Anti-ageing skin care products

The use of anti-ageing skin care products has grown enormously over the last two decades, as our lifespan increases so does our desire to remain active as well as look young and healthy. Skin is important so a great deal of effort goes into the preparation of beauty products especially those that increase the production of collagen, which is the primary protein in skin; twenty-five per cent of the skin’s protein is collagen. Collagen is a member of another family of substances that aid in reducing the signs of ageing. We call them antioxidants, they aid the repair of cell damage associated with cell damage.

Probably the best known of these anti-oxidants is vitamin C although no-one really knows just how much we should have each day. Vitamin C formulated skin care treatments suffer with a particular problem of oxidizing on contact with the air which causes a problem for users and manufacturers.

To get around this some skin care treatments are based on derivatives of vitamin C, which are more stable and less expensive. These new anti-oxidant products are not quite as good as vitamin C although other naturally occurring compounds, vitamin E and lipoic acid can achieve the same effect.

Vitamin E is found in the blood and is an antioxidant that is also used to increase the body’s defenses against other health problems; it has many functions including inhibiting the formation of cancer cells. Lipoic acid is also an energy making component of the body, it can help reduce the aging process which affects the skin.

Phytochemicals aren’t produced by the body but are extracted from a number of plants and used in many anti-ageing skin care products to combat the signs of ageing. Another benefit of phytochemicals, like those of alpha-lipoic acid, is their ability to reduce the prevalence of certain cancers; for instance:

• Prostate Cancer in Men
• Breast Cancer in Women (and occasionally men)
• Cancer that attacks the Colon

All of which are on the increase globally.

It has also been discovered that there are anti-ageing benefits to vitamins B5, B6 and B12. This is a vast area that has the potential for many new anti-ageing skin care products and services in the future but research needs to continue. Whilst a great deal has been learned about this subject, it is only the tip of the iceberg; however, research is moving forward rapidly and it is only a matter of time before a new generation of products becomes available.

Hopefully, these challenges will get resolved in due course and better and cheaper anti-ageing skin care products will be produced. Scientific research into anti-aging products is still in the early stages but they should never be relied upon; man-made products may never replace those that are available naturally! Simple things that can make a difference in slowing the signs of ageing; these include physical activity, restful sleep, maintaining good dietary habits and removing stress from your life.