Let's face it - there are many ways our skin can get damaged. Overexposure to the sun's rays, smog, smoke, even pollutants in the air we breathe, cause the skin to age.
Here's what happens: these external factors cause the collagen in your face to degrade. Collagen is the most abundant protein in our body. The fact is, three fourths of the protein in our skin is collagen. Collagen's role in the skin is to hold everything together. That means that young, collagen-rich skin is taut because the proteins are abundant and healthy. The collagen is the main connective tissue keeping everything firm and bound.
Unfortunately, as we age, this collagen degrades. Some of this is a normal part of aging, but this process is accelerated by a number of factors like sunlight, smoking, environmental pollutants and a poor diet that increase the rate of free radical formation and inflammation.
Free radicals are extremely reactive compounds. They are electron deficient, and will destroy anything they can in your skin to get one, including your collagen. Free radicals readily attempt to take an electron from your healthy
collagen. When the free radicals succeed in doing this, your collagen protein no longer functions the way it needs to in order to keep your skin taut and young looking. When your collagen becomes damaged, it makes a poor
scaffolding for your skin, and the first signs of wrinkles and sagging start to appear.
But all hope is not lost! There are simple steps you can take to safeguard your healthy collagen. And the implementation of a quality Vitamin C Serum can stop a lot of already-formed free radicals in their tracks before they have the chance to do damage to your skin and its healthy components.
This list is absolutely not exhaustive, but here are 3 easy ways you can make big changes in your skin below the surface:
1) Eat more anti-oxidant rich foods. Anti-oxidants take one for the team by "donating" an electron to a free radical in
your body. This means the free radical is no looking to damage your healthy cells to obtain an electron.
2) Use a Vitamin C Serum with Hyaluronic Acid and Vitamin E. Vitamin C is a high quality anti-oxidant that readily donates electrons to free radicals. While a healthy supply to Vitamin C is important in one's diet, a topical Vitamin C has been shown to be 20x more effective. When paired with a Hyaluronic Acid, a stable Vitamin C Compound has a much better chance at penetrating into the dermis where it can do the most good for your skin.
3) Use sun protection. Sun exposure and UV damage are the biggest contributors to premature aging. Many dermatologists cite UV damage as the #1 cause of free radical formation, and subsequently wrinkle formation and sagging. One of the best ways you can prevent this is by using adequate sun protection, whether the sun isout or not. Use a sunscreen or moisturizer with sun protection daily.
