What actually works against skin aging?

UV radiation from the sun and tanning beds is the single biggest cause of visible skin ageing. Wrinkles, pigmentation spots and loss of elasticity accumulate over years, sometimes invisibly, only to become apparent decades later. Chronic exposure also increases the risk of skin cancer through damage to the DNA of skin cells.

Using sunscreen every day is the best-supported way to slow that process. Both chemical filters and some natural ingredients, such as lignin and melanin, absorb UV radiation. However, standalone natural ingredients generally offer less protection than ordinary commercial sunscreen, and their side effects have not yet been studied sufficiently.

Lifestyle is the second major lever. Smoking, excessive alcohol, too little sleep and an unhealthy diet measurably accelerate skin ageing^1,2. These factors reinforce one another and interact with genetic predisposition and UV damage. The exact contribution of each individual factor is difficult to measure, but the combined effect has been clearly demonstrated.

Your skin also ages from within: skin cells lose their ability to divide, protective structures at the ends of your DNA wear down, and hormone levels decline. The result is less collagen, causing the skin to become thinner and looser. This process cannot be stopped, but the pace varies from person to person and may be partly influenced^3,4.

Honey in cosmetic products has shown interesting properties in laboratory research, but solid evidence in humans is still lacking. Thread lifts, in which threads are placed under the skin to lift sagging tissue, can produce visible results. The risks are real, however: bruising, infections, inflammatory nodules, nerve damage and thread migration. The outcome depends strongly on the experience of the practitioner^5,6,7,8.