Skin: Wrinkles

El Paso Library, Day of the Dead display. October 2016. Credit: Mzuriana.

Goal

Mitigate the quantity and depth of facial wrinkles as I continue to age. 

Summary

Because of a moment of enlightenment a few weeks ago:

1. I realized that even though I've got my share of wrinkles already, it is still a worthwhile exercise to delay or blur new ones. 
2. Diligence in good excellent skincare today is an investment in my future self. 
3. Complacency is my enemy. 

The moment of enlightenment

For decades, I've been diligent about applying moisturizing lotion every morning. Not because of good discipline on my part. Nope. It's because, especially in winter, I can feel the dry discomfort of my skin if I don't lotion up after washing my face. Ergo, I put it on. 

Until a few weeks ago, I was "pretty good" about putting on an anti-wrinkle cream at night and sunscreen during the day. 

When I missed a night with the anti-wrinkle cream, I shrugged and figured I'd do it the next night. Most of the time, this was true. 

I usually remembered to put on sunscreen before I left my place, but it was an ad hoc behavior. I did not put it on automatically every morning regardless of my intent to go out. 

Something happened a few weeks ago that transformed my mindset about consistent use of the anti-wrinkle cream and the sunscreen. 

I had a zoom meeting with a woman in her early 40s. Tracy is originally from South Korea, a country that takes skincare VERY SERIOUSLY. "Glass skin" is the objective of Korean women and men. Tracy connected with me in her parked car, as she'd been out and about running errands.

Tracy asked if I would mind if she wore her pandemic mask during our meeting because: 

• She hadn't had time to go home and replenish her sunscreen, 
• The four-hour window that a sunscreen is good for had expired, and 
• She wanted to protect her face from the sun that entered the car. 

I was gobsmacked. Not because I thought Tracy's behavior was over the top. It was because she had a commitment to a goal and she took the requisite actions to support that commitment. I admired this. 

I immediately made a commitment to myself: "Pretty good" skincare compliance was no longer good enough. I intended to achieve 100% compliance with my skincare practices, such as they were. 

And today, weeks later: So far, so good. 

(I also shared my burning bush encounter with my 40-something daughter, in case she might choose to take anything from it.)

Products

The thing with skincare products is you never really know if they're working, right? Because you don't know what your skin would have looked like if you didn't use the product or what your skin would have looked like if you'd applied a different product. 

Yes, there are those anti-wrinkle ointments that claim to show visible improvement in one's existing lines and crevices. After an ungodly number of weeks, typically. I suppose one can take close-up photos of the before and the after to discern any differences. 

Anyhoo. 

I take a tri-fold product approach to my face.

At night, I apply an anti-wrinkle cream. It's a so-called "deep wrinkle serum." 

In the morning, I apply a:

• Moisturizing lotion; and
• Sunscreen. 

My current go-to lotion is a so-called "crepe corrector." 

 

Other behaviors

Tanning. My father was ahead of his time when he admonished us youngsters to avoid baking in the sun. He'd read the emerging research, back in the day, of its harmful effects on our skin. This was at a time when most white girls in the US wanted a tan, the deeper the better, to exude health and athletic fitness. 

I'd like to say that I took my father's advice to heart, and it was his guidance that made me a shade-seeking girl, but truth be told, I disliked laying out in the sun (or sitting in a sauna) because I didn't like to be sweaty, it was boring, and I had a slight fear, irrational, that I'd involuntarily open my eyes and stare directly into the sun. 

Smoking. Alas, I smoked for most of my adult life. Fortunately, I quit when I turned 50ish. 

Repetitive facial expressions. If accurate, this reinforces my practice of - when I catch myself in my "dead face" (which others call "resting bitch face," a term I dislike)  - setting my facial expression into a smile or, at least, upturning the corners of my mouth instead of allowing them the drop down in their desired default position. This requires me to lift my separate my upper and lower teeth instead of allowing my upper teeth to rest upon the lower. 

There are other behaviors that Monsieur Google cites as wrinkling agents, but because I am dissatisfied with the research (if any) behind these allegations, I don't include them here. 

Face painting on the Day of the Dead. Mesilla, New Mexico. November 2012. Credit: Mzuriana.