TAKING PROPER CARE OF YOUR SKIN

How many of you have woken up in the morning only to see a stranger in the mirror looking back at you?  Years of good or bad choices can contribute to the quality of not only your body, but your largest organ – your skin.  The epidermis – or outer layer of skin- can be the first sign of how well you take care of yourself.  As the evidence of our lifestyle choices will eventually show up in far more than our skin, it behooves us all to take the best care of our body and skin that we can.

If your motivation for good skin care is to look more youthful, than taking proper care of your skin will have the added bonus of creating a healthier body.  If you wish to reduce acne breakouts, then a slight modification of diet might be necessary as well. Whatever your desired skin result, your overall health will be much improved by following a few easy steps.

Your everyday decisions shape how healthy you and your skin will be – it is that simple.

Here are some simple tips for basic skin care and a healthier body:

• Keep your skin clean so that it can breathe
• Give your skin plenty of moisture to keep it looking young and healthy
• Feed the skin key nutrients that it requires to rejuvenate and repair itself repeatedly
• Rid only the top layer of dead cells to promote rapid birth of new cells
• Protect against outside elements to prevent deterioration and/or damage
• Live a healthy life style

Skin is a living, breathing organ that regularly moves thousands of layers of skin cells each day. The skin is comprised of three layers – the subcutaneous layer  – where fat cells are produced;  the dermis – where you can find sweat glands, nerve endings and hair follicles, and the epidermis – the final outer layer of skin where pores and oil glands reside.

When new skin cells are ready, they start moving toward the epidermis. This trip takes about 2 weeks to a month. As newer cells continue to move up, older cells near the top die and rise to the surface of your skin.  So what you really see on the surface of your skin are dead skin cells.

Keeping your skin properly cleansed and moisturized is vital to healthy, glowing skin. It is the basic of all skincare routines. Be sure to choose a cleanser and moisturizer best suited for your skin type. If you aren’t sure what that is, ask your friendly pharmacist or dermatologist for help. You skin can be acne-prone, oily, dry or a combination of the two. There are hundreds of specialized products out there to suite every skin type.

Feeding the skin means feeding the body. A good skin care regime will always include a healthy diet full of nutrients and vitamins. Whole, organic foods are best if you can get them. Leafy greens, fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains will keep your skin in top shape. Try to avoid junk foods or processed foods as much as possible. These foods rarely contain any real nutrition and can actually overload your skin with sugars and toxins to process.

A weekly light-exfoliation or facial scrub will do much to slough off the top layer of dead skin cells and reveal newer, healthier skin underneath. You can use a soft facial brush found in cosmetic counters, a rough washcloth or a light scrubbing pad as well as pre-packaged facial scrubs or facial masks.

Avoid Excessive Sun Exposure: While some sun exposure is necessary to produce vital Vitamin D, excessive sun exposure is very harmful to the skin. Without protection from the sun’s rays, more than 10 minutes of exposure each day can cause freckles, age spots, and spider veins on the face, rough and leathery skin, loose skin, a blotchy complexion and even skin cancer. If you must go outside, be sure to wear a good UV-blocking sunscreen like Zinc Oxide or wear protective clothing such as hats and long sleeves.

LIVE A HEALTHY LIFE STYLE

Although you have no control over intrinsic factors of aging, such as genetics, you are largely in control of the extrinsic factors.  This is where you can make life-altering choices.

Don’t Smoke. You cannot have truly vital skin if you smoke, period.  Smoking depletes your body of essential vitamins, which means you can’t have a healthy body either. If you do smoke, try your best to quit. Plenty has been reported and verified on the dangers of smoking and there are now numerous programs, patches and nicotine replacement therapies that can help you quit.

Exercise: Exercise gives you vitality. If you want fresh and youthful skin, physical activity is a must. It not only tones your muscles, but it increases blood flow to all areas of your body, especially your skin. Regular exercise reduces your stress levels, increases levels of oxygen circulating throughout the body, promoting rejuvenation and repair.

Avoid or Moderate Alcohol: Overindulgence of alcohol causes a decrease in the body’s level of vitamin A. This is a very important antioxidant vitamin that supports body and skin health. Alcohol also dilates small blood vessels in the skin’s surface, creating blemishes and red blotches. Drinking too much alcohol can exacerbate acne-rosacea. Due to the dehydrating effects of alcohol, skin wrinkles can occur after an extended period of alcohol abuse because the water in the body and skin is continually evaporated.

Reduce Stress: A good skin care routine and way of life can include meditation, yoga, relaxation, saunas, regular steams, exercise and most importantly, self love.

Get Plenty of Rest:  Lack of sleep shows up on the face in forms of dark circles, baggy eyes, and saggy skin. Research has shown that most adults function best with eight to nine hours of sleep each night. While we sleep, our skin gets a chance to rest and rejuvenate. Your skin truly does need its “beauty sleep.”

You’ve only got ONE body. Healthy choices that you CAN make every day will have tremendous effect on the quality of your life and health. The body has amazing repair capabilities, and once you stop or reduce toxic behaviors, it will be better able to heal itself.  Taking good care of yourself is the most important step in your skincare routine.

Author: Rachelle Dupree
Vivoderm Natural Skincare

Are You Considering An Anti Wrinkle Cream?

Now as a matter of fact, not all anti wrinkle creams work. There are many creams that occupy a prominent place in many beauty stores. There is a staggering amount of population that has used these creams and benefited from them. The same is not true with just any anti wrinkle cream. A cream must contain essential anti wrinkle properties to be in a position to actually reverse the wrinkle process. As a layman you might not know what these ‘Essential anti wrinkle ingredients’ are. Some popular and valuable anti wrinkle components are discussed in the following lines.

Matrixyl is known to penetrate deep into the skin and fasten up collagen production. Haloxyl and hexapeptide-3 are two other effective wrinkle remedies. Retinol and CoQ10 are valuable antioxidants and must be present in an anti wrinkle cream. AHAs and ALAs ought to be present as well. If the cream has Aloe Vera and avocado extract, it can’t get any better.

An anti wrinkle cream to be called effective must promote the production of new skin cells. It should be essentially non-toxic and non-greasy. It must fight wrinkles and furrows from within rather than their temporary concealment. It must be able to make sagging skin firm. The anti wrinkle cream that you choose must capitalize on bioavailability. It should help the facial skin to get rid of all visible scars and blemishes. All in all it must invigorate the skin and make it look as soft as that of a baby’s.

When it comes to anti aging or anti wrinkle creams, one should not settle for anything less than the best. An effective anti aging formula must contain 0% chemicals. It is better to get hold of an all natural anti wrinkle cream. That is sure to leave the skin happy and content. Natural skincare is at the pinnacle of all forms of skincare.

Are Anti Wrinkle Creams The Last Resort?

People with wrinkles resort to anti-wrinkle creams because they have had been sick and tired of trying all other possible measures. Anti-wrinkle products are alluring and sound promising. The stores out there are overflowing with anti-wrinkle creams. Now, God only knows which ones of these are genuine and effective and which ones are not!

Almost all anti-wrinkle creams take time to show visible results. They require regular and continued usage and any discontinuance in between messes up everything. In a way these creams ‘hide’ the outwardly lines and do not pay any heed to the deep rooted cause of their appearance. So, you may say that actually the very concept of anti-wrinkle creams is superficial!

The most important fact you must set right in your head is that no cream, of whatsoever brand, can vanish wrinkles. That is just not possible for anti-wrinkle creams to achieve. You can a wrinkle free skin, in the true sense of the term only by undergoing a facial surgery or something alike. If the list of ingredients show the presence of copper peptides, vitamin E and Vitamin B6, Aloe Vera, CoQ10, AHAs, plant oils, retinol, matrixyl, almond oil, GLA, botanical extracts, oatmeal, chamomile extracts amongst other important ingredients, there are great chances the cream will work. These ingredients should not only be present but these should be present in sizeable amount.

Ever wondered what makes wrinkles appear only on the facial skin? This is because it is the face which has to bear the atrocities of the weather as it remains exposed all the time. So, if the facial skin is covered in intense weather conditions (for it cannot be covered all the time), chances of forming eye wrinkles are considerably reduced. A UV protector sun glasses and sun screen lotion should be two must wear-ons when you decide to step out of the house!

Choosing Moisturizers to Reduce Wrinkles

If you aren’t sure what they do, moisturizers are used to replace natural skin oils to cover tiny fissures (or openings) in the skin, and to provide a soothing protective film. Thus, evaporation of the skin’s moisture is slowed, which helps to improve the appearance and feel of dry and aging skin. An effective moisturizer increases water content, reduces water loss, and restores the skin’s ability to retain water.

Who doesn’t want smooth, hydrated, healthy skin? From basic formulas that claim to keep skin moist, to concoctions that promise an end to aging skin and wrinkles, the choice of a skin moisturizer can be overwhelming. You can look at information on moisturizers for different skin types.

(Scientists say a moisturizer will smooth skin to temporarily make wrinkles less apparent, but unfortunately, moisturizing your skin will not have any long-term effect on wrinkles.)

Look for products that:

* help to make the skin smooth and supple
* duplicate and enhance the skin’s natural moisture retention mechanisms
* are good to sensitive skin – hypoallergenic, non-sensitizing, fragrance free, non-comedogenic (Read about Sensitive Skin Other Skin Conditions.)
* absorb rapidly and last long

Remember, too, just because a product has a certain ingredient, that doesn’t necessarily mean it has enough of it to make a difference. Dermatologists look for a number of substances to complete a moisturizer’s make-up:

* Emollients such as plant and mineral oils, shea and cocoa butter, petrolatum, cholesterol, silicones or animal oils (including emu, mink and lanolin). These lubricating ingredients soften and smooth skin while helping it to retain moisture.
* Water-binding agents that keep water in the skin, called Humectants, are important for skin damaged by sun and dehydration, but they won’t help your skin retain water.
* Occlusives, which are substances that physically block water loss in the stratum corneum, or layers of the skin, include: Petrolatum (in a minimum concentration of five per cent is the most effective occlusive), followed by lanolin, mineral oil, and silicones such as dimethicone, which act as a protective part of skin barrier creams.
* Soothing agents and anti-irritants, such as bisabolol, allantoin, burdock root, aloe, licorice root, glycyrrhetinic acid, green tea and chamomile extract, are added to many moisturizers to help skin handle ingredients that may cause irritation.
* Pure mixtures of amino acids are useless as moisturizers, while pure solutions of glycerin are ineffective, and propylene glycol by itself is irritating. However, alpha hydroxy acids, such as lactic acid or glycolic acid, appear to help reduce roughness and scaling.
* Vitamins and antioxidants, including vitamins A, C and E, get mixed reviews. Some experts say these ingredients have the ability to heal and hydrate, while others insist there’s little evidence of their effectiveness when applied topically, especially in the quantity found in most moisturizers.

Side Effects of Skin Creams

Choosing Mosturizers

Moisturizers aren’t without their side effects. If you have these symptoms, see your doctor:

* sweat retention (miliara rubra, i.e.: petrolatum and lanolin)
* irritation (urea; lactic acid; propylene glycol; solvents)
* allergic contact dermatitis (fragrances, preservatives, i.e. parabens, formaldehyde, Quaternium 15 and Imidazolidinyl urea; lanolin; additives, i.e.: vitamin E and aloe vera
* photo contact dermatitis (fragrances, UV filters)

The skinny on skin – five points

* Study the active ingredients listed on labels in order of the amount contained. If soothing aloe vera or vitamin C is 15th on the list, you’re not getting much of it
* Be wary of claims that products will increase your own natural collagen or elastin, whose job is to keep skin plumped up and youthful-looking. The molecules in these products are too big to actually penetrate the skin.
* Wash your face no more than twice a day with a gentle cleanser formulated for dry skin. Washing more often can dry your skin.
* Add a few teaspoons of olive oil or lavender-scented oil to your bath.
* Steer clear of added fragrance, preservatives and botanicals, which may irritate already dry skin

Get your money’s worth

Which is better? High-end brands or low-cost brands? Drugstore shelves seem to have an overwhelming choice of products, with each company vying for your dollars. Experts say that often low-cost brands are just as effective. You can stretch your money’s worth of product by applying your moisturizer on damp skin – it will absorb better.

Anti-Aging Skincare

Creams, Gels & Lotions

The right anti aging skin care treatment creams can undo some of the damage that occurred in your youth, ensuring younger looking, healthier skin throughout your lifetime. But, there are many on the market to choose from. Some are not very good, but others are great.The best ones are designed to help your body produce new collagen and elastin fibers. The loss of those two components causes many of the outward signs of aging.

Now there are a number of products on the market that contain small amounts of collagen derived from bovine hide, but skin cells cannot absorb it well, if at all. So, products containing this collagen tend to be ineffective. A few key ingredients are listed below with detailed descriptions. A more extensive short list is posted below them.

Nanobelle CoenzymeQ10

Coenzyme Q10 has become a popular ingredient in many anti aging skin care treatment creams, but the unless the antioxidant is finely ground to a microscopic powder, it cannot enter the pores properly. Only Nanobelle will penetrate to the deepest layers to aid in healing and removing free radicals.

CynergyTK is a breakthrough in the skincare industry as it has been proven to encourage and stimulate re-growth of both elastin and collagen in your body. Although your body knows how to produce these proteins, there are usually not enough to create noticeable effects on your face, which is where the CynergyTK comes in, it stimulates the collagen production to a level that makes a more noticeable difference.

Phytessence Wakame is an ingredient that stops hyaluronidase activity – an enzyme that breaks down hyaluronic acid. This acid is an important part of the structural proteins as it glues together collagen and elastin to form the protein fibers. The same with the two proteins, the hyaluronic acid diminishes as you get older so using an anti-aging treatment product that contains Phytessense Wakame is a must to preserve and maintain the youthfulness of the skin.Phytessence Wakame is a little known seaweed ingredient in the diet of the Japanese that helps keep the skin healthy and youthful in appearance. In extract form, it can be applied directly to the skin, phytessence wakame has the effect of strengthening collagen and elastin in the skin. It is also rich in B group vitamins which helps moisturize the skin and reduce inflammation.

Other products to add to your anti-aging arsenal, include those that lighten age spots and dark circles. High quality moisturizers are also important. Dry skin is more easily damaged than oily or well-moisturized skin.

Below are more ingredients that you may find in your anti aging skin care treatment or creams. Future articles will take various ingredients for a short synopsis on their effects and benefits.

Allantoin, Alpha-Hydroxy Acids (include AHA’s, glycolic acid, lactic acid, tartaric acid, malic acid, and citric acid), Alpha Lipoic Acid: Beta Hydroxy Acids (Salicylic Acid): Coenzyme Q-10, Collagen, Copper Peptides, DHEA, DMAE, Estrogen (Estradiol .o1% or Estriol .3%), Green Tea, Hyaluronic Acid, Hydroquinone, Kinerase & Kinetin (N6-Furfurladenine), Kojic Acid, Liposomes, Lycopene, Pal-KTTKS, Palmitoyl Pentapeptide (Matrixyl), Progesterone, Tretinoin (Retinoic acid- Retin A / Renova), Retinol (a form of Vitamin A), Retinyl Palmitate (Vitamin A derivative), Spin Traps, Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid), Vitamin E (Tocopherol),Vitamin K.

The Miracle of Skin

Your skin is the largest organ in your body. If you stretched it out, it would cover about 20 square feet. It weights about 15% of our total body weight. Just like your heart and lungs, it’s a living, breathing part of your body to perform specific tasks. While the obvious reason for skin is to make us look more appealing then a giant sac of organs, it has many functions. Your skin protects your inner workings from the sun’s rays and infection. It insulates your body from heat and cold, repairs itself, and is aware of potential danger through the senses your sense of touch. It is the breeding ground for your blood vessels, sweat glands, and hair follicles. Trust us, your skin does a lot.

Your skin is made up of three layers: The lowest layer of skin is a layer of fatty material known as the subcutaneous layer. On top of that rests the dermis, which contains your nerves, hair follicles (when blocked, are the primary causes of acne), sweat glands, blood vessels. Finally, on top of the dermis is the epidermis, which is the outside layer of your skin that you can touch and feel.
layers of skin, dermis epidermis hair

The Layers of human skin

Now, most people do not know that epidermis is made up of three layers too! The outer layer of the epidermis is actually made up of dead skin cells. We lose around 30,000 dead skin cells per minute! There is a middle layer, and finally, an inner layer where new skin cells are produced. Your body is always regenerating itself. That’s why we heal when we get cuts. As your skin cells age, they move their way to the top layer. They begin to die out on this journey. What they lose in functionality as a cell, they make up for in toughness. The trip from a new cell to a dead skin cell takes about 2-4 weeks.

Regular Exercise Key Factor in Anti-Aging

According to Natural News Sources, Telomeres, regions of DNA which protect the ends of chromosomes from destruction, have made big news in 2009.

In fact, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded this year to researchers who investigated the nature of telomeres. Why all the interest? It appears telomeres hold the key to why we age because when a cell becomes old and dies, it’s due to the shortening of chromosomal telomeres. So, if you could keep the length of telomeres from changing, that might literally halt aging. And now comes research showing there is a natural way to impact telomeres and produce an anti-aging effect — long-term physical activity.

According to research just reported in the journal Circulation, intensive exercise can prevent a shortening of telomeres. That, the scientists found, results in a protective effect against aging on a cellular level and could be especially important in keeping the cardiovascular system healthy. So, while you can slather on expensive creams and opt for plastic surgery, if you want to actually slow down aging, your best bet is to get moving and exercise regularly.

A research team from Saarland University in Homburg, Germany, measured the length of telomeres in blood samples from a group of 32 professional runners with an average age of 20 who were on the German National Team of Track and Field. The young men regularly trained by running about 73 kilometers (km) — a little over 45 miles — each week. The scientists also measured the length of telomeres from the blood of middle-aged athletes (average age 51) who had participated in continuous endurance exercise since their youth and who ran about 80 km, or almost 50 miles, per week. These findings were then compared to the telomere lengths found in a group of healthy non-smokers, matched for age with the athletes, who didn’t exercise regularly.

The results? The scientists discovered that long-term exercise training activated an enzyme known as telomerase which reduces telomere shortening in human leukocytes (white blood cells). Telomere loss was found to be far lower in the older, master athletes who had been exercising for decades. Bottom line: the rate of telomere loss that is assumed to be normal as we grow older and that leads to the physical signs of aging can, in fact, be dramatically slowed through long term, vigorous exercise.

“This is direct evidence of an anti-aging effect of physical exercise. Physical exercise could prevent the aging of the cardiovascular system, reflecting this molecular principle,” Ulrich Laufs, M.D., the study’s lead author and professor of clinical and experimental medicine in the department of internal medicine at Saarland University, said in a statement to the media. “The most significant finding of this study is that physical exercise of the professional athletes leads to activation of the important enzyme telomerase and stabilizes the telomere.”

What’s more, previous animal studies by Dr. Laufs and colleagues have shown that exercise exerts effects on proteins that not only stabilize telomeres but also protect cells from deterioration and programmed cell death. “Our data improves the molecular understanding of the protective effects of exercise on the vessel wall and underlines the potency of physical training in reducing the impact of age-related disease,” Dr. Laufs concluded.

Age Spots and Warning Signs of Skin Cancer

What is that Spot?

As time goes on, we start to notice brown spots and freckles — “souvenirs of Florida” — on the backs of our hands and on other sun exposed areas like the upper chest and face. At first these brown spots are small and light colored, but eventually they become a cosmetic problem — an obvious sign of premature aging of the skin because of ultraviolet damage from sun exposure or from tanning beds. (Learn more about Sun Damage)

By using modern high-SPF sunscreens like Ombrelle-60™ or Anthelios-60™ we can safely enjoy outdoor activities like gardening, golf and boating, and greatly reduce the rate at which our skin deteriorates. Patients who get into the habit of applying Retisol-A 0.01% cream (a prescription product which combines a retinoid and an SPF-15 sunscreen) to their faces every morning will usually see a considerable improvement in the appearance of their skin after 1-2 years, and if treatment is continued long-term patients will notice that their skin ages more slowly.

Hats and sun protective clothing can also slow down the rate at which “age spots” appear – and also reduce the chance that we will develop skin cancer. You can learn more about how to prevent sun damage, learn about the early warning signs of skin cancer and see photos of typical skin cancers at Skin Cancer Guide.ca.

The early warning signs of skin cancer include:

* new and unusual growths on the skin
* moles and freckles which have unusual colors or mixtures of colors
* moles and freckles with irregular borders
* growths on the skin which bleed, or which form an open sore which does not heal within a few weeks.

It is not too late for those of us who already have sun spots and age spots. I have seen many patients who had sun damage improve gradually over a period of 3-5 years simply in response to daily sun protection. For those who want more rapid and complete improvement in their sun damaged skin, one or two treatments with the Medlite™ laser can fade or eliminate brown “age spots” on the face, chest and hands within a few weeks.

Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) treatments, for example with the Cutera Xeo-600, can be used in cases where there is a background of tiny freckles and brown discoloration – sometimes erasing 20 years of irregular pigment with a series of 20 minute treatments! Where there is severe sun damage or when a person wishes the most rapid improvement (for example, if a daughter is getting married in two months) a medicine called Levulan™ is applied to the skin for one hour before treatment with the Cutera Xeo-600. Levulan™ is absorbed by cells in the skin which are misbehaving, and then is activated by light from the Xeo-600. The abnormal cells are shed from the skin over a period of 1-2 weeks, revealing fresher, healthier skin – and giving the patient a “fresh start”.

What ever the type of spot – if you have concerns, or if you see changes in its appearance, it is important that you have it inspected by your family physician or dermatologist.

Five Places You Age and Ways to Prevent It

If there is one skin condition we would all like to avoid, it’s the appearance of aging before its time. The signs of aging can appear as early as our 20s. While there is truly nothing we can do to slow the passage of time, there are measures we can take to minimize the appearance that time has passed. Here are the five places aging shows up first and what you can do to keep time from catching up with you.

Crow’s Feet

Nothing says “mature” like those telltale lines radiating out from the eye. The biggest cause of crow’s feet is sun exposure. The thin skin around the eyes has very little collagen and elastin to begin with. Every time you skip the sunscreen and run outside for “just a minute,” you put yourself at risk for these crinkly cretins. Protect yourself with an eye cream that contains retinoids, peptides or antioxidants and, of course, sunscreen. Newer Sunscreen products with Zinc provide the unsurpassed UVA protection of zinc oxide without the opaque “”white-out”" that has reduced zinc oxide’s appeal in the past.

Mouth Lines

Your mouth is one of the highlights of your face, so don’t let those fine lines get a foothold. Believe it or not, there was some truth when your mother warned you that your face could stick like that – puckering your lips, pursing them, smoking or even talking animatedly all take a toll on the sensitive skin around your mouth. Of course, sun exposure plays a big role here as well. The best preventative measures you can take are sunscreen and moisturizer. Like the skin around your eyes, the skin around your mouth can hold onto youth with the help of retinoids and peptides – and avoiding continued repetitive mouth movements.

Age Spots and Aging

Hyperpigmentation

Hyperpigmentation is a long word for a variety of skin color issues including brown spots, freckles and uneven dark patches. A recent study in The American Journal of Dermatology found that hyperpigmentation is the most recognized sign of age – above even fine lines and wrinkles themselves. There are a variety of causes of hyperpigmentation and not all of them can be avoided but, once again, sun exposure is the chief culprit. The sun can accentuate existing freckles and cause dark patches to emerge. Other causes include rising estrogen levels brought on by some birth control medications. To protect yourself, once again, it’s sunscreen to the rescue. For dark patches that have already shown up, hydroquinone has been shown to be an effective bleaching agent.

Dark Circles

Recent research has pointed to allergies as having more to do with dark circles than lack of sleep. Allergies can cause inflammation and dilated blood vessels under the eyes. If dark circles have reared their ugly head, try an over the counter allergy medication with an antihistamine. There are other causes of these dark circles as well – some of which you cannot control. There is a web of fine veins under your eyes that can add unwanted color in that area and iron oxide can also leak from the capillaries under the eyes – apparently from sinus inflammation. There is little you can do about the presence of these blood vessels, but you can keep them from getting worse. The skin is thin and the light trauma of even rubbing your eyes can cause damage and darken these circles.

Anti-Oxidants And Sun Damaged Skin

Sun damage or photo damage produces both skin cancers as well as photo-aging. Photo-aging shows itself on the skin as wrinkling, scaling, dryness, and mottled pigmentation. Ultra-violet light is absorbed by skin, which in turn produces a photo-chemical reaction.

The UVA light is absorbed by both DNA as well as urocanic acid, the photo-chemical reaction produces oxidation of both DNA, nucleide acid, and protein, as well as lipids, this is known as oxidative damage. Anti-oxidants have been evolved to protect against, and reverse some of the damage produced by sunlight. An anti-oxidant mechanism is very advanced in plants that protect against the damage from sun exposure.

Oxidation:

Oxidation is produced by reactive oxygen molecules. The DNA absorbs ultra-violet light mostly in the UVB (290-320 manometres) range. This produces damage mainly within the epidermis. UVA (320-400 manometres) penetrates deeper into the skin and produces damage in the epidermis, the dermis as well as affecting blood vessels. The UVA has a much more oxidizing effect on cells.

The carcinogenic or cancer forming effects of ultra-violet B produce mutations within the DNA. This initiates tumours within the epidermis. The UVA promotes these tumours as it has much more oxidizing stress on the skin than UVB. It may as a result be more cytotoxic and immunosuppressive.

Wrinkles and Sun Screens

Sunscreens:

Sunscreens certainly protect against ultra-violet light, the sunburning spectrum is UVB and sunscreens are very effective. Ultra-violet A is the most difficult to protect against. It is important to realize that the SPF numbers are calculated with an amount of sunscreen on skin that exceeds what most of us put on our own skin.

The SPF is calculated with a quantity of 2mg. of sunscreen per centimetre2. Most people will put on about half to one quarter of this when used as sun protection. Unfortunately, low quantities of sunscreen of per centimtre2 will have minimal sun protective effects. Usually if 5mg. per cm.2 of sunscreen is applied to the skin, the sun protective factor is in the region of an SPF of 3.

Anti-Oxidants:

Anti-oxidants play a significant part in the protective and repair mechanisms within animals and plants. This can be achieved by anti-oxidants that are produced within the skin itself or by those consumed or applied from plants. The anti-oxidant effects can be divided into those that have their protection through enzymes, and those that tend to reduce the quantity of hydrogen peroxide as well as lipid hydroperoxides.

Topical Anti-Oxidants:

The use of topical anti-oxidants has certain requirements, these have to be stable as well as being cosmetically acceptable. It is clear that anti-oxidants have a photo-protective benefit. The physiological anti-oxidants include vitamin C, vitamin E, and ubiquinol. Vitamin C is water-soluble and is a free radical scavenger, it is required for collagen synthesis and may inhibit elastin formation in the dermis.

It may also reduce pigment synthesis, as well as enhance epidermal barrier function. For it to be active it must be present on the skin at a pH of 3.5 or lower in order to have an anti-oxidative effect. Vitamin E is different from vitamin C, in that it is lipid soluble, there is evidence that combining vitamin E and vitamin C may be of some benefit. Other anti-oxidants to be considered will be selenium as well as zinc.

Plant Anti-Oxidants:

Plants synthesize vitamin C, vitamin E and flavones, and polyphenolic compounds.

• Silymarin
• Soy isoflavones
• Tea
• Polyphenols

These are all potent plant anti-oxidants.

Silymarin:

This is a Milk Thistle extract, the main component in terms of anti-oxidants is silybyn. This prevents lipid peroxidase action. It also has been shown to inhibit tumour promotion in animals.

Soy isoflavones:

Soy has been connected with a reduction in cardiovascular disease, and in some incidents’ of breast cancer when taken by mouth in large quantities. It has a phytoestrogen effect, which can reduce menopausal symptoms. The isoflavones are genistein and gaidzein. The genistein has a collagen synthesis effect. It is also anti-cancer. It has been used both orally as well as topically.

The genistein is a powerful scavenger of peroxyl radicals. This has a significant reduction in lipid peroxidase activity. It has been shown to reduce redness in the skin of mice which are subject to ultra-violet A. It also has an anti-inflammatory effect. The use of this compound reduces the immune suppression effect of ultra-violet light.

Tea polyphenols:

Tea is fermented initially to green, and then to black tea. The drinking of black tea has been shown to reduce the frequency of squamous cell carcinomas. Work done with green tea both topically and taken orally, shows that it reduces the ability of ultra-violet to produce skin cancers and redness, particularly in animals. The possibility of combining tea, plus vitamin E, to work together as anti-oxidants is interesting.

Much more work needs to be done in order to establish how combining anti-oxidants with sunscreens will have a very beneficial effect on reducing sun damage to skin.

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