1. Smoking

Smoking unleashes free radicals into your skin, wreaking havoc by breaking down precious collagen. This leads to unwelcome signs like wrinkles, dark spots, fine lines, and lax, sagging skin. Safeguarding your skin's vitality is paramount.

What to do: Infuse your skincare routine with potent antioxidants like vitamin E found in Pure Fiji’s Coconut Cleanser with Papaya and Moringa. Crafted to shield your skin from the ravages of free radicals and UV exposure, it's a powerhouse against premature aging. Quitting smoking altogether is the ultimate recommendation, though if that seems daunting, even a substantial reduction can significantly benefit your skin's vitality and appearance.

2. Overexposure to UV Rays

Exposure to UV rays, whether from the sun or tanning beds, damages the DNA in your skin cells, accelerating the aging process. While UVB rays are primarily encountered outdoors, tanning beds predominantly emit UVA rays. Both types of UV rays pose significant risks, including the potential development of cancer.

What to do:

• SPF is a must and you need to incorporate it into your morning skincare routine.
• The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) recommends a sunscreen product with SPF of 30 or higher, water-resistant, and provides protection against both UVA and UVB rays.
• Apply a generous amount of sunscreen to all exposed skin 15 minutes before you go out and to reapply every two hours to stay protected.
• Limit your direct exposure to the sun, especially between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., when UV rays are strongest.
• Cover up: When you are out, wear clothing and a wide-brimmed hat to protect as much skin as possible. Protect your eyes with wrap-around sunglasses that block at least 99% of UV light.
• If you want a golden glow, try a lotion or spray. There are varieties you can get at home, or you can have them applied by a professional.

3. Insufficient Sleep

Research has shown that inadequate sleep, both in terms of quality and quantity, can accelerate the aging process. Quality sleep plays a crucial role in maintaining a youthful complexion as it provides the ideal conditions for cellular regeneration and repair. Disrupting this natural rejuvenation cycle hampers the skin's ability to regenerate effectively, leading to noticeable signs of aging.

What to do:

• Adults should get at least seven to nine hours of sleep each night.
• To help you get ready for bed (and to bring out the best in your skin), carve out some "me-time" every night and take some time to perfect your natural skin care routine. Using products like Pure Fiji's Regenerative Night Creme infused with a wellness inspired fragrance helps to optimise your sleep experience.
• If falling asleep is tricky for you, try taking a nice, warm bath using Pure Fiji's Coconut Milk Bath Soak. Research suggests a warm bath an hour or two before bedtime can help you unwind and fall asleep faster. Why? It will help lower your core temperature, and that's a circadian sleep signal.
• Let Pure Fiji’s Moonflower Sleep Pillow Mist aromatically encourage sleep and rest your head gently every evening. A gentle infusion inspired by Fiji’s Moonflowers that bloom at night, enhanced with sleep technology, to optimise sleep and relaxation. It instantly calms the mind and body, delivering the ultimate beauty sleep.

4. Drinking Too Much Alcohol

If you regularly consume more than a single glass of alcohol per night, it may accelerate the onset of premature aging signs. Both alcohol and caffeinated beverages have a dehydrating effect, leading to dry skin and increased susceptibility to fine lines and wrinkles. Dehydration can further result in skin laxity and sagging, exacerbating the aging process.

What to do: Reducing your alcohol intake can help prevent further damage.

5. Stress

Persistent worry triggers a continuous release of stress hormones within your body, notably cortisol, known as the primary stress hormone. This incessant secretion not only deteriorates collagen, resulting in skin laxity and wrinkles but also induces inflammation. Research indicates that chronic stress accelerates aging due to heightened inflammation levels.

What to do: Prevent all these negative effects from happening by including stress management in your skin care routine. Do breathing exercises, listen to music, or try our flaxseed filled eye-pillow to relieve yourself from stress. Flaxseed offers an ideal weight for effectively stimulating the vagus nerve, which plays a pivotal role in regulating various bodily functions including the nervous system, mood, digestion, and heart health.

6. Neglecting Bedtime Cleanse

Neglecting to cleanse your skin before bedtime essentially means your skin is left "sleeping with" free radicals, which can wreak havoc on its health. Exposure to these free radicals can lead to the deterioration of collagen, resulting in the formation of fine lines and wrinkles.

Moreover, makeup and oils can congest your facial pores, potentially leading to a myriad of skin concerns such as acne breakouts, enlarged pores, and other skin issues. This highlights the importance of diligently cleansing your skin to mitigate these risks and maintain its overall health and vitality.

What to do: Sorry no shortcuts here, simply grab your face cleanser.

7. Skipping Your Moisturizer

When you skip using face moisturizer, your skin loses essential hydration and protection. This can lead to dryness, increased sensitivity, and a faster aging process. Moisturizers help maintain skin elasticity, promote collagen production, and protect against environmental damage, all of which are essential for a youthful appearance. Regular moisturizing is key to keeping your skin healthy and delaying signs of aging.

What to do: Apply face moisturizer twice a day so water is trapped in the skin. This will lead to a healthier and more youthful appearance.

8. Over-Exfoliating

Exfoliation is a crucial step in skincare, shedding away dry, lifeless skin cells to unveil a radiant, youthful complexion. However, improper exfoliation techniques, such as excessive force or frequency, can compromise the body's natural protective barrier.

Overzealous exfoliation leads to inflammation, dryness, irritation, and micro-tears in the skin, exacerbating the risk of breakouts. Furthermore, continuous over-exfoliation prompts the skin to thicken as a response to trauma, resulting in a lackluster, flaky appearance over time.

What to do: Try a chemical exfoliant that uses ingredients such as mandelic acid which is derived from bitter almonds. You'll love it if you have sensitive skin! It also helps with acne, hyperpigmentation, and the effects of aging.

9. Unhealthy Food Choices

There are certain foods that can contribute to premature skin ageing by causing inflammation in the body and damaging collagen and elastin, which are essential fibers for maintaining skin elasticity and a youthful appearance. When these are damaged, the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, and other signs of skin ageing can become more apparent. Examples of foods that can contribute to ageing include:

• Processed and sugary foods
• Alcohol
• Fried foods
• Excessive caffeine

What to do: Here are foods to help fight wrinkles and inflammation, as well as boost collagen and hydration for healthy, younger-looking skin.

• Kale
• Dark chocolate
• Berries
• Turmeric
• Watermelon
• Walnuts
• Grapes
• Pomegranates
• Probiotics
• Bone broth
• Salmon

10.Ignoring Sensitivity

If you are using products like retinol that cause redness or burning/stinging sensations, that’s a sign of irritation. Continuous irritation will cause the skin to look older.

What to do: Introducing bakuchiol. Bakuchiol acts similarly to retinol and has been shown to upregulate and stimulate collagen.  It’s perfect for those with super sensitive skin (rosacea, perioral dermatitis, or with eczema) or are prone to irritation..

11. You Lack Hydration

Accelerated aging and dehydration form a vicious cycle. When your skin consistently lacks hydration, it intensifies the aging process.

Persistent dehydration effectively drains the vitality from your skin, hindering the cell regeneration cycle crucial for its health. Without adequate moisture, your skin's functionality deteriorates, leading to a decline in collagen and elastin production—the foundational fibers for youthful skin. Ultimately, prolonged dehydration can accelerate the appearance of aging signs.

What do do: Replenishing hydration is the quick fix for dehydration, and once your skin is adequately moisturized, it swiftly regains its smooth, vibrant appearance, much like how old, dried-up sponges revive when soaked in water. To combat dehydrated skin effectively, opt for humectant-rich ingredients like hyaluronic acid, which aids in moisture retention.

While drinking water is often touted as a remedy for dehydration, its direct impact on skin hydration is nuanced. Increased water intake doesn't directly translate to instant skin hydration, but it remains crucial for facilitating various skin functions, including toxin elimination, cell vitality, and improved circulation.

12. Sipping Out of a Straw

Sipping through a straw may seem innocuous, but it's like a subtle workout for the muscles around your lips. When you repeatedly activate these muscles, you're essentially fast-forwarding the aging process. Think of it like creasing a piece of paper over and over—it eventually forms a permanent line. Just like how smokers often develop wrinkles around their mouths from years of puckering their lips around cigarettes, the repetitive motion of sipping through a straw can lead to similar lines and wrinkles.

What to do: You don’t necessarily have to avoid straws like the plague, but whenever you can get away without one, skip it.

13. Not Adjusting Your Skincare Routine

Getting together a solid skincare routine is obviously pretty important, but you need to make sure you keep updating it and switching things up depending on your age, the season, your lifestyle, and when your skin condition changes. 

What to do: Change one product at a time versus changing your entire routine at once.

Key Takeaway

Signs of premature aging can happen at any point during adulthood, and they’re usually caused by environmental or lifestyle factors. In some cases, rare syndromes cause premature aging. You can protect or reverse premature aging: Protect your skin from sun exposure, quit smoking, eat a well-balanced diet and exercise. If premature aging persists or becomes bothersome, talk to your healthcare provider about treatments you can try.