Anti-aging skin care products are very popular today; which is not surprising because we are all living longer and fuller lives so why shouldn't we want to look younger? The skin care industry uses beauty products that increase the synthesis of the protein collagen, the main protein in skin which becomes less elastic as we age; collagen is so abundant, it makes up about a quarter of the total protein content of structural protein found in skin. Most anti-ageing products (collagen included) fall into a category of natural everyday products we all use; these are known as antioxidants, which remove toxins from the body.

Vitamin C is probably one of the better known anti-oxidants in use today but the debate about the daily quota required is ongoing. Unfortunately all skin care treatments that use vitamin C have the problem of atmospheric oxidization to contend with once the product is exposed to the air.

Manufacturers are trying alternative skin care treatments to vitamin C that do not have this oxidization problem or cost as much to produce. However, these anti-ageing skin care treatments are not as effective vitamin C based products, although vitamin E and lipoic acid are also anti-oxidants and have similar effects.

Vitamin E is a fat-soluble antioxidant and is found in human blood; one particular disease it may help to prevent is certain types of cancer. Lipoic acid is also an energy making component of the body, found in every cell; it is also known to combat the signs of aging very effectively by repairing skin damage caused by the aging process.

Phytochemicals form the other category of anti-aging skin care products, which are special chemicals that are extracted from plants with a variety of that are used in skin care today. Like lipoic acid, phytochemicals help reduce the occurrence of cancers; for instance:

Prostate Cancer in Men
Cancer of the Breast
Cancer that attacks the Colon

These three types of cancer are also becoming a global problem.

Other vitamins from the B group are also used in anti-ageing skin care like vitamins B5, B6 and B12 for example. This just goes to highlight just how complex and far reaching the whole field of anti-ageing skin care products is and why so much more research is required. There is no doubt that what has been learned so far is only a small part of the jigsaw puzzle; more long term effective methods will eventually be found to reverse or slow down the effects of aging.

There may be many challenges still to overcome but in time scientists believe they will succeed in producing more effective anti-ageing skin care products that are less expensive and available to more people. However, man-made skin care regimes should be used only as a supplement; man-made products may never replace those that are available naturally! Regular sleep patterns, exercise, a good healthy diet and less stress will all contribute to reducing the signs of ageing, for instance!