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To understand better how to combat the signs of aging, it's a good idea to become familiar with the process itself. The rate at which our skin ages and how this aging will manifest itself are determined primarily by our genetics, the passage of time, and our lifestyles. All of these factors play a role in how we will look at any given moment and give us information to help predict how we will look in the future.

Our Family Trees

Our bodies have their own internal clocks that help determine how and when we will age. For some people, that clock ticks faster than others, and they look and/or feel older than their chronological years. For others, it ticks more slowly, and they look and/or feel younger. This clock is set by our ancestral DNA, which means there is a strong likelihood that our health and bodies, including our skin, will have the same strengths and weaknesses as those of our family members in much the same way as we inherit eye and hair color. Looking at the parent we most closely resemble and assessing how his or her skin aged can be a powerful predictor of how we will look in the future (see photo section, page 2). But lifestyle habits do play a role here. For example, if a parent smoked or worshiped the sun and you never did, your overall health and appearance will no doubt reap the benefits.

Knowing our inherent strengths and weaknesses lets us take the most targeted preventative and curative measures. For example, if sagging seems to be a family trait, there are lifestyle habits we can adopt, such as not losing a drastic amount of weight as we get older, to stave off the so-called inevitable. Our genetics also give us a good indication of which treatments and procedures will be the most effective for us. For example, if family members have been using an ingredient successfully without irritation, there is an excellent chance that it will have similar benefits for us.

As Time Goes By

As we age our body's natural functions start to wind down, including the biochemical mechanisms that keep skin looking its best. Our skin has built-in natural defenses to protect it from damage, be it from a bad sunburn, drinking too much alcohol, not sleeping enough, and a host of other things. Skin also has amazing regenerative abilities that help it repair any damage it may have incurred. But our skin also has natural enzymes that break it down. As we age, our skin's defensive and healing powers no longer outpace its natural degradation process. The net result is that our skin loses its ability to fend off and recover from internal and external stressors.

Here's another fitness analogy. A young jogger can go out one day and pound the pavement. Her knees might be a bit sore afterward, but the next day she can get up and jog again without any major problems. An older jogger, whose knees have taken this type of stress for years, has less natural protection against this type of trauma and less than optimum regenerative abilities to help repair the damage her joints may have sustained during her afternoon run. She will most likely not be able to handle that kind of beating two days in a row without having aching knees. Our skin is no different. As we age, routine stresses, like the sun or lack of sleep, become more traumatic to our skin because we have fewer natural defenses to come to its aid. But here's where modern science steps in, bringing with it a host of protective and reparative products that can take over where our own natural functions have left off.

Wear And Tear

When we buy a pair of new shoes, the leather is smooth, even in color, and blemish-free. But as we wear them, they start to develop creases. In the beginning, these creases are only visible when we are walking. But the more we walk in the shoes, the deeper the creases get until they are visible all the time. Our skin is kind of like that. The more we use it, the less "new" it appears. And we use our skin a lot. Our many years of making repetitive facial movements, for example, are a key cause of lines. If, let's say, we have a tendency to furrow our brows, our faces may "freeze that way," as our mothers might have said. Well, not exactly but close. What happens is that by constantly creasing our foreheads, we can tax the skin to the extent that its ability to bounce back becomes compromised. Gradually a wrinkle will form as a result, even when we are not furrowing (see photo section, page 3). But again, these creases don't have to be permanent. There are proven ways to relax them back either to their former smooth state or very close to it. Plus, there are many lifestyle habits we can adopt that will prevent further wear and tear and even reverse some of the signs of it. The sun, wind, not sleeping enough, eating an unhealthy diet, and many other habits do show up on our faces. By making certain changes in our daily routines, we not only can improve our overall health but also the condition of our skin.

Genetics also comes into play here, though. Some people are more predisposed than others to particular stresses. Think of that annoying friend who lives on cheeseburgers and fries yet remains superthin and doesn't develop high blood pressure. Once we factor in genetics with our skin's natural aging process and our lifestyle habits, we can develop a precise and targeted strategy that will put us on the path (and keep us there) to amazing-looking skin.

Amazing-looking skin, however, can be a completely subjective term. How we feel about the way we look plays a significant role when we are trying to determine an appropriate course of action. In my experience, a person who is happy with their appearance is pleased with making slow and steady improvements, even if others might say she needs a more speedy and radical approach. On the other hand, a person who is very critical of their appearance is often tempted to take more extreme measures in the hopes of making a dramatic difference, whether or not the condition of their skin calls for it.

But no matter how you feel about your skin, it is important to remember that permanent procedures such as a face-lift aren't reversible. And other invasive measures, such as laser resurfacing, which can be appropriate for some people, can leave lasting scars and skin discolorations.

Your first step to beautiful, younger-looking skin is to take all of these elements into account: your genetics, lifestyle, inherited patterns of aging, your skin's present condition, and the way you feel about your appearance so that you can make educated decisions about which products and therapies will work for you. "Creating Your Personal Profile" will help us determine your skin's level (phase of its life cycle) by factoring in all of the above. Your score will help you map out your personalized plan of products and perhaps procedures that will best work for you to give you the results that you want. Every level, however, does need to start out with the basic preventative measures and healthy skin-care habits outlined in chapter 3, "Level One: Essential Care and Prevention." Each successive chapter level will provide progressively more intensive measures that will yield more dramatic results. The important thing to remember, however, is that you don't have to get more aggressive and invasive if you are satisfied with the results you are getting and/or are just plain uncomfortable with the idea of elective cosmetic surgery or a procedure that requires substantial recovery time. It is your face, after all.

The last two chapters will focus on the lifestyle and nutritional habits that will make all the difference in the world to the way you look and feel - no matter what your level. So with all this in mind, let's get started and give you the knowledge and the tools that will give you your best skin ever.

© 2005 Viking, a division of Penguin Putnam, used by permission.

Tags: Skin Care, Aging

About the Author

Dennis Gross, M.D., is a practicing New York City dermatologist, dermatological surgeon, and skin-care expert with an extensive background in skin research at Memorial Sloan Kettering and Rockefeller University. He is a clinician at New York University Medical Center, where he received his medical degree and dermatological training, and he is the founder of M.D. Skincare, a comprehensive line of skin-care products. Dr. Gross has many high-profile clients, and he has been featured in publications such as Elle, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, and Vogue.

About the Author

Cara Kagan, a writer and consultant on beauty and fitness for more than twelve years, has been the beauty and fitness director at several magazines, including Elle.