Written by Akil Wingate in Beauty on the 21st January 2014

Photography by Craig Landale

Face it, studs. You’re not getting any younger. So you might as well live it up while the living’s good. But take into consideration, some of those YOLO (You Only Live Once) extracurricular activities will age you faster than a time machine shaped like a police phone booth (Dr. Who reference). 

No one wants to look like Soupy Sales or have Pop Eye face in their 20s and 30s. But truth be told, you may be sabotaging yourself. Some of those innocent habits of yours may be biting you in the butt. Here are five possible culprits. 

1) Sugar 

Who doesn’t like sweets? Candy, donuts, candy bars or even protein bars for the gym rats are guilty pleasure items that rack up damage on your most important calling card, your face. 

Nothing ages you faster than a steady accumulation of sugar in the diet. Sugar dropkicks the elasticity in the skin that gives us all our youthful appearance. 

It adheres to the collagen and makes the skin look stiff and lifeless. A steady routine of one too many sugars in your coffee, jellied donuts, or crunchy morning cereal with chocolate nuggets is a sure way to give those future wrinkles (you wish to avoid) even deeper, more pronounced lines. 

The remedy: opt for naturally sweet replacements and try your tea black for a change.

2) Salt 

Sugar’s evil twin brother salt is just as bad for the skin as is sugar. We get it in just about everything these days that isn’t marked organic or bio in the grocer. 

So sometimes it seems like there is just no escaping it. Salt’s tentacles not only wreak damage on our hearts, kidneys, and other vital organs, it plays soccer all over our faces. 

It dehydrates the skin and gives the skin a tired, drained and even baggy look. We’ve all had those all-nighters and looked ourselves in the mirror to face way too many bags and lines stretching across our face. All the youth seemed drained in one night of reckless abandon. Multiply that by ten and you’ve got salt face. 

The remedy: opt for simple spices to flavour your foods and when eating out make sure to preference little to no salt added to your dish. 

3) Alcohol 

One of the common themes between many of the quick ageing culprits is their damning ability to dehydrate the body. Alcohol is no different in this regard. 

Sure it’s great to have a glass of red at the end of the day or a few drinks with the mates for a night out on the town. But one too many is one too many. 

Alcohol, like salt, will dehydrate the skin, removing that youthful effervescence and elasticity that give you your added charm regardless of what age you really are. 

The remedy: cut back on social drinking; couple with bottled mineral water.

4) Smoking 

Need another reason to put down those cigarettes? Here’s one. According to a recent study conducted with identical twins at Vanderbilt University, smoking is much more likely to produce wrinkles around the mouth and bags under the eyes than normal aging. 

Aside from the usual threat of cancer, heart and lung disease and stroke, smoking will turn your laugh lines into deep wrinkled ravines of despair in no time. 

The remedy: put the cigarettes down. 

5) Caffeine 

Sure we all know caffeine has its pros and cons. Amongst its pros are its anti-inflammatory properties and ability to stimulate brain function. 

But on the negative side of the coin, caffeine dehydrates the skin. Just like alcohol and salt, too much caffeine will turn that money maker of a face into a sad case of the “way too many miles on this one” face. 

If you’re keen to avoid a luggage set of bags under your eyes and lines that stretch from your nose to Paris, limiting your caffeine intake would be optimal. 

The remedy: drink decaffeinated. 

Remember everything in moderation is key. Just don’t go overboard and regret it later.

We discuss 5 Things That Make You Look Old from foods that wrinkle your face to bad health and ageing habits such as smoking and alcohol.