Remember Juan Ponce de Leon? Commissioned in September of 1540 by the King of Spain to capture and colonize the isle of Florida, which he had discovered and named in April of 1512. Juan was a contemporary of Columbus, and legend has it that he discovered Florida, while searching for the “Fountain of Youth”.

Come on! Wipe that smile off your face. Is he any different from you? I passed you in Wal-Mart yesterday, when you were purchasing that small jar of “Anti Aging Wrinkle” cream. Admit it; we are all there, hand in glove with old Ponce, searching for that elusive fountain, potion, or elixir that will restore us to our youthful glory.

Eventually we all discover, like Ponce, it does not exist. Oh the cream, as well as other treatments may slow it down but after while age will claim us as her victim.

SLOW HER DOWN
1. Water, Ponce was on the right track. Water, lots of water keeps our skin from dehydrating. Drink it!
2. Smoking dries the skin, as well as the million other dangers that come with it. Stop it!
3. Alcohol destroys the capillaries that nourish your skin’s surface. Refuse it!
4. Bright sun or sunlamps thicken and damage sensitive skin. Avoid it!

Like our famous explorer, you will not find the “Fountain of Youth” but a few precautions can keep you from aging prematurely.

Each morning I leap from my bed, (actually creakingly crawl) trip the light fantastic to my bathroom and have a conversation with my Mirror. It goes something like this.

Me: “Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?

Mirror: “It is sure not you, you wrinkled crone, I call you UGLY, to the bone.”

Armed with this glorious shot of self-esteem I apply thick layers of makeup and go to the market in search of that magic potion to reverse the ravages of age and return me to my beautiful youth. When the mirror answered, “Thou child, who before me stands, thou art the fairest in the land.”

How my fortune dwindles. Along with my pride. What Shall I do?

1. I could drink a cup of warm gelatin daily. It contains Collagen.
2. I could make a mask of oatmeal and cucumbers. It would cleanse and lift the dead skin cells, leaving new nourished skin.
3. I could wash my skin with warm, water and a mild soap, opening the pores and deep cleansing the skin.
4. I could rinse, removing any soap residue, with warm water bringing the blood to my skins surface, cleansing from the inside as well.
5. I could rinse again with cold water closing the pores.

If I do these simple things perhaps now, my mirror and my bank might just say, “Hello there Dear, welcome back, it appears at last you are on the right track!”

Anti Aging a concept, that truly makes a seventy four year old smile. To me it is as far fetched as anti gravity.

That said wrinkles are something I truly understand. They are around my eyes, across my forehead, and like tiny spider web’s they cover my cheeks. For the most part, I wear them as a badge of honor.

On the brow, they denote worry, over a sick or lost child, parent, or spouse. Struggle with the elements sun, wind, rain, and freezing weather.

Around the eyes, humor, sadness, or squinting trying to see, what is coming down the road, or what the future may hold?

The spider webs on the cheeks, I cannot look upon with the same forbearance as the others. Instead of a badge of honor, they become a brand, left by alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, and other stimulants, that passed through my body in the days of my youth.

Ezra Taft Benson once said, “It is easier to prepare and prevent, than it is to repair and repent.”

Youth remember the dollar spent on stimulants now, will likely change to thousands, for creams, potions, and medicines, to repair your, skin, heart, joints, and oxygen-starved lungs in your old age.

Does smoking cause wrinkles? Yes. Smoking can accelerate the normal aging process of your skin, contributing to wrinkles. These skin changes may occur after only 10 years of smoking and are irreversible. How does smoking lead to wrinkles? Smoking causes narrowing of the blood vessels in the outermost layers of your skin. This impairs blood flow to your skin, depleting it of oxygen and important nutrients, such as vitamin A. Smoking also damages collagen and elastin — fibers that give your skin its strength and elasticity. As a result, skin begins to sag and wrinkle prematurely.

•Cigarette smoke is an immediate and direct irritant to the skin.
•Smoking decreases the capillary blood flow to the skin, depriving it of needed oxygen and nutrients.
•Smokers have less collagen and elastin in their skin. These proteins help to keep skin tight, soft, and elastic.
•Smoking irritates the eyes and makes smokers squint more; this may lead to increased wrinkles around the corners of the eyes.
•Smokers develop more hollowed cheeks and increased wrinkles around the mouth from many years of dragging on cigarettes.

Prevera sits on a level far above the high majority of wrinkle creams, serums, and other solutions. It sets itself on a whole nother playing field all together. They claim it will stop aging in its tracks and then reverse it, Prevera uses the best peptides to make you look 10 to 15 years younger within the first month. And you don’t have to wait. You can start seeing differences within just 2 to 3 days with Prevera. And the results don’t stop after your first month. Essentially speaking, with Prevera, you are easily getting a $200 product, but you are only paying a fraction of that cost. Prevera uses about a 30% concentration of pure peptides. This means that your skin will be renewed and rebuilt within a short period of time, and the results will last. But they don’t stop there, using powerful antioxidants to protect your skin from further damage and kill existing free radicals, deep and natural moisturizers such as sodium hyaluronate and beeswax, as well as various other skin rejuvenating ingredients. Prevera is easily one of the top wrinkle products out there, targeting every type of wrinkle, so you never have to buy another product again. It far outweighs the competition, and it proves itself a more than worthy adversary for any product. Customers are so happy with Prevera, we have heard from some who have used it for months at a time or even years in some cases. Prevera has and continues to take the market by storm.

As we get older our skin begins to thin, sometimes it seems like every little bump leaves a bruise – or worse – a skin tear. I was recently asked what can be done about thinned skin in the groin, which came about due to using steroid creams in that area to combat eczema. Eczema is an allergic skin condition that produces itchy, thickened, red areas on various parts of the body. It tends to come and go and often occurs in conjunction with other allergic conditions such as asthma. Conventional medicine sometimes treats eczema flare-ups with topical steroids, but the strongest of these are contraindicated for use on thin-skinned areas of the body (including the groin) because they can lead to precisely this problem: skin thinning (atrophy) as well as a change in color (depigmentation), and acne-like eruptions. Often, affected skin returns to its normal thickness naturally over time, but in some cases, it can persist for years. Newer, topical drugs called ‘topical immunomodulators’ or TIMs are now available to treat eczema and do not cause skin-thinning with long-term use.

The urge to be young, or at least to look young, is so strong that most of us will happily take home an armful of whatever is currently touted as the best wrinkle creams. Whenever I use a new cosmetic or item of any kind that goes on my skin, I want to know some of the science behind it. Have real researchers been involved, or is the information just a lot of hype? Are there medical or biological reasons for choosing the formulation of the product? Who came up with the formula? In the case of LifeCell, I was very happy with the answers I found. LifeCell delivers results with the dual purpose of making you look younger instantly, which is a temporary effect like that of make-up, and also working long-term to permanently get rid of wrinkles and all the other signs of aging on the skin. Because LifeCell addresses all these different signs of aging skin, it’s considered to be the original (and only one I’m aware of) all-in-one anti aging skin treatment. It’s all you need to look up to 20 years younger than your chronological age (although you won’t need to tell anyone what that it after you use LifeCell). LifeCell skin cream works to erase the appearance of ALL visible signs of aging… as fast as humanly possible. Here are just a few of the ways it restores your skin’s youth:

• Dramatically improves the appearance of skin damaged by too much sun
• Protects your skin from future and premature signs of aging
• Revitalizes your skin for a more youthful look
• Eliminates the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles
• Improves the firmness and elasticity of your skin
• Removes the appearance of unsightly crow’s feet around the eyes
• Re-energizes your skin to make it look and feel smoother and firmer

I have NEVER used a wrinkle creams patented product that makes my skin feel so smooth as Dermitage. And if that isn’t enough, the wrinkles, laugh lines and crow’s feet around my eyes are leaving so fast I am already getting compliments after only one week! Many skin care treatments on the market today seem to have decided to address the problem of collagen production. Dermitage is one such treatment. On paper, it certainly makes sense. After all, collagen is a naturally produced protein that your skin uses to stay firm and well hydrated. As we age, collagen production slows. Products like Dermitage that focus on stimulating collagen production or even getting new collagen under your skin are currently very popular. The alternative approach to skin care would seem to be protection products, which attempt to protect your skin from the outside elements that hamper collagen production in the first place. So which approach to anti-aging works best? What Dermitage brings to the game is a patented two-step system that delivers faster results than any other treatment on the market. The first step to the Dermitage system is a “lifting cream”, while the second step is a skin renewal cream. Both steps are intended to be used together to provide results after only a single use.

Let’s not worry about being fat anymore. Or about what the best weight loss pills out there are. Let’s talk about wrinkles. Under eye wrinkles are small lines or wrinkles in the skin around the eyes, also referred to as ‘laugh lines’ or ‘crows feet’. This is because the lines resemble the feet of a crow, branching outwards from the outer corner of the eye or below the eye. Most women (and men too) will admit to one (or more) anti-aging cream in their beauty regimen. There are vast creams and lotions on the market claiming to reduce or eliminate under eye wrinkles and fine lines or stop the aging process. The truth is that while creams may help to moisturize the skin, there is no conventional way to get rid of wrinkles. Furthermore, many creams are too rich and may further irritate the skin, or cause the skin to over compensate and disrupt the delicate balance of natural skin oils. What I have found to be very beneficial when trying to reduce wrinkles is an herb that goes by the name of horsetail. No other herb in the entire plant kingdom is so rich in silicon as is horsetail. This trace element really helps to bind protein molecules together in the blood vessels and connective tissues. Horsetail is that kind of rare and unique cosmetic agent which beautifies from the inside out rather than just externally. So the next time you are out looking for an anti-aging wrinkle cream, look for one that contains the herb, horsetail.

I don’t know what the best weight loss pills out there are but I do have one question for you. Do you want to have wrinkle-free skin? Avoid the sun. It’s the No. 1 cause of wrinkles, with dozens of studies documenting the impact.  Retinoids (including Retin A). The only FDA-approved topical treatment for wrinkles is tretinoin, known commercially as Retin A. Ashinoff says this prescription cream reduces fine lines and large wrinkles, and repairs sun damage. Retinol is a natural form of vitamin A found in many over-the-counter products. Studies show that in a stabilized formula, in high concentrations, it may be as effective as Retin A, without the side effects, such as skin burning and sensitivity.  Pentapeptides can increase collagen production in sun-damaged skin. Several subsequent studies (including one presented at a recent national dermatology conference) showed that when topically applied, pentapeptides stimulated collagen production and diminished lines and wrinkles. You could always try Wrinkle fillers. Doctors fill wrinkles with a variety of substances, including collagen, hyaluronic acid, and other synthetic compounds. Popular treatments include Restylane, Juvederm, and ArteFill, among others.  Laser/light resurfacing. Here, energy from a light source — either a laser or a pulsed diode light — removes the top layer of skin, causing a slight but unnoticeable skin “wounding.” This kicks the skin’s natural collagen-production system into high gear, resulting in smoother, more wrinkle-free skin.