If only Ponce de Leon had known about antioxidants, it might have kept him from tramping all around a swampy and bug-filled place he named Florida. While the Spanish conquistador’s quest for the Fountain of Youth was futile, antioxidants defy the aging effects and give your skin a younger and brighter appearance.
Nowadays, antioxidants and free radicals are much-bandied terms.
But, what are they, and how do they work?
To visually understand them and their process cut an apple in half and read on.
Oxidation produces the energy our skin cells need to survive however; once it is spent, it becomes a byproduct. Those byproducts, called free radicals, then work to weaken and break down skin cells. Unchecked, the cells damaged by free radicals start are susceptible to rapid aging and diseases.
The now browning apple you cut open earlier is a perfect illustration.
Antioxidants are heroic forces able to neutralize free radicals by sacrificing themselves in the process. The need to replenish antioxidants is constant. Your body produces some while others come through nutrition. Certain foods, mainly fruits like blueberries and plums and kale, spinach and other green leafy vegetables, receive high marks for their antioxidant producing abilities.
Fighting skin damage caused by free radicals also occurs through topical applications. Available either grouped as a kit or sold separately AgeSmart products by Dermalogica are among your best defense for skin care. Fragrance free the Skin Resurfacing Cleanser’s Lactic Acid penetrates skin cells to exfoliate away impurities and leave smooth skin.
Where age is leaving its marks, lines by eyes and along your lip line, MAP-15 Regenerator comes to the rescue. Applied to trouble spots, the skin firming effects of its concentrated Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate (MAP) is almost instantaneous.
Your mother’s instruction to take your vitamins was good advice then and even better now. MultiVitamin Power Firm is lavishly laden with red seaweed extract. Red seaweed is an antioxidant powerhouse possessing an alphabet of vitamins from A1 to K. Other free radical busting components include beta-carotene and potassium, magnesium and zinc. By spreading the MultiVitamin Power Recovery Masque over your clean face and throat, the benefits are doubled.