The Ultimate Beauty Guide

Wrinkles are a part of aging—and life. While we know to expect wrinkles as we get older, some of the battle has nothing to do with age. Our beauty routines and habits can impact wrinkling as well. See the bad habits you’re unknowingly participating in.


Chewing Gum

“Gum chewing produces a type of wrinkle that I see quite often on the lower mouth,” says Dr. Schlessinger. Additionally, it causes other issues in the mouth structure. This is an easy habit to give up in the name of looking better.

Not Removing Makeup

When you sleep in your makeup, you are basically inviting wrinkles to your skin. The makeup and environmental pollutants you accumulate during the day seep into your pores, breaking down collagen and elastin. This can speed up the aging process, leaving you with fine lines and wrinkles. Cleanse and moisturize your skin every night before bed.

Drinking

“Alcohol is a hepatotoxin, meaning it specifically damages the liver. It’s a toxin to the cells that detoxify your body,” explains Dr. James C. Marotta, a dual-board certified facial plastic surgeon. All alcohol dehydrates the skin. This means your skin will appear less plump and fresh the next morning. Over time, your skin will lose elasticity and form wrinkles due to a lack of hydration. “Additionally, alcohol can have a huge negative impact on your vitamin A level, which is a very important antioxidant for your skin/body, and it is vital in the regeneration of new cells. Vitamin A is also extremely important in the production of collagen. When you have lower amounts of collagen, you lose elasticity in your skin,” says Dr. Marotta. Collagen and elasticity are what keep your skin supple, taut and looking young.

Smoking

Smoking is the most common cause of wrinkles that we see. “There have been studies of twins that showed proof of this in stunning detail. So skip cigarettes and lose the wrinkles!” says Dr. Joel Schlessinger, a board certified dermatologist and cosmetic surgeon and founder of LovelySkin.com.

Sleeping

If you sleep on your face you can get sleep wrinkles from the pillow. “It’s best to sleep on a satin pillowcase that slides across your face. The other alternative is to sleep on your back,” says Dr. Jaliman.

Picking

Stop picking at those pesky zits and let them come out on their own, or use natural products to help eliminate them. Any time you pick or pull at your skin, you’re causing damage and creating irritation, scars, and yes, even wrinkles.

Making Faces

This is bad for creating more wrinkles but also just bad makeup practice in general. “You should do your makeup how everyone else is going to see you and hopefully its not with your mouth stretched opened and eyebrows lifted so you can put on your mascara. Don’t pull on your eyes and stretch them so you can put on your eye liner. It is about moving your whole face when you are applying makeup, not stretching it so it is flat,” says makeup artist Donna Kelly.