beauty AGE-DEFYING INGREDIENTS

When it comes to “anti-ageing” skincare, you don’t have to turn to injectables to see results. The natural world offers a host of potent ingredients that can be harnessed for healthy and hydrated skin.

Words LOLITA WALTERS

Photography Getty Images

Over the last decade, the beauty industry has seen a surge in the popularity of cosmetic injectable treatments, such as Botox and dermal fillers, along with complex, chemical-driven skincare formulas. On the flip side, the “clean” beauty movement has gained momentum, making it clear that consumers are looking for alternative solutions when it comes to supporting ageing confidently and naturally.

While cosmetic injectables certainly deliver results, these procedures do come with associated risks, ranging from poor cosmetic outcomes to, at worst, blindness or skin cell death. Likewise, “toxic” ingredients in skincare may have an adverse impact on your wellbeing. According to studies, you can absorb over 60 per cent of the ingredients you apply topically to your skin, the body’s largest organ — meaning the products can penetrate through the skin barrier and into the blood, where toxins may contribute to hormone disruption, as well as lowered immunity, allergies or intolerances, among other health issues.

... the “clean” beauty movement has gained momentum, making it clear that consumers are looking for alternative solutions when it comes to supporting ageing confidently and naturally.

In a results-driven consumer culture, it poses the question: do you have to make a choice between natural or effective beauty methods to slow the clock on ageing? Or can natural ingredients really have a significant age-defying effect?

“Yes, absolutely they can!”, says Annabelle Personeni, a leading skincare biochemist and formulator behind JSHealth Vitamins, a science-focused yet natural, vitamininfused skincare range. It’s important to note, when speaking about natural versus synthetic, that it’s not the origin of the ingredient that determines its efficacy. “Many very potent ingredients were first discovered in nature,” explains Personeni. “Botanical extracts and ingredients that are now preferentially made via synthesis — either because of their instability, the cost of extracting them from nature or sometimes because taking them from nature is unsustainable — maintain a nature-identical structure so their activity remains the same as the original version.”

Age-defying actions

The signs of ageing take myriad forms which show up on the skin, such as the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, loss of firmness and elasticity leading to sagging, crêpey texture, dullness, age spots, pigmentation and dryness. When it comes to skincare that is powerfully efficacious for both preventing and improving these ageing skin concerns, a variety of natural ingredients can be used to support a more youthful complexion. The age-defying abilities of these ingredients can be categorised into pro-collagen, protective and anti-inflammatory actions. Pro-collagen Collagen is the primary building block for the skin and contributes to optimal physiology and structure. Youthful, healthy skin can be up to 75 per cent collagen, but this declines as we age, leading to loss of integrity of the skin that manifests as sagging and wrinkling. Applying “procollagen” ingredients — those that are naturally collagen-stimulating — topically can encourage the formation of new collagen in the skin. “A number of natural ingredients such as vitamin C or calendula have been found to support collagen formation both in vitro and in vivo. Studies have demonstrated that calendula can literally help wounds to close faster, highlighting the highly regenerative properties of this natural ingredient,” explains Personeni.