3 Tips for Improving Skin Elasticity
Take an in-depth look at skin elasticity and how a variety of methods can help improve it.
Healthy and youthful-looking skin is something most of us strive for. Through the use of a variety of skincare products, you may have found the perfect routine for your unique skin. However, over time you may start to notice wrinkles or little bags under your eyes. What gives?
This is due to a loss in skin elasticity, also known as elastosis. While mostly due to the passage of time, elastosis can have a variety of different causes. Luckily, there are also a range of things you can do to help minimise the appearance of ageing while also working to restore the youthful and plump-looking skin you love.
What Is Skin Elasticity?
When you hear the term skin elasticity, you may wonder just what it means and how it relates to the quality of your own skin. This term is used when talking about how plump and bouncy your skin seems to be, especially skin on your face and neck.
Cheeks that are plump and round have good elasticity and are normally seen in younger individuals, while drooping or sagging cheeks, wrinkled skin under the eyes, or loose neck skin is losing its natural elasticity and is most commonly seen more and more as we age.
Our skin is made up of three distinct layers, and the middle layer known as the dermis contains both elastin and collagen. These two proteins are entirely responsible for skin elasticity and connective tissue health. If your skin has less elastin or collagen, sagging skin and wrinkles will be much more noticeable.
What Causes Loss of Elasticity?
There are a variety of ways your skin can suffer from elastosis, or the loss of elasticity. The biggest culprit is due to natural ageing, but sun exposure and the lack of proper skin care can also play a significant role.
Ageing
As a fact of life we can’t escape, ageing can have a drastic effect on skin elasticity. Natural collagen production will start to slow down when a person is in their 20s, with the largest percentage of overall collagen loss happening to women as they start menopause.
As collagen production slows or stops, a variety of signs of ageing can become much more noticeable. These can include fine lines, wrinkles, crow’s feet, sagging under the chin and eyes, and more.
Sun Exposure
Another culprit in causing skin elastosis is through environmental factors. Exposure to UVA and UVB rays from the sun can be a direct cause in breaking down collagen and elastin proteins. As UV rays penetrate the skin, they not only directly damage collagen producing fibres, but can also alter the effective production of elastin proteins.
Without these fibres and proteins, gravity will start to play a part in causing your skin to sag leading to bags under your eyes, drooping cheeks, and sagging skin under your chin.
Improper Skincare
Whether cleansing your face, or applying a moisturiser, there is a right way to apply skincare products so that you don’t increase elastosis. When cleansing your face, applying moisturiser or sunscreen, or applying makeup, always be sure that you use gentle pressure on your skin.
This is especially true on more delicate areas of the face such as around your eyes. Harsh rubbing, scrubbing, or pulling the skin in this area can lead to elastosis, especially if done repeatedly.
Instead, make sure you apply cleansers such as our AGELESS total facial cleanser, with your fingertips instead of a cloth or sponge to prevent rough scrubbing and microscopic tears in the skin, and use gentle but firm pressure with the soft tips of your fingers when lathering or rubbing it in.
How to Protect and Improve Skin
If you start to notice signs of elastosis, or simply want to start preventative skin care routines to help reduce the risk of it appearing in the near future, there are a variety of things you can do now.
Apply Retinols
As a potent form of vitamin A, retinol is an ingredient that dermatologists love to recommend for a variety of skin concerns. Known as an anti-ageing ingredient, retinol can help drastically improve the appearance of collagen-deprived while also boosting the speed at which your cells naturally regenerate.
When used as a serum, such as our IMAGE MD restoring retinol booster, retinol can help reduce the appearance of under-eye sagging while also helping to improve overall skin elasticity.
Collagen Boosts
Supplements that offer a boost of collagen can be a quick and simple way to improve not only your hydration, but your skin elasticity as well. When used regularly, collagen boosts can drastically help reduce the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines around your eyes.
Hyaluronic Acid
Commonly found in a wide range of hydrating and age-defying skin care products, hyaluronic acid is a naturally occurring ingredient that can provide time-released and targeted benefits to skin that is showing signs of premature ageing or loss of firmness.
For this, we absolutely love our AGELESS total pure hyaluronic 6 filler. Not only does it offer a concentrated form of six hyaluronic acid molecular weights to aid in restoring your skin’s connective tissues and maintaining proper hydration, but it also includes citrus peel and apricot extracts to lock in moisture.
