Although there are obvious causes of premature ageing, there are also many ordinary things that are less obvious, which over time can take a toll on the skin and add years to your face. While many of these tips might seem like common sense, following them will help your skin stay younger, for longer. It’s never too soon to start looking after your skin.

Wear sun cream

Exposure to the sun is the number one reason for skin ageing. Over time it damages the skin, causing wrinkles, loss of elasticity, visible blood vessels, hyper-pigmentation and even skin cancer. Even if you aren’t sunbathing you should still protect your skin by wearing sun cream every day.

Not doing so can result in:

• The loss of elasticity in the skin.
• Translucent, thinner looking skin.
• Wrinkles and fine lines.
• Leathery, dryer, rough skin.
• Liver spots on the face, back of hands, arms and body.
• Broken veins and capillaries on the face.
• Skin cancer.

Don’t pick your spots!

Given the amount of germs and bacteria that’s under the nails and on your hands, it’s just not sanitary to touch and pick at your pimples. Picking at them can cause breakouts and even make existing spots worse. You shouldn’t pick at your spots, ingrown hairs, blackheads or anything else on your face. It can have permanent effects and even leave scars.

Anti-ageing skin care

Cleanse: Gently wash your face both morning and night, but avoid cleansers that have high alcohol content and other drying agents.

Exfoliate: As dead cells accumulate, the complexion becomes dull and uneven. Make sure you exfoliate your skin weekly, using a gentle facial scrub which will keep the skin smooth, healthy and fresh.

Moisturise: Apply moisturiser over your face twice a day, not forgetting to treat the neck and the backs of your hands. Dry, ageing skin loses its elasticity, and this is when wrinkles begin to form.

Don’t sleep with your make-up on!

It’s said that a third of women at least twice a week, go to bed without removing their make-up. Make-up becomes clogged in the pores, making them look larger and resulting in a decline in the collagen, making the skin less supple. Leaving make-up on through the night results in an overgrowth of bacteria on your face, causing acne and giving the skin an unhealthy look.

Do not share make-up

Sharing make-up is not a good idea, as you risk catching infections when sharing someone else’s cosmetics. Sharing mascara brushes can pass on eye infections, and using second-hand lipstick and chap sticks can spread viruses, like cold sores.

Cosmetic clinics offer non-surgical cosmetic treatments for the face, and a reputable practitioner knows that the point of a good cosmetic procedure isn’t to make you look totally different, but to make subtle changes, making you look fresher, giving you clearer, younger looking skin and leaving you feeling confident and happy with your appearance.

There are many cosmetic procedures for the face, such as Botox, to reduce fine lines and wrinkles, lip augmentation and fillers to plump up your lips, laser treatment to remove blemishes, moles and thread veins and chemical peels to smooth the surface of your skin.