LovelySkin Conversations: The role of antioxidants in skin care

Join the antioxidant skin care conversation

In this video, Chrissy, LovelySkin’s Director of Product Operations and Cori, licensed esthetician and SkinCeuticals Manager of Education, answer your most asked questions about antioxidant benefits for skin.

What are environmental aggressors and how do antioxidants counteract their effects?

Cori opens the discussion by exploring the impact of free radicals on skin health. These unstable, reactive molecules, originating from environmental aggressors such as UV radiation, ozone, and pollution, as well as from lifestyle factors like irregular sleep, stress, and diet, significantly harm the skin. They degrade vital proteins like collagen and elastin, accelerating the skin aging process and leading to visible skin damage, including wrinkles, dark spots, dryness, loss of firmness and more.

Why do I need to have an antioxidant in my routine?

The skin serves as the body's primary shield against environmental and lifestyle stressors. However, when free radicals rob molecules from the skin to stabilize themselves, they induce oxidative stress. This stress compromises the skin's ability to repair itself. Cori emphasizes that one of the most effective defenses against this damage is the application of topical SkinCeuticals antioxidants. These antioxidants, donate an electron to the unstable free radicals, neutralizing them and thereby protecting the skin from further harm.

Why use L-Ascorbic Acid instead of other, more stable forms of vitamin C?

Cori highlights that SkinCeuticals vitamin C is an exceptionally effective antioxidant for combating free radical damage. She explains the pioneering research of Dr. Sheldon Pinnell, Professor Emeritus of Dermatology at Duke University Medical Center and founder of SkinCeuticals. Dr. Pinnell discovered that for vitamin C to effectively penetrate the skin and remain bioavailable, it must meet specific criteria: it should be pure l-ascorbic acid, concentrated between 10% and 20%, and maintain a pH between 2.0 and 3.5. These standards form the cornerstone of all SkinCeuticals vitamin C skin care, including the bestselling SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic Antioxidant Serum, in addition to adhering to stringent standards of proof.

Next, Cori and Chrissy begin a conversation where they discuss and answer some of the most asked LovelySkin customer questions about antioxidants, including:

• What color should your Vitamin C Serum be?
• How do antioxidants complement sunscreen in protecting the skin from UV damage?
• How long does it typically take to see visible results from using antioxidant products?
• How do antioxidants interact with other active ingredients like peptides, niacinamide, or retinol?
• Can anyone ever use too many antioxidant skin care products?

You can learn more about anti-aging antioxidants on the LovelySkin blog.