Jennifer Aniston – How to look good at 40

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1. Embrace the changes in your skin.

Consider whether you need more hydration in your skin, or a less powdered finish, for example. DON’T Keep wearing the make-up looks you did two decades ago. Embrace a more sophisticated style that complements your skin and suits the woman you are now.

2. Contour

This quick contouring tip will take years off your appearance. Using a powder that is two to three shades darker than your skin tone, lightly dust on along the jawline, hairline and temples. This creates false depth to the face, which in turn emphasises the lighter areas and creates a youthful look (read: higher cheekbones). DON’T Think you need surgery to restore a more youthful look.

3. Increase consumption of maca root powder

This will help ease the symptoms of all stages of menopause by balancing hormonal fluctuations. Maca is renowned for helping to support hormone balance, as well as increasing libido and energy levels. DON’T Consume foods high in sugar. Refined sugar leaches precious minerals from the body and deteriorates skin health due to its collagen-damaging effect.

4. Drink red wine

It contains a powerful heart-healthy, anti-cancer, anti-ageing antioxidant called resveratrol. It also appears that resveratrol helps protect the skin against the sun’s UV radiation. Cabernet Sauvignon grapes have the highest concentration of antioxidants – just be sure to keep it to one glass, and have your wine with a meal to mitigate the inflammatory effects of alcohol. DON’T Eat saturated fats or trans fats. When you eat a healthy diet, your skin is more likely to glow and you may even appear more youthful. As well as leading to health problems, trans fats can cause problems with your skin – avoid these and add healthy fats, and you will likely begin seeing noticeable changes in how your skin looks and feels.

5. Use an anti-ageing cleanser

Use one that is full of nutrients, because your anti-ageing regime begins with a cleanser that gives to your skin rather than depleting it and then trying to give back what it has stripped away. Your skin should feel nourished right from your cleanser, all the way through your skincare regime. DON’T Use skincare that contains mineral oil/petrolatum ingredients as they act like a plastic wrapper on the skin and DON’T allow the skin to expel toxins or absorb nutrients. Literally, they suffocate the skin.

6. Colour your hair

Minimise that white tram track down your parting if you’re a brunette with the first of that ‘white hair’. I suggest applying soft, natural and lighter colour parts through your hair, to reduce the harshness on the parting and avoid those two-week touch-ups at the salon. DON’T Hang on to length. You may begin to find your hair stops growing at a certain length, as the growth stage has slowed and each follicle may only grow for a two to three year period. Embrace the shorter look – a good hairdresser will personalise it to make it look great on you.

7. Keep the thickness and lushness of the brow

Colour them slightly to cover any grey hair. Never over-pluck them – ever. DON’T Pluck the grey hairs (although it is very tempting), as you are only going to destroy the follicle, which in turn creates a gap where hair will no longer grow.

8. Use a rich, nourishing night cream

In your 40s, collagen fibres stiffen and break apart, resulting in skin crevices and furrows known more kindly as lines and wrinkles. Key ingredients now include rose oil, jojoba oil and and natural AHAs to remove the build up of dead skin cells, which can also create a dull and greying appearance to skin. DON’T Neglect the advice out there! A lot of women feel pressure in their 40s to commence cosmetic surgery enhancements such as muscle relaxants and filler to delay and soften the ageing process. Cosmetic clinics and dermatologists have made massive leaps in the last 10 years and there are a plethora of non invasive treatments available such as laser and rejuvenation that. DON’T involve needles.

9. Drink lots of water and green tea

This promotes circulation as well as supple skin. Also incorporate microdermabrasion facials into your regime, to help prevent wrinkles. DON’T Think plastic surgery is the cure for everything age-related.

10. Consider veneers

These are permanent (bleaching is only temporary) and can fix dental flaws beyond colour, such as shortened or worn down teeth. The effect can take years off! DON’T Underestimate the importance of your dental care now. You need to seek out conservative, good, thorough dentistry.

11. Clean your liver occassionally

This will make the whites of your eyes clearer and increase your metabolism. DON’T Eat dairy, wheat or sugar for five days, while going hard on the green vegies. It’s the easiest way to do a little liver cleanse.

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