Women's Health April 9, 2026 0 Comments

Unlock the Secret to Ageless Skin: Which of These 2 Types of Aging Is Sneaking Up on You—and How to Stop It Now

Death, taxes, and aging—yeah, you’ve heard it before: three certainties in life we just can’t dodge. But here’s the kicker—skin aging? It doesn’t come knocking on everyone’s door the same way. Ever wondered why your friend seems to defy time with barely a wrinkle, while your reflection tells a totally different story? It all boils down to the type of aging your skin’s been partying with—extrinsic or intrinsic. Some of it, like sun damage and smoking, you actually hold the reins on ; other bits, such as your genetic blueprint, are beyond your control. But here’s the good news: knowing your skin’s aging game plan means you can fight back with smarter habits, legit skincare, and yep, even some pro treatments. Ready to expand your skin longevity toolkit and take the clock by the horns? Let’s dive in.

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14 min read

Death. Taxes. Aging. These are three things that are totally unavoidable. And when it comes to skin aging in particular, it’s no secret that exactly when and how it presents itself can vary greatly.

One person might notice stubborn dark spots crop up on their face after years of unprotected sun exposure, for instance. On someone else, the passage of time could come in the form of crow’s feet bearing an uncanny resemblance to the wrinkles on their mom’s face. These sorts of variations in the inevitable aging process all come down to the type of aging at play, experts say.

“Things that cause us to age fall into two broad categories, extrinsic and intrinsic factors,” explains Kavita Mariwalla, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in New York. To put it simply, you can group causes of aging into things you do have control over—such as sun exposure, smoking, and the skincare products you use—versus factors that are largely outside your control, such as the genetics you were born with, adds Jessica Weiser, MD, a board-certified dermatologist who practices in New York City and Aspen, Colorado.

Meet the experts: Kavita Mariwalla, MD, is a board-certified dermatologist in New York. Jessica Weiser, MD, is a board-certified dermatologist who practices in New York City and Aspen, Colorado. Maegan Griffin is a nurse practitioner and founder of the skincare brand Skin Pharm.

Understanding the types of aging your skin undergoes can help you get ahead of it and take informed steps to slow it down. So while you may not be able to stop the clock altogether, you can make the visible effects of aging less noticeable with the right combination of lifestyle habits, skincare ingredients actually proven to work, and strategic in-office procedures.

Here, experts break down how to identify signs of extrinsic and intrinsic aging in your skin, and share evidence-backed strategies to combat each type. So consider this a complete guide to achieving younger-looking skin from both the inside-out and the outside-in. Your skin longevity toolkit is about to get a whooole lot bigger.

How to Slow Extrinsic Aging

Outside factors can take a serious toll on your skin and contribute to premature aging—there’s no denying that. Whether it’s damage caused by exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet rays or air pollution from the surrounding environment, it can feel like the world around us is attacking our skin from every angle.

And while “you can’t exactly say if a particular wrinkle is caused by an extrinsic or intrinsic factor,” says Dr. Mariwalla, “there are some signs to look for.” A major clue is irregularity, explains Maegan Griffin, a nurse practitioner and founder of the skincare brand Skin Pharm. “External stressors create oxidative stress, DNA damage, and collagen breakdown in a more irregular way,” she says. That could translate to uneven pigmentation such as sunspots; fine lines and deep wrinkles on spots frequently exposed to the sun (such as the face, neck, and back of the hands) coupled with smooth, younger-looking skin on concealed areas; and large-looking pores exaggerated by thin, saggy skin, Dr. Mariwalla says.

Luckily, there’s lots you can do to mitigate damage through the choices you make and the products you incorporate into your routine. Here are some proactive steps you can take right now.

You’re probably already well-aware of the importance of wearing sunscreen on your face and body everyday. Whether you work an office job or spend all day outside, using sunscreen is absolutely crucial to slowing skin aging and reducing your risk of potentially fatal skin cancers. “Sunscreen use isn’t a question, it’s a must,” says Dr. Weiser.

Here’s a quick primer on why it’s so important: When your skin is exposed to the sun’s UV rays, that radiation damages the DNA in skin cells and breaks down proteins such as collagen and elastin, which are crucial to keeping skin bouncy and firm. Over time, compounded exposure to the sun’s rays and the natural aging process cause the skin to become more damaged than what it can manage to repair by itself. As a result, you’re left with signs of aging such as fine lines, wrinkles, rough skin texture and dark spots. Ugh. And while these cosmetic concerns could also be driven by other factors, research suggests that exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet rays could contribute up to a whopping 80 percent of visible skin aging, Griffin explains.

But don’t panic! The fix couldn’t be easier: Find a broad-spectrum sunscreen that you enjoy wearing and has a sun protection factor, or SPF, of at least 30—that’s what the American Academy of Dermatology recommends for daily use to ensure your skin is adequately protected.

Once you’ve settled on a sunscreen, be sure to slather it on daily, 365 days per year, rain or shine, because consistency is really what matters here, Griffin says. And while you might be preoccupied with putting sunscreen on every inch of your face, don’t forget to show some love to your neck, chest, and backs of the hands, too. For extra good measure, consider investing in a body sunscreen to keep your limbs protected as well.

Add an antioxidant to your routine.

Before you apply your sunscreen, layering on a topical antioxidant offers an extra level of protection from environmental aggressors. So if you’re looking to give your skin a little extra insurance, this is a worthwhile addition to your skincare routine. There are several antioxidants to choose from, such as vitamin E, niacinamide, and bakuchiol, but Griffin recommends opting for vitamin C because it boasts a litany of well-proven benefits like spurring collagen production in the skin, brightening the complexion by accelerating skin cell turnover, and, like all antioxidants, scavenging unstable molecules in the environment that damage skin over time, reducing what experts call oxidative stress.

Dr. Weiser also likes vitamin C, but says it’s important to ensure the packaging of the product is opaque and airtight. That’s because the vitamin (and antioxidants in general) are inherently unstable—they oxidize quickly when exposed to oxygen, light, and water, which can render the product inactive (and, well, useless) before it ever reaches your skin. When using a dropper, for instance, your product gets oxidized every time you use it and it’s exposed to the surrounding air, Dr. Weiser explains.

To further up the ante, Dr. Mariwalla recommends using skincare that contains pollution shields. These products often contain antioxidants, as well as additional compounds such as polymers that work to create a barrier on the skin and protect it from environmental pollutants like smoke.

Pollution shields are especially important if you live in an urban area, Dr. Mariwalla says, since airborne pollutants can heighten inflammation in the skin, weaken the skin barrier, and contribute to aging.

Make the most of your moisturizer.

ICYDK, your skin barrier is the outermost layer of skin. Its job is to keep environmental aggressors out of the skin, and keep good things, like hydration, within it, Women’s Health previously reported. One of the simplest ways to maintain and rebuild your skin barrier health is to use a good moisturizer, Dr. Mariwalla says.

Moisturizing is not a step of your skincare routine you’ll want to skip, either, because a compromised barrier can lead to hallmarks of aging such as dryness, fine lines, dullness and flakiness. And though it’s a step that sounds simple enough, plucking a moisturizer off the shelf can feel surprisingly overwhelming since there are so many options to choose from.

To narrow it down to only the best-of-the-best, Dr. Mariwalla suggests choosing formulas with multiple types of lipids, or fats, that mimic what is naturally found in your skin. So check ingredients labels for ingredients such as ceramides, squalane, and fatty acids such as linoleic acid.

And bear in mind that when and how frequently you moisturize is important, too, Dr. Mariwalla says. “If your skin is very sensitive and red, moisturize twice in the evening: Once when you get home from work, and once before bed,” she suggests. This is optimal because barrier repair mechanisms are most active at night, according to research, so nighttime moisturizing will allow you to reap the most benefits.

However, it’s also possible to use too much moisturizer, which can lead to a separate slew of skin issues such as acne cysts and fullness. So as a general rule of thumb, try to avoid using more than a tablespoon of moisturizer per day, experts say.

With these tips, you’re well on your way to having a well-rounded, dermatologist-approved skincare routine that will actually make your skin appear younger. Here are some specific product recommendations to get you started:

Products to Help Your Skin Look Younger

Best sunscreen

ISDIN Eryfotona Ageless Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50

This sunscreen contains unique DNA repair enzymes to reduce sun-induced skin aging. It flaunts a lightweight formula that absorbs quickly, and it’s water-resistant: perfect for active lifestyles.

Best Vitamin C Serum

Summer Fridays Summer Fridays CC Me Vitamin C + Niacinamide Serum 1.0 oz/ 30 mL

Best Moisturizer

Olay Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Cream

The stars in this formula are the shea butter and hyaluronic acid. It provides instant moisture that allows the skin to feel soft and smooth. The moisturizer itself is incredibly creamy, and it infuses the skin with hydration that lasts for hours on end.

Incorporate in-office treatments.

A robust, evidence-backed skincare routine can be a great way to help reverse the clock and pour some extra love into your skin. But, at the end of the day, topical products can only do so much. And that’s exactly where targeted procedures come in to help fill in the gaps and bolster your results.

In the aesthetics world, there’s been a shift away from procedures that more drastically alter how people look—such as facelifts, rhinoplasties, and laser treatments that spot-treat signs of aging—and towards treatments that focus more holistically on improving the quality of the skin. “Instead of things that just eliminate a sun spot or a wrinkle and basically put a band-aid on the problem, the latest treatments are really trying to reverse the causes of what make us look older,” Dr. Weiser says.

To name a couple examples, biostimulatory fillers like Sculptra and Radiesse help the body rebuild its own collagen and elastin, serving as Food and Drug Administration-approved treatments for signs of aging such as fine lines, wrinkles, smile lines, marionette lines and jowls. Within the past several years, these regenerative injectables have perhaps become more popular than their hyaluronic acid predecessors, experts say.

And when it comes to regenerative procedures to boost skin longevity, you’re honestly spoiled for choice. Other popular options include microneedling and radiofrequency microneedling—minimally invasive procedures that spur collagen and elastin production by creating tiny, controlled injuries in the skin—as well as monopolar radiofrequency, a non-invasive treatment that uses heat energy to achieve similar regenerative effects deeper in the skin.

Start pumping iron.

Movement is medicine—that much is obvious. Decades of research has established its benefits for heart health, diabetes risk, cancer risk, and overall longevity. But did you know that exercise—resistance training in particular—is good for your skin, as well?

That’s right…you have yet another reason to start picking up some weights: “It helps preserve muscle mass, supports metabolic health, and improves circulation,” Griffin explains. “This contributes to better nutrient delivery and overall skin function over time.”

And this isn’t just hearsay. Limited research backs it up: Over the course of 16 weeks, resistance training, which can include anything from pumping iron to mat Pilates, was found to reduce signs of skin aging by potentially kicking collagen production into high gear, according to a small 2023 randomized controlled trail involving 56 participants, Women’s Health previously reported.

That major perk is why Dr. Mariwalla is a big fan of resistance training, as well as the fact that it can help reduce skin inflammation, she says. After all, research suggests that inflammation can contribute to skin aging by causing damage to skin cells, degrading collagen, and impairing the skin barrier.

So yeah—something that builds muscle, calms inflammation, and moonlights as a skin tool for reversing skin aging? Yes, please.

Don’t smoke…anything.

It should come as no surprise that smoking is detrimental to both our general health and our skin in particular. But to give you a quick primer: Research suggests that the skin of 40-year-old frequent smokers resembles the skin of non-smoking 70-year olds. Yikes.

This detrimental effect of the appearance of the skin is thanks to tobacco smoke, which impairs the skin’s ability to produce collagen while increasing the skin’s production of enzymes that degrade the protein, according to studies. Cigarette smoke is also shown to contain chemicals that make it harder for the skin to retain moisture, damage the skin barrier, and lead to a complexion that is more dry, irritable, thin and saggy. And as if that weren’t alarming enough, smoking also restricts blood flow to the skin, making it harder for skin cells to get all the nutrients they need to fire on all cylinders.

But this principle applies to more than just cigarettes, Dr. Weiser says. “There are chemicals and contaminates that come with any kind of smoke exposure,” she explains. Translation: smoking marijuana and using vapes may very well contribute to skin aging in the same way cigarettes do.

The body of research on the effects of vaping or smoking marajuana is relatively limited compared to cigarettes, but what we do know isn’t encouraging: Studies show that electronic cigarettes can slow wound healing in the skin, increase inflammation, and aggravate skin conditions such as eczema. Some research has associated smoking marajuana with accelerated aging as well, though the underlying driver of it is thought to be the act of smoking itself rather than the cannabis.

So if what you’re after is more youthful complexion, consider putting your smoking habit to bed. Your skin (and lungs) will thank you.

How to Slow Intrinsic Aging

Unlike extrinsic aging, its intrinsic counterpart can be thought of as the natural biological aging process that every single one of us will succumb to with time. It’s essentially the aging our genetics program us to experience—and it happens regardless of external factors such as how much time we spend in the sun, how diligently we protect ourselves from pollution, or how many steps we include in our skincare routine.

“Intrinsic aging tends to present as a gradual thinning of the skin and loss of elasticity,” Griffin says. “This happens due to a steady decline in collagen production over time.” What’s interesting about intrinsic aging, is that we used to think genetics was a large determining factor of aging that couldn’t be modified, Dr. Mariwalla says—kind of like an instruction manual that can’t be edited.

But as we learn more about epigenetics, the study of how behavior and lifestyle factors can influence the way our genes express themselves, it appears to be more and more likely that we can actually alter the ways our body reacts to stressors like inflammation and the march of time, Dr. Mariwalla explains, and in turn, how our skin functions and appears.

It’s also worth noting that intrinsic aging, doesn’t only happen to the skin—it eventually impacts every organ, tissue and cellular fuction over time. That means doing things to support you overall health is also likely beneficial for the health and appearance of your skin, Dr. Weiser says. Here’s a breakdown of a few specific steps you can take.

Eat healthily.

It’s not the most groundbreaking news, per se, but nutrition and diet really do play a huge role when it comes to slowing intrinsic aging, says Dr. Weiser. In fact, there’s an emerging field of study dedicated to investigating how certain natural chemical compounds in foods influence how genes express themselves, and in turn, how the internal aging process progresses: It’s called epinutrition.

“We know that eating a highly-inflammatory diet is correlated with accelerated collagen breakdown and aging,” Dr. Weiser explains. The same goes for high-fat diets, which are also linked slower wound-healing in the skin, as well as increased oxidative stress and more skin inflammation, research suggests.

And for everyone who has a sweet tooth, I’ve got bad news: Consuming sugar triggers the formation of advanced glycation end products, or AGEs—which are compounds that can accumulate on collagen and elastin proteins, and prevent them from keeping the skin looking smooth, bouncy and youthful.

The solution? Focusing on foods rich in antioxidants like vitamin C, as well as sources of omega-3 fatty acids is key to combating inflammation, experts say. So is eating plenty of protein, which provides the building blocks “needed to build collagen and maintain skin structure,” Griffin says. “If intake is too low, the body prioritizes essential functions instead, which can lead to thinner and less resilient skin.”

So consider this your green light to indulge in foods like salmon, roasted vegetables, quinoa, and leafy green salads, just to name a few examples—your complexion will be better for it.

Keep tabs on your hormones.

As women age, hormonal shifts are to be expected. But monitoring these changes as they occur can help guide how you’ll support your skin so it can look its very best.

Drastic hormonal swings can affect your complexion in a variety of ways, but declining estrogen levels, which happens when the supply of follicles in ovaries dwindles during menopause, can be particularly problematic: It often leads to skin that’s thinner and drier, Griffin says, as well as reduced elasticity that can make skin appear saggy.

Thankfully, “we live in an era where there are plenty of treatments and options that can help maintain hormonal homeostasis and regulation,” adds Dr. Weiser. Her advice: Find a functional medicine doctor that you trust, and make yearly comprehensive bloodwork a non-negotiable. Getting this sort of checkup can reveal exactly what hormone support (such as hormone replacement therapy or other hormone therapies) you may need, as well as supplements (such as vitamin D pills), or dietary changes that may be most beneficial for your skin—removing the need for guesswork.

Regulate your circadian rhythm.

Your circadian rhythm—the internal 24-hour clock that regulates nearly every biological process in your body, including skin cell repair and renewal—is more connected to how your complexion looks than you might think. When it gets disrupted from factors such irregular sleep, stress, looking at screens late at night, or even consuming alcohol or caffeine close to bedtime, your levels of the stress hormone cortisol can begin to spike.

And research shows that when internal cortisol levels rise, the skin can become less elastic, lose the moisture that keeps it looking plump, and become more prone to texture changes and wrinkling. It can also manifest as “swelling around the eyes, a general puffy appearance, and a loss of radiance,” Dr. Mariwalla adds. Yikes.

But, hey, life happens. We can’t expect every single day to be stress-free. And it’s not always realistic to go to bed and wakeup at the same time. So here’s a quick tip to combat the negative downstream effects of a wonky circadian rhythm and increased stress: Sunlight. “Getting sun light exposure in the early morning hours helps to rebalance your circadian rhythm,” says Dr. Mariwalla, since it tells your brain that the day has started. This, in turn, “better controls cortisol firing and can calm inflammation,” she adds.

So, if your schedule allows, slather on some SPF and consider getting outside for a brief walk in the mornings. Alongside regulating your internal body clock, just 10 or 15 minutes outside will also get you enough vitamin D to support optimal skin health, Women’s Health previously reported.

Spend time with friends.

It’s pretty clear that being stressed out isn’t good for your mental or physical health. So finding ways to lower that stress can potentially help slow intrinsic aging, and, in turn, give you a smoother, more youthful complexion. Investing time into high-quality, meaningful personal relationships seems to be a sure-fire way to do exactly that, studies suggest.

Feeling lonely is a strong driver of elevated cortisol and systemic inflammation. But spending time with loved ones combats both those effects, experts say, helping to preserve your skin’s natural skin barrier health and supply of collagen. Plus, studies show that a robust, meaningful social network can also reduce the biological age of your cells, Dr. Mariwalla adds.

So instead of staring at a screen, doom-scrolling on social media until your eyes get dry—we’ve all been there—consider getting out there with your family, friends and other loved ones to have a good laugh, Dr. Mariwalla says. Consider this your permission to book the girls trip; to finally plan the family Sunday dinner; or take a walk with that one neighbor you’ve been wanting to get to know better. You can rest assured knowing it’s good for both your mind and your skin.

The Bottom Line: You Can Take Action.

Bearing all these tips in mind, it’s clear you have way more control over how your skin ages than you might think. After all, your skin is a reflection of how you take care of yourself—and the good news is, it’s never too late to start investing in your health. Start small, stay consistent, and remember: The best anti-aging routine is the one you’ll actually stick to.

Melanie Rud is a beauty writer and editor with over 15 years of experience in the industry covering skincare, makeup, hair, and more. Her work has appeared in Shape, Real Simple, Byrdie, In Style, RealSelf, Good Housekeeping, PopSugar, and multiple other print and digital outlets. Additionally, she works as a personal beauty coach and also offers consulting services for beauty companies.

Katie Mogg is the beauty editorial assistant at Women’s Health. Since starting college at Northeastern University in 2020, her bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, NBC News and The Boston Globe. She strives to help readers lead happier and healthier lives through science-backed stories that explain how to care for hair, skin and nails. When she’s not working, Katie enjoys live music, strolling through Central Park, planning her next beach getaway, and sharing hotpot with friends.