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Anti-Aging
Best anti-aging tips & advice

How to look and feel younger. Learn how to get younger-looking skin by reversing the signs of aging: crow's-feet, wrinkles, dark undereye circles, age spots, hyperpigmentation, sagging, and more. Keep skin healthy and at its' best. Anti-aging products, natural remedies, what to eat to look younger. Anti-aging tips for skin, hair, face, eyes, and body. Fight premature aging and leave your skin refreshed and youthful. Find this and more in the posts below.

Avoiding Hyperpigmentation: How to Fight the Insidious Threat Making You Look Much Older and You Don’t Even Know Why

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If asked to name a primary sign of aging, what would you say? Gray hair? Crow’s feet? Wrinkles? Actually, those aren’t even the worst one. The most insidious form of aging sneaks up on you: DISCOLORATION. Learn how to stop age spots and discoloration with a quality Vitamin C and Retinol combo such as is contained in Lordsbury Retinol+C Cream Moisturizer. Lordsbury has 20% Vitamin C Serum paired with 2.5% Retinol, a prescription level dose, plus a host of skin nourishing moisturizers to keep skin dewy while sending discoloration and brown spots packing.

Discoloration due to aging occurs in three primary forms: red spots due to broken capillaries below the surface of the skin, the brownish areas of discoloration due to sun damage, and brown spots on hands and face. If you examine aging faces, you’ll start noticing how the vitality of skin is robbed not by the appearance of a few wrinkles here or there, but by the areas of discoloration and uneven skin tone.

Lordsbury Retinol+C Cream Moisturizer does double duty when fighting discoloration: the combination of ingredients fades existing discoloration and prevents the skin from forming new brown spots

HOW DO I KNOW IT IS DISCOLORATION THAT IS AGEING MY FACE?

Discoloration may be very obvious, or it may be diffuse and subtle, giving a general rough, lackluster look to the skin. But if you are in your forties or older, it’s likely happening. When a makeup artist wants to age a young face, discoloration accomplishes that: darkened under eyes, brown spots on the top of the cheekbone, and redness around the nose, drawing shadows in wrinkled areas.

In an interesting video, a female face is digitally aged from a child to an older woman. If you watch the video, you’ll notice the real change comes after the three-minute mark, when the brown discoloration increases, even accenting the existing sagging and wrinkles. The skin is more uneven, the face looks harder, less feminine due to the harshness the discoloration gives the face. Note the areas of the face such as the lower cheeks, subtle darker patches and a veil of darkened small dots appear, making her once smooth skin appear pixelated and dill. One cheek (her right), the brown spots appear where highlighter should be placed, giving the face a sagging look on one side.

Why does discoloration, redness, and brown spots happen as we age, and what can be done about it?

WHY IT HAPPENS

Redness can occur because your skin has become more sensitive over time or from using overly harsh skin care products in an attempt to youthify skin. Over 35, granular scrubs can tear skin easily, causing more harm than good. The acne treatments that worked as a teenager should be off limits to older skin, they are too drying. Also, broken capillaries happen in part due to the depletion of collagen as we age that results in weakened tissue structures. Capillaries bleed and the skin just can’t flush out these fluids like they used to. The leaked blood appears as red or eventually brown spots, as blood is absorbed into the delicate surrounding skin tissues.

Brown spots of discoloration can occur for several reasons, including due to hormonal shifts or medications, but they are primarily due to collective sun damage. The dark spots aren’t adorable like freckles, they make the face seem uneven and even haggard as if contour has been applied where it ought not to be. If you start to notice older faces, you will notice what makes them appear so old is less to do with some wrinkles or crow’s feet and more to do with this discoloration that occurs all the areas the sunlight hits – such as the top of the cheekbone, jawline, the nose, forehead and around the eyes. Many of the places you might apply a highlighter to look younger, you may have natural darkening like a muddy contour, making the face seem more drawn, droopy and less sculpted.

HOW TO FIX DISCOLORATION

Some people leap to doing IPL treatment series, chemical peels, and lasers, these can indeed effectively lessen the appearance of discoloration and brown spots. The problem is they also tend to lighten the entire face at the same time, meaning you lose your natural skin tone in the process. Topical lightening products, unless applied exceptionally sparingly, also overly-lighten the entire face. Even when “spot” applied, they do not necessarily deliver a result that matches your natural skin tone, it is like trading an overly dark spot for a mismatched too light one. So while these remedies can affect some results, they effectively only bleach the skin and they do not counteract future discoloration.

A BETTER REMEDY

A better remedy is a Retinol and Vitamin C combination topical treatment. A 2016 study in the peer-reviewed Journal for Drugs in Dermatology showed that 20% Vitamin C paired with a low dose prescription level Retinol greatly aid in reducing mild to moderate hyperpigmentation and photodamaged skin due to sun damage. [An Open Label Clinical Trial to Evaluate the Efficacy and Tolerance of a Retinol and Vitamin C Facial Regimen in Women With Mild-to-Moderate Hyperpigmentation and Photodamaged Facial Skin, J Drugs Dermatol. 2016 Apr;15(4):476-82.]

We like Lordsbury Retinol+C Moisturizer because it contains all the ingredients you need to prevent and reverse discoloration in one product including 20% Vitamin C and 2.5% Retinol (a prescription level dose). Retinol and Vitamin C are both powerful ingredients, so Lordsbury also contains soothing nourishing ingredients like Aloe Vera, Jojoba, Shea Butter, Vitamin E and other moisturizers to properly buffer the Retinol/Vitamin C combo for twice a day use that leaves skin soft, youthful and looking dewy.

WHAT VITAMIN C AND RETINOL CAN DO FOR DISCOLORATION

Vitamin C accomplishes two things; pre-empt discoloration due to collagen breakdown by providing accelerating the bodies’ own collagen production, and by fading the existing sun damage and scars that dark the skin by breaking up the over pigmentation. This gives a far more natural result that matches your own skin tone, not a bleached out version of you.

Vitamin C fights free radicals that contribute to the aged appearance of sun damaged skin, meaning regular topical Vitamin C use results in less photodamage going forward. How is that possible? An article in the Journal of Indian Dermatology explains the science behind how Vitamin C even reduces future hyperpigmentation:

“Vitamin C interacts with copper ions at the tyrosinase-active site and inhibits action of the enzyme tyrosinase, thereby decreasing the melanin formation. Vitamin C also acts on the perifollicular pigment.” (Vitamin C in dermatology, by Telang. Indian Dermatol Online J. 2013 Apr-Jun; 4(2): 143–146. doi: 10.4103/2229-5178.110593)

Retinol fades discoloration and creates new and fresher skin that diminish and eventually replace the dark spots, making skin look young again. It also increases cell turnover to banish fine lines and wrinkles. When the skin inside a deep wrinkle has discoloration it looks deeper than it is. When retinol fades the discoloration within deep wrinkles, the “shadow” effect is gone and they appear more shallow than before.

Lordsbury Retinol+C Cream Moisturizer contains Retinol to accelerate cell regeneration to fade old discoloration, and Vitamin C to prevent future discoloration. It also contains several natural moisturizers to soothe and nourish skin for a more youthful look.

CHOOSING A RETINOL TO FIGHT DISCOLORATION

Looking for a non-prescription Retinol with all the lighting discoloration benefits and none of the irritation? Try Lordsbury Retinol+C moisturizer, a twice a day 2.5% retinol with 20% Vitamin C and loads of natural moisturizers to keep skin soft and dewy. Find Lordsbury Retinol+C moisturizer at https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M3PSEQX/.

Style Chicks received compensation for our time and effort. However, our experience with the product and the opinions expressed in this review are 100% ours.

Anti-Aging Treatment for Sensitive Skin: Vya Naturals Vitamin C Skin Serum

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Vitamin C is the holy grail of skin care. Vitamin C boosts collagen to smooth and prevent wrinkles, it lightens discoloration and scars, curtails acne, and generally refines the texture of the skin, making it brighter and smoother. It even can reduce the appearance of dark undereye circles. But a Vitamin C serum can be harsh on the skin. If you have sensitive skin, how do you choose a quality Vitamin C that is effective but won’t leave skin irritated? We recently tried Vya Naturals Vitamin C Skin Serum, a powerful C Serum with hydrating Aloe Vera and Witch Hazel to soothe and treat skin.

Vya

Vya Naturals Vitamin C Serum

WHAT VITAMIN C DOES FOR SKIN

  • COLLAGEN PRODUCTION: Vitamin C provides the building blocks for the body creating more collagen, which is key to slow down wrinkle formation and skin sagging.
  • Vitamin C is also useful for skin of any age because it fades discoloration from sun damage and acne scars, and it provides a smoother, more refined, even skin surface.
  • Vitamin C is an anti-oxidant that fights free radicals. Free radicals age skin prematurely.
  • Vitamin C does wonders for the orbital eye skin, including dark circles, crow’s feet, fine lines and wrinkles, discoloration and sagging. Few powerful ingredients strong enough to combat the signs of aging are as well tolerated as Vitamin C can be around the eye, as long as the area gets enough moisture and hydration.
Vitamin C can do wonders for the eye area, reducing fine lines, sagging, discoloration and the appearance of dark circles

Topical Vitamin C does wonders for eye area skin by reducing fine lines, crow’s feet, sagging, discoloration and the appearance of dark circles

VYA NATURALS VITAMIN C SKIN SERUM FEATURES

ALL NATURAL INGREDIENTS

Vya Naturals Vitamin C Skin Serum has the distinct advantage of using natural ingredients without harsh and unhealthy chemicals such as parabens or sulfates.

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Vya Naturals Vitamin C Serum contains no parabens and is sulfate free

VYA SOOTHES AND NOURISHES SKIN WHILE EASING BREAKOUTS

Vitamin C is highly effective but also can irritate the skin and leave it feeling tight and dry.  Aloe Vera feeds the skin and softens the texture. It also helps moisturize and defend skin from irritation.

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Aloe Vera soothes and nourishes sensitive skin so it can tolerate a topical Vitamin C treatment

Vya contains Aloe Vera to nourish and soothe the skin. The same properties that make Aloe Vera effective for burn treatment also create a hydrated, healing environment for even sensitive skins tolerating daily Vitamin C topical application. This is vital to a Vitamin C serum so skin can tolerate the treatment, as some Vitamin C’s can leave skin red, dry and flaky.

Aloe Vera also provides nourishment to the skin as it contains Vitamins A, C, Bs, and E. This skin “food” hydrates and accelerates skin cell growth and provides anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties.

Vya also has Witch Hazel, which contains tannins. When applied directly to the skin, tannins reduce swelling, help repair broken skin, and fight bacteria. This aids the Vitamin C’s capability to reduce acne breakouts and assists in skin renewal.

HOW TO APPLY

Dispense two pumps of the serum onto the palm of the hand, rub hands together to spread and distribute the serum evenly. Apply the serum onto clean skin, starting in the center and moving outwards in gentle strokes. Use twice a day for best results.

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Directions:  apply the serum twice a day

 

TESTING VYA NATURALS VITAMIN C SKIN SERUM

Lightweight texture, more liquidy than gel-like. It goes on smoothly and does not dry sticky. It is suitable for use under makeup, creams, sunscreen, and lotions. My skin is not dry or irritated and is it easy to tolerate.

RESULTS

My breakouts are reduced and my skin appears brighter, some minor discoloration such as acne scars and a few brown spots has begun to fade. My crow’s feet appear much softer. My undereye area tolerates the Vitamin C well, so I am excited to see the progress that can be made reducing the discoloration of my dark circles. I like that Vya Naturals Vitamin C Skin Serum is powerful enough to get results but soothing enough to be tolerated on the delicate undereye area, as many anti-aging products are too harsh for the wrinkles under and around the eyes. It is also well-tolerated on the throat and around my mouth.

Visible signs of collagen production such as wrinkle reduction and the reversing of sagging take about 8 weeks.

Vya Naturals Vitamin C Serum

Vya Naturals Vitamin C Serum

CONCLUSION

Powerful enough to tackle brown spots, acne wrinkles, and sun damage, but gentle enough to be used by those with sensitive skin, Vya Naturals Vitamin C Skin Serum provides twice a day treatment to eyes, face, and throat twice a day in a bottle large enough to last two months. It is not sticky or greasy, it goes on smooth and can be worn under makeup, sunscreen or lotion.

WHERE TO BUY

Find Vya Naturals Vitamin C Skin Serum at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XHJCMKW

 

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Style Chicks received Vya Naturals Vitamin C Skin Serum in exchange for our unbiased review and received compensation for our time and effort. However, our experience with the product and the opinions expressed in this review are 100% ours.

Keep Hands Young with a Hand Grip Strengthener

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In Season 1 of the TV series Younger, Jane Krakowski’s character Annabelle tells Liza, who poses as 26 but is in actuality, 40 years old: Be careful of your hands, sweetie. They’re a dead giveaway. Annabelle speaks truth. We slather our faces and necks with beauty treatments, moisturizer, and sunscreen but often neglect our hands. StyleChicks recommends three-prong attack on hand-aging that includes applying sunscreen and Retinol to hands and keeping them in top physical shape with a Hand Grip Strengthener with Adjustable Resistance.

“Be careful of your hands, sweetie. They’re a dead giveaway.” – Younger

WHY USE A GRIP STRENGTHENER FOR YOUNGER LOOKING HANDS?

A Hand Grip Strengthener quickly builds up tone and strength in the hands, wrists, and forearms. Stronger hands make for graceful, feminine, and agile movement.

Your hands, like your legs and arms, look their best when skin drapes over toned muscles and ligaments. Resistance training makes hands look healthy, improves blood flow and makes them appear slimmer and longer. Low resistance hand exercises counteract the “old-lady” look that hands can take on with age. Stronger hands and wrists are also less likely to need to pick or pry things open with your fingernails, which subjects them to breaking and damage.

Homai Hand Grip Strengthener

Homai Hand Grip Strengthener

WHY USE THE HOMAI HAND GRIP STRENGTHENER TO STRENGTHEN HANDS?

I was only familiar with the hand grip strengtheners that guys tend to use like my Dad had when he played baseball or the ones I see weightlifters at the gym use. I found that type of hand strengthener too difficult to use. But a Hand Grip Strengthener is just the right level of difficulty for me, and it feels like a better fit in my hand.

ADJUSTABLE RESISTANCE SUITABLE FOR WOMEN WHO WANT STRONG BUT DELICATE HANDS

A ballerina is an example of appearing elegant and graceful despite the grueling strength workouts. That is the goal with an anti-aging hand workout. Hands appear elegant and slim, not bulky. If you do an upper arm and upper body workout, a workout for your hands is a logical addition for an elegant, long-line look. The Homai Hand Grip Strengthener adjusts to a lower but challenging weight resistance to build strong hands without excessive bulk or making hands appear masculine. Rather, strong hands make for graceful and agile movement on a woman’s hand, elongating the appearance of the fingers, and making hands look younger and more attractive.

Adjust the resistance from 20 to 110 pounds

Adjust the resistance from 20 to 110 pounds by simply turning the knob

Easy-to-use tension knob, turn left or right to increase or decrease tension

Easy-to-use tension knob, turn left or right to increase or decrease tension

WHO CAN BENEFIT FROM USING THE Homai Hand Grip Strengthener

  • Athletes and recreational sports enthusiasts: Those who want to improve aspects of sports technique including hitting, throwing, pulling, pushing, and holding. Also ideal for rock climbers, golfers, tennis and baseball players and body builders.
  • Musicians who want more finger strength, dexterity, speed, and agility, including pianists, guitarists, harpists
  • Hairdressers who want to increase their grip and stamina to steadily scissors and styling tools
  • Makeup artists who want to improve their stability and precision
  • Medical Personnel: Nurses, doctors, phlebotomists, physical therapists, EMT’s, Massage therapists, Physical therapists all need strong and steady hands.
  • Rehabilitation for arthritis, carpal tunnel, tendonitis, tennis elbow and improve sensitivity of aging hands or those with nerve damage
  • If you do lots of hands-on work, such as mechanic, a grip strengthener can help prevent injury
  • Hobbyists that requires precision and a steady hand, such as model building, painting or drawing, building hand strength can improve your stamina.

HOMAI HAND GRIP STRENGTHENER SUPERIOR DESIGN FEATURES

  1. Longer finger handle and the palm handle, so that it fits well in the hand for males and females
  2. Ergonomic, non-slip rubber grip handles for easier use
  3. Spring-loaded grip offers varying levels of resistance from 20 lbs up to 110 lbs allows you to adjust the resistance to exactly what you need.
  4. Compact and portable size
Longer, cushioned handles make it easy to use

Longer, cushioned non-slip handles make it easy to use

PUTTING THE HOMAI HAND GRIP STRENGTHENER TO THE TEST

The Homai Hand Grip Strengthener can be used either every other day or every day, depending on your strengthening goals. I do it every other day while watching TV, Netflix or when I am online checking my email.

I use it on the lowest resistance setting, the 20 lbs, to start. Next week I will increment up a bit. It is just the right amount of tension and difficulty for beginners; it is not too easy and not too difficult. See the video below for how to adjust the resistance to as low as 20 lbs up to 110 lbs.

The adjustable resistance weight range is a very nice feature on this grip strengthener, making it suitable for men, women, kids and even seniors who want to increase their hand strength and combat arthritic changes.

The spring-loaded grip does not snap back on me if I lose my grip mid-squeeze, which is a nice feature.

RESULTS

I quickly felt my hands getting stronger and agiler within a short period of a few weeks of using the Grip Strengthener. I also find that after using the Homai Hand Grip Workout Griper a few times a week, that I’m less klutzy and accident prone with agile, flexible hands and toned wrists.

Surprisingly, a benefit I did not expect from using the Homai Hand Grip Strengthener is I have an easier time applying my makeup because I have steadier hands, especially when applying eye makeup on my “other eye,” my liquid eyeliner game is improving with a steady hand. My arms also get less tired when I am using hair styling tools overhead like hairdryers, curling irons, and the Instyler hair straightener.

CONCLUSION

For youthful looking hands, regular grip strength training is vital. Combining the consistent use of the Homai Hand Grip Strengthener with sunscreen and a topical retinol cream, hands can look younger and smoother.

The padded handles make the Homai Hand Grip Strengthener much easier to use, and the adjustable tension makes it ideal for anyone in the family to use, whether sports enthusiast, musician, kids, or seniors who wish to build up strength in their hands. A sturdy and useful product that is easy to use while watching TV.

Find Hand Grip Strengtheners at Amazon

Favorite Skincare Ingredients: Hyaluronic Acid

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Like an Instagram Filter for real life, Hyaluronic Acid plumps wrinkles & pores with intense hydration, making skin appear instantly youthful & dewy.

Hyaluronic Acid is by far one of our favorite skincare ingredients; we always look for it in serums and moisturizers because it makes skin look fantastic as it plumps out wrinkles and crinkles and makes skin glow. But Hyaluronic Acid won “beauty secret weapon” status in our StyleChicks Favorite Skincare Ingredients Series because it helps any anti-aging active ingredient work more efficiently. Learn about the short term and long term benefits of Hyaluronic Acid.

WHAT HYALURONIC ACID DOES

Hyaluronic Acid gets “beauty secret weapon” status due to its’ ability to hold enormous amounts of moisture; it can draw moisture from the air, sucking it into the skin. This moisture drawing ability has a dual benefit. Not only does it make skin as plump and dewy as possible, creating an environment where the skin contains as much hydration as it can hold, but it uses this water drawing ability to pull active ingredients deeper into the skin.

BENEFITS OF HOLDING MOISTURE

  • Wrinkles, fine lines, and pores temporarily “plump out” from all the moisture until they are barely visible, yet it does not make the skin seem puffy or bloated. Hyaluronic Acid works wonders on crows feet, eleven lines, wrinkles on and around the mouth, forehead lines, and smile lines.
  • Hyaluronic Acid causes an optical blur effect, smoothing tiny imperfections in skin including on the throat, chest, and decolletage

IT SERVES AS AN ACTIVE INGREDIENT BOOSTER

Many active ingredients that are amazing for the skin such as MSM, Vitamin C, Retinol, Peptides, B3, and Buckthorn Oil all do their best work in the deeper layers of the skin. But their molecules are typically too large to absorb deeply. Hyaluronic Acid is like a friend with VIP access; it uses its’ moisture pulling ability to draw these active ingredients into deeper skin layers. The deeper active ingredients can work, the better the collagen production.

This means deep discoloration, sun damage, and acne scars are all fade for a much clearer look to the skin. And when collagen production happens at a deeper level, it better supports for skin, resulting in less sagging.

WHAT IS HYALURONIC ACID?

Hyaluronic Acid occurs naturally in the skin, but it depletes as we age, and the body does not make more. Topical Hyaluronic Acid application in the form of a cream, gel or serum replaces levels in the skin, giving a youthful glow.

HYALURONIC ACID USE TIPS

  • It is imperative to use a moisturizer over your Hyaluronic Acid, as it draws as much moisture as possible into the skin. If Hyaluronic Acid can’t get enough moisture, the surface of the skin can appear DRY, because the Hyaluronic is still “thirsty.” I like to apply Hyaluronic Acid over damp skin; sometimes I mix a Hyaluronic cream or serum with some water before applying it to my face and eye area.
  • A small amount of serum or cream will cover your face. Apply more if needed, focusing on wrinkles, pores on the cheeks, and the wrinkles on the forehead and throat.
  • Apply Hyaluronic Acid over a Vitamin C serum or Peptide Serum to maximize your results
  • Do you use an at-home device such Handheld Light Therapy or the NuFace? Instead of the conductive cream, apply your intensive treatment serum first then apply a Hyaluronic Acid cream over that and Aloe Vera on top for better results. The Hyaluronic Acid drives the serum in deeper.
  • If you live in an area with higher environmental pollution, consider only using Hyaluronic Acid at night so that it does not pull the pollutants into your skin from the air.

 

Some Hyaluronic Acid creams and serums we like:

  • Aurora Cure Ultimate 100% Pure Hyaluronic Acid Serum: Professional Strength: a clear serum, not sticky, very potent, as it is 100% Hyaluronic, no fillers. I like to apply this during the daytime after I wash my face and it is still moist, I lightly apply the Hyaluronic, then pat on two light coats of moisturizer (Clinique Dramatically Different for example) and spritz my face with water in between layers to lock in hydration. Also very useful paired with a Vitamin C serum, but make sure to add a moisturizer on top!
  • SERUM CEUTICALS ALBUMIN & HYALURONIC ACID SERUM This is not a straight Hyaluronic, but the Albumin and Hyaluronic pairing together work wonders at reviving tired, older looking skin, and this has no chemicals or preservatives. Cool feature: this can be used ON EYELIDS (!!) without causing irritation.
  • Hyaluronic Acid Beauty Cream from Puritan’s Pride: They could charge a fortune for this cream, but instead, they sell a tub of 4 ounces for under $10, and it is frequently on the Puritan’s Pride Buy 2 Get 3 Free Sale, making it an absolute steal. It is amazing when applied to the throat, the face, jowls, on the shoulders, hands, and decolletage, use sparingly around the eyes. When it is applied, enlarged pores disappear, forehead wrinkles appear practically non-existent.

 

Know a Hyaluronic Acid that should be on this list? Contact us or tell us about it in the comment section below!

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