Clinical Procedures and Topics

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Antioxidants

An antioxidant is a substance that inhibits oxidation and deterioration of skin by protecting cells from some of the damage caused by unstable molecules known as free radicals.

Substances such as vitamin C, E and retinol remove or otherwise beneficially interact with potentially damaging oxidizing agents and are the most important antioxidants for the skin.

Without the dedicated use of these key and rudimentary antioxidants no professional skincare prescription aimed at anti-aging can be considered valuable or well judged.

Most topical products are inefficient, in the sense that only a small proportion of their active compound gets into the skin, so concentration and formulation are also vital considerations.

Vitamin C must be able to be absorbed and of 5-20% (maximum) concentration. While increasingly popular, many vitamin C formulas do not not provide this antioxidant in bio-available form and/or suffer from oxidation within days of first opening.

Recommendations:

Skinceuticals C E Ferulic (15% Vitamin C, 1% Vitamin E, 0.5% Ferulic Acid) ;
Skinceuticals Serum 20 (20% Vitamin C) ;
Skinceuticals Eye Gel (5% Vitamin C) ;
Jan Marini C-ESTA Treatments (varying beneficial concentrations)
Jan Marini C-ESTAMINS.

Vitamin E must be pure, naturally sourced, micellized (in the form of extremely small droplets, finer than water molecules) and of 1% or greater concentration. Non-micellized topical vitamin E is not absorbed into skin cell membranes.

Recommendations:

Skinceuticals C E Ferulic (15% Vitamin C, 1% Vitamin E, 0.5% Ferulic Acid) ;
Jan Marini C-ESTA Treatments (varying beneficial concentrations) ;
Jan Marini C-ESTAMINS ;
Gernetic Synchro and Cytobi.

Retinoids must be pure and of 0.01-1% concentration (depending on form). Retinyl palmitate is inactive.

Recommendations:

Jan Marini Factor A Treatments ;
Jan Marini C-ESTAMINS ;
Skinceuticals Evening Pure Retinol Treatments ;
Gernetic Synchro and Nuclea ;
Retinoic Acid (also see Understanding Photoprotection).

While newer synthetic and natural antioxidants are increasingly available, our biology dictates that they are not the most necessary. Idebenone and ferulic acid are some examples of more newly employed antioxidants for skin.

A categorised list of effective antioxidants used in skin care is available.

Antioxidant Outline Refined to Focus on Primary Antioxidants

Due to the increasing number of skin care products which provide antioxidant function, and because "antioxidant" increasingly refers to any substance which potentially prevents any degree of damage from reactive oxygen species, the listing of antioxidant skin care products now distinguishes between primary antioxidants for various skin types and conditions, and all antioxidants by brand.

Skin care featuring primary antioxidants are those which provide the key phytochemicals (carotenoids, tocopherols, vitamin c among others) which are key among the body's native defense systems and have a very clear antioxidant function and high potency.

Products containing beneficial antioxidants which are not as important as those designated as being primary are listed as part of the complete summary.

The change reflects our background in molecular and cellular biology — primary antioxidants have clearly established and irreplaceable benefits. See Idebenone — Prevage and Priori vs C E Ferulic for a perfect illustration of this reality.

Related Nodes:

Dietary Antioxidants

A dietary antioxidant is defined as a substance in foods that significantly decreases the adverse effects of reactive species, such as reactive oxygen species and nitrogen species on the normal physiological function in humans.