10/31/11

Just How Beneficial Are Today’s Hottest Skincare Product Ingredients?

The buzzword of the moment is “antioxidant.” Whether it be applying vitamin C serums at night or drinking green tea during the day, antioxidants are the rage. But is there any evidence to support their role in skincare?

Antioxidants are substances that contain a free electron that can be donated to another substance. For example, ascorbic acid, also known as vitamin C, is a common antioxidant added to skincare products to donate an electron to reactive oxygen species that degrade the lipids in the moisturizer.

Every single part of every living plant must contain antioxidants to allow for continued viability outdoors. This accounts for the large number of foods containing antioxidants and for the large number of antioxidant-containing compounds available for use in skin products.

Measuring the effectiveness of topical and oral antioxidants is very difficult. Even though antioxidants are commonly orally consumed in the form of vitamins C and E, it is difficult to know if the antioxidant ability of the body is improved by increased consumption. It is unknown how much of an antioxidant like vitamin C should be consumed to optimally maintain skin antioxidant stores.

So whether patients using topical antioxidants or consuming oral antioxidant supplements are benefiting in terms of sun protection and anti-aging is yet to be determined. Antioxidants value remains controversial.