Adding Anti-Oxidants To Your Skin Care Regime

Confused About Anti-Oxidants?

Read Why Adding Anti-Oxidants To Your Skin Care regime is so important:

If we take a close look at all the ‘anti-ageing’ ingredients out there one group stands clear from the crowd and should be considered a must in every ones skin care regime. Research has shown that the best anti-aging ingredients we have for our skins are Antioxidants.

What Do Antioxidants Do?

1. Fight against free-radical damage: free radicle damage or oxidative damage is a major cause of ageing skin (after UV damage) resulting in rough texture, pores, pigmentation and wrinkles
2. Enhances the effectiveness of sunscreens in preventing further sun damage
3. Increases skin cell healing and regeneration
4. Increases collagen and elastin production

Following from the above it is clear we should be adding anti-oxidants in our skin care regime but some are better than others or have been around longer with more research indicating their effectiveness.

Which Antioxidant is Best?

Most skin care companies add antioxidants to their products so it may be confusing which one we should be adding to our skin regime. At the end of the day our skin derives maximum benefits by adding several top notch antioxidants together and I will run through some of the ones I use on my skin below. The important message is no one antioxidant is superior over another but rather combining them to get best results.

Studies have demonstrated that there are numerous good and effective antioxidants but I will list some of the antioxidants that I believe you should be adding to tackle your anti-aging concerns.

Vitamin E:

Vitamin E (often listed as tocopherol or tocotrienols) is a fat-soluble vitamin available in both natural and synthetic forms and interestingly studies have shown that both forms provide significant antioxidant benefits to skin. Interestingly Vitamin E gets ‘used’ up very quickly fighting free radicles but by adding Vitamin C the life span of Vitamin E is increased. So always look for a topical product that contains both: DERMACEUTIC C25 CREAM

Some SkinMiles Products Containing Vitamin E: (most of our products contain this super anti-oxidant so I have only listed a few):

OBAGI ELASTIDERM EYE CREAM; OBAGI NUDERM BLEND FX; NEOSTRATA SKIN BRIGHTENER SPF25; EXUVIANCE ESSENTIAL DAILY DEFENSE CRÈME SPF20

Vitamin C:

Vitamin C (listed as ascorbic acid, tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate) is a strong antioxidant that is specifically indicated for:

1. Collagen and elastin stimulation
2. Lightening pigmentation
3. Increasing skin glow
4. Increasing the effect of Vitamin E
5. Reduces inflammatory effects in the skin
6. Improves skin healing
7. Strengthens the skin barrier reducing moisture loss
8. Reducing UV damage

Even though I tend to prescribe high concentrations to my patients (from 10% and up) research has shown that even small amounts will have some benefit to the skin.

Some SkinMiles Products Containing Vitamin C:

OBAGI PRO C EYE BRIGHTENER EYE CREAM; EXUVIANCE VITAMIN C BOOSTER POWDER; OBAGI PRO C SERUM 10% or 15% or 20%; OBAGI PRO C VITAMIN SUNCARE SPF 30

Resveratrol:

Resveratrol is a potent antioxidant that’s found in red grapes, red wine, nuts, and fruits such as blueberries and cranberries.

What it does:

Resveratrol has some amazing benefits for the skin:

1. Increases collagen production
2. Protects against sun damage
3. Reduces cell damage by neutralising free radicles
4. Shown to have anti-inflammatory effects so a good addition for sensitive skin sufferers

Retinol:

Retinol is the name given for Vitamin A which has been shown with countless of studies to have major benefits for the skin. Retinol is both a cell stimulator and an antioxidant and has been found to have numerous skin benefits:

1. Treatment of acne
2. Reduces number and size of pores
3. Controls excessive oil production in the skin
4. Increases collagen and elastin stimulation
5. Smooths skin texture
6. Improves hydration and moisture content in the skin
7. Forces skin cells to behave young again
8. Reduces inflammation helping people with Rosacea
9. Improves fine lines and wrinkles

Further Retinol Reading:

Finding The Truth Behind Retinol

The Pros and Cons of Retinol

Choosing The Right Strength Retinol

SkinCeuticals Retinol 0.3 Uses and Treatment Guidelines

Some SkinMiles Products Containing Vitamin A

DERMACEUTIC ACTIVE RETINOL; EXUVIANCE SUPER RETINOL CONCENTRATE; NEORETIN BOOSTER SERUM; NEOSTRATA PIGMENT CONTROLLER; SKINCEUTICALS RETINOL 0.3

Green Tea:

Green tea is another good antioxidant for our skins and has shown to have some specific key benefits:

1. Helps to prevent collagen breakdown as we age
2. Reduces UV damage
3. Helps to reduce skin inflammation and sensitivity

Some SkinMiles Products Containing Green Tea:

EXUVIANCE BRIGHTENING BIONIC EYE CREME PLUS; EXUVIANCE SKIN RISE BIONIC TONIC; NEOSTRATA SKIN ACTIVE FIRMING COLLAGEN BOOSTER; NEOSTRATA SKIN ACTIVE; ANTIOXIDANT DEFENSE SERUM

At the end of the day you will achieve great skin care results by adding an antioxidant to your skin care regime but superior results will be achieved by combining the above anti-oxidants together.

Anti-Oxidant Skin Tip:

For added benefits to your skin it is important to add antioxidants to your diet: 6 Superfoods for Healthier Looking Skin

I hope you have found the above useful and please send any comments or questions my way.

Kind regards

Dr Alek Nikolic