In skincare, antioxidants have gone from being just an add-on to being the absolute foundation of maintaining youth. Although we don't see their effects with the naked eye as quickly as the moisturizing effect, they do the hardest work in the deep layers of the skin. Every day, our skin battles invisible enemies: smog, UV radiation, and stress, which bombard cells, leading to their degradation. Understanding the role of antioxidants is key to conscious skincare that not only masks the signs of aging but actually prevents them, neutralizing the threat before it causes lasting damage.
The most important information about antioxidants:
Various factors (including UV radiation, smoking, alcohol consumption, strenuous exercise, and stress) cause the formation of reactive oxygen species (so-called free radicals), which leads to skin aging. Furthermore, free radicals are involved in numerous disease processes, including the development of atherosclerosis in the arteries.
Free radicals are simply oxygen atoms that have lost an electron and are actively "seeking" it, initiating a chain reaction. Our bodies certainly have mechanisms to counteract the cascade of free radical formation, but with age, these mechanisms become increasingly ineffective.
Free radicals damage collagen fibers, resulting in reduced skin elasticity. They also adversely affect epidermal lipids, which in turn predisposes to disruption of the skin's hydrolipid barrier.
This is a condition in which the body experiences an imbalance between the production of free radicals and the ability of antioxidants to neutralize them. When the skin's defense mechanisms can no longer keep up with the rate of damage, we enter a phase of oxidative stress.
What are the symptoms of oxidative stress on the skin?
The use of antioxidants in cosmetics is nothing more than providing the skin with an "external shield" that restores this lost balance.
One way to reduce the negative impact of free radicals on our skin is to use cosmetics with antioxidants, substances that have a free radical-scavenging effect. It's important to include antioxidants in your morning routine. care, regardless of the season. Of course, there are antioxidants in care, that will fit better into your evening routine.
In the case of antioxidants, it is important to combine them in one cosmetic because they can support each other's action, for example: using vitamin C serum i vitamin E for the face and ferulic acid in the serum, which should be used daily. It is worth noting that the addition of antioxidants to creams with SPF increases their photoprotective potential.
To maximize the benefits of antioxidant cosmetics, they must be used regularly. A healthy lifestyle, balanced diet, physical activity, a healthy body weight, and avoiding stimulants and stress are also important in combating free radicals.
Yes, protection against free radicals is recommended from the age of 20 to preserve natural collagen resources for as long as possible.
In the morning, they protect the skin against external factors (UV, smog), and in the evening they support repair processes and cell regeneration.
A healthy diet is key, but the skin is the last organ to receive nutrients from food, so external support in cosmetics is essential.
Most antioxidants soothe the skin (like vitamin E and niacinamide), but high concentrations of pure vitamin C may require careful use on sensitive skin.
Yes, antioxidants work best when enclosed under an occlusive layer of cream, which prevents them from oxidizing and evaporating water from the epidermis.
Source:
A. Jesus, S. Mota, A. Torres, MT Cruz, E. Sousa, I. F Almeida, H. Cidade, Antioxidants in Sunscreens: Which and What For?, Antioxidants, 2023
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