Renewing and Correcting Aging Skin

Once the skin is clean and exfoliated, it is ready to absorb the products you will apply to renew it and correct former damage.  I prefer serums to lotions or creams for renewing and correcting.  They tend to be hyaluronic acid based so you can be certain of effective skin penetration.  Below is an explanation of the various visible signs of aging and the latest formulations available to correct them. 

Lines and Wrinkles from Repetitive Facial Movements

One of the most striking visible signs of aging is facial wrinkles.  Many of these are the result of repeated facial movements caused by our facial expressions.  Acetyl Hexapeptide-3, also known as Argireline, is a combination of six naturally occurring amino acids that help relax facial expressions leading to a reduction in the appearance of superficial lines and wrinkles.  When a product is advertised as having “botox-like” benefits, it most likely contains this ingredient.

Argireline is better than botox in that it allows dynamic wrinkles or “wrinkles in motion”, those that we have when we smile or frown, preventing us from having and expressionless, mask-like appearance.  It helps the skin to snap back after facial movements thereby inhibiting “wrinkles at rest” and preventing new ones from forming.

Lines and Wrinkles from Loss of Collagen

Palmitoyl pentapeptide-3, more commonly known as Matrixyl, is another renewing ingredient that addresses skin wrinkles.  Research studies on Matrixyl have shown it produces “a highly significant reduction in deep and moderate wrinkles”.  As we age, the production of collagen slows for a number of reasons.  According to Robert Garonne, Professor of Cell Biology at Lyon University in France, “wrinkles are nothing more or less than the depletion of collagen in the skin.”  Matrixyl stimulates the cells in the skin that are responsible for producing collagen, the fibroblasts, to produce more of it. 

Skin Aging Due to Free Radical Damage

Oxidative damage is another contributing factor to the aging process.  The sun, chlorine, cigarette smoke, and pollutants are just a few of the free radical producing ingredients to which we are exposed.  The key to skin anti-aging is to ensure that the skin has an excess supply of antioxidants to neutralize free radical attacks and repair itself.  Some antioxidants are produced by the body, but as we grow older, their production decreases and we have to obtain them from external sources.

Pycnogenol is a patented antioxidant and is one of the most powerful on the market.  Research has demonstrated it to be 20 times more powerful than vitamin C and 50 times more powerful than vitamin E.  It is dramatically more effective than lipoic acid and grapeseed.  Studies have shown that Pycnogenol is 98% effective in fighting free radicals on the skin.

Beta-1,3/1,6 D-Glucan (Nayad) is also an ingredient that addresses free radical damage.  It comes from the cell walls of organically grown yeast cells.  By activating the skin’s natural immune system, it repairs collagen loss and forgives years of skin abuse.  Because of the complexity of its formulation, cosmetics containing Nayad are often too expensive for the average consumer. 

Sagging Skin

The formulations discussed up to this point have dealt primarily with the lines and wrinkles that accompany aging.  I have yet to address the other most visible sign of aging - sagging skin.  In 2005, the American Journal of Clinical Dermatology published an article which concluded that, “the benefits of DMAE in dermatology include a potential anti-inflammatory effect and a documented increase in skin firmness with possible improvement in underlying facial muscle tone.”

DMAE(dimehylaminoethanol) is a precursor to acetylcholine, a substance in our bodies that stimulates nerve function and causes the muscles to contract and tighten underneath the skin.  This leads to a firmer appearance.