subject: New Discoveries In Anti-aging Skin Care [print this page] No-one relishes the prospect of growing olderNo-one relishes the prospect of growing older. Or perhaps more accurately, the that aged look is something we try to avoid; trying to get through a job interview with your knowledge of SpongeBob SquarePants might not achieve the desired result. Next time you're in the cosmetics section of a department store or retail chemist, ask the assistant if they have any ageing cream, unvitalising lotion or something to make your wrinkles stand out more. At best you'll be greeted with a blank stare; at worst you'll see their hand creeping towards the panic button as they furtively call for security backup.
We have experienced a rapid growth in the options of skin care products on the market, as scientists learn more about the ageing process and how to slow down its visible effects. Within product development the count of active ingredients has not grown as rapidly as you might imagine by the number of products available, but ingredient count is not the only factor at play. Mixed into every product is a unique, or otherwise, blend of scents, oils, colourings, suspension liquids, water and active ingredients that make a product unique, but it this last entry in the list, the active ingredients, that has to perform its function if a product is going to work. Every other factor is, well, cosmetic.
All people working in the cosmetics sector will be familiar with the Priori brand. It's advertised in the glossy magazines and can be found in the best positions on the shelves of the cosmetics outlets. But what many customers probably don't know is that a vital set of anti-ageing active ingredients was discovered by an important staff member of Priori. In his role as a chemist Joe Lewis actually found three active ingredients that now find themselves in many products, including those of the competition, thanks to the vital work of the Priori firm.
The major ingredient is alpha hydroxyl acid, frequently reduced to the abbreviation AHA. This chemical compound is thought by many industry specialists to be one of a subset of ingredients for which the term "active" is actually true, and the ingredient has been featured in formulations for the skin for over twenty years. As well as being found in creams and anti-ageing cosmetics, chemical peel kits also use it, be they professional dermatological grade or home kits. If the idea of putting acid on your skin sounds ghastly, don't worry. Very few elements are completely neutral, and we naturally have an acid covering on our skin to protect us from bacteria. And of course the A within DNA is an abbreviation for acid
More recent discoveries by the same Mr Lewis and his laboratory are the anti-ageing properties of idebenone seven years ago and the pioneering use of CoffeeBerry in 2008. This latter discovery is proving a revelation in the cosmetics sector, with some experts saying it is possibly the best natural skin care product available (as the name suggests, it comes from a certain strain of coffee plant).
