Wrinkling and fine lines are normal with aging. However, certain factors can expedite aging, causing you to have premature and irreversible wrinkling. Sun exposure, being rough on your skin, and habits like squinting are surefire ways to carve out fine lines on your face. But, if you already are noticing signs of aging around your eyes, mouth, and forehead, you will want to try these 5 tips to reduce fine lines on your skin.

Perhaps the most important thing you can do is protect your sun from aging in the first place. The sun is one of the most prevalent sources of radiation in our daily environment, and its harmful UV rays can cause some severe destruction of your skin. In particular, UV rays can cause free radicals to float around your skin, forcing skin cells to change their molecular structure. Free radicals are unstable molecules that lack an electron, so they take electrons from healthy molecules in the body.

In the process of trying to gain another electron, free radicals cause quite a bit of damage to your skin, leading to oxidative stress. Oxidative stress makes your tissues more vulnerable to breakdown and diseases and can even change your DNA.

Turning back to the sun and your skin after that science lesson, you want to protect your skin from the sun so you can decrease the number of free radicals and thereby preventing the following issues:

• Wrinkles and lines
• Aging spots
• Dehydration
• Loss of collagen and elastin
• Poor skin texture
• Lack of brightness

One of the best ways to avoid UV rays is to protect your skin from the sun by using a good sunscreen and wearing protective clothing. Ideally, you will want to choose a sunscreen for your face that is between 30-50 SPF and is broad-spectrum, meaning that it covers multiple kinds of UV rays.

With all this talk of free radicals and oxidative stress, it may seem like your ability to cure past damages is impossible. But, thankfully, we have antioxidants in our environment whose purpose is to round up and combat free radicals. Antioxidants can reduce the number of free radicals because they have an extra electron, so they can give it to free radicals without becoming unstable themselves (unlike your skin cells).

One of the most potent antioxidants we can use on our skin is everyone’s favorite natural immune system supporter - vitamin C. When applied topically to the skin in a serum, vitamin C rounds up free radicals and helps correct past damages caused by them.

But, vitamin C does so much more than corralling free radicals. It also helps stimulate the production of collagen and elastin, which are two proteins that help give the skin its structure. As we get older, we lose the amount of collagen and elastin in our skin, making it more thin and prone to wrinkling. Vitamin C helps stimulate the production of both proteins, which can help firm and plump your skin.

Even though vitamin C is perfect for combatting oxidative stress, it is highly prone to oxidation itself when exposed to temperature fluctuations, light, and air. So, you will want to be sure it is stored in a container that does not emit light and is kept at a steady temperature (ideally your refrigerator).

Try the Pure Vitamin C Booster Perfecting + Brightening serum from DS Laboratories for the most potent combination of vitamin C on the market.

Hyaluronic acid has taken the skincare world by storm for its effectiveness at hydrating the skin. Hyaluronic acid naturally occurs in our bodies and helps us retain water in our connective tissues. However, like many things, the amount of hyaluronic acid we have will decrease as we get older, so it can be harder to retain moisture in our skin.

Due to a lack of moisture, it is common for fine lines on the face to appear. Yet, restoring moisture to the skin can increase the skin’s plumpness, thereby reducing the presence of those lines. And, there is really no match in the product world to what our bodies already make.

Hyaluronic acid is most effective topically when it comes in a serum. For a unique combination of 10 different forms of hyaluronic compounds, try the Advanced Hyaluronic Acid Booster at DS Laboratories.

In the skincare world, we often focus so much on what you should put on your skin that we neglect to focus on the importance of what we put inside our bodies. But, food provides the building blocks necessary to keep our tissues healthy.

One of the best ways to support your skin from the inside out is by eating foods packed with proteins, vitamins, minerals, and healthy fats. Foods that fall into this category include:

• Vegetables
• Fruits
• Legumes
• Lean meat
• Fatty fish
• Nuts and seeds
• Some whole grains

One of the fan favorites for supporting skin health is salmon because it is packed with omega 3’s and is a good source of protein. Boosting your intake of salmon to 1-2 times a week can be helpful not only for your skin but for your overall health as well.

And when talking about food, let’s not forget the power of drinking plenty of water. While we can help retain moisture in our skin with products like hyaluronic acid, it is tough to get the most out of products without actually maintaining hydration from within.

Easier said than done, but sleeping on your back is a great way to reduce fine lines. When we sleep on our faces, it pulls and stretches our skin for hours at a time. Training yourself to sleep on your back is difficult if you are a side or stomach sleeper, but you can start by learning to fall asleep on your back, and hopefully, you will stay in that position for the first hour or two of your night.