Antioxidant serum is one of the most essential skincare products you should add to your beauty regime. According to experts SELF spoke with, everyone can reap its many advantages by starting their day right with antioxidant serum after cleansing and before applying moisturizer.
Antioxidants act like skin superheroes, lending electrons from themselves to unstable free radicals in order to neutralise and stop them from damaging your complexion. When selecting antioxidants for their skincare benefits, seek out combinations which offer multiple advantages – wrinkle smoothing and brightening being just two examples.
1. Vitamin C
Vitamin C is an ideal ingredient to achieve glowing, radiant skin. It combats visible signs of aging, improves uneven skin tone and fades dark spots such as age spots or melasma while protecting from UV damage. When purchasing vitamin C serums for topical application, look for concentrations between 10%-20% according to Christenson as anything higher may not work as effectively or could irritate sensitive skin.
Avoid products containing acidic ingredients, like alpha hydroxy acids or beta hydroxy acids or retinol. They could irritate sensitive skin or conditions like rosacea.
Mary Kay TimeWise Replenishing Serum C+E can help you achieve healthy skin. Backed by 14 studies and packed with ingredients like vitamin C and ferulic acid to nourish and re-mineralize skin cells effectively – plus it’s fragrance and paraben-free for added peace of mind!
2. Resveratrol
Resveratrol, an anti-aging ingredient present in many of our favorite foods such as peanuts, pistachios, red wine, blueberries and dark chocolate is widely recognized for its anti-ageing benefits. Studies on yeast and laboratory animals have demonstrated how activation of SIRT1 extends their lives significantly.
Resveratrol exhibits antioxidant, cardioprotective, neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory activities both in vitro and in vivo models. It decreases oxidative stress by scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS), and increasing endogenous antioxidant enzymes such as SOD, CAT and GSH production. Resveratrol also enhances mitochondrial biogenesis through activating AMPK activation while inhibiting histone deacetylase SIRT1 phosphorylation while simultaneously increasing endogenous antioxidant enzyme production while simultaneously increasing endogenous antioxidant enzyme production by improving endogenous antioxidant enzyme production from SOD, CAT and GSH production while also modulating gene expression via increasing TFEB-dependent or mTOR-dependent pathways.
Resveratrol enhances spleen lymphocyte functionality and enhances immunity in immunosuppressed mice by upregulating SIRT1, while simultaneously improving their function and increasing immune responses through SIRT1 upregulation. Furthermore, it inhibits PPAR-g and C/EBP-g expression to prevent adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes – in turn preventing their proliferation; inhibiting C/EBP-g expression also prevents 3T3-L1 preadipocyte adipogenesis while acting chemopreventively/chemotherapeutically by impairing glycolysis; inhibiting cancer cell proliferation while inducing apoptosis while regulating autophagy while stimulating an antitumor immune response against antitumor immune responses against cancer cells – all activities that help promote antitumor immunity responses against tumor cells in addition to autophagy/autophagy regulation/promotion of immune responses against tumor immune resistance to promote antitumor immune response against cancer.
3. Vitamin E
Vitamin E is an extremely potent antioxidant, providing protection from free radical damage while simultaneously helping reduce fine lines and wrinkles, soften skin, and stop the oxidisation of oils which could potentially contribute to breakouts.
Antioxidant tocopherol can be found in anti-aging skincare as an ingredient that works ideally when combined with vitamin C; when these two antioxidants come together they work more effectively by neutralising each other’s free radicals and helping fight off free radical damage more efficiently than on their own.
Food sources of vitamin E include leafy greens, vegetable oils, nuts and seeds, margarine/spreads/cereals. Ester derivatives like all-rac alpha-tocopherol/tocotrienol can also be added to foods to increase stability; these will still be absorbed by your body in much the same way.
Vitamin E can be applied topically without adverse side effects; however, for some it may act as an allergen and cause itching or rashes on some people’s skin. If you have very sensitive or acne-prone skin it would be wise to steer clear from its use.
4. Green tea
Green tea has long been touted for its health advantages, from weight loss to decreasing cancer risks and helping heart conditions as well as providing skin protection with antioxidants.
Green tea’s most prominent component is epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), an effective plant compound widely credited with providing many of its numerous health benefits as documented by studies.
EGCG also boasts anti-aging benefits and can reduce redness and acne scarring, protecting skin from UVB-induced damage.
Green tea, like its darker counterpart, black tea, is produced using leaves from the Camellia sinensis plant; however, unlike black tea leaves which have been exposed to oxygen for too long before processing, green tea leaves do not undergo this process; hence their more vibrant hue. Both green and black tea contain polyphenols – antioxidants which promote wellness in various ways – along with L-theanine for relaxation purposes as well as being great sources of caffeine and L-theanine for calmness – however recent research links regular consumption of green tea consumption with lower risk of diabetes risk.
