Cheryl (Highland Park, NJ) on 07/08/2023
Once you understand how skin wrinkles actually form, it becomes pretty clear how you can prevent, limit, even erase them without spending a fortune on topical creams, patches or surgeries.
First, just to get us all on the same page, it’s important to understand that wrinkles begin to form when we’re in our teens. Yes, astonishing but true. And here’s why.
Our personalities and habits are pretty well in place throughout our childhood. We have characteristic frowns, smiles, looks of disapproval or disgust, concentration. These do not tend to change as we get older (barring accidents or traumas). So, patterns of how facial muscles work are pretty well set by our teens.
What do facial muscles have to do with wrinkles? Think about it – a muscle can build up and stretch the skin on your arms if you lift a lot of weights. By the same token, a muscle also can pinch skin, as when you contract it in a frown.
Over time, facial muscles will get tighter or shorter around areas that get a lot of pinching. Between the skin and the muscle is a thin layer of connective tissue or fascia and this also can start to get set and dry out along patterns of pinching.
Now there are muscles and fascia that are working deep down to pull skin together forming facial patterns. Slowly, over time, as these work together to draw the skin on top of them into a wrinkle, then what happens? Skin that is tightened over time get less circulation. Uh oh.
When we’re kids, our faces are often very animated. The muscles and fascia and skin can be pinched but then they are stretched open in wonder or peace or the deep relaxation of sleep. Then the circulation can flow easily through the skin and repair or refresh the muscles and skin, restoring the fullness of a child’s face.
Over time, as our patterns of expression get set in, the ability of the circulation to flow as easily through the skin tissue is lessened and lessened. With lack of sufficient hydration, dietary no-no's, smoking, trauma, etc., it becomes an uphill battle for the blood supply to restore the fullness of the skin. Wrinkles are the result, the result of time and habits.
Obviously, the best time in life to prevent wrinkles is in our teens. Daily facial massage – especially around areas where wrinkles can be seen with different facial expressions – is a real help. Use olive oil, which skin loves, or almond if the skin is naturally dry or sensitive, or coconut if you like that one.
Besides a good morning or evening rub after washing the face, teens do well to drink enough water to keep hydrated as well as avoid garbage food.
Think for a minute about those wrinkles that form above the top lip, the ones seen on the elderly mouths. Those can come over time from smoking, drinking soft drinks through a straw, pursing the lips in thought, these kinds of motions that pinch the lips together.
Okay, we now understand how these things form and, if you’re young enough, you can avoid getting wrinkles with simple daily facial massage. But for those of us longer out of our teens, our massage practice needs to be more focused and specific.
First, select the kind of oil that you like best. Sophia Loren always said that her lack of wrinkles into her 70’s and 80’s was thanks to daily facial olive oil rubs, and most skins like this oil, as do all muscles. If you live in dry zones, you may want to make a blend of oil and rose water for more hydration besides what you get from drinking enough water.
Let me share with you a blend that I’ve used since my 30’s that I believe has helped keep the wrinkles on my face at bay into my 70's: Into 2 ounces of rose water, add 3 ounces of organic peanut oil, 3 ounces of organic olive oil and a tablespoon of liquid lanolin. Older skin would appreciate an ounce of wheat germ oil as an anti-aging assist. Dryer or more sensitive skin would like an ounce of sweet almond. There’s 8+ ounces of facial bliss that help to restore the vitality of the skin and help you rub out the wrinkles.
(P.S., Why the peanut oil? Good question. Peanut oil is a food for connective tissue, most of which we think of as around the joints. But remember the fascia, the thin connective layer between the skin and the muscles. This layer helps maintain the lift and tightness of the skin, along with the muscle tone. This blend is also perfect as a full body massage oil, with the peanut assisting other joints in some degree of arthritis prevention, according to the Edgar Cayce readings from which I’ve adapted this formula.)
The Daily Beautification of Your Precious Face
With the morning or evening regimen, first wash with a gentle soap/cream/cleansing lotion, using either a washcloth with good fibers or a circle of sponge or loofah to wash away dead skin cells. Use a nice deep circular motion over forehead, cheeks, chin and throat.
Never, ever, ever press or rub deeply around the eyes or temples. The skin tissue around the eyes is too delicate and can tear with too harsh a pressure. It would do well to appreciate those laugh lines, as they are only positive ones on the face.
When you rinse your face, it should feel clean and almost squeaky. If it feels like a film is still coating the skin – like so many commercial soap products do – get another brand. Castile soaps generally are thorough cleansers and leave no coating or residue on the skin.
Dry the face with brisk motions. Scratchy towels are great exfoliators, so leave off those chemical fabric softeners or sheets in the washer and dryer.
Apply a small amount of whatever oils or blends you like. (The blend I described above needs to be shaken each time, as the contents do separate since there are no junky chemical emulsifiers added.)
Spread a bit of oil over the forehead, cheeks, chin and throat, swiping a little over the eyes but not deeply. Use circular motions with your fingertips to bring up the circulation in these areas and to move the underlying muscles around.
Notice that the throat is included with the daily facial massage. There’s no reason that this skin should be allowed to go slack over time if you give it some attention and circulation to keep the skin, muscles and connective tissues healthy.
When massaging the forehead, remember that the muscles that pull the eyebrows up in surprise or down in a frown are vertical muscles. These will relax if you rub across them, left and right, back and forth. Go right up to the hairline and down into the eyebrows with cross-rub motions.
The cheeks are easy to rub in circles, and make sure to pay a little more attention to the areas in front of the ears where the jaw muscles can get tight with all the stress of living in the 21st Century. Rub up and down on the nose and alongside it, opening the mouth to allow a fuller circulation into a part of the face that hardly moves at all on its own.
To work the muscles around the lips, pull them across the teeth in a closed smile and rub all around the lip border with a fingertip, nice and deep, bringing up some good circulation round and round. Back and forth across the top of the lip and that muscle right under the nose that can get tight and hold wrinkles. If you have lines just starting to form here, you may want to double the massage time to really get the circulation going.
Give the throat some nice circular rubs along the side of the neck and front where the vocal cords are. With your thumbs together underneath the chin, press along the underside of the jaw line all the way up to the ear. Do this a few times. It helps stimulate an immune reflex point that we all need these days.
Finish up with a once-over of the whole face with your palms on cheeks and fingers on forehead. Visualize the circulation flowing through all the cells of the skin and muscles, refreshing, rejuvenating, revitalizing them all. Feel the youth and beauty flooding into the cells. Mmmmmm.
For More Specific Treatment
To work existing wrinkles in the forehead and around the mouth, you can follow the general facial massage – which only takes a minute – with a more specific treatment of the individual wrinkles.
Dip a Q-tip into olive oil and press it against the side of the jar so it doesn’t drip. Using a magnifying mirror or just getting close to a mirror, place the tip at the end of a wrinkle with one hand and, with the fingers of the other hand, spread the wrinkle open. Press the Q-tip deeply into the wrinkle with little back and forth motions all along the wrinkle to specifically bring up the circulation along that line.
There’s an interesting cosmetic acupuncture treatment for wrinkles that does basically the same thing. With tweezers, tiny filament needles are inserted all along a wrinkle to bring up the blood where it has been pinched off. But you can do the same thing with a Q-tip and nourishing oil. It just takes some time, some patience and lots of love. Your face is worth it. You're worth it.
Ted (Bangkok, Thailand) on 06/01/2006
https://ted.earthclinic.com/cures/natural-remedies-age-spots.html
Mike (Kent, Uk) on 09/09/2020
I've only been doing this... a month or so, I think.
UPDATE -- OK it's about 12 days later. Much fainter wrinkles between my eyes now, but the skin there looks a tiny bit puffy when I scrunch it. Maybe I'll try to apply more oil to the surrounding area so it blends in better.
Definitely a complication, but I'd still rather this than looking angry all the time due to wrinkles between my eyes! I'll give another update when there's another change.
Joese (Sydney) on 09/21/2016
Violet Velvet (Oklahoma ) on 07/21/2016
Here are a few which are tried and true. However, I would always be careful with these as I am not a Dermatologist and everyone has different skin types, allergies ... Etc... Vitamin C Vitamin E Salystic Acid Retinol Vitamin B3 Vitamin B5 Acai Geranium Purified Squalane And Sunscreen, Sunscreen & More Sunscreen... The higher the SPF, the better off you'll be. If you must get your sun on. Always protect your face and chest. You'll be thankful that you did the older you get. Retinol can be very very harsh too. It is best to have it prescribed if you have a lot of premature aging, as a licensed Dermatologist can help you with this and tell you what is best for your skin type.
With everything else in mind... A healthy diet full of leafy greens, exercise, Lots of water throughout the day, Green Tea and the sunscreen that I had mentioned multiple times above, along with a good nights sleep is going to definitely be your best friend when it comes to all of these things for the long haul. If you can can start this early enough in life and stick with it, you would not even need all of the ingredients listed above later on. Nothing more than just a mild cleanser and moisturizer to fit your skins needs. Such as Cetaphil, or any other mild non scented wash and moisturizer that is not filled with a lot of harsh chemicals and fragrances. I have seen recipes to where you can even make your own. I personally like Renova. I am older though and it's prescribed through my Dermatologist. If I were younger, I would have definitely lived my life like the suggestions that I had given above. I need more help than that due to the fact that I have a lot of sun damage since nobody realized just how terrible that too much sun could be for you when I was younger.
Good Luck!!!
Re: Multiple Remedies Not Helping Deep Wrinkles Bombshell (Wa.) on 05/30/2015
I also apply my own homemade Hyaluronic Acid, Liposomal Vitamin C, Argon Oil, Aloe Oil serum during the day before applying my make up. Every few weeks I switch my skin care regimen by using a homemade Black Rice Hyaluronic Acid and Liposomal Vitamin C serum.
My skin looks and feels great. I'm 49 this year and everyone guesses my age to be 32.
Every few months I do acupuncture facelifts on myself once a week for 4 weeks. I typically do the 11s and the laugh line areas to keep the wrinkles from showing up but I haven't done this in about 6 months, so I plan to again soon. You know, just as a preventative measure:)
My suggestion is to never use a drug store castor oil. Spend the extra few bucks on a good cold pressed organic castor oil from a reputable company. I'm not sure I can tell the difference between the black and the regular castor oil, so I don't really have a favorite at this point.
Just FYI: I wash my face with my homemade dry oat facial wash. I also use my homemade Japanese rice and powdered milk facial scrub. It keeps my skin super smooth, the skin tone very even, and I don't get as oily as I use to. I do this once a week. You don't want to scrub on a daily basis.
If you get brown spots on your face (or wherever), mix equal parts castor oil and baking soda together until it turns into a paste. If it's too drippy, add a little more baking soda and mix again. Apply it to the spot and massage in for a few seconds with the tip of your finger. Once you've done that, dab another bit onto the spot, cover it with a band aid and leave it on over night. It might take a few nights of this, but the spot will disappear.
My word of advice is to NEVER EVER us store bought cleansers or moisturizers. The chemicals are not only harmful, but they can actually age your skin. They may smell good and feel nice going on, but the damage they cause over time is certainly not worth it. Besides, not only are you doing your skin a world of good by using natural ingredients, but you'll be saving yourself a ton of money. I love making my own products and knowing what's really going on (and in) my skin.
Don't forget to use a natural broad spectrum sun screen every day, rain or shine.
I hope this helps.
Ana (Usa) on 03/22/2015
Mary (Arcadia, Ca) on 01/07/2015
Excellent for smoothing out wrinkles: ***Ninon E'nclos** Looked extremely young for her 85 years! Her method:
Daily friction of the skin with a natural goat hair brush. (Hard to find)
Face and neck removing wrinkles is to rub the face and neck with the palm of your hands with a rough mitten (goat skin), rough terry cloth, or other natural hair brush. Then follow with a tepid bath mixed with borax. You can use Mink Oil.
I started doing this just a few days ago. Recently I had to take the bus and the driver quoted me the price which was too much for regular passengers. I said, but I'm a senior?
He looked at me very hard. I thought oh that's just an accident. A little while later I had to transfer to another bus and that driver did the same thing. I thought maybe that rubbing really works! I will keep doing it and let you all know how its working. Good luck to you all.
Jane (Mass) on 12/03/2014
Re: Homemade Wrinkle Remover Georgina (Ireland) on 08/06/2014
Stage two:
The wonder potion comprises of mostly fresh carrot juice. Retinol, the wrinkle fighting element in all the expensive face creams, is actually vitamin A, which is to be found in carrots. The fancy cosmetic creams you buy in the store are packed with preservatives and chemicals and have been sitting on the shelves for years. The carrot juice is much more potent because it is fresh. Add vitamin c by squeezing half an orange and adding it to the mixture. You can add a Rubex tablet instead if you want a super result. Lastly, add a generous dollop of rapeseed oil... Packed with vitamin e. Freeze ingredients in an ice cube tray and use them a portion a a time. The fresher, the better.
I would love to hear what you think of this... It's made my wrinkles vanish. I am 45 and most people think I am about 32... Not bad. Good luck. X
Mary (Rusk, Texas, Usa) on 02/25/2014
Jolene (El Paso, Texas) on 09/06/2013
Karen (Clarkston, Mi) on 09/01/2013
My skin has looked great since I have taken this. Each morning you put DE into a glass of water or juice and drink it. It cleans your intestinal out too. My nails have never looked so good. I get compliments on my skin all the time. Women 20 years younger than me have wrinkles all around their eyes, where mine are just starting to show.
Make sure you get the food grade Diatomaceous Earth, which can be found at most all health food stores. It has so many other uses too. Gardening, keeps the bugs away from the plants, pets, deworming both humans and animals, etc.
Virgin Coconut Oil is great for the skin too. Cod liver oil daily consumption is supposed to be great for the skin. It needs to be a very good brand. Green Pastures makes a great Cod Liver Oil that is promising too.
Tim (Cincinnati, Oh) on 03/23/2013
Mary (Moreno Valley, Ca) on 02/04/2013
Protocol Used to Rid Eye Wrinkles Bill (San Fernando, Philippines) on 03/01/2012
So what I have done to cure this wrinkling and loose baggage around my eyesockets was to use the following simple protocol:
* Tip a bottle of castor oil against my left middle finger. Tip another bottle of VCO against my right middle finger(ie use a 50-50 mix of castor oil and VCO). Then mix both the oils together by rubbing the middle fingers against each other.
* Apply this mix thoroughly to each eye socket, including eyelids and eyebrows so that there is an even coating of oil that is not so oily.
* You can use and apply this remedy at any anytime, but I did it in the evening before sleep. I applied it 3-4 times a week. I used breaks in the protocol in order to allow the skin around the eyes to oxygenate, revive and heal.
* After showers and cleaning the eye sockets throughly, I also dabbed 3% Hydrogen Peroxide carefully around the eye socket and eyelids (don't get it in your eyes) to both help kill bacteria etc and to also help oxygenate and revive the skin in that area.
I have used this simple remedy for only about a month with very good results. Not only has it greatly reduced the wrinkling around the eye sockets but this remedy also seems to tighten the skin, such that my empty bags look like normal skin under the eyes now. I also noticed improvement in my eyelashes -- longer and thicker now. It also cured something which affects older people -- which can only be described as the "hollow looking eye socket problem" that normally occurs and is noticed first thing in the morning when you look in a mirror.
My interest and reasons for using such a remedy was spurred for several reasons. First, I've recently read some disturbing research that has confirmed that particularly fungi and yeast can exist and indeed can proliferate, unseen and unnoticed, in the sub-epidermal layers of the skin without detection. I further reasoned that, because so much gunk collects around the eyes, that the skin around the eyes was therefore a perfect feeding environment for proliferation of bacteria as well as fungus and such.
So I simply combined two well-known anti-fungal and anti-bacterial oils plus HP (for skin oxygenation and as a broadband pathogen killer) to get rid of the wrinkle problem and it all seems to have worked quite well and is a very economical way of resolving these problems. I'm still using it.
Stacey (Abbotsford, Bc, Canada) on 10/16/2011
I used a small (2 oz) spray bottle, filled it with water and a small amount of borax to saturate, about 1/4 to 1/2 of a teaspoon. I shook it up and lightly sprayed my face. It doesn't irritate the eyes though I'd use caution with the eye area. I'd also recommend removing makeup before doing this. I let my face dry and then sprayed again. (I did this about 5 times over the course of an hour or two. ) It's amazing! My whole face feels like it got a lift and it's only been 2 days!
I'm experimenting with my crows feet wrinkles using cotton balls soaked in the borax water. Will have to report on that later. I'm not 100% sure if this is permanent yet though it feels incredible :). I'll try to update in a few weeks. Good luck to all!
Ergo (Concored, Nh Usa) on 07/27/2011
I've been using this for about 6 months now for treating wrinkles and, surprinslgly, it has worked: the lines around my eyes are essentially gone and the ones on my forehead have substantially softened (they were much deeper than the baby crow's feet I had), so maybe there's hope that, eventually, they'll go away, too.
The only downside is, as noted, is that it took 6 months to see any real results, but, man, if you're in no rush and want something that is dirt cheap (it's about $2 for a bottle that will last you months at Wal-Mart) this will, eventually! , do the trick.
Francisca (Michelbach-le-bas, Alsace, France) on 06/17/2011
Lip Balsem: Melt 15g of bee wax or shea butter in 10 ml jojoba oil or sweet almond oil au bain-marie. Add 1 drop of Lemon Essential Oil (I would add two as with one I didn't smell a thing! ). Mix and once cooled down store it in a little pot (it will last you a long time as you use very little so if you wish a bit less just make half of the recipe). Rub over your lips.
Anti-wrinkle mask: Place 2 slices of lemon in a bowl (1 if your skin is very dry and 4 if it is very greasy) and cover with equal parts of creme fraiche (I suppose nowadays you can buy it everywhere) and milk, both lightly warmed up beforehand. Let rest for at least 3 hours. Try do use the mask a few times a week. To use apply it over your face and let dry for 30 minutes. Rinse using a wet towel!
Sherry (Caldwell, Idaho, Usa) on 03/29/2011
