Welcome To The Natural Skin Care Blog!

Hello Everyone,
Welcome to The Natural Skin Care Blog! To get things started, an article by my
daughter, Sondra Miles.

Healthy Skin 101
Understanding Topical Antioxidants: How Anti-Aging Skin Nutrients Work
By Sondra Miles

Touch your face,
what do you feel? Look in the mirror, what do you see? You are looking at your largest organ and the part of you that everyone sees: your skin. Though often under appreciated, your skin performs many important physiological functions and is extremely susceptible to free radical damage. To function optimally and stay healthy, your skin needs nourishing with antioxidants from the inside and outside.

Free Radicals
Our bodies are under continuous attack by free radicals, extremely reactive molecules produced by our environment and our bodies that damage cells and tissues. Free radical damage to skin causes wrinkles, loss of tone, hyper pigmentation, aging, and skin cancer. On the inside, free radical damage is implicated in various diseases including cancers, degenerative diseases, and inflammatory illnesses as well as the aging process itself[i].

Antioxidants
Our body has a natural defense mechanism to protect itself from the danger of free radical attack: antioxidants. Antioxidants are specific vitamins, minerals, or nutrients that inactivate free radicals before they can damage cells. Hundreds of antioxidants exist; some, such as Alpha Lipoic Acid, the body produces whereas others, such as
vitamins E and C, we must consume. They each function slightly differently but work together synergistically to keep the body and skin healthy.

Antioxidants and Skin
The skin is constantly exposed to free radicals produced by harmful pollutants in the environment and, most significantly, UV light. To maintain healthy, youthful skin we must ensure that our skin has enough antioxidants to adequately protect itself. We can
deliver these antioxidants to our skin through diet, supplements, and topical products.

For our overall health, we need a healthy diet and supplements, but for the health of our skin, internal nourishment is not enough: topical antioxidants are essential. Internal supplementation improves the levels of antioxidants in skin cells, but research now shows that topical application delivers these important nutrients to the skin much more
quickly[ii]. Countless studies demonstrate that topical antioxidants protect skin from UV damage, reduce inflammation, and protect against certain types of cancer.

Topical Antioxidants
Topical formulations contain many different antioxidants: choose a combination for your skin. Some are stronger than others and many offer additional health benefits. Vitamins C and E, two well-known antioxidants, are both essential for skin health. Additionally, vitamin C stimulates collagen synthesis, and vitamin E provides excellent hydration benefits. Astaxanthin, a carotenoid, is 500 times more powerful than vitamin E[iii] and anti-inflammatory. Pycnogenol®, another powerful antioxidant, helps improve microcirculation and also enhances the function of vitamin C[iv].

These topical antioxidants, as well as others, will protect your skin and optimize skin health, but choose topical products carefully. Look for products that have effective concentrations of these important antioxidants and avoid products that contain potentially harmful ingredients such as mineral oil, petrolatum, and parabens.

Sondra Miles has a BS in Brain and Cognitive Sciences with a minor in Chemistry from MIT. She writes extensively on natural skin care, topical antioxidants and skin botanicals and is a member of the Research and Development team at derma e® Natural Bodycare. For a free sampler pack and catalog of derma e® products visit http://www.dermae.com/samples.

[1] Packer, Lester Ph.D. and Colman, Carol. The Antioxidant Miracle, (New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1999), 24.

2Packer and Colman, 200.

3Guerin, M., Huntley, M.E., and Olaizola, M. “Haematococcus astaxanthin: Applications for Human Health and Nutrition.” Trends in Biotechnology 21 (2003): 210-216.

4Packer, L., Rimbach, G., and Virgili, F. “Antioxidant Activity and Biologic Properties of a Procyanidin-Rich Extract from Pine (Pinus Maritima) Bark, Pycnogenol.” Free Radical Biology and Medicine 27 (1999): 704-724.

Wishing you healthy natural skincare