How to Preserve Your Skin’s Youthfulness
Preserving your skin’s health and youthfulness requires a life-long commitment to hydrate, nourish and protect your skin. Anti-aging products are the most popular category in skincare but also the most misleading. They miss the point: you can and should support your skin health regardless of your age. Our skin ages differently based on our individual heritage, geography, daily habits and life stages. So, how do you build your skincare regimen and choose the right formulas to keep your skin healthy and youthful every day?
First, here are a few simple steps to prioritize your daily preventive care:
- Get your daily dose of hydration
- Protect your skin with a mineral sunscreen
- Nourish your body and your skin with vitamin-rich plants
- Support your skin health with collagen-rich foods and supplements
- Keep a balanced diet and avoid inflammatory foods
Keep it simple and focus on the best ingredients to maintain your skin’s youthfulness. Confused about the plethora of ingredients and new trends coming to market every season? We summarized a list of the best ingredients to help prevent and reduce the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, uneven texture and skin tone.
Hyaluronic Acid
Experts agree, youthful-looking skin is hydrated skin (1). But how can we help our skin to retain the water it needs to stay youthful? One important component is hyaluronic acid (HA). This naturally occurring molecule has a unique capacity to hold water within the skin (1), and aid in the repair of damaged skin from an injury. The benefits don’t stop there. HA has had promising results tightening facial skin, creating elasticity, reducing the appearance of wrinkle scars, and rejuvenating under the under-eye area, also known as tear troughs (2). With this level of effectiveness, it’s no wonder this ingredient tops the list of must-haves for skincare formulas.
Collagen Peptides
Collagen is one of the body’s main building blocks and is produced continuously throughout our lives. It is an important protein that gives structure to our cells, so when it comes to thinning skin and loss of elasticity, boosting collagen production is a must. Hormonal changes and natural aging can cause collagen degradation, hence skin dryness, loss of elasticity, fine lines and wrinkles (1). Taking collagen supplements can help to stimulate the production of new collagen, especially our skin’s wonder workers called fibroblasts (3). In addition, it promotes a softer and smoother skin texture (3). You can find collagen peptides in foods like bone broth, chicken, fish, beans, in skincare formulas and in supplements such as the Alurx Collagen Support Peptide Powder.
Vitamins A, B, C, D, & E
The Nobel Prize-winning scientist in Physiology and Medicine, Albert Szent Gyorgyi, once famously said “A vitamin is a substance that makes you ill if you don’t eat it.” Vitamins are incredibly important for overall wellness and for skin health in particular. They work with other proteins and acids to protect and build healthy cells. Vitamins A and B are known to help to reduce inflammation and support cell reproduction. Vitamins C, D, and E protect our skin from damage and free radicals, which can also harm collagen production. These vitamins also help with many other functions in the body such as supporting brain function, strengthening our immune system, repairing damaged tissue and much more (4, 5, 6, 7, 8). Vitamins A, D, and E are fat-soluble while vitamins B and C are water-soluble, so they need to be taken either with foods that contain fat or with water (6).
Caring for your skin doesn’t need to be complicated. Set a daily skincare regimen that includes a ritual set like the Alurx Glowing Skin Ritual Set, stay consistent but do adapt your routine every six months or so, depending on your activities or the seasons.
RESOURCES:
1: Hyaluronic acid: A key molecule in skin
aging https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3583886/
2: Hyaluronic acid, a promising skin rejuvenating biomedicine: A review of recent updates and pre-clinical and clinical investigations on cosmetic and nutricosmetic effects https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30287361/
3: Collagen Hydrolysates for Skin Protection: Oral Administration and Topical Formulation
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7070905/
4: Vitamin C and Immune Function https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5707683/
5: Role of Vitamin A in the Immune System https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6162863/
6: The Nutrition Source – Vitamins and Minerals - Harvard School of Public Health https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/vitamins/
7: Vitamin effects on the immune system: vitamins A and D take center stage https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2906676/
8: The role of vitamin E in normal and damaged skin https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7633944/