How Old Do You Look?

Clean, tone, exfoliate, moisturize, erase wrinkles. This is my daily mantra, but is it really working? At 41, I feel I look pretty good. I don't have a lot of wrinkles, my skin still seems pretty firm, but how does one really know the shape of their skin?

External factors we have control over like, sun exposure, products we use, smoking and drinking all play a role in the appearance of our skin. In addition to things we can control, there's the ones we can't! Genetics. How does your mom look? Unless your habits are significantly different than hers, you can pretty much count on aging at a similar rate.

Healthy eating and choosing foods that are high in antioxidants are significant ways to boost or I should say decrease the age of your skin! Antioxidants are those chemicals in foods that give tomatoes their bright red sheen, broccoli that lush green color, and eggplant its deep purple skin. More important, they're the compounds that keep lines from creeping onto your face and cholesterol from clogging your arteries. And they take the prize when it comes to stiff-arming the aging process. These nutritional superheroes neutralize cell-damaging free radicals, which have been linked to everything from wrinkles and age spots to cancer and heart disease.

Drink one glass of red vino (preferably with a meal, so your body absorbs it more slowly) four to five days a week. Red wine—especially pinot noir—is full of flavonoids, another class of powerful antioxidants that come from the skin of red grapes. Another perfect beverage for adding antioxidants to your daily routine is green tea.

Packed with potent antioxidants called catechins, green tea may be the single best age-defying substance you can put in your mug. Sipping just one cup a day will decrease your chances of developing high blood pressure by 46 percent; drink more and you'll reduce your risk by 65 percent.

In addition to eating well and drinking red wine, I use the Obagi skin care line. It has worked extremely well for me over the years. I cleanse, tone, exfoliate, moisturize, and every other day or so use an anti-wrinkle cream called Retin-A.

According to Women's Health Magazine's "How Old Do You Look" questionnaire, the age of my skin is 31! It seems I'm doing something right! Must be the red wine.

Jennifer