Men don't need a bathroom full of lotions and potions (or the number of a good plastic surgeon) to look younger. Here are the easy — but effective — alternatives...
Let's face it, you probably want to look a bit younger. Or if you don't now, you will a few years down the line. At the same time, the prospect of spending the sort of time, money and effort your girlfriend wastes on the quest for the perfect wrinkle filler rightly fills you with horror.
So what's to be done? Well, for a start you could try out a few of these hassle-free ways of staying rosy-cheeked and fresh-faced, without a blusher or concealer (ask the girlfriend) in sight.
Exercise your body
According to a study by researchers at the University of Toronto, regular exercise can make you look and feel up to 12 years younger than you really are. According to the research, without frequent workouts, maximum aerobic power falls in men by up to half between the ages of 20 and 60. But a regular exercise regime effectively compensates for the natural aerobic decline of age. Aerobic strength means there's plenty of oxygen-rich blood circulating in your bones, muscles and skin.
And there's more. Much more. OK, it was only in mice, but last year Dr Mark Tarnopolsky, a professor of paediatrics at McMaster University in Canada discovered that regular exercise reduced nearly every detrimental effect of ageing. The mice had the shiny fur and muscle mass of much younger animals. In a word, they looked great.
Although the subjects were rodents, the systems that seemed to benefit most from the exercise are also found in humans. It seems clear that exercise keeps you looking young.
Exercise your face
We exercise our arms, legs and torsos to increase muscle strength, reduce flab, and give the appearance of a toned and youthful body. So why not do the same with our faces?
Many experts claim that facial exercise can be as good as botox or surgery for promoting a youthful appearance. There are more than 35 muscles around the chin and jaw alone, and exercising them can help ward off one of the tell-tale signs of ageing — the double chin. So open your mouth wide, pull your bottom lip over your bottom teeth, and move your jaw up and down in a shovelling motion. Repeat two or three times a day.
And don't forget the rest of your face. Make exaggerated expressions using as many muscles in your face as you can whenever you get a spare (and preferably private) moment — maybe in the car or the shower.
Eat well
You knew this one was coming. But don't worry, you don't have to follow a strict diet to give your skin a youthful glow. Men eat more salt than women, and salt can lead to puffy skin. So cut down on salt and keep sugar to a minimum too. Eat plenty of fruit and veg to keep skin cells bathed in nutrients and drink plenty of water.
Healthy living
As well as eating well, a couple of tips will help to keep your skin looking baby-fresh (sort of). For one, stay out of the hot sun and don't burn. Nothing promotes the formation of wrinkles like the sun's rays, so keep in the shade during the hottest part of the day.
Also, try and get a good night's sleep. That's sometimes easier said than done, but tiredness leads to bags under the eyes and a pale, lifeless complexion. Sleeplessness also promotes the production of stress hormones cortisol, which can play havoc with your skin's elasticity. For young looking skin, keep the late nights to a minimum.
Pluck, shave and trim
Unfortunately, the natural ageing process in men leads to an excess of hair where you don't want it (and a deficiency where you do). It stands to reason that because nose and ear hair are part of the ageing process, their appearance ages you. And for many men, this unwanted hair can start sprouting from the late 20s onwards.
So keeping on top of it is an easy way to keep age at bay. Nose and ear hair trimmers are available from many leading chemists.
While you're at it, you might want to ditch the beard. A study by Northumbria University found that women judged the ages of clean-shaven men five and a half years younger — on average — than their beardy counterparts.
Have sex
We saved the easiest for last. Having sex can make you look younger. In fact, according to one study, couples who had sex at least three times a week looked, on average, 10 years younger than those who had infrequent sex.
The study was conducted by neuro-psychologist Dr David Weeks of the Royal Edinburgh Hospital, who based his findings on interviews with 3,500 people aged 18 to 102 in Britain, Europe, and the United States. When shown pictures of couples, subjects routinely judged those who had most sex as the youngest.
There's one snag, though. Dr Weeks thinks the benefits come from sex with a loving partner. An endless series of one-night stands — and the sense of anxiety and isolation that can go along with a promiscuous lifestyle — could even have an adverse effect, he believes.
So there's no need to go under the knife, or invest in a cabinet full of magic gloop, to look younger. For men, a few easy grooming and lifestyle tips, and a lot of sex, can do the trick just as well.
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