There are many signs of an ageing skin from sagging skin to pigmentation but lines and wrinkles are the age-old focus in the war of anti-aging. Fine lines around the eyes and mouth are a good sign! It usually means you have spent a lot time laughing and smiling, so don’t hate your lines if you’ve earn them with happy times. But, if you feel like your lines and wrinkles suggest you’ve had a little too much fun… you can improve their appearance without resorting to injectable procedures.
What causes the problem?
When we are young, our skin cells have been exposed to little or no environmental stress such as sun exposure. Our cells therefore have little DNA damage and can function healthy. This means our skin’s stem cells regularly produce new skin cells, which migrate to the surface of the skin and shed off as dead skin 28 days later, our fibroblast cells make collagen and elastin fibres regularly and our skin is plump with essential oils and hydration. This plump hydrated skin can dry and thin with age.
As we get older, our skin ages in two ways.
1) Intrinsic ageing is determined by our genetic make up. Look at your mother’s skin for an idea of how you might age in the future.
2) Extrinsic ageing occurs as a direct result of our lifestyle. Sun exposure, smoking, poor diet and using the wrong skin care will cause oxidative damage on the cells on your skin.
What happens in the skin?
We have two layers in our skin. The epidermis is made up of 5 levers of skin cells. And the Dermis sits underneath supporting those skin cells with cells that make collagen, elastin and hydration.
When we are young, our epidermis is thin as the body makes new skin regularly so sheds off unrequired dead skin regularly, and the dermis is thick as the cells that support our skin with oils, hydration and collagen function well.
When we get older, we build a back catalogue of oxidative stress. Sun exposure is the biggest cause behind ageing of the skin. UVA rays actually reach the nucleus of our skin cells causing DNA photo-damage. When a skin stem cell’s DNA is damaged, it does not produce new skin as well, or as often. Therefore the body doesn’t shed dead skin as often and our epidermis becomes thickened with a build up of dead skin.
Our supporting cells also become damaged and don’t function as well. Our fibroblast cell that makes collagen and our GAG cells that make our hydration, go into retirement. Therefore, our dermis becomes thin and our skin lacks plumpness and support.
Just like the skin of a balloon which is smooth when supported by the air its filled with, and wrinkly when the air is removed, our skin cannot remain smooth without the support of our dermis.
How can a product fix this?
So in order to correct lines and wrinkles we must do three things
1) Protect our skin from further DNA damage with a physical sun protection SPF rich in anti-oxidants.
2) Remove the build-up of thickened dead skin using a deeply exfoliating chemical acid such as glycolic acid in a cleanser.
3) Stimulate the cells in our dermis, like the fibroblast, to get the body making its own collagen and elastin again.
These steps will thin the epidermis and thicken the dermis, returning the skin to a more youthful state of function and reduction of lines and wrinkles is a pleasing effect of doing so.
Glycolic acid is an excellent daily exfoliator. It works deeply to dissolve the glue type bonds that keep dead skin cells attached to the skin. Image’s AGELESS Total Facial Cleanser contains 12% glycolic acid. Used daily, at night it dramatically reduces your dead cell count, which brightens and lightens the skin as well as triggering new skin cell production.
There are only two ingredients that reach and stimulate the fibroblast cell.
1) Peptides. Peptides are protein chains that act as messengers in the skin. They can turn cell function ‘ON’, which stimulates the cell to function such as collagen production. They can also turn cell function ‘OFF’, such as muscle constriction giving you gentle ‘botox’ like effects.
2) Retinol. Retinol is a form of Vitamin A that is essential for healthy cell function of the skin. It’s an extremely effective cell-communicating ingredient that can connect to almost any skin cell and stimulate into functioning healthily. Images AGELESS Total Retinol A crème is a 20% Blend of Retinol and Glycolic Acid so is a superstar in the correction of lines and wrinkles.
When Retinol and Peptides are part of a complete skin care program that includes anti-oxidants, skin lighteners and hydrators, they are un-paralleled in their benefits for lines and wrinkles.
All IMAGE skin care specialists will offer an in depth skin consultation and tailored home care prescription that includes all the ingredients your skin requires to correct your skin concerns. To find your nearest IMAGE stockist, click here.
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