Wrinkles are caused by the reduction of your skin's production of sebum which helps retain the moisture and elasticity.  Your skin's production of sebum can be affected from any age but usually starts to decline rapidly in your twenties and is exacerbated by exposure to the sun,  reduced water

intake, a change in the production of hormones -such as breastfeeding or menopause & poor lifestyle choices such as smoking.

What can you do to prevent wrinkles?

• Avoid smoking
• Reduce sun exposure
• drinking 6-8 glasses of water a day
• use Jojoba oil (pronounced ho-HO-ba) as a moisturiser.

Some people may be concerned that they cannot use Jojoba oil because they have "oily skin".  However jojoba oil isn’t actually oil but a pure liquid wax ester from cold-pressed seeds of desert shrubs native to the Sonora Desert.     Your skin type is not something you are particularly born with but simply an imbalance of sebum production. If you have dry skin then you are not producing enough sebum and if you have oily skin you are producing too much - probably causing those dreaded pimples!  As mentioned earlier, you will find your production of sebum may change throughout your life according to your hormones such as teenage oily skin, through to dry skin during breastfeeding and menopause.  Jojoba oil is suitable for any skin type as it actually assists the skin to regulate the production of sebum.  Jojoba oil is very similar to the sebum produced by the skin so it absorbs deep into your skin and mixes well with the sebum to assist in maintaining skin moisture and elasticity. Jojoba forms a thin non-greasy lipid layer preventing moistrure loss, unlike many common skincare products which evaporate once they’re on your skin’s surface.

Jojoba also contains nutrients such as vitamin E, B-complex, silicon, chromium, copper, zinc and iodine. Its antioxidant properties prevent rancidity and give it a very long shelf life as a moisturiser.   Apparently Native Americans would apply ground seeds of jojoba to scratches to speed healing and minimize scarring so it may well be good for stretch marks too!