1. Stop Squinting
If you require reading glasses in order to read material up close, make sure that you wear them. It could be that you do not want people to know that you need eye glasses for reading, but screwing up your eyes in order to read is both unbecoming and a dead giveaway anyway. Squinting in the long run causes fine lines to appear around the eyes. Over time, if you keep up the habit, the lines eventually become lasting wrinkles, so beware!
There may, however, be other explanations for your squinting. If your eyesight is good but you're squinting working in front of a PC, then try reducing the screen brightness and/or contrast. A lot of the time, we might not even be aware that we are adopting this facial behavior when working on a computer. Ask a friend or work colleague to check for you.
If your job requires you to use the computer all day, ensure that you take frequent breaks all through the working day. Gazing at a PC screen for several hours will just result in dry, sore, "gritty" eyes. Therefore, get into the habit of the 20:20 rule, that is, work non-stop for 20 minutes and then rest your eyes for 20 seconds and do this in an alternating fashion throughout the day. When you're resting your eyes, glance away from the computer and focus on the furthest point in an open-plan office (if you work in one). Otherwise, look out of a window (if you're near one) at something far away for 20 seconds in order to rest your eyes. Alternatively, simply close your eyes for 20 seconds and then work for 20 minutes again and so on.
2. Good Posture
If there was ever a simple thing you could do to immediately look younger (and thinner!), it is by acquiring good posture. This tip is not the sole preserve of supermodels. So for all you goddesses out there... heads up, shoulders back and walk tall. It will knock years off you straight away.
3. Good Night's Sleep
It's not called beauty sleep for nothing. While we sleep, our body cells are given the chance to rejuvenate and go through a process of repair. There is something to be said about going to bed the same day you wake up, so try to ensure that you are in bed and fast asleep before midnight. Somehow you just don't feel quite as revitalized after an eight hour sleep if you retire after midnight as you do prior to the bewitching hour. A good night's rest gives you lots of energy and enthusiasm the following day, as well as makes you feel on top of the world. Your sparkling eyes, glowing skin and charged-up energy inevitably makes you look instantly younger.
4. Fashion Passion
Everybody wants to look fabulous and be in touch with current trends but let's face it, some fashions just don't look good on us. Avoid following fashion blindly. Clothes are a very important beauty aid but there is no need to dress young to look young. Be choosy when it comes to fashion. Learn which types of clothes complement your figure and which colors work best for you. If skinny jeans for example, don't work with your figure, check out what is currently on-trend that does... Look at color(s) and don't forget accessories! You will, for sure, find something out of all that that will suit you and make you look and feel youthful and gorgeous.
5. Easy With The Makeup
If you have applied the same colors and the same amount and type of makeup on your face for the last twenty years, it's time to speak to a professional makeup artist and perhaps get rid of some of the things in your cosmetic bag. As we age, our skin tones change. Makeup colors that once looked wonderful next to our skin, now serves only to age us. If you can identify yourself here, a switch of color can there and then take years off your face. Moreover, you will generally look much younger than you really are if makeup is used to emphasize your natural assets, as opposed to try to hide flaws.
6. Down With The Frown
Frowning is something we are all guilty of. Sadly, regular frowning will result in permanent grooves on our forehead in between our eyebrows. Like squinting, we don't always realize we are doing it until we catch ourselves in the middle of it. Be more self-aware and ask your best friend to warn you when you are.
7. Keep Positive
Our 'inner world' creates our 'outer world'. What we think and feel on the inside is reflected in our outer physical world which includes our physical appearance. Don't be surprised if a person who has a chronic negative or cynical outlook on life looks older than someone who has selected to live life with a positive mental attitude.
Bonus Tip: Say No to Sugar
Cut out entirely or dramatically reduce your sugar consumption. There is now new scientific evidence to show that eating sugar ages you and it could be by as much as twenty years! Ouch!
