The Fountain of Youth may be a mythical place, but searching for the magic potion that can help to turn back the clock is anything but mythical. That’s because nature has given everyone what they need to protect and nourish their skin. Antioxidants for the skin have many benefits, such as preventing future damage, decreasing signs of aging, hydrating the skin, and reducing skin inflammation.
Which antioxidant is best? Read on to find out more about each type of antioxidant and our favorite products to keep your skin healthy.
The Best Antioxidants for Skin
While antioxidants are universally regarded as great for the skin, they don’t all do the same thing. Some are more potent than others to target specific issues with the skin. Here are the best antioxidants, what they do for your skin, and some skincare products you can try with the specific antioxidant in mind.
#1 Vitamin A
Vitamin A is also known as retinol. It’s a potent antioxidant that helps to stimulate the production of collagen to help your skin stay youthful. It also helps to fight free radical damage.
Vitamin A speeds up the turnover of cells in the skin, which helps to reduce the visible signs of aging in the short and long term. It also helps to reduce age spots, improve skin texture, and reduce breakouts.
Suggested Products Containing Retinol:
NazarianSkin Retinol + - For use between a serum and a moisturizer in your nighttime skincare routine, this product delivers all the age-defying results you’ve come to expect from retinol. It helps to reduce fine lines and wrinkles while restoring your skin’s natural glow.
SkinMedica Retinol Complex 0.5 - This retinol product is great for all skin types to help restore and reveal younger-looking skin.
Sente Intensive Bio Complete Cream - Improve your skin tone and texture in as little as two weeks with this retinol cream. This product helps to improve the signs of aging, reduce discoloration, and helps your skin retain its healthy glow.
#2 Vitamin C
You may associate Vitamin C with fruit, but you should start associating it with your skincare, too! As a potent antioxidant, Vitamin C is a natural skin brightener. It also helps to protect against the damage caused by free radicals and boosts the production of collagen, tightening skin along the way.
Suggested Products Containing Vitamin C:
Skinceuticals C E FERULIC - This serum packs some serious Vitamin C punch. It helps to protect your skin from damaging environmental factors and improves the look of skin along the way, reducing fine lines and wrinkles as it firms and brightens your complexion.
Revision Skincare Vitamin C 30% - This Vitamin C lotion helps to brighten skin as it moisturizes and conditions, reducing fine lines and wrinkles.
Revision Skincare C+ Correcting Complex 30% - If you’re looking to even your skin tone and fight fine lines and wrinkles, then you need this Vitamin C serum. It’s specially formulated to help refine, defend, and illuminate the skin for a healthy, youthful glow.
#3 Vitamin E
Vitamin E is often overlooked as a skincare essential, but it’s a great antioxidant to boost your skin’s healing abilities. It’s often found in moisturizers, lotions, and creams for dry skin and products that target blemishes such as stretch marks on the skin. The only caveat is that it’s not great for those with acne-prone skin as it can cause breakouts.
Suggested Products Containing Vitamin E:
Skinceuticals Resveratrol B E - Neutralize free radicals and heal the skin as you improve firmness with this skincare treatment. It helps to support your skin’s natural ability to heal as it fades the visible signs of aging and improves skin’s firmness and density.
NazarianSkin Polish - This facial scrub harnesses the power of Vitamin E along with Vitamin C and A to help soothe the skin. It gently cleanses and washes away excess oils and dead skin cells. This product also brightens skin and minimizes pores to help reveal younger, healthier skin.
iS Clinical Pro Heal Serum Advance + - This serum pairs Vitamin E with Vitamins A and C to provide superior antioxidant protection as it improves the appearance of aging skin.
#4 Niacinamide
Also known as Vitamin B3, niacinamide gives a boost to the skin’s natural barrier. It is great for those who suffer from inflammatory skin conditions such as rosacea and acne. Plus, it helps to give other antioxidants in your skincare lineup a boost, smoothing out fine lines and helping your skin to retain moisture along the way.
Suggested Products Containing Niacinamide:
EltaMD UV Clear SPF 46 - This sunscreen protects your skin from the harmful rays of the sun and goes a bit further! This product contains niacinamide to help promote the appearance of healthy, youthful-looking skin. It’s great for those with skin prone to breakouts as well as those looking to fight discoloration and rosacea.
Sente Ultralight Defense Moisturizer ( ATP Reset Moisturizer) - Are you ready to deliver long-lasting moisture to your skin as you defend it against oxidative stress caused by free radicals? Well, then you need this moisturizer as a part of your skincare routine! It’s lightweight and helps your skin to feel soft and moisturized as it works to reverse the damage and reduce the signs of aging.
#5 Coenzyme Q10
Remember when you could pull an all-nighter and still look fresh and ready to go the next day? That was thanks to your younger body’s supply of coenzyme Q10. As you age, the presence of this antioxidant diminishes, leading to wrinkles and other signs of aging. Researchers have found that applying this antioxidant topically helps to fight free radicals and keep the cells in your skin healthy, stimulating collagen production and improving texture along with elasticity.
Suggested Products Containing Coenzyme Q10:
Revision Skincare Night DEJ Face Cream - Improve your skin as you sleep with this antioxidant-rich night cream. It helps improve skin’s firmness and texture while fighting fine lines and wrinkles for short and long-term benefits for the appearance and health of your skin.
Kayo Body Beautiful Oil - Show your skin some antioxidant love with this powerful serum. It moisturizes, restores, firms, and energizes skin with powerful antioxidants. With each passing day, you’ll reveal more radiant, younger-looking skin.
Antioxidants for Skin: Benefits
There are several ways that antioxidants work to benefit your skin. Some of the biggest reasons you find antioxidant-rich products in skincare routines include:
Correcting the Signs of Aging
The oxidative stress that can be caused by free radical damage leads to the breakdown of collagen in the skin. This impairs the natural ability of your skin to repair itself and can also trigger inflammation, which leads to wrinkles, loose skin, fine lines, uneven skin tone, and breakouts. Antioxidants protect your skin from free radical damage and correct signs of aging while giving you a youthful appearance.
Preventing Sunburns
The anti-inflammatory properties of antioxidants help to prevent sunburns. This is done by reducing your skin’s inflammatory response. It provides greater protection against premature aging and damage caused by the UV rays of the sun.
Check out our blog to learn more about creating a summer skincare routine.
Assisting Skin Repair
When your skin is inflamed, then the natural rejuvenation process is hampered. If you can reduce inflammation through the use of antioxidants in skincare products, then the skin can do what it was made to do – repair itself and reduce visible damage. Some antioxidants even help to stimulate the production of collagen in the skin, which can help make skin look younger.
Brightening Skin Tone
Exposure to the sun combined with the damage was done by free radicals can trigger changes in your skin. One of those changes is the way your skin produces melanin, which can lead to an uneven skin tone and dark spots.
Using antioxidants to reduce photodamage will help even out skin tones and prevent abnormal pigmentation. Some antioxidants can even work to inhibit melanin production to even out the skin tone.
Do Antioxidants Really Work?
Studies are proving that antioxidants really are effective to help fight the signs of aging and also reducing inflammation for certain skin conditions. Other studies have revealed that your skin really does absorb antioxidants deep within it so they can work to neutralize free radicals and keep your skin healthy.
So, yes – antioxidants really do work to keep your skin healthy.
Bring Some Antioxidants Into Your Skincare Routine
Antioxidants may be what your skincare routine is missing. These powerful protectors are provided to us by nature to help us stay healthy and strong. Don’t neglect your skin when it comes to harnessing antioxidant power to help keep your skin healthy, youthful, and bright. You simply need to find the right products with antioxidants for skin that work for you, something The Skin Spot is here to help with!
Check out our blog where you can learn more about the difference between hyperpigmentation and melasma.