Quiz: How old is your skin?

What's your skin's "real age"?
The reality is that skin does age. But what makes me extremely concerned is seeing how many people (especially women) speed up the process of skin aging by the lifestyle habits they engage in, such as suntanning, starving to be thin, getting little sleep, and smoking cigarettes. These habits damage the structure of the skin, and over time the ongoing deterioration worsens the skin's appearance. Collagen and elastin are lost from the dermis with normal aging, but when you add poor lifestyle habits, the aging process accelerates. The skin becomes thinner and more fragile, and eventually your body has trouble getting enough moisture to the epidermis, causing wrinkles and sagging skin. This may be quite pronounced in some women, especially if they are underweight, eat few fruits and vegetables, are smokers, and are constantly in the sun. Over time, the fat in the subcutaneous layer that gives younger skin its plump appearance also begins to disappear, causing the epidermis to sag, and fine lines and deep wrinkles to form. When you add years of unhealthy lifestyle habits to normal skin aging, you can count on looking a lot older than your chronological age.

Skin age quiz
Take the Skin Age Quiz to find out how old your skin looks. Check each of the following factors that may trigger premature skin aging. Give yourself 1 point if this describes you and 0 if it does not. Add up your score to determine your skin's age.

1. Mother had premature skin aging.
2. Chronic illness such as diabetes or hypothyroidism.
3. Osteopenia (early bone loss)
4. Long-term medication use (oral)
5. Normal menopause
6. Surgical menopause before age 40
7. History of poorly treated acne
8. History of poorly treated rosacea
9. Pale, freckled skin
10. Fair skin with tiny pores and/or moles
11. Noticeable fine lines and wrinkles before age 35
12. Obese (more than 10 percent over normal weight)
13. Underweight (10 or more pounds less than normal weight)
14. History of dieting deprivation (too few calories)
15. History of binge dieting (losing and gaining the same 10 to 20 pounds)
16. Diet high in processed foods with few fruits and vegetables
17. High-fat diet
18. Cigarette smoker
19. Secondhand smoke
20. Heavy alcohol use (more than five or more drinks on the same occasion on each of five or more days in the past 30 days)
21. History of excessive exercise
22. Sedentary lifestyle (little exercise)
23. High-stress lifestyle
24. Personal history of precancerous skin lesions and/or skin cancer
25. Less than six hours of sleep each night
26. History of excessive sun exposure, inability to tan, and sun-induced freckles
27. Blistering sunburns in the first two decades of life
28. Infrequent use of sunscreen during childhood and adult years
29. Use of tanning salons
30. Poor skin care hygiene and infrequent use of moisturizers


Image courtesy imaxtree.com

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Excerpted from Beyond Botox: 7 Strategies for Sexy, Ageless Skin without Needles or Surgery by Ben and Howard Kaminsky. Copyright 2006 by Ben Kaminsky and Howard Kaminsky. Used by permission of Springboard Press, and imprint of Warner Books, Inc.