What Causes Wrinkles In My Skin?

While it’s part and parcel of getting older, many of us still wonder what other factors might be causing those wrinkles to appear in the mirror. 

Well, from the environment to your lifestyle choices, there are tons of other elements with the potential to cause wrinkles. And while some are simply a natural part of ageing, you may still be looking for ways to prevent wrinkles and keep that youthful glow. 

So, let’s explore the causes of wrinkles, what age you get wrinkles, and how to help prevent wrinkles from forming, below. 

What makes wrinkles appear in my skin?

1. Low collagen levels

Coming as no surprise, one of the most common causes of wrinkles is ageing skin. And this is where we talk about that lovely collagen and how it can influence the age we get wrinkles. 

First up, collagen plays a huge part in our skin texture and look. Naturally produced by the body, collagen helps our skin stay firm, smooth, and plump. However, our natural levels of collagen start to deplete as we age. This is, in part, what causes the wrinkles in our skin.

But when does this collagen depletion start and what age will you get wrinkles as a result? Well, typically our collagen levels begin to drop around the age of 25, and by the age of 50 we’ve usually lost about half of our collagen levels. You might notice you get wrinkles around the midway mark at 40, however it’s not uncommon to notice them sooner. 

2. Sun damage 

We’re all mostly aware of the physical damage the sun can cause to our skin, but perhaps it’s not as well known that the sun can cause wrinkles too. 

Both in the dead of winter and in the height of summer, the sun emits UV rays, and these rays can promote free radicals to form. Now, while we all love a freebie, these ‘free’ radicals are actually quite harmful – they play a part in the breakdown of our skin’s collagen. And as we learnt before, less collagen can cause wrinkles.

What’s more, too much unprotected exposure to the sun can dry out your skin, which can cause wrinkles too. As the UV rays start to deplete our skin’s natural oil levels, you may notice a drier skin texture making any wrinkles appear more prominent.

3. Environmental changes

Environmental factors from car exhaust fumes all the way to a stressful home or work environment can make wrinkles form. But how on earth is this possible? 

Well, let’s first look at how car exhaust fumes can cause wrinkles. Harmful chemicals omitted from cars can linger in the air and, as we walk around, these chemicals penetrate the skin’s surface damaging our skin cells, causing wrinkles to appear.

And then there’s mental health factors, such as stress, which can cause wrinkles too. That’s because when you are stressed, your body produces the hormone cortisol, and this chemical can break down the collagen in your skin, causing wrinkles as a result. 

It’s also important to note that smoking and drinking alcohol can harm our skin as well, drying it out, making wrinkles appear more visible.

How to prevent wrinkles in your skin

Now we know some common causes of wrinkles, let’s take a look at how we can prevent these wrinkles from occurring. 

As we have already spoken about, wrinkles are a natural part of ageing, and we shouldn’t worry about them – but it is still completely normal to want to minimise their appearance. And the good news is there are tons of steps you can take to prevent wrinkles from becoming too noticeable!

1. Take care of your skin

First and foremost, it is super important to take care of your skin. And it’s never too late or too early to start!

Having a tailored skin care routine can go a long way in helping to prevent wrinkles further down the line. At the very least, you need a cleanser, exfoliant, and moisturiser. But there are tons of lovely serums with plentiful benefits like hyaluronic acid and bakuchiol too!

To help prevent wrinkles, make sure you cleanse your face before applying any serums or creams, followed up with a gentle exfoliant – anything too rough can damage skin and cause wrinkles too – for a deeper clean of those harmful pollutants! After this, apply any toners, eye creams, and those lovely serums, leaving your moisturiser and creams until last.

2. Use an SPF everyday

Now, this element of skin care routines is so important for helping prevent wrinkles, we gave it its own section – using an SPF! This simple cream is great for protecting your skin against those damaging UV rays that make wrinkles more prominent. 

As we mentioned, the sun and its UV rays can be incredibly damaging to skin, and they can cause wrinkles too. So, if you’re looking to help prevent wrinkles and get a step ahead, then make sure you always apply an SPF of factor 30 minimum every single day. Yes, you even need to apply SPF in winter!

3. Eat a healthy, balanced diet

And you may be sick of hearing it by now but eating a balanced and healthy diet is great for helping prevent wrinkles! 

Food with high levels of vitamin C are perfect to introduce to your diet to prevent wrinkles - for example, broccoli, peppers, strawberries, and potatoes. But also look to have more foods like Greek yoghurt for their anti-inflammatory properties, and even chocolate for their antioxidants. Slight caveat though, we’re looking at dark chocolate to help prevent wrinkles, not milk chocolate!

And it wouldn’t be an Absolute Collagen blog if we didn’t talk about collagen! Get more collagen into your diet to help prevent wrinkles. Whether that be through collagen foods like beef bone broth, legumes, or nuts, or our daily collagen sachets! 

In fact, 100% of users in our clinical trial noticed an improvement in the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles after taking our daily collagen supplements for 12 weeks! 

4. Avoid smoking and alcohol

We all have our vices, but if you’re looking to help prevent wrinkles, then smoking and drinking alcohol are two to try your best to kick. 

Instead, try drinking a proper amount of water, which is typically around 6 to 8 glasses a day. Drinking water helps you stay hydrated, and this is not only good for concentration levels, but it is also great to help prevent wrinkles!

For smoking, you can try using low nicotine or no nicotine vapes to ween yourself off, as well as nicotine patches. Alternatively, speak to your health care provider about useful quitting techniques or visit a local NHS Stop Smoking service. 

Now you’re in the know on all things wrinkles – from what causes wrinkles to lots of lovely ways to prevent wrinkles. But whether you want to say goodbye to those tired eyebags or you’re curious what collagen can do for sagging skin, to learn more about how collagen helps care for your skin, head over to our blog.