The use of anti-ageing skin care products these days is on the increase and all things considered it is perfectly natural; it is only natural that as people get older they want to continue looking young so will use products that help them achieve this. This is done using skin care products that encourage the growth of the protein collagen which happens to be the main source of the protein used in the connective tissue of skin; collagen makes up approximately 25 percent of the total protein in the skin. This area of anti-ageing treatments is connected to another group of products that help people to look young; this group is called antioxidants which are natural chemicals found in many foods and our body.

Probably the best known of these anti-oxidants is vitamin C although no-one really knows just how much we should have each day. 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. These new anti-oxidant products are not quite as good as vitamin C although other naturally occurring compounds, vitamin E and lipoic acid can achieve the same effect.

Vitamin E is an antioxidant and component of human blood whose purpose is to help increase the body’s immune system against diseases including cancer. On the other hand, lipoic acid or alpha-lipoic acid is necessary for energy production which keeps us alive; it is in every human cell and another function is to repair skin damage caused by the normal ageing process.

Other compounds called phytochemicals have proved to be beneficial in the formulation of anti-ageing skin care products; they are removed from various plants. A further benefit of these phytochemicals is their ability to prevent the onset of breast cancer, prostate cancer and colon cancer all of which are on the increase globally.

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.

In time new discoveries will be made advancing our understanding of the ageing process and products that can reduce or reverse the effects more successfully. Hopefully, these challenges will get resolved in due course and better and cheaper anti-ageing skin care products will be produced.

However, man-made skin care regimes should be used only as a supplement; they cannot replace natural skin care remedies. Simple things that can make a difference in slowing the signs of ageing; these include physical activity, restful sleep, maintaining good dietary habits and removing stress from your life.