Home Fitness How to Look Your Best in Your 40s

How to Look Your Best in Your 40s

How to Look Your Best in Your 40s
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

Entering your 40s is a difficult process to go through. While your self-confidence increases in this stage in life, you are also aging rapidly. Your skin may start sagging, and your hair may start turning gray. These changes happen naturally and affect anyone, but you can still look just as good as you used to as you enter your 40s. Aging well is possible so long as you follow these easy tips:

1. Quit smoking and regulate your drinking

Smoking can take a toll on your appearance. To start, tobacco smoke can cause dental staining, bad breath, swollen gums, and loss of teeth. Smoking can also restrict the flow of oxygen and nutrients to the skin. This results in uneven skin coloring and paleness. Some smokers even experience frequent acne and scarring. Quitting the habit would help you prevent these and other complications as you enter your 40s.

As for alcohol, consuming too much can result in dehydration. Like tobacco smoke, alcohol also has a diuretic effect. It can cause an uneven distribution of nutrients and excessive wrinkling. Alcohol can also damage the liver and healthy skin cells. This will ultimately accelerate aging and not to mention serious illness as you enter your 40s. Drinking alcohol during social occasions is fine, but you may want to drop the habit altogether if you tend to drink excessively. 

2. Stay physically active

Pursuing an active lifestyle is always crucial to helping you look your best. As your body ages, you become increasingly vulnerable to several diseases. It becomes worse if there is too much fat and sugar in your diet. If you are putting on too much weight, it’s time that you get up and start a personal workout plan. Exercise not only reduces body fat but also improves your body image. 

exercise
Photo by Nicole De Khors from Burst

In addition, exercise helps in the production of collagen, which keeps the skin supple. Intensive exercise also boosts oxygen and blood circulation, maintaining healthy skin cells. It’s never too late to lead an active and fit lifestyle, so sign up for a gym membership or jog around the neighborhood every morning. Whatever puts your body to work can greatly improve your endurance and appearance as you age. 

3. Keep your hair health in check

Your hair can be a determining factor in your appearance. When you reach your 40s, your hair will start to gray and thin out. The main cause of this is the reduction of blood flow and sebum, a substance that keeps hair follicles from going brittle.

If you want to maintain your natural hair, consider choosing a shampoo that’s effective against dryness. To improve hair health further, you can also follow it up with a scalp cleanser that removes flaking. Be sure to ask a dermatologist first before you pick any hair care products. There are shampoos, conditioners, and cleansers that can worsen hair thinning or balding.

When it comes to balding, a dermatologist may suggest looking towards tested-and-proven solutions like Finasteride, which inhibit producing a hormone (dihydrotestosterone or DHT) that causes hair loss. However, the side effects of using this medication include dizziness, swelling in your chest, and impotence. You will need a prescription to purchase it in the United States and Canada. 

For greying hair, you can either apply a proper hair dye or take doctor-approved supplements. The best you can do at this point is to let your hair gray and give it a polished silver look. You can use an anti-yellowing shampoo to keep it fresh and clean.

4. Learn how to cope with stress

In your 40s, you may find yourself working longer hours and handling a long list of personal errands. Stress remains to be a major contributing factor to aging. Apart from causing heart problems, stress can also worsen wrinkles and skin dryness. You will notice this after working overtime and getting less sleep. Stress can also cause rashes, baggy eyes, and a general feeling of tiredness. As a result, you will look less approachable and appealing to co-workers and friends. 

Along with the other tips on this list, it’s important that you develop healthy ways to cope with stress. For one, you can learn deep breathing techniques.

Start by sitting comfortably and relax your body. Place one hand below your rib cage and the other on your chest. Breathe deeply through your nose as you slowly push your stomach out. Then, like a deflating balloon, release all that air through your lips. Repeat this technique four or five times until you feel calmer.

You can also avoid working overtime and get enough sleep at night. Come up with a schedule for rest. If you can’t avoid working overtime, give yourself at least an hour to take a breather. Use the same breathing technique whenever you feel anxious. 

The best step you can take is to say “no” to any task you feel isn’t worth stressing over. Hard work pays off well, but if it means putting your physical and mental health on the line, then you are better off doing something that’s within your limit. 

5. Be in the best mood

Good mood
Photo by Shopify Partners from Burst

Aging gracefully is not just a matter of choosing what’s best for your body. Adopting a positive mindset can also do wonders for your appearance. No matter what life throws at you during your 40s, you will need to stay optimistic and kind. Surround yourself with friends and open yourself up to new experiences. You will also need to find joy in the little things. Your mood affects your appearance, so learn to smile and take things a little less seriously. At this stage, you are now beginning to treat life as a story that you need to write, not as a race that you need to win. 

Turning 40 doesn’t have to be the scariest thing just because it’s the part where you begin to age rapidly. The best opportunities lie in this phase of your life. You just need to look fresh and healthy as you confront them. 

Featured Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels