Skin Aging Management
The aging process is a combination of factors.
Expressions and facial movements over time lead to the development of ‘dynamic’ wrinkles where structured fibres such as collagen and elastin become aligned in a particular direction. E.g. laughter lines, frown lines.
Over time changes in skin the skin particularly our skin’s ability to retain moisture reduces due to a slowing down of manufacture of various skin ingredients such a skin lipids and hyaluronic acid. Reduction in hyaluronic acid levels triggers the binding of youthful short chain collagen into longer more rigid collagen which leads to an older face shape.
Gravitational effects then lead to sagging and bags and more pronounced ‘functional’ wrinkles and lines.
A build up of lymph and an increase in pigmentation coupled with ongoing gradual damage causes skin imperfections such as thread veins and plaques and age marks – for more information, please see Synchrovit EL, Synchrorose and Thiospot.
Over time, our skin’s ability to retain moisture reduces due to a slowing down of manufacture of various skin ingredients, they are:
A) Hyaluronic Acid
This molecule captures and loosely retains water in the spaces between skin cells, making it available to sustain skin 
cell integrity (life). (Like an apple wrinkles when it loses moisture, the skin can do the same.) This causes a major change in the structural proteins such as collagen and elastin whereby they become less fluid, longer and more rigid, giving an older face shape. Therefore it is important to sustain HA levels in the skin. Clients should consider Fillast to achieve this.
B) Collagen and Elastin
These are the other two key structural molecular chains produced by fibroblasts
alongside hyaluronic acid. Collagen in younger skin is shorter chain more fluid by nature and this is known as collagen type III. Over time as hyaluronic acid levels drop it collagen binds together to become longer chain more rigid collagen type I. Elastin levels reduce over time leading to less elastic skin. Fibroblasts slow down over time and so production of collagen and elastin is compromised resulting in decreased skin quality, sagging and aging. Boosting fibroblast activity and supplying raw materials in form fibroblasts can use to make new collagen and elastin is critical is slowing the aging process. For more information on this, please look at the Terproline Science section.
Stimulating fibroblast activity in a high hyaluronic acid environment increases the proportion of collagen produced that remains as type III. For more information on this, please look at the Fillast section.
C) Skin Lipids
The membranes of skin cells and the oils produced by the skin also have an important role to play in maintaining skin cell integrity (life) and influencing the aging process. Lipids are a critical component in maintaining the structural shape and moisture retaining functionality of the skin. Over time and due to factors such as hormonal changes, life changes and medication, the skin can become lipid deficient. Supplementing lipids in the skin so new skin cells are made with a high lipid density is essential for any anti-aging regimen. Ceramides and natural ingredients that release ceramides can be used by the skin to produce more lipid dense tissue. For more information, please look at the Hydratime & Nutritime section.
D) Free Radical (Oxidative) Stress
Living your life, including drinking alcohol, consuming food, smoking, exercising and being exposed to external influences like polluted air and especially the sun creates chemicals which are absorbed into the skin where they damage cellular (and sub-cellular structures such as the cell nuclei) and hasten the death of cells. These damaging chemicals are known as ‘free radicals’ and can also create inflammation at a cellular level, thus leading to alterations in pigment production, resulting in early age spots.
To slow down the effect of free radicals, antioxidants – or free radical scavengers should be used. Antioxidants are chemicals which neutralise free radicals and prolong cell life. The difference between the level of free radical activity versus the level of antioxidant activity is called oxidative stress.
Powerful free radical scavengers (antioxidants) are molecules such as vitamin C and its derivatives, but these only work in the parts of the skin containing water as they only dissolve in water. Vitamin C does not operate in the fat (lipid) parts of the cell as they are not liposoluble, a derivative of vitamin C that can be absorbed across membranes is ascorbic acid.
Alpha-Lipoic acid is the most powerful known free-radical scavenger and will operate in ALL parts of the skin, including the lipid-soluble parts. Octadecadioic acid (dioc acid) is also a powerful antioxidant and has the ability to resist the inflammatory triggering of hyperpigmentation and thereby stabilise pigmentation.
Sustaining skin cell life at the optimum level is important and so is promoting new cell creation and controlling cell death. Lipoacid contains alpha lipoic acid, ascorbic acid and dioc acid and can help sustain skin cell integrity.
In summary we all suffer to varying degrees all of the above. To define your skin aging regime think about your lifestyle, your skin type and condition and determine how to mange your particular situation, discuss how you can combine these products together or following each other to achieve your best solution to the aging process. Older skin types can also benefit from this plan and maybe also introducing clinical treatments such as peels to help restore skin structure and improve skin function.
