While it’s fairly inevitable, there is no one who relishes the telltale wrinkles that make their age an undeniable fact. The proof lies in the zillions of dollars that are spent each year on creams, serums, procedures and efforts to banish those pesky lines, just as soon as they appear. Seems like everyone will tell you different things to try, but how do you really go about discerning between the ones that actually work and those that are simply “hogwash.” If you are preparing for battle with those laugh lines, crow’s feet, brow lines and more, you want to be armed with a battery of adequate defense. Otherwise, you’ll just be wasting your valuable time…and money. Here are the “whys”, along with the “why nots.”

  1. Wrinkles are confined to the epidermis.
  2. Overweight people tend to age their skin prematurely.
  3. Staying out of the sun will prevent wrinkling.
  4. Smoking can cause more wrinkles.
  5. Losing weight can produce wrinkles.
  6. Eating carbs is good for your skin.
  7. Eating or drinking soy products is good for wrinkle-fighting.
  8. Some wrinkle creams really remove or soften wrinkles, and some don’t work at all.
  9. Skin care products that contain Botox or dermal fillers do work.
  10. Natural wrinkle fighting products are safer and better than manmade or synthetic products.
  11. Happy people develop less wrinkles than chronically sad or angry people.

Fact: 4, 5, 7, 11
Fiction: 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 9, 11

  1. Wrinkles can form in both the dermis and the epidermis.
  2. Conversely, thinner people tend to develop more wrinkles.
  3. Sun exposure can certainly add to the problem, but wrinkles are a natural fact of life.
  4. Especially around the mouth. Add to smoking, the consumption of alcohol and wrinkles will increase even more.
  5. Dieting, especially yo-yo dieting can cause excessive wrinkles, as well as a significant volume of weight loss.
  6. Carbs, and especially sugar can actually break down your skin’s collagen and elastin.
  7. Soy has been found in studies to actually firm up damaged skin tissue.
  8. Sorry, but pretty much everything applied topically and commercially marketed to remove or reduce wrinkles–and some of these are quite expensive–is about the same, in terms of producing any real lasting wrinkle relief. There has been some evidence that products containing retinoic acid and antioxidants like vitamins C and E do help.
  9. Regardless of claims any topical products make, and regardless of how effective medically performed Botox injections and dermal filling procedures are, the same ingredients, when applied on top of the skin, are simply unable to reach their targeted destination. Fail.
  10. To date, there is no scientific or factual evidence of this somewhat common perception.
  11. More muscles are involved in any unhappy or angry facial responses, so more wrinkling is likely to occur. Try smiling more!