How can I make my skin look younger?

To make your skin look younger, use sunblock daily (SPF 30), exercise, stop smoking, get more sleep, drink more water and lower stress. Watch dermatologist Jeanine Downie, MD, discuss how these steps, plus cosmetic options, can help skin look fresh.

Transcript

00:00

You should think about getting more sleep. I say "think about" because that's difficult for people to do. And you should figure out what your stressors

00:06

are, and try to remove as many of them as possible from your life. [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:16

A lot of my patients will ask me the question, what they can do to make their skin look younger. My first and foremost thought is that you should use sunblock

00:23

every single day-- an SPF of 30, rain or shine, January through December, and that is regardless of your ethnicity.

00:30

So that's first and foremost. Put it on. Reapply it every two hours if you're somewhere in the United States. If you're down in the Caribbean, it's

00:36

every hour if you're closer to the equator, that type of thing. When you're skiing, you need to reapply it often. When you're swimming, obviously, there's

00:43

no such thing as waterproof sunblocks, only slightly water-resistant sunblocks. And those have to be reapplied. And you want to make sure that you're

00:51

getting your face, your ears, your neck, and the backs of your hands, in particular, as those are the most sun-exposed areas.

00:57

I get asked a lot of questions about, should I do more than that? You should exercise at least four times a week,

01:03

a combination of cardio and weights. You should stop smoking immediately. You should think about getting more sleep.

01:11

I say "think about" because that's difficult for people to do. And you should figure out what your stressors are, and try to remove as many of them as possible

01:18

from your life. So those things you can do to make your skin look better too. Your skin is the biggest organ of your body.

01:24

So it truly reflects the overall health and well-being of your body. I also tell people I do chemical peels on myself once a month.

01:30

I jog outside year-round. And I get blotchy patches on my face. And I don't always care to wear foundation when I'm not on camera.

01:37

So I do light chemical peels on myself. And that works for me. You have to find a combination of what works best for you, and stick to it, and do that.

01:45

And also, for your skin, simple things like drinking plenty of water, drinking less coffee and less

01:51

colas is very, very important. And don't pick at your skin. No matter what, picking at acne, picking at a razor bump,

01:58

picking at eczema just makes it worse. So those things are really important for your skin's overall health. And they just make you feel better about yourself.