YOUTH IN A BOTTLE- PART 1
Oct 12 '00
THE LOWDOWN ON ACTIVE INGREDIENTS in anti-aging creams: Glycolics, retinoids, furfuryladenine, alpha-lipoic acid, copper peptide, vitamins C & K, hydroquinone. An explanation of what I've learned about the active ingredients and how they work, PART ONE:
I'm 37 and I'm a relentless researcher when it comes to products. I want to know what works, and what is hype. I'll try and give you an overview here of the ingredients that DO something to your skin. I'm focusing on the medical and clinical information out there, and how it influences what I will buy for my face in addition to my other favorite more cosmetic products.
Basically the deal is your skin grows. It is a wonderful, efficient organ. In a perfect world it produces lots of different proteins, some which tell it to grow, some which tell it to protect itself, some which tell it to moisturize, some which tell it to produce oil, some which tell it to be elastic, some which tell it to be thick, some which tell it to be thin, and some which tell it to produce pigment. It gets nutrients and oxygen it needs from your blood. When damage occurs, it's from enzymes which break down the happy proteins into nefarious substances, and immune cells zap over to the site and tell it to heal.
Then there are certain things which interfere with this process: lowered immune system response, alien free radical damage (think Alpha Centauri) which causes your skin to accumulate ions, an imbalance in the speed or in the level in which it produces certain proteins, or a general inefficiency in these processes which happens as you get older.
Certain skin renewal products work by creating or accelerating damage as a way to send a signal to your skin that it need to repair the damage, hence to regenerate itself.
This is the theory behind acid exfoliation of the skin. A little acid exfoliation speeds up the removal of dead skin proteins which block the new skin by breaking down the links which hold these dead cells together. Alot of acid exfoliation goes further, and actually wounds your skin, telling it to produce the growth signals to heal. The repair cells produce all the groovy skin proteins like collagen, elastin, proteglycans and glycosaminoglycans, etc. The last 2 are the ones that bind moisture into the cells. Your skin does not acquire moisture from the outside in. A moisturizer per se simply prevents moisture from escaping into the environment, a bad moisturizer can even keep your skin from being able to function well.
Ok, enough biology for now. Here are the dermatological buzz words! Next installment will cover the vitamin A stuff, and the difference between retinol and Retin A.
Hydroxy Acids: These were studied extensively at Princeton.
AHA's, BHA's. Pretty much the same. They occur naturally in nature, like in sugar and milk. Some chemists claim that BHAs (which are salicylic acid & citric acid-which is not vitamin C) work at different levels of the skin. Salicylic acid is the only one which is both water and fat soluble, which is why it is used for acne, because it can dissolve sebum and thus get to the clogging cells.
Glycolic acid (which comes from sugar) is the preferred one for skin, because there is some indication in dermatological studies that it can protect the skin from sun damage. In general, sun sensitivity is greatly increased by any of these ingredients, and anyone using anti-aging products on their skin should use a high-level sun protection as well!
Studies indicate that the use of glycolic acid can help the skin speed up it's rate of regeneration, thus having a positive effect on softness & texture, clarity and tone. The old, dead proteins from sun damage and free radical breakdown which are normally produced, and which accumulate more as you get older, are physically stripped at low levels. At higher levels the skin is triggered into producing new skin faster by being subjected to chemical damage. That is also why there is so much cross-over between anti-aging and acne product ingredients. Old skin cells both block pores and clog sebum glands, as well as making your skin dull and less smooth.
According to dermatologists, for an AHA to have a noticeable effect on age-related skin renewal, it is thought that a % of AHA (glycolic) of 7-8% in a ph formulation of 3.5 to 4 is required.
Most cosmetic products are much lower than this, so you'll benefit from the action of increased removal of dead skin, you just won't see the same renewal results as you would with a 'cosmeceutical' (pharmaceutical) or medical (dermatological) level of active ingredient. However, acids are used as well to help bind other beneficial ingredients to the skin, so low levels are good to help carry other active ingredients, like lipids and vitamins to the skin.
The cosmeceutical products for the most part are offered with 10% or 15% glycolic acid. Medical/surgical peels can be anywhere from 40% to 70%! Ouch. There seems to be a study which shows that you can get the same results with long term low-level acid skin renewal as you do with a surgical procedure and then a period of skin restructuring. I hope so, I've seen some horror stories. (ok, I've also seen some amazing results from surgeons!) Studies indicate that a % under 5% will have no effect on accelerated skin renewal.
Because this level of acid is meant to irritate your skin, it does! All the product pages I've seen, and all the experts and dermatologists I've consulted suggest that you start low, and use products every other day if you have to. If your skin responds in pain, then you should stop using something. If you are hurting your skin at a level where it cannot regenerate and heal itself, then you are further ruining your skin. As we will see in other installments, there are other ingredients you can use. With any dermo-active treatment, it's a good idea to do 2 full-length treatments in a row, then to give your skin a few months rest. When you are using an ACTIVE ingredient as a treatment, you are more sensitized to stuff you normally wouldn't react to.
As important as the AMOUNT of the active ingredient is the PH of the formula and the CARRIER (the rest of the ingredients it comes in). You'll see this clearly with Retin A vs. Renova, for example. In that installment I'll also try and explain why there is a difference between preventing further aging and reversing existing aging.
It seems that the glycolics are used often in conjunction with another active treatment, say a bleaching, anti-oxidant or other treatment. More on that another day. I acquired alot of information.
Anybody with a question can email me, if I can answer it I will.
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