Skin ageing is 100% natural and you shouldn’t feel compelled to address your skin ageing issues. As you age, your skin loses important nutrients collagen and elastin that keep it firm and plump. Thus it becomes thinner and less elastic over time, resulting in wrinkles and fine lines in the areas of your face where the skin naturally folds from your facial expressions. This can look like fine lines or crows feet around the eye area, smile lines when you’re not smiling or frown lines when you’re not frowning.
However, the rate at which your skin ages depends on a variety of factors––above all it can be accelerated by UV exposure and a lack of moisture. Yet while ageing is inevitable, that doesn’t mean you can’t delay pre-mature ageing and there are a number of ways to restore and replenish your skin’s collagen and elastin.
Aside from staying out of the sun and applying SPF religiously, you can incorporate these 5 important ingredients into your skincare routine will help minimise the effects of UV ray damage, restore and repair your skin, and keep it looking youthful:
“If you spend long unprotected hours in the sun,
chances are that your skin will age faster.”
Butterfly Bush Flower
Growing in high altitudes, the butterfly bush flower is a Swiss plant that can stand high solar radiation. So, when applied topically, it offers exceptional protection from UV damage. It does this by preventing the breakdown of collagen—a protein that makes the skin strong and elastic.
Furthermore, soliberine—a natural extract of the flower, is equipped to protect the skin from natural sunlight, as well as the blue light emitted by digital sources. Soliberine is also widely touted for its anti-oxidation properties. Largely caused by UV radiation, oxidisation is a process that damages skin cells, and exacerbates ageing of the skin.
Niacinamide
Niacinamide is truly a hero skincare ingredient! It can strengthen the skin’s protective barrier, thus blocking out the environmental factors that affect the skin. Niacinamide can also reverse this type of damage by improving uneven skin tone, diminishing dullness, and softening fine lines and wrinkles.
What’s more, niacinamide is a great pick for even those with sensitive skin. It isn’t known to cause redness and irritation.
Vitamin E
There are a number of free radical triggers in our environment—some of them being UV radiation, pollution, smoke, and other toxins. In simple words, a free radical is a particle that damages healthy cells in our body. Skin experts propound that ageing of the skin is largely aggravated by these free radicals.
Lucky for us, Vitamin E is an anti-oxidant that can fight off free radical damage. In addition, anti-oxidants can stimulate collagen production, and also help the skin to repair itself.
“Vitamin E is an anti-oxidant that can prevent free radicals from damaging your skin cells. It also boosts collagen production,
thus making the skin look youthful.”
Hyaluronic Acid
Hyaluronic acid can draw moisture from the environment and trap it into the skin. By doing this, it hydrates the skin along with filling in fine lines, making the skin look plump, radiant, and youthful. Good thing is that hyaluronic acid is naturally found in the human body. So, it is unlikely to cause any sort of irritation.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C is an antioxidant, and a mainstay of anti-ageing skincare products. Just like Vitamin E, it can eliminate the harmful effects of free radicals.
On top of that, Vitamin C can regulate the production of melanin—the pigment that gives skin its colour. This prevents age spots and dark patches from forming on the skin. However, note that some people are sensitive to Vitamin C and may experience irritation. To be on the safe side, always patch test your product.
Many think that preventing, delaying, or (partly) reversing signs of ageing is not possible. Truth is, with the right ingredients and the right formulations, it is very much possible. Also, by wearing sunscreen all day every day, you’d be doing your skin the biggest favour!
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