8 Ways to City-Proof Your Skin

Urban life requires resilience, especially when you consider the environmental factors that can leave your skin damaged and tired. Genetics play only a small part of skin aging. In fact, 80% of skin aging is caused by the environment. UV rays and air pollution generate harmful free radicals that can cause fine lines, wrinkles, age spots and discolouration. Here’s how to city-proof your body’s largest organ and protect it against environmental assault.

1. Eat a skin-friendly diet.

Eat healthy foods, especially those rich in antioxidants, to promote healthy skin and help protect against premature aging and skin cancer. Olive oil, fruits, veggies and nuts give you more antioxidants than eating processed foods. Eating lots of sugar or other refined carbs can speed up skin aging.

2. Use skincare with antioxidants.

In clinical tests, Idebenone was proven to be the single most powerful antioxidant, making it the strongest weapon to combat free radical damage and help preserve and restore younger-looking skin.* Elizabeth Arden’s premier cosmeceutical skincare line, PREVAGE^®,  uses the power of Idebenone to prevent and reverse the signs of aging caused by environmental factors like the sun, smoke, fumes and pollution. Try PREVAGE® Anti-Aging Daily Serum. It targets wrinkles, sun damage, age spots, and discolouration and is proven to help improve the look of firmness, tone and radiance.

3. Use sun protection.

UV rays from the sun prematurely age our skin and can cause skin cancer. Make sure you use a broad-spectrum sunscreen that’s SPF 30 or higher every day. UVA rays go through window glass, so reapply sunscreen if you work by a window, if you spend your lunch outside, and before your commute home. Protect your face and outsmart the city with PREVAGE® City Smart Broad Spectrum Sunscreen SPF 50 Lotion Its invisible skin shield combines protection against pollutants and UV rays with DNA Enzyme Complex™ to strengthen skin.

4. Wear sunglasses.

Aside from UV rays damaging your eyes, years of squinting and contracting the underlying muscles causes permanent lines around your eyes. Wearing shades will protect your eyes and help reduce crow’s feet and frown lines.

5. Cleanse gently twice a day.

Wash your face gently with a mild cleanser to remove pollutants and makeup without irritating your skin. Cleanse as soon as possible after sweating heavily too. Try PREVAGE® Anti-Aging Treatment Boosting Cleanser. For a deeper clean to remove impurities twice a week, try PREVAGE® City Smart Double Action Detox Peel Off Mask.

6. Add moisture.

With age, skin becomes drier and fine lines and wrinkles appear. The cold, dry air of the autumn and winter months just makes matters worse. Use a humidifier to add moisture to indoor air. And don’t forget to moisturize every day to trap water in your skin. To protect and hydrate dry skin during the day, try PREVAGE® Anti-Aging Moisture Cream SPF 30. And for intensive moisture formulated to work during the night, there’s PREVAGE® Anti-Aging Overnight Cream.

7. Cut back on alcohol.

Limit your cocktails to keep your youthful complexion. Alcohol dehydrates your skin and damages it over time, which can make you look older.

8. Don’t smoke.

If health reasons aren’t enough for you to quit, how about doing it for your appearance? Smoking accelerates skin aging, causes wrinkles and loss of skin’s firmness, and can make your complexion look dull, sallow and leathery.

*When compared to alpha lipoic acid, kinetin, vitamin C, vitamin E, and coenzyme Q10.