When you're growing up, people like to joke about not frowning too much, or your face will stay like that forever. As silly as it sounds, that's not too far from the truth. According to Webster's dictionary: 'Wrinkle. Noun. A small furrow, ridge, or crease on a normally smooth surface, caused by crumpling, folding, or shrinking.' The part that makes me stop and think for a minute in that sentence is the part that says: 'normally smooth surface'. That is because it is so true! Our skin was meant to be smooth.

Your skin has a system which was meant to renew itself automatically every 15-20 days. That means shedding all the old, dead cells, forming new blood vessels, producing more melanocytes to evenly distribute skin coloration, etc. This wonderful system assures that your skin is soft, refreshed and moist. Our skin is also a natural barrier that holds moisture in, safeguards us against being battered by too many dangerous UV rays, and keeps us young-looking and radiant. We also have a very beneficial layer of fat below our skin to keep it looking full and healthy.

The problematic situation is what starts happening when this great system of skin rejuvenation gets less and less effective with time, and we start to lose that benefical and needed layer of fat. Our skin renewal system stops being so effective for a variety of reasons. Some of them are caused by the decisions we make every day, most of which are inevitable such as walking through a stress-filled mall or exposing ourselves to the sun when we walk to the car. Another example of our bodies' ability or inability to withstand deterioration has to do with genetics. If your genetic makeup shows that your family has the tendency to look 10 years younger than they are, there's a good possibility that you will too.

But not all of the factors that effect our skin are out of our control. For example, a big culprit that causes lots of wrinkles is cigarette smoke, so stop smoking if you do. Another major detriment to our skin, though it may surprise you, is stress. Scientists have proven that stress causes the facial muscles to tighten up and cause lines to appear between your eyes, on your cheeks, etc. So it seems that to avoid wrinkles we should take heed to that silly advice of our childhood and not frown so much! And as you know, always wear sunscreen.

Wrinkles - Is it too late?

What about if you're reading this and thinking to yourself, uh oh, I already have wrinkles! Maybe it's too late for me. What can I do? First of all, if you are just beginning to see a some wrinkles, and you are worried about your skin aging prematurely, begin to follow the suggestions I mentioned in the last paragraph, because you can more than likely prevent your wrinkles from being so bad. Additionally, try an all natural anti-aging shield, which come in the form of natural products that you apply to your face to help the skin to retain its natural moisture, nutrients and beneficial fatty tissues. A great ingredient to try to find in these aging wrinkle creams is snail serum, which has been shown by scientists to biologically regenerate skin cells and moisturize our skin, similarly to how it does for the snail. You can't lose anything by taking these suggestions to heart, and I guarantee you that within a few months you will start to see a very big difference!