Anti-ageing is a common concern when it comes to skin care, and the ingredients and products on the market for fighting the signs of ageing are ever growing.
Most of us know about the environmental factors which contribute to ageing skin, but how many of us know about the relationship between sugar and the ageing effect on the skin?
What is glycation?
Glycation is a naturally-occurring chemical reaction that causes sugars, like glucose or fructose, to bind to proteins and lipids throughout the body. When this occurs, the proteins and lipids involved in the glycation process become damaged.
With your skin, glycation can be likened to the action of drawing the cord closed on the old-fashioned dilly bag. When opened and laid flat, the dilly bag has no wrinkles, as your skin does when there is nothing pulling on the elastin fibres under the skin. When we pull the cord on the dilly bag, the tension causes the bag to crease. The sugaring of the elastin fibres under your skin are pulling the cord and creasing the skin.
The result is the formation of AGEs (Advanced Glycation End Product):
- Extrinsic skin ageing: caused by environmental factors.
- Can result from exposure to sunlight and UV radiation
- Can be generated by irreversible oxidation, polymerization, dehydration and cross-linking
So what happens when those important proteins are unable to properly support the structure of the skin?
Some results of glycation of the skin include:
- Acceleration of skin becoming aged
- Deterioration and/or reduction in collagen and elastin
- Loss of some of the skin’s fat layer
- Dehydrated skin
- Cross linking
- Inflammation
- Impaired skin regeneration
Some signs of glycation of the skin to look out for include:
- Dryer, rougher and/or less firm skin
- Lined, wrinkled, flaky, thinner, looser and/or duller skin
- Lipofuscin – yellow to brown spots appear on the skin
- Sallow (yellow-brown in colour) skin
So what can we do to mitigate skin glycation?
Introduing Cell Defence Anti-Glycageing Plant Stem Cell Serum: anti-ageing support from the earth and the ocean. This serum contains an array of active ingredients synergistically formulated to help mitigate skin glycation.
Daily Application of Cell Defence Anti-Glycageing Plant Stem Cell Serum supports skin rejuvenation by helping to:
- Increase deep hydration
- Repair damaged cells
- Replace dead or worn out cells
- Strengthen collagen and elastin
- Strengthen the fibres in the skin to tone and lift its appearance
- Provide necessary protection to the skin’s delicately balanced process of renewal
- Reduce photodamaged skin conditions
- Reduce the signs of fine lines and wrinkles • strengthening skin elasticity
- Lighten dark spots
Skin will appear:
- More hydrated and moist
- Smoother
- Less lined
- Firmer
- Plumper
- Clearer
- Brighter
- More uplifted
Potent, active ingredients include:
Echinacea
Loaded with plant compounds that function as antioxidants, such as flavonoids, cichoric acid and rosmarinic acid, which may help to defend the body against oxidative stress.
Prickly Pear Seed Oil
- Extremely rich in Vitamins C and K essential fatty acids and antioxidants.
- Helps minimise the crosslinking of collagen and elastin, a process which results in wrinkles.
- Brightens the complexion
- Reduces the appearance of hyper-pigmentation and/or dark spots
Chitin (Mushroom)
- Carrier of other active ingredients
- Anti-aging properties
- Antioxidant and antimicrobiant
- Natural skin lightener for age spots and discolorations
- Exfoliating ability helps stimulate the natural renewal process
- Improves skin texture
Micro Algae
- Described as having the ability to anti glycate due to its natural antioxidant compounds, including carotenoids (eg beta-carotene) and unsaturated fatty acids.
- Blue-Green Algae helps to strengthen the fibres in the skin, which tones and lifts its appearance, and the fatty acids help to improve the skin’s structure, increasing firmness and elasticity. The hydrating and other unique properties of this formula become even more powerful when combined with Beta-gluten which has been proven to deeply penetrate the skin.
- Astaxanthin (Red Haematococcus Algae) has been shown to have anti-wrinkle and antioxidant effects.
Tomato fruit
Contains Lycopene, a powerful antioxidant that helps prevent collagen deterioration.
Vaccinium Myrtillus (Blueberry) Fruit Extract
Superior skin conditioning ingredient
Aloe Vera
- Deeply hydrates and moisturises
- Improves skin elasticity
- Softens hardened skin cells and tightens pores
To find out more including reviewing the skin as a mitochondriac, and how we can lessen the severity of the ageing directly linked to the process of glycation, read our naturopath Charmaine D’s article here.
Charmaine D, our naturopath, is here for you and is committed to helping you move through your ailments and forward into the rest of your life.
Book in for a free 30 minute skincare consult and see how she can help you!