Free Radicals and Your Skin
By now you probably know that oxidation caused by free-radical damage is bad news for your body and skin. Oxidation is thought to play a role in diseases like cancer, arthritis, atherosclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes. It also wreaks havoc on your skin, resulting in diminished elasticity, uneven skin tone, age spots and wrinkles.
A Good Diet Isn’t Enough
The ideal diet includes a good balance of fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats (like olive oil, fish, flaxseed). However, once eaten, a variety of factors can impair their absorption. For example, medications like antibiotics, birth control pills and antacids cause vitamins and minerals to absorb at a much lower rate. Taking vitamins and minerals doesn’t give you license to eat crap, but it helps ensures that our daily nutritional needs are being met.
Antioxidants (such as Vitamins A, C and E) in our diet, as supplementation, and in topical products, help lessen the damage.
How Topical Vitamins Work
In addition to internally nourishing your skin and cells internally, you can deliver antioxidants to your topically. From what I’ve read, Vitamin C, Vitamin E and polyphenols (found in Green tea) are the most effective topical ingredients available without a prescription.
Vitamin C: The Multi-tasker
Our bodies can’t create Vitamin C and there’s a limit to how much we can absorb from food and supplements. However, when applied directly to the skin, we are able to absorb and retain much more of this potent antioxidant. Vitamin C fights free radical damage, promotes collagen growth and helps reverse sun damage. When formulated with Vitamin E, its antioxidant properties are greatly enhanced—-even boosting the efficacy of sunscreen!
However, Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid) is fragile and degrades quickly in the presence of water or light. For a Vitamin C serum or cream to be effective and stable, it should be formulated in a non-aqueous solution (without water) and packaged in a way that limits its exposure to light. A clear tube or jar won’t cut it!
Vitamin E: The Helper
Vitamin E works synergistically with Vitamin C to protect the epidermis from the early stages of UV damage. On its own, Vitamin E helps to reduce the severity of sunburn and protects the skin’s lipid balance during cleansing or exfoliating. Because Vitamin E is fat soluble, the skin absorbs and maintains topical Vitamin E, making it effective between applications.
Polyphenols: Anti-Inflammatory
Polyphenols are plant-derived substances with antioxidant properties. Also called flavonoids, polyphenols used in skincare include green tea, grape seed extract, and pomegranate. While the jury is still out on whether polyphenols can reverse sun damage, studies show that they play a role in reducing inflammation, and therefore, help repel early signs of skin aging.
The Role of Retinoids
Retinoids (synthetic Vitamin A) like Retin-A or Renova are powerful anti-aging products. Studies show that when delivered through the skin, Retinoids have positive measurable effects at the cellular level. They aren’t for everyone. Drawbacks:
Recipe for Glowing Skin
Follow these tips for skin that’s beautiful on the inside and outside:
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any follow-up suggestions of good topical vitamin c or e products?
merci.
love the blog
kezia once gave me a sample of Skinceuticals C E Ferulic serum that i like quite a bit. i do think it’s made a difference in my skins texture, for the better.
I use omega 5 [FIVE] oil products for my skin and love them, have you had any experience with these products?
Lucy
I tried to live without Oil of Olay with Vitamin C and E for about 5 days, and I can’t tell you how yucky my skin felt! I never knew how hooked on that particular face lotion I was until I tried to to quit!
P.S. Don’t use hand lotion on your face. Yuck.
My mom’s new obsession is using vit e oil as moisturizer. She basically buys the pills and squeezes out the stuff inside. it’s cheap and works but the stickiness takes getting used to.
Prieta- Like Jennine, I recommend SkinCeuticals C+E Ferulic (i usually buy sample packs on eBay b/c it’s so pricey). I hear good things about La Roche-Posay Active C — and it’s easy for all you Europeans to buy.
I agree regarding the good diet. A balanced diet is hard to achieve considering our busy schedules. Supplementation may be necessary as you’ve pointed out.
Omega 3 fish oils seem to be helping my skin, wish they would help my hair! Love your posts.
WhenI started taking prenatal vitamins I realized the power of vitamin E and C. My hair was beautiful and my nails were long and my skin glowed and this was before pregnancy. I wanted to have this again 3 years later so i did some research at the Dietary Supplement Information Bureau and found the perfect combination for me.
I’m always into discussions on anything organic, so this read made me feel at home.
I’ll bookmark the site and subscribe to the feed!
Can you use SkinCeuticals C +E Ferulic Acid if you are pregnant?