Modern skincare products are formulated with potent active ingredients to work magic on your complexion. While selecting the products to include in your beauty arsenal, there are many important ingredients to look for.
The following are the critical and most vital ingredients to any anti-ageing product.
1. Sunscreens
Sunscreens are an integral part of any anti-ageing regime. They are, rst and foremost, products to help prevent extrinsic ageing of the skin. Ensure any sunscreen has physical and chemical blockers plus antioxidants. While not perfect, these sun care products are the best we have at the moment.
2. Antioxidants
Antioxidants are nature’s magic bullets, protecting our bodies against the chemical reaction responsible for the free radicals that are one of the key mechanisms in ageing. Free radicals are by-products of normal cell activity but they also occur as a result of exposure to pollutants and sunlight. They are extremely destructive, damaging cell structures and contributing to degenerative illnesses such as heart and liver disease and cancer.
Antioxidants can break the chain reactions triggered by the production of free radicals. The good news is that they are freely available because most bene cial antioxidants occur in foods we eat. These include Vitamins A, C and E, carotenoids such as betacarotene, some minerals, phenolic compounds and other naturally occurring chemicals with antioxidant properties.
Antioxidants help prevent tissue damage that could potentially lead to ageing and disease. They are important in photo-damage repair and protection.
Antioxidants are increasingly being included in skincare products, but there are a number of factors that influence their effectiveness in topical form. These include the chemical makeup of the antioxidant, what it is combined with and how it is delivered in the product formulation.
3. Vitamin A
Most skin health professionals will agree that Vitamin A is the single-most important ingredient to prevent, restore, normalise and help repair damaged skin. Since our body does not make Vitamin A, our skin becomes de cient over time.
For that reason, Vitamin A is a very important and necessary ingredient in all quality anti-ageing product lines. However, in its acid form it may cause redness and irritation. It can also cause a thinning of the skin, which is not a good thing. There are now effective forms of Vitamin A that are less damaging. Look for retinal palmitate, acetate and retinol.
The sun depletes the skin of Vitamin A and this is one of the reasons those who super-expose their skin to sun damage age faster than those who do not.
4. Vitamin C
Vitamin C repairs and rejuvenates the skin. It helps to prevent hyperpigmentation by slowing the production of melanin. Vitamin C is a normal component in the skin, but is utilised first for other bodily functions, so the skin is vulnerable for deficiency.
We should include it in our diet, in supplements and in topical products. The problem is that the longproven, most effective form is ascorbic acid, which quickly degenerates with exposure to air and light. Ascorbic acid is recommended for maximum delivery of fresh, high-potent Vitamin C. To do so, the delivery and storage of the product is all-important; a ‘mix-before-use’ product is typically preferred. Vitamin C is also now available in effective fat-soluble forms (eg, Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate and Ascorbyl Tetraisopalmltate), which work well and remain stable and efficacious for longer.
5. Exfoliants
Exfoliants are believed by many to be a necessary component to maintain the health of the skin. The outer layer of the skin must be thick and compact, an important protection against the environment, and it best exfoliates naturally. On the other hand, not exfoliating prevents maximum penetration of ingredients and can create a skin that is dull with poor texture and older in appearance.
The best policy is a compromise of mild resurfacing. Remember, as with most things in life, less is more to remove excess dead cells.
6. Peptides
Peptides are one of the newer ingredient groups to hit the antiageing skincare scene, and many studies have shown significant results. But for many skin scientists the jury is still out on just how effective they are as an anti-ageing product.
That being said, peptides are highly respected for their ability to penetrate the skin and activate their target – increasing the production of collagen and elastin. Peptides have been shown to ‘turn on’ the fibroblasts, which are essential for building and repairing the skin and a basic requirement for anti-ageing success. Results are cumulative and it can take three to four months of twice-daily use for a good skincare product to show results.
The anti-ageing attack is focused on a brigade of reliable and stable formulations of established and trusted ingredients. The ones mentioned above are synergistic troops in the battle, and their effectiveness has a long history of studies and proof that they do assist in the maintenance of healthy and beautiful skin. CBM
