The 9 Hallmarks of Aging

Many years ago, my mom attended a training class with me. It was a small class – maybe 10 or 12 of us, sitting around a conference room table. The purpose of the class was to explore products, ingredients, and how they would play a role in skin health.

As we were wrapping up for lunch, I happened to glance over at my mom, who had been taking notes… lots of them! And when I asked her why she was taking notes, she said, ‘I’m making note of all the products I need to buy.’ lol Oh, mom. lol And yes, she did make a big purchase that day. Isn’t she cute? 😉

The truth is, we are all trying to outpace the aging process. And we all have our thing – that one thing about ourselves we nit pick. Mine are my grey hairs and my janky eye.

We can color our hair, get our botox, and even decide a face lift is the way to go. But bottom line… aging is inevitable, but how we age is not. With the right daily habits, we can protect our cells, slow down the root causes of aging, and feel amazing at every stage of life!

A couple years ago I attended a cosmetic chemistry class at UCLA. It had been on my bucket list since becoming a licensed esthetician 16 years ago. I loved the class. And as the name would suggest, we focused on chemical formulations and science. In one of the segments we covered the 9 hallmarks of aging.

In short, these are the real reasons we age—not just on the outside, but deep inside our bodies. Think of them as the slow, behind-the-scenes changes happening at the cellular level that lead to things like tired skin, less energy, slower healing, and a weakened immune system.

These 9 changes include:

* DNA “wear and tear” from stress, sun exposure, and enviornmental toxins.
* Cellular “batteries” run low on energy, leaving less fuel for repair and renewal.
* Genetic switches get mixed up, slowing down healthy cell activity like collagen production and healing.
* The cleanup crew gets sluggish, allowing damaged proteins and “zombie” cells to pile up and cause inflammation.
* Communication between cells gets fuzzy, making it harder for the body to stay in balance.
* Telomeres (the protective ends of DNA) shorten, which limits how often cells can renew themselves.
* Cells stop using food and nutrients efficiently, throwing off metabolism and the body’s ability to process fuel efficiently.
* Repair systems tire out, leaving stem cells to lose their strength and slow tissue regeneration.