Antioxidants - Amazing Skin Care Ingredients

Antioxidants have become a rage in the skin care markets. As researchers have discovered the potent benefits of antioxidants to enhance skin quality and offer good skin care, more and more skin care products are being formulated with antioxidants in order to cash in on the increasing demand.

But, what are antioxidants? Why do we need them? And do they really deliver good skin care benefits?

Contrary to popular belief, antioxidants are not magic ingredients. In fact, they are not even ingredients as such. Rather, they denote a certain feature of ingredients that can prevent damage caused by free radicals. (Free radicals are atoms with unpaired electron that attack healthy cells and cause skin damage and premature aging)

Let me explain a bit more about free radical damage.

Sin cells comprise of photons, neutrons and electrons. But when the skin cells get damage by environmental factors like pollution and sun exposure, they lose an electron and become unstable. This unstable skin cell needs another electron to stabilize itself and thus ends up stealing one from the adjoining healthy cell. This cascading effect damages all the skin cells and deteriorates the skin.

This is where antioxidants come into the picture. They stabilize the damaged skin cells and make sure it doesn't cause damage to the nearby healthy cells. Without enough antioxidants, be it in your diet or topical application of skin care products, the skin cells would break down and would not function normally. This would further promote collagen breakdown, increased sun susceptibility and cause the development of wrinkles and fine lines.

Because, antioxidants prevent premature aging of the skin, it is considered a powerful anti-aging ingredient. So, the next time you are buying anti aging products, you know what to look out for. Here are some ingredients that have powerful antioxidant property.

Vitamins A, C and E
Beta Carotene
Co-Q10 (Coenzyme Q-10)
Flavanoids
Grape Seed Extract
Green Tea
Olive Fruit Extract
White Tea
Zinc