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It’s inevitable: As time goes on, hair is going to gradually begin changing. There’s increased shedding and slower hair growth, more frizz and dryness, less volume, and loss of pigmentation in the hair strands resulting in more gray and white hairs; In addition to the effects of aging, many women are impacted by the transition into menopause, which typically happens between 45 and 55. The hormonal changes associated with menopause can impact sebum production, which may lead to increased dryness of the scalp and brittleness in hair, and a potential increase in DHT (dihydrotestosterone) sensitivity, which may be linked to hair thinning and hair loss as estrogen levels decrease. Even the slightest change in hormones can lead to chronic and severe changes to the scalp. As we age and don’t engage in proper scalp care or maintenance, our aging scalp leads to deteriorating hair follicles. The skin of the scalp experiences similar shifts just as the skin on our faces. How can you optimize strength and growth? When it comes to hair health, it’s important to think holistically, factoring in caring for the scalp, protecting strands, and ensuring proper dietary nutrition. Building scalp awareness and addressing the basic needs of your scalp—cleansing, exfoliating, and moisturizing—are essential at any age, but especially as you get older. “Hair is an extension of the scalp. The more stable you keep your scalp’s microbiome and skin barrier, the better it will function, [lessening] chances of unwanted scalp conditions and hair loss. To clear away congestion (such as buildup of natural oils and styling products), give yourself a soft scalp massage with your fingertips or a brush, and cleanse thoroughly with a gentle shampoo as needed. Because hair tends to be more porous with age, which can lead to more breakage, and avoiding shampoos with sulfates as they can cause and worsen frizz, dryness, and yellowing of gray hair. What’s the best way to style aging hair for lift and volume? Gray hairs have more space at the cuticles, and because of this, conditioner molecules will penetrate quickly and in higher amounts. Women who have finer or thinning hair should avoid or go light on heavy conditioners and leave-in treatments. Too much product buildup will weigh the hair down and cause it to stick to the scalp, making the hair appear even thinner, thin hair types are better off sacrificing definition for volume. In terms of achieving lift and volume, not all volumizing products are made equal—especially for more mature lengths. Aging hair is often brittle, dry, and thin, which means products that achieve volume by roughing up the hair cuticle and drying out the hair may make hair more brittle. As an alternative, look at products designed for your hair type and texture that are also lightweight and won’t leave hair flat or feeling like straw. Thickening products, like Better Not Younger’s Lift Me Up spray or R+Co’s Bleu Magnifier Thickening Spray instantly help plump up hair with volumizing ingredients like biotin. Of course, heat styling tools can also be used to help achieve volume, but proceed carefully. “The heat can stress hair strands and cause damage especially when applied directly to wet hair,” says Lin, who encourages gently towel drying or using a blow dryer at low heat with a heat protectant spray to help shield hair from heat while softening and conditioning strands.

Noticing your first wrinkle already signals most of us that time is finally catching up with our faces. As a result, we may go out and splurge on every new antiaging product to slow down skin aging until more of those inevitable wrinkles appear. Some may hurry to reverse those natural effects of time by going under the knife for a face lift or considering filler such as Botox for plumping out the lines. Though understandable, these choices can be expensive and only a temporary solution that can typically last three or four months while also having potentially dangerous side effects. Given this, here are few suggestions with how to slow down aging for facial rejuvenation to look into instead of riskier and more costly procedures that may not give you the same effects or lasting beauty that you had envisioned. You can slow down aging by massaging your face. The reason that using your fingertips or a tool such as a face roller or gua sha tool helps is because they can improve circulation and blood flow for facial rejuvenation. In the process, you are working the skin of your face to drain the lymphatic system of toxins and bacteria while reducing swelling and puffiness to reduce fine lines while stirring up collagen production. The important thing to remember about massaging for facial rejuvenation is taking it slowly and practicing your technique consistently because the muscles eventually remember, helping toward the goal to firm the skin. You may not have given much thought to your teeth. Maybe this does not apply to you, but many people have a tendency to grind their teeth during sleep. As a result, a habit like that can wear down the height of the teeth, which can change the look of your appearance by making the length between the nose and chin smaller, narrowing the face even more. Speaking of sleep, you may have a set position from sleeping on your side, stomach or rolling around too much. Nonetheless, you are also damaging your skin since those movements in those areas eventually develop into wrinkles. Instead, to slow down skin aging and promote facial rejuvenation, you may want to invest in silk or bamboo sheets and pillowcases that won’t tug on skin with that same amount of friction as cotton or another cotton/polyester blend. If you suffer from acne, you may want to stick with bamboo bedding because it is antibacterial that only can benefit your complexion. One last thing that I want to stress is taking diet into consideration in order to slow down skin aging. One of the worst things that you can do for facial rejuvenation is eating too much sugar and inflammatory foods. A better choice is trying for a healthier balance of foods in order for the body to manufacture collagen. The other worst mistake is subjecting your body to yo-yo dieting that deflates fat pads on the face and decreases the skin’s elasticity. It also can cause more wrinkles as the skin droops. Drinking a lot of water will also help hydrate the skin. Find us on Facebook @siamobelladonna BellaDonna | Facebook