TIPS TO KEEP LOOKING YOUNGER

Sun Worshipping
Your skin is the most obvious indicator of your age, and by far the best thing you can do to keep looking younger for longer is to protect it from the sun. A massive 80-90% of ageing is due to environmental damage, which means much of it does not have to happen. Sunbeds are also a definite no-go area if you want to avoid premature wrinkles, as their UVA rays are the most ageing, penetrating deeper into your skin to break down collagen-forming cells.

No matter how much of a sun worshipper you have been in the past, start protecting your skin now and you won't do any more damage. Dermatologists recommend using a broad-spectrum sunscreen (which protects against both UVA and UVB rays) all year round. Even on wintry days, ultraviolet rays can penetrate your skin, so always choose a moisturizer or foundation with a sun protection factor (SPF) 15, and during the summer months or on holiday up that to a sunblock with SPF30. Today's sunscreens contain many added anti-ageing extras such as antioxidant vitamins and moisturizers, but the most important ingredient is the SPF - so if buying basic means you can afford to use it every day, the basic option is more beneficial to your skin than any posh-sounding additives.

Some sensitive skins cannot take the chemicals used in sunscreens, so if you are someone who irritates easily go for a mineral sunscreen (which contain zinc oxide or titanium dioxide). They create a barrier to reflect light away without being absorbed into your skin. And do not forget to apply sunscreen to your neck, as the skin there is thinner than your face so ages more quickly.

Smoking
At least the sun provides you with bone-strengthening vitamin D, but there is nothing to be said in favour of skin's other arch-enemy. We now know that the face of a 20-a-day smoker ages 14 years for every 10 years of smoking, which means a smoker in their 40s will often have as many wrinkles as a non-smoker in their 60s!

Here's why:

• Smoking reduces the production of collagen by up to 40%. Ageing already reduces the amount of collagen we produce, and smoking just speeds up this process.
• The accumulated nicotine in your body deprives skin cells of vital oxygen, and smoking also reduces blood flow to the skin, robbing it of even more nutrients.
• When an organ is under attack (i.e. your lungs), your body diverts essential vitamins away from your skin to help.
• Smoking adversely affects the nerve endings in the skin, causing sensitivity.
• Smoke has a drying effect on the skin, causing dehydration and eventually wrinkles. Add to this the squinting and puckering that goes on during smoking and you are creating even more lines, which will eventually become permanent.
• Smoking reduces the body's store of vitamin A (which protects against skin damage) and vitamin C (which protects against ageing free radicals). Giving up may be hard to do, but the benefits are almost instant. Within eight hours, nicotine and carbon monoxide levels in your body are halved, and in just two weeks you will see an obvious improvement in your skin's colour (no more dull, grey days) and texture. You know it makes sense.

Your skin is the most obvious indicator of your age, and by far the best thing you can do to keep looking younger for longer is to protect it from the sun.