What you do now can affect how quickly you age 10 or 20 years down the road. Prevention is better than cure when it comes to premature aging of your skin. Whether you look 10 years older than your peers or 10 years younger than them a few decades from now all depends on what you do now.

These 5 mistakes are

1. Too many late nights.

Whether you party all night long or work through the night to meet deadlines. Not getting enough sleep at night is going to affect your skin. In the short run, you look terrible the next day without makeup. In the long run, your skin ages faster. Some of the women who stay beautiful into their twillight years have always gone to bed early every night since they were young.

2. Too much crash diets.

Lose weight suddenly then gain it back and lose it again quickly, over and over again. Your skin has to readjust to all that weight gain and weight loss so often it loses its elasticity. Result.. you end up looking older than if you had lost weight gradually and kept at a certain weight.

3. Too much junk food

All that sugar, salt, additives, artificial flavouring, cholesterol, fat and unhealthy stuff in your junk food all adds up. It gets worse if for lunch, you have a pack of M & Ms on the go. Not only do you get fat, stretching your skin further, you deprive your body of the nutrients you need. Your skin needs vitamins, minerals, proteins and other nutrients you get from fresh fruit, vegetables, meats, grains and wholesome food. The women who look younger than their actual age tend to have healthy diets. Snack on fresh fruit and nuts instead of junk food. Eat proper nutritious meals.

4. Getting a real tan

No doubt, lots of A-list celebrities sport that glowing tan. The gorgeous crowd is often a tan crowd. You can get that tan too, but do it without the sun or UV lamps. You see, a real tan is produced when the UV rays of the sun damage your skin. It might look healthy but someone who tans regularly when young usually ends up with leathery skin decades later, more wrinkles than their peers, and that is IF they are lucky. Some even end up with skin cancer. The smart way to get that gorgeous tan is use sunless tanning products.

5. Not using sunscreen.

You might use all the anti-aging skin care products you can find, but if you skip sunscreen, all is in vain. Sun damage is one of the biggest culprits in the premature appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Whether you are at the beach or going out to get some groceries, your skin needs protection from the sun. Each morning, as part of your skin care routine, apply a sunblock moisturizer.