The Amazing Benefits of Antioxidants in Skin Care

Has your skin been looking and feeling a little less vibrant lately? Does it seem a little dull?

It’s safe to say we all want to age like fine wine but with today’s lifestyle habits, stress levels, and pollution, this may seem like a pipe dream. Well, not until we tell you about the common wonder ingredient found in most skincare products: antioxidants.

You may not know it but antioxidants can be found in your serum, toner, cleanser and even in your moisturizer. And if you don’t know what they actually are or how they work, it’s best to be familiar with this all-star ingredient as antioxidants have a plethora of benefits for the skin.

In this article, we discuss the most common antioxidants for the skin, their age-rewinding benefits, and the popular skincare products that have them as vital ingredients.

What are Antioxidants for the Skin?

To describe a fairly complex-sounding word simply, antioxidants for the skin are free-floating molecules that neutralize the free radicals inside your body. Free radicals are unstable atoms that can damage your cells, resulting in illness and early aging. We’re not exactly Science teachers but even doctors know little about the role of free radicals in human health.

There is, however, an abundance of research on the benefits of antioxidants found in skin serums and other skincare products to stop the signs of aging.

Free Radicals and Antioxidants

To better understand the role of antioxidants in skincare products, let’s have a short Chemistry lesson. Antioxidants protect your cells from oxidative stress caused by free radicals. Free radicals are uncharged and unstable because they lack an electron to form a bond. In turn, they affect healthy cells.

If there are too many free radicals in your body, chemical reactions will generate oxidative stress which can quickly damage your body’s lipids, proteins, or DNA.

Our bodies naturally form free radicals but other factors that can lead to their formation include:

• Smoking
• Stress
• Processed foods
• Prolonged exposure to radiation, sun, and pollution

Once there’s an overload of free radicals in your body, this causes oxidative stress. There’s an imbalance between the amount of free radicals vs. the ability of your body to detoxify or counteract their harmful effects.

Fortunately, studies show that antioxidants can counteract or neutralize the free radicals in your body, helping break a chain reaction that can negatively affect other cells. Antioxidants in serums and other skincare products are also touted to slow down aging and help you achieve a healthy glow.

How Stressful is Oxidative Stress?

If you’ve ever seen a sliced apple turn brown, that’s a result of oxidative stress. Better yet, imagine your skin as a piece of tomato. At first, it looks fresh, glowing, and healthy. But when free radicals attack your skin, it loses its luster and firmness, becoming gradually rotten or lifeless. In other words, it ages.

Free radicals attack healthy skin cells to oxidize them, thus accelerating the process of aging. When your skin is subjected to oxidative stress, fine lines and wrinkles can manifest on the upper layer of your skin. That’s why antioxidants are found in serums and other anti-aging skincare products.

Common Antioxidants Found in Skin Serum and other Products

There are many types of antioxidants for the skin, some more potent than others. The popular ones used in skincare products can protect cells from pollution, UV light, and other environmental factors. Here are the most popular antioxidants found in serums and other skincare products.

Vitamin C

Loved by dermatologists, Vitamin C is one of the most popular antioxidants. It can be found in skin serums, cleansers, toners, and moisturizers. This antioxidant has many benefits for the skin, like fading dark spots and boosting collagen production (which firms up the skin). Well-known for its brightening effects, Vitamin C also helps even your skin tone by lightening and reducing hyperpigmentation.

A typical antioxidant serum with Vitamin C will balance your skin’s pigment, lessen the appearance of enlarged pores, and reduce fine lines and wrinkles to preserve your skin’s youthful quality.

Glutathione

Glutathione is one of the body’s most important and potent antioxidants. While it’s naturally produced by your body, topical glutathione is a key ingredient in many skincare products due to its ability to lighten dark spots and brighten the skin.

For instance, the Gluta-C Intense Whitening Dual Antioxidant soap has powerful master antioxidants Glutathione and Vitamin C. It provides antioxidant benefits for the skin such as anti-aging by providing a layer of protection against fine lines and wrinkles. It also helps you achieve skin radiance and glow.

Vitamin A (Retinol)

If there’s one ingredient known for its miraculous anti-aging properties, it’s retinol. This antioxidant has many benefits for the skin, such as improving skin tone and discoloration and smoothing fine lines and wrinkles. Due to its small molecular structure, it can penetrate deep enough into the skin to accelerate cell repair and renewal while also stimulating collagen production.

Vitamin E

Vitamin E is an important antioxidant and most serum products have it as a main ingredient. It’s widely recognized for its ability to accelerate the healing process of the skin. In fact, most moisturizers, lotions, and creams are formulated with Vitamin E to treat dry skin and reduce the appearance of stretch marks.

Vitamin E also helps in stabilizing other antioxidants for the skin to boost their effectiveness. That’s why it’s often combined with Vitamin C and Glutathione in skincare products such as the Gluta-C Intense Whitening Facial Day Cream.

Vitamin B3 (Niacinamide)

Niacinamide is a form of Vitamin B that helps reduce fine lines, brightens the skin for a fresh appearance, reduces the appearance of enlarged pores, and protects the skin from environmental damage.

This antioxidant will work well in a serum with other ingredients such as Vitamin C and retinol. The ingredients will treat wrinkles and help retain moisture with a plumping effect.

What are the Benefits of Antioxidants for the Skin?

Aside from fighting free radicals, antioxidants for the skin are known to do the following:

Help Acne-Prone Skin

Oxidative stress can trigger skin inflammation, which is a major cause of breakouts. An antioxidant serum or moisturizer in your acne-prone skincare routine will reduce oxidative stress, reducing inflammation and breakouts.

Lighten and Brighten Skin Tone

Has your face been looking dull or ashen? The skin pigment melanin is produced due to prolonged exposure to the sun and skin damage from free radicals. Antioxidants fight both causes, resulting in decreased melanin production and a brighter skin tone.

Slow the Signs of Aging

As mentioned before, oxidative stress has a nasty habit of breaking down collagen. Collagen is what lets your skin remain youthful, firm, and elastic. If there’s continued collagen breakdown in your body, this can lean to fine lines, wrinkles, and a sunken appearance.

An antioxidant serum or moisturizer will fight the free radicals causing all the oxidative stress. As a result, you prevent complete breakdown of collagen and slow down the effects of aging.

Fight Sun Damage

Your skin responds to harmful UV rays from the sun by triggering an inflammatory response. The powerful anti-inflammatory properties of antioxidants help prevent sunburn and lessen your skin’s sensitivity to extended sun exposure. This means improved protection against sun damage.

Help Your Skin Repair Itself

Inflammation is a nasty thing for all of your body’s processes. By lowering your body’s natural inflammatory responses, you have a better chance of repairing your skin naturally from the inside out. A break from inflammation will make your skin look and feel more refreshed.

Types of Skin Care Products with Antioxidants

There are various methods of incorporating antioxidants in your skin care routine. Vitamin C and Glutathione, our most important ingredients, are master antioxidants for skin care as they can be used in different applications.

Here are some of the different options for application:

Topical Creams and Lotions

These are like your standard creams and lotions but they have been infused with antioxidants. Often, they’re very thick in consistency. These are some of the most common skincare products with antioxidants and they’re usually the most affordable too.

Gluta-C has a range of topical creams and lotions infused with antioxidants that protect your skin from drying out, discoloration, and signs of aging. Simply rub them into your desired area until they’re fully absorbed. This helps you get maximum antioxidant benefits for your skin.

Serums

Unlike creams and lotions, you apply an antioxidant serum onto your skin in drops. An antioxidant serum, especially one for oily skin, is much thinner and absorbs much faster.

In general, serums are more concentrated than other antioxidant skincare products so you’ll only need to apply a little bit to have the same results. Use the serum’s dropper to put the product on your skin and then gently massage it onto your face.

For an affordable yet effective  antioxidant skin serum, we recommend the Gluta-C Intense Whitening Facial Night Serum which contains two powerful antioxidants: Glutathione and Vitamin C. It is also enriched with two other antioxidants, Vitamin A and E, to nourish your skin make it softer, brighter, and plumper when you wake up!

For one of the best antioxidant serums available in the market today, opt for the Gluta-C Brightening Elixir. It is also infused with antioxidants Vitamin C and Glutathione, and packed with superior ingredients and natural actives that penetrate the skin better than usual serums. It brightens, rejuvenates, and reverses the signs of aging on your skin. You can apply the elixir directly on to your skin or mix a few drops to your Gluta-C lotion or cream as an efficacy booster.

Body Soap

Keep in mind that your everyday surroundings make your skin vulnerable to free radicals. Long-term exposure can result in premature aging, dark spots, and dry skin. That’s why it’s good to use a body soap that’s packed with antioxidants, such as the Gluta-C Intense Whitening Dual Antioxidant Soap.

As early as seven days of regular use, you will see fairer, more radiant, and more even-toned skin on your body. The antibacterial formula also protects your skin from germs, keeping it fresh and healthy throughout the day.

Facial Wash

Facial cleansers formulated with antioxidants are the perfect way to remove potentially damaging free radicals from the surface of your skin. They also effectively remove sebum, excess oil, and dead skin cells to reveal a brighter and more radiant complexion.

For people with oily skin, we recommend the Gluta-C Kojic Plus+ Acne Control Facial Wash. It’s made with antioxidants such as Glutathione and Vitamin C to brighten the skin and lighten dark spots.

Toner

Cleaning your face with a cleanser is not enough. On its own, facial cleansers may leave dead skin cells and residual dirt that can build up into pimples or whiteheads.

Gluta-C facial toners are a great addition to any skin care routine. Our toners have antioxidants Vitamin C and Glutathione so they don’t just clean, but they also nurture and revitalize your skin to keep it healthy and youthful.

Level Up Your Skincare Routine with Antioxidants

Ready to have clearer skin and an overall healthier appearance? Now that you know the antioxidant benefits for skin care routines, it’s a good idea to add an antioxidant serum or moisturizer to your daily routine. 

Better yet, you can follow this simple skin care regimen with Gluta-C products:

1. Cleanse your face with Gluta-C Kojic Plus+ Acne Control Facial Wash
2. Apply Gluta-C 4X Whitening Pore Reducing Toner
3. Rub drops of the Gluta-C Intense Whitening Facial Night Serum onto your skin and then gently massage
4. Apply a standard lightweight moisturizer
5. Massage a moisturizing body lotion (Gluta-C Intense Whitening Dual Antioxidant Lotion) on the rest of your body

Follow this daily skin care regimen and it won’t be long before you start seeing the benefits of antioxidants on your skin. You’ll look glowing and healthy from head to toe!

For more information and enquiries about antioxidants and their benefits to the skin, don’t hesitate to contact Gluta-C today. You can also read up on other skin care articles on our blog for more tips and guides to achieving your best skin ever.