They say that age ain’t nothing but a number and it turns out, they’re right! Most of us have been counting our chronological age to understand how old we are, but there is a better way to understand your age. Some call it your phenotype age; others call it your biological age; we just call it powering your potential. See why a truer understanding of your body, mind, and skin can lead to a happier,  more youthful experience in life.

Chronological age versus biological age

Knowing your biological age is a great way to determine your cumulative rate of aging. Your biological age relative to your chronological age is the measure of the pace at which your body has aged every year you’ve been alive. It includes factors like genetics, lifestyle, demographics, diet, and exercise. 

Your skin surface cells may progress more or less rapidly in age than what you’d expect based on your chronological age. When you understand how biological age works, you’ll have a closer idea of how to adapt to lifestyle changes and improve overall health.

Your DNA holds the key

To calculate biological age, scientists take a sample of cells and look at specific parts of the genome to see what proportion of cells are marked with DNA methylation (the presence of methyl in DNA nucleotides). Your DNA holds the instructions for building proteins that help carry out the functions of your skin surface cells. The epigenome is made up of chemical compounds and proteins that attach to DNA and tell DNA what to do. This is an example of marked DNA, which does not change the sequence of DNA but changes the way your skin surface cells read instructions.

According to a study at Yale School of Medicine, tissues and organs all have their own biological age. The average biological age is one of the best biomarkers for predicting a variety of aging outcomes. So while you may not be happy with your chronological age, each part of your body varies in age and can be presently functioning at its best despite what you think. Loving the skin you’re in is the first step to harnessing more youthful-looking skin.

How to love the skin you’re in

You are much too complex, valuable, and beautiful to be reduced to a number, especially when that number is tied only to the earth’s journey around the sun. Focus on your journey, not the sun’s. While time has real effects, the reality is there is a very wide open range of potential at any age. And speaking of the sun, if your positive age-free mindset leads you to love your skin and look for ways to limit the appearance of damage, we’ve got tips to help with that too! Although there is no way to prevent your skin from aging, you can help prevent skin aging by following a few simple steps every day.

• Washing your face every day with a gentle cleanser is important for removing any oils, pollutants, and bacteria that tend to accumulate throughout your day. This also creates a clean slate for your skin care to work more effectively. Using a gentle cleanser can help preserve your skin barrier and keep it resistant to damage and dehydration. RENUAdvanced® Foaming Cleanser promotes even-toned skin by helping maintain your natural skin barrier.

• Using a toner helps restore the low pH of your skin after washing. RENUAdvanced® Balancing Toner soothes the appearance of blemishes while lessening redness and sensitivity.

• Serums generally contain a higher concentration of active ingredients than a moisturizer. According to a recent study, they help increase the collagen in your skin and act as antioxidants to soak up biological and environmental oxidative stress that can build up and cause aging. By supporting your skin’s natural protective barriers, RENUAdvanced® Glow Serum helps even out skin tone, reenergize, and calm your skin for a radiant appearance.

• As you age, your skin creates less natural oil (sebum). While this means you’ll have less chance of acne it also means that your skin will dry out more easily as time goes on. This is why using a daily moisturizer is key to helping your skin stay younger-looking. RENUAdvanced® Hydrating Cream gives you deep hydration. Hyaluronic acid helps absorb negative impacts from the environment and binds to water to help retain moisture.

It’s never too early or too late to take skin care seriously. Consider your skin as young as you want and take care of it accordingly. Knowing what your daily habits are and how you take care of yourself is a better way to embrace your age than your chronological date. Taking care of your skin can help smooth out your anxieties and your wrinkles, improve how you feel about your skin, and boost your confidence.