Cosmeceuticals and Antioxidants - What Really Works?
You may be hearing the term “cosmeceutical” more and more when it comes to skincare. This fancy term refers to over the counter products that claim to deliver skin benefits similar to those of prescription grade products. The purposes of cosmeceuticals might include, but are not limited to protecting skin from UV damage (sunscreens), reducing free radical formation (antioxidants), improving skin lipid barrier (moisturizers), evening out complexion (bleaching agents and antioxidants), smoothing texture, reducing pore size and improving wrinkles (retinoids and collagen stimulators).
When you read labels on products, you may see they contain vitamin C, enzymes, phytochemicals, etc., but bear in mind that not all cosmeceuticals are created equal. Simply taking an active ingredient and bottling it, does not mean it will actually work when put on the skin. To have an effect, the active ingredients must be in the right concentrations and in the proper formulation to actually penetrate the skin and be biologically available for use by your skin cells. Always be sure to check with a dermatologist first before spending money on products you are unsure of.
It is also important to know that one product alone cannot address every cosmetic skin issue. A combination of cosmeceuticals, such as sunscreen and antioxidants along with prescription strength topicals like Retin-A and hydroquinone (bleaching agent), will give you a balanced skin care program incorporating the best of both product worlds.
My favorite “cosmeceuticals” are antioxidants, which have been clinically proven to combat the signs of aging. Ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun and environmental pollutants are known to cause skin damage. They create “free radicals” which are just what their name implies – highly unstable, reactive molecules that steal electrons from healthy skin cells, damaging DNA and destroying the cells. This causes age spots, wrinkles and skin cancer. Antioxidants are important because they significantly reduce the production of free radicals in the skin or absorb these radicals and their byproducts. Vitamins C and E and other compounds like ferulic acid, idebenone, green tea and coffe berrry are all proven effective from trusted sources. These sources include Skinceuticals Vitamin C products, Prevage MD (highest percentage of idebenone available), Topix Green Tea and Revaleskin (coffee berry), which are available in our office or at our webstore. These can help prevent skin cancer and keep skin firm and young looking. For best effect they should be used in the daytime under sunscreen. Please contact the office with any questions about which antioxidant is right for you!
Tags: antioxidant, coffee berry, cosmeceutical, free radical, green tea, hydroquinone, idebenone, prevage, retin-a, revale, skin cancer, skinceuticals, sunscreen, topix, uv light, vitamin C, wrinkles
This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 27th, 2009 at 12:13 am and is filed under Products. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
