I'm 37. Which means I'm supposed to be in the prime of my life. Or so people tell me.

As a white-collar slave, I believe that I'm at the peak of my creative productivity. As a father, I'm just now beginning to appreciate the easygoing, masculine camaraderie of my two growing sons.

As a sexual being — well, let's just say the equipment needs a little extra maintenance these days. But at least I don't have to refer to the manual before I use it.

Lately, I've also noticed some disturbing trends in the mirror. My hair is turning silver at a genuinely alarming rate. My hips have formed a rain gutter for my waist. And I've developed those little indicators that tell you time's not as much on your side as you thought.

That's right. I'm starting to look my age:

• Crow's feet around the eyes;
• Wrinkles appearing where I neglected to use sunscreen as a youth;
• Little brown freckles (called solar lentigines) surfacing like poppy seeds on a bagel;
• Blood vessels appearing on the top layer of my skin;
• The skin, itself, somehow less radiant. Duller-looking.

Sound familiar? Then do what I do, and fight back!

Use plenty of sunscreen to help to reverse early damage. Better yet, indulge in a weekly facial scrub to remove dead outer layers of skin. This will slowly eliminate discolorations like brown spots, and also prevent the appearance of fine lines.

A-HA!
As part of a serious, long-term skin care regime, you may want to check out those little wonders known as alpha hydroxy acids. Researchers at some Swiss lab whose name escapes me found that after 22 weeks of twice-daily AHA use, 70 percent of male subjects noticed a significant overall improvement on their faces.

Where do you find AHAs? Try your fridge. They occur naturally in citrus fruits and other plants from which oils and extracts are derived.

MenEssentials.com offers several high-quality products that contain naturally occurring alpha hydroxy acids.

For bath and body treatment, look into the Anthony Logistics glycerin cleansing bar or any of the body cleansing gels (citrus, coriander, spice, or eucalyptus-mint blends). These contain AHAs from a variety of all-natural sources.

Excellent facial products include Anthony Logistics alcohol-free toner (contains grapefruit and mandarin oils), and Anthony Logistics facial moisturizer with SPF 15.

This last item's formulation reads like a French Canadian breakfast menu: bilberry extract, sugarcane, Maple sugar, orange, and lemon! But don't let your sweet tooth fool you; these ingredients contain powerful AHAs that'll work wonders on those fine lines.

And they're not half bad on pancakes.