When it comes to skin health, antioxidants are always commended for its wonderful anti-aging benefits. But, what are antioxidants and how do they exactly benefit our skin? And what ingredients harness these anti-aging powers of antioxidants? Keep on reading to find out.

Antioxidants are vital to your health, whether you apply them topically or get them from the foods you eat. They are particularly helpful at reducing environmental damage whether it's from pollution or the sun. They inhibit free-radicals which have been shown to speed up the aging process and many scientific studies have found that antioxidants have other remarkable benefits to our bodies as well.

What Are Antioxidants?

Both synthetic and naturally-derived, antioxidants are molecules that can prevent cell damage, which includes damage that is caused by things such as air pollution, smoking, drinking alcohol or sun exposure. The good news is, antioxidants can be found everywhere starting with the fruits and vegetables we eat.

What are Free Radicals?

Free radical damage plays a huge role in the health of our bodies - from wrinkles to aging or illness. To better understand how antioxidants help the skin, it's important to understand one of the biggest factors of aging that antioxidants can help prevent - free radical damage. Free radicals are destructive, unstable molecules that form as a result of environmental factors like exposure to irritating ingredients or sun exposure.

So What's the Connection?

You might be wondering: what's the connection between wrinkles and antioxidants, anyway? Our skin is loaded with antioxidants that naturally protect our skin while we are young. Sun damage, menopause, irritating products, and illness causes our skin to lose its ability to produce antioxidants. Not getting enough protection from it - either from dietary sources, skin care products, or from our own body's production - free radical damage wrecks havoc by causing collagen break down, impairing our skin's natural ability to heal and protect itself.

When it comes to skincare, free radical damage causes wrinkles to appear by breaking down collagen and other important skin functions. Hence, a quality anti-aging skincare product should include a powerful antioxidant to interrupt and slow down free radical damage, keeping it from harming your skin. In time, these free radicals damage the healthy skin cells - those cells responsible for keeping your skin smooth, youthful, and firm.

One of the biggest ways you can slow down the impact of free radical damage is from the use of antioxidants. In fact, it is so vital for the body that they are being studied by scientists on a global scale. Even the experts in the skincare world profess, if there's a fountain of youth, antioxidants are definitely in it!

Countless research shows antioxidants to be a major player in improving cell function, improve elasticity, boost collagen production, reduce sun damage, and create new, younger, healthier skin cells. Just like eating a healthy diet, the more you use potent antioxidants, the younger your skin will look and feel.

What are the Best Antioxidants?

There are hundreds of trendy antioxidants that show up in skin-care lines, but antioxidants don't need to be exotic or have a good marketing story to work brilliantly. Despite what marketers may claim about Tibetan berries or about melons harvested at dawn in the south of France, what matters most is treating your skin to a variety of antioxidants. In other words, take a cocktail approach, and give skin its very own happy hour with an array of potent, stable, and well-researched antioxidants!

Again, skin gets the most benefit when several antioxidants are applied together, much the same way that eating a variety of fruits and vegetables is healthier than eating only apples or only broccoli.
Research shows that there are dozens of effective antioxidants, but it also reveals a short list of antioxidants that are proven superior in addressing anti-aging concerns. Here are some of them:

1. Vitamin C

Vitamin C (listed as Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate, ascorbic acid, and others) is a powerful antioxidant that is very effective for treating dullness, wrinkles, and age or sun spots. This potent water-soluble vitamin is hailed by many as an anti-aging superstar.

Applied topically, vitamin C has been shown to boost collagen production. There is also countless research that shows vitamin C to reduce skin discoloration, increase the skin's ability to repair and heal itself, strengthen the skin's barrier response, help skin to better withstand sunlight exposure, and reduce inflammation.

Vitamin C & E Serum enhances the appearance of skin tone and texture while deeply nourishing and quenching dry, thirsty skin. 

$15.95

How cool is that?! You will find Vitamin C in lots of products, from eye gels to lip balms, but you'll get the most out of it in targeted treatment products like serums.

2. Vitamin E

Vitamin E (typically listed as tocotrienols or tocopherol) is one of the most popular antioxidants. It is a fat-soluble vitamin made available in synthetic and natural forms. Both forms give significant benefits to the skin, but the natural kind has a higher retention rate - which means that they are better absorbed by the skin - and are considered more potent than the synthetic kind.

Vitamin E acts in various ways to protect the skin from the early stages of sun damage and aids in protecting the skin cells from oxidative damage.

Vitamin C and E are Best Friends

Vitamins C and E work well together because they complement each other! Not only do they increase your skin's protection from sun damage, this power combo also works together to maintain healthy collagen levels in our skin. The vitamin C helps synthesize collagen while vitamin E maintains the proper connection between its fibers.

This is why we love having these amazing antioxidant duo in our Vitamin C & E Serum. Infused with tons of key skin-nourishing ingredients, this concentrated skin serum enhances the skin's natural processes so you can keep vibrant and younger-looking skin always.

 

3. Retinol

Retinol refers to the entire molecule of vitamin A, and has a well-established reputation in the skincare world to be a brilliant ingredient for maintaining skin's youthfulness and health. It is both an antioxidant and a skin-communicating ingredient and gives a multitude of benefits when used consistently, making it a popular ingredient for anyone looking to keep their skin healthy and younger-looking over the years.

Retinol has also been proven to help reduce brown spots and breakouts. In skin care products, it can be found in the form of retinylaldehyde, retinol, and retinyl palmitate.

Retinol helps create better, healthier skin cells and boost the production of substances that support the skin like ceramides. It enhances collagen production, resulting in firmer, healthier skin with an enhanced barrier function and texture.
Enjoy the wonderful benefits of retinol in our Retinol 2.5% Serum. Add this powerful anti-aging serum to your daily regimen and watch the age fall away.

 YEOUTH Retinol Serum delivers dramatically visible results while hydrating and brightening the skin at the same time.  Think smoother, firmer skin, less lines and wrinkles and smaller pores! 

 $19.95

4. Green Tea

A lot of research shows that green tea has amazing anti-aging benefits and it has been proven to show it’s antioxidant properties are even more potent when applied topically. It contains high amounts of amino acids, enzymes, and polyphenols - powerful, natural antioxidants that delay the signs of skin aging.

Epigallocatechin-3 gallate (EGCG) in green tea also helps defend the skin from negative impacts caused by the environment. It also has a distinct calming effect which visibly soothes skin redness and inflammation.

Antioxidants Perform Better Together

As you treat your skin with antioxidants, remember the old saying "there is strength in numbers."

When the best antioxidants are working together, and reinforced with other skin-beneficial ingredients and everyday sunscreen use, you can only expect remarkable results!