Let’s
break effective skincare into three areas: Circulation, Stimulation and
Protection.
Circulation
According to Dr. Ben
Johnson circulation has everything to do with your skin's health and it is
substantially overlooked by the skincare community. All the skin's food, immune
support, antioxidant and remodeling efforts all come from the blood supply.
Every time you are stressed, you drink coffee or go outside in cold weather,
your skin suffers a little because all of these things restrict bloodflow to
the dermis. Vitamin K, horse chestnut and caffeine in skincare products are all
designed to reduce bloodflow. There is no skin condition (Rosacea, Dark
Circles, etc) that is better off with less bloodflow. That is why the utilization
of Retinaldehyde, Niacinamide, Camphor, and other circulation enhancing
ingredients makes such a big difference in the quality and health of the skin.
Bags under the eyes are the result of vasoconstriction (reduced bloodflow and
the correlation between loss of blood supply and the thinning of the dermis
with age are more than a coincidence. Remember, it is a thinning dermis that is
the primary cause of visible capillaries. The reason capillaries return after
treatment is because the skin wants adequate blood supply in the area. The best
way to reduce this is to build back the collagen/elastin (in the dermis) that
covers these vessels.
Stimulation
This is an important term
because it needs to be differentiated from the typical remodeling strategies employed
by most skincare companies. To highlight my point, we can discuss glycolic
acid. This ingredient is in most products and is touted as a rejuvenating
ingredient. The skin doesn't have glycolic acid receptors so its method of
action is simply to destroy whatever it can. The reason there is any effect is
only because the skin, in response to the devastation, replaces itself with new
layers. The epidermis swells a little from the inflammation (temporarily
reducing the appearance of lines), the new skin is less pigmented (helping
hyperpigmentation superficially) but the net effect the skin's resources were
used to repair the recent damage rather than repairing the substantial damage
that was the initial treatment goal. So how do you stimulate the skin without
damaging it? There a few ingredients for this task but one stands out as a
clear leader, Retinaldehyde. The key remodeling components in the skin are the
Fibroblasts. They make collagen, elastin and GAG's, all of which are critical
to a youthful, wrinkle-free appearance. Trauma does activate them but for
little net gain. Activating their receptors is the true target and
Retinaldehyde does a wonderful job at stimulating Fibroblasts without trauma.
Retinaldehyde is what the skin uses to make collagen by converting it to
Retinoic Acid.
Protection
Most people think
protection is a sunscreen, But a sunblock is better. Sunblocks like Titanium
and Zinc, protect by reflecting UV rays before they penetrate. But the best
method of protection actually comes at the cellular level. Antioxidants used in
the skin include catalase, L-glutathione, L-superoxide dismutase, Vitamin C and
E amongst other ones. We believe that the utilization of ingredients the skin
recognizes vastly improves the protection ability. Antioxidants are constantly
being used, restored and used again because we are literally in a constant
state of inflammation. High dose antioxidants have proven to not only
significantly reduce damage in the skin, they actually allow the skin to
rebuild itself by shrinking the repair requirements, thus resulting in a
thicker, healthier dermis. To make the process most effective, high percentages
of these healing actives should be used and adjunctive ingredients like
liposomal technology, ensures that they reach their target.
