Three natural ways to tighten skin skin and boost elasticity

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• How to boost firmness and increase skin elasticity, naturally

• Skin firming with nutrition, exercise and lifestyle changes

• Skin tightening with aesthetic treatments

• Improving skin firmness and elasticity with skincare products

• Check our professional consultancy, for a masterclass in radiofrequency, ultrasound cavitation, cellulite and skin tightening

How to boost firmness and increase skin elasticity, naturally

In a previous article we discussed what is the difference between skin elasticity and skin firmness (aka skin tightness) and what gives skin those qualities.

Here we offer the most important tips on how to improve skin elasticity and firmness naturally.

1/ Skin firming with nutrition, exercise and lifestyle changes

• Both skin firmness and elasticity are known to be maintained and even increased with exercise and a healthy diet, especially one rich in polyphenols and carotenoids (think veg, berry fruit, herbs and certain spices), protein (most women do not have enough protein in their diet) and omega-3 fatty acids (flax seeds, chia seeds, walnuts, oily fish)

• Supplements rich in polyphenols, carotenoids and fish oil can also help with firmness and elasticity

• Concentrated body creams with multiple polyphenols, carotenoids and peptides can also help with skin elasticity and firmness

• Vibration plate training is also a good way to boost tightness / elasticity

• Regular dynamic exercise (walking, running, anything to do with bouncing about) helps maintain and slowly boost skin firmness and elasticity; these exercises cause slight, momentary connective tissue deformation/stretching, which is repeated thousands of times during an exercise session and stimulates collagen/elastin production and collagen tightening

• Static exercise, such as yoga and pilates do not help with skin elasticity and tightness, as they do not cause connective tissue deformation/stretching

• Smoking, drinking, sugar, fried food, trans fats and high temperature cooking are all known to damage and diminish your collagen and elastin, via the production of damaging AGE (advanced glycation end-products) and ALE (advanced lipoxidation end-products)

• Supplementing with collagen or vegan “collagen” powder (5-10g a day) is also proven to help with skin tightness and elasticity. Normal whey protein powder, egg protein powder or vega, protein powder (10-20g a day) is also helpful.

2/ Skin tightening with aesthetic treatments

High-power, deep-tissue radio frequency and is THE most effective and fastest acting SAFE treatment to boost both firmness and elasticity (low power or superficial RF doesn’t help though).

On the other hand, extreme power RF or extreme power HIFU (those usually ultra-expensive, one-session “miracle treatments” that only benefit those who provide them) actually cause skin hardening, rather than skin tightening. The end result is hardened, inelastic tissue that feels like scar tissue, so keep away from extreme intensity one-off treatments.

All other treatments or technologies are just not that effective for skin tightening, despite all the marketing hype on instagram, tiktok and the web. For the face only, low level infrared LED treatment does help, but with 10-20 sessions over several weeks.

3/ Improving skin firmness and elasticity with skincare products

Natural actives used in skincare can stimulate either elastin, collagen or both.

Some natural actives also protect elastin and/or collagen from degradation:

• Certain peptides, for example, can boost only elastin or only collagen, while others are "‘all-rounders’

• Furthermore, most phytochemicals (typically polyphenols) can:

  • Protect either elastin, collagen or both from damage

  • Boost elastin and collagen synthesis

• Some phytochemicals, e.g. green tea extract or cocoa extract help more with elastin protection and production, while others such as pine bark extract or centella asiatica help more with collagen

• Different collagens play different roles in the body. There are currently 29 known collagens. The most important ones for skin are collagen I, III, IV and VI. Some herbal extracts and peptides focus more on specific types of collagen, so there is huge potential in exploiting the wealth of the natural world to improve skin health and appearance, with well-designed skin formulations. For example, EGCG boosts collagen type IV, asiatic acid boosts collagen type I while madecassoside boosts collagen type III.

So find a good concentrated cream with the above actives and apply religiously twice a day for 6-12 weeks for best results.

Check our professional consultancy, for a masterclass in radiofrequency, ultrasound cavitation, cellulite and skin tightening

Do you want to deeply understand radiofrequency, ultrasound cavitation, cellulite and skin tightening? Attend a half-day, 1-day or 2-day or 3-day professional consultancy / one-to-one training and confidently offer your clients the safest, strongest and most effective treatment possible. Service available via Zoom or at our central London practice.