Topical Antioxidants
I would recommend using a topical antioxidant once or twice a day. Lots of moisturizers come with them, but you need to make sure your moisturizer comes in a tube or bottle that is not exposed to light or air, or the antioxidants will stop working. So any jar moisturizer is useless antioxidant-wise. It still annoys me to no end that my favorite moisturizer - Clinique Moisture On-Line is packaged in a clear jar, so while it hydrates my face extremely well, that’s all it does.
Currently I use Paula’s Choice Skin Recovery Super Antioxidant Concentrate in the mornings. It’s a light serum designed for normal to dry skin that you can put on under a moisturizer, makeup, and sunscreen. Paula’s Choice also makes similar serums for normal skin, and for oily skin. These products don’t clog pores, and they contain all sorts of antioxidants, in stable packaging. Ideally I would like to find a moisturizer (in stable packaging) that I love, that contains a lot of antioxidants, but this hasn’t happened yet. Actually, it would be great to find a product in stable packaging that has loads of antioxidants, works to moisturizer super dry skin, and has a high SPF, with a high percentage of Zinc Oxide as its main sunscreen ingredient. That’s my dream product! I’m sure it’s out there waiting for me to discover it!
What I don’t like about the Paula’s Choice antioxidant serum is that it doesn’t appear to do anything. My skin doesn’t look better when I use it, and after using it for a year or two now, it hasn’t improved the appearance of my skin. It’s like an insurance policy - it’s there to protect you, but that’s about it. There’s also no way to know if it works or not, so I feel like I’m going on blind faith, since I’m just hoping that it’s preventing future wrinkles.
Types of antioxidants
It seems like each week a new antioxidant is discovered, and is touted as the next big thing. Right now Coffeeberry is getting lots of hype, and last year Idebenone was the “it” antioxidant. Green Tea, Vitamin C, Kinetin and CoQ10 have all also been in the spotlight as “wonder” antioxidants. The problem is that visually it’s hard to really see much of a difference when you use them.
Both Idebenone and Vitamin C are supposed to actually produce visible results - namely a reduction in fine lines, and an evening out of skin tone and texture. Plus they are also supposed to prevent future damage.
Personally I need to do a lot more testing and research to really figure out which antioxidants I find the most valuable. If Prevage (Idebenone is its main ingredient) didn’t cause my face to break out like crazy, I’d probably use that every day, because I’ve read that it’s one of the most potent antioxidants. I should look into finding another product with Idebenone to test. Hmmm… Another product I want to try is SkinCeuticals CE Ferulic, which contains Vitamin C and E. Lots of testing is being done as we speak on antioxidants, so new and exciting breakthroughs will continually be happening.stop depression
