are doing that anything else is a waste of time

@TidyLike I use The Ordinary 1% Retinol. You have to build up to it a bit. I use about a pea-sized amount on my face and a small amount on my decollete.

If you worry about sensitivity, use the 2% retinoid from TO, or the Lactic Acid (AHAs).

And always use 50spf full sun block, every single day.

Retinols are one of the few things with scientific reach behind them to prove that they do actually work against fine lines and wrinkles. Yes they can be strong and you must use SPF always.

You can build up very gently with the lowest amount. Only use a couple of nights per week as skin gets acclimatised. You can even break through the summer if you're worried about the sun. They are so effective though.

Other stuff: eat lots of good fats; nuts, seeds, avocado, salmon. Cut down sugar (I struggle with this)
Exercise but don't over do it.
SPF every day.
I rate serums more than moisturisers so I spend money on these then just use SPF.
Lots of sleep.
Caci facials are good as are facial exercises
Lasers facials can stimulate collagen.
Apparently bone broth is great for collagen but I can't quite bring myself to boil chicken feet yet
Micro derma rolling.

Wear sunglasses in the daylight it stops you squinting causing frown lines.

Perplexed face emoji if I could find it at how anyone could challenge Flo on these boards - she's one of our heroes!

I am curious to know, OP, why you think you have low collagen.

I think I would age "better" with different parents. Friends & colleagues who have parents or ancestors with, respectively, spanish, greek, moroccan and hawaian blood, all have skin which is noticeably better than mine. I've inherited celtic skin on both sides with only a dash of french blood in there. As I'm stuck with my genes I don't rely on sunscreen but cover up whenever possible in the sun. I have sensitive skin & am nervous of trying anything new without a lot of research & the advice not to use retinol or retinoid products when pregnant or breast feeding did put me off. On the other hand I feel differently about alcohol & certain cheeses so I know I am contrary.