What ist anti-aging?

Anti-aging means all measures to delay and alleviate the biological aging of humans and its visible symptoms, such as wrinkles. The term is used particularly often in skin care, because the skin is the largest organ in the human body and at the same time the most visible. A healthy and youthful complexion therefore generally stands for health and youthfulness.

What happens at skin aging?

Young people have an optimally working skin. Their tissue is still firm and stable due to a naturally high collagen content, but is also kept flexible by elastin. With increasing age, however, fewer and fewer collagen fibers are produced and the cells in the top layer of skin divide more slowly. This reduces the water and fat content of the skin and the subcutaneous tissue becomes thinner. This leads to the formation of fine lines and wrinkles. This process usually only becomes visible to the outside from the age of 30, but it begins as early as around the age of 20. The aging of the skin cannot be stopped completely, but the process and the appearance of the signs of aging can be significantly slowed down. If you still want to have a beautiful and younger radiant complexion in middle and old age, you should start with the right anti-aging care at an early stage.

Why does skin age?

Nobody can stop time and it also leaves its mark on our skin. How skin aging progresses and how early it becomes visible is influenced by around 20 to 30% by our genes. However, environmental influences and our individual lifestyle have a much greater influence on how young or old we look: How and what we eat, whether and how much tobacco or alcohol we consume and how long and healthily we sleep make big differences. The main reasons for early signs of skin aging are:

Reason 1: Harmful environmental influences

All skin – whether young or mature, oily or dry – is often exposed to harmful external influences: sunlight with UV radiation, air pollution and dust, fluctuations in temperature and humidity and many other influences. As a result, it is stressed by so-called ‘free radicals‘ – aggressive oxygen compounds. That is why the skin, which is supposed to protect us as our largest organ against our environment, also needs a special degree of protection and care itself in order to fulfill its function ideally.

Reason 2: Decreasing collagen production

However, age also affects the deep layers of the skin. For example, collagen synthesis decreases with age. Collagen is the protein that gives structure and strength to the top layer of skin (epidermis). If less collagen is available, the collagen framework becomes brittle and the skin’s resilience and elasticity decrease – it becomes slacker.

Reason 3: Less moisture

Moisture production also decreases with age. A lack of moisture makes the skin look sallow and promotes the formation of so-called dryness lines. The skin condition can be visibly improved by supplying additional moisture, which prevents or reduces the formation of wrinkles.

What should be considered when looking for the right anti-aging cream?

Healthy and well-tended skin delays the signs of aging and looks youthfully beautiful for longer. Therefore, it is important to choose the right anti-aging care. Good creams or serums can strengthen the skin barrier, protect the skin and provide additional moisture.

What is the difference between cream and serum?

There is a large selection of anti-aging facial care products, but what is the difference between a cream and a serum? An anti-aging serum is generally more liquid than a cream and usually absorbs quickly and deeply into the skin. In comparison, an anti-wrinkle cream is more solid and does not penetrate very deeply into the skin. It is usually used as a kind of protective layer in the last step of a care routine, often after a serum has been applied beforehand, which has penetrated the upper layer of the skin. The concentration of active ingredients is often higher in serums, which is why they are almost always more expensive than other anti-aging products.

Anti-aging skin care offers a huge selection of products. Do I need a serum with hyaluronic acid or a cream with a lifting effect? In the next section, we explain some of the best ingredients that help fight wrinkles.

Which ingredients work best against wrinkles?

The ingredients contained are decisive for the selection of a serum or a cream for anti-aging skin care. The following ingredients are particularly effective in preventing and reducing the signs of aging.

Retinol

Perhaps the best-known active ingredient with an anti-aging effect is retinol – pure vitamin A acid. Retinol has many characteristics that have a positive effect on the complexion, including:

  • reduces and softens wrinkles
  • supports the development of the skin structure
  • smoothens the pores
  • fights acne
  • acts as an antioxidant against free radicals (harmful oxygen compounds)

However, in high concentrations, the active ingredient retinol can irritate the skin. A more tolerable alternative to retinol is retinyl palmitate. It is formed from the esterification reaction of retinol with palmitic acid, has a similar effect to retinol and is better tolerated by many skin types. In the AgeLine products , this more tolerable vitamin A variant is preferably used, which achieves a similarly good anti-aging effect to retinol when used daily, but causes skin irritation much less frequently (almost never).

Vitamin C

In the human body, metabolic processes constantly produce various aggressive oxygen compounds, which are called “free radicals“. In the constant search for reaction partners, these free radicals destroy cell membranes, lipids and proteins that are essential for healthy skin. Therefore, free radicals contribute to skin aging. Antioxidants are substances that counteract free radicals and limit their damage. The best-known antioxidant is vitamin C. Vitamin C therefore plays an important role not only in nutrition but also in various forms in skin care. High-tech care lines such as AgeLine® often contain different forms of vitamin C in several products to protect the skin against free radicals.

Collagen

The secret to youthful firm skin is the protein called collagen. It forms the structural framework of the skin and gives it firmness and elasticity. If the collagen structure is weakened, wrinkles form. With increasing age, the natural production of collagen decreases and the collagen structure becomes more brittle. The antioxidant vitamin C counteracts this and protects the collagen structure from free radicals that could damage it. It also supports the body in the production of new collagen and thus ensures a healthy and stable collagen structure that can withstand tension and does not become brittle quickly. Therefore, vitamin C slows down the formation of wrinkles.

Vitamin E

Vitamin E should not be missing in any anti-aging care. It can protect the skin, counteract damage to the skin barrier and improve moisture retention. Derivatives of vitamin E, known as tocopherol, are used in skin care.

Just like vitamin C, tocopherol is a powerful antioxidant that protects the skin from free radicals. In addition, it can moisturize the horny layer, which means that skin moisture is better retained in the long term. Vitamin E also strengthens the natural function of the skin barrier. As a result, the complexion looks more even, wrinkles are reduced and the skin has significantly more elasticity.

Hyaluronic acid

Hyaluronic acid supports the skin in storing moisture and thus ensures more elasticity. The hyaluron can be divided into two molecular sizes: The high-molecular hyaluronic acid has a short-term effect and forms a moisturizing film on the skin. The low-molecular hyaluronic acid, on the other hand, has a long-term effect and is stored in the connective tissue of the skin. The addition of hyaluronic acid through care products compensates for the age-related decline in natural hyaluronic acid in the connective tissue. This allows the skin to store more moisture and a swelling effect ‘pads’ the wrinkles from the inside so that the skin appears smoother. In addition, hyaluronic acid has an antioxidant effect and protects against UV damage.

What other active ingredients support anti-aging?

Q10 is an endogenous coenzyme that helps cells to regenerate and protects them from free radicals. It promotes a fresher, more youthful complexion and is an important ingredient for beautiful skin.

Panthenol soothes the skin, reduces inflammation and supports the skin’s natural healing process, especially when repairing damage caused by environmental influences. Panthenol also increases skin moisture and thereby combats the premature development of signs of aging.

Lecithin (vitamin F) has a moisturizing effect, as a building material of the cell membrane, increases the skin’s ability to breathe, regulates its cell metabolism and pH value, and makes it supple.

Peptides are combinations of amino acids that form proteins in a specific composition and are important components of the skin that help determine its condition. In cosmetics, peptide-based active ingredients are used to fulfill certain functions. For example, the peptide active ingredient Argireline® reduces the formation and deepening of wrinkles by blocking muscle contraction, similar to a well-known injection therapy, but without risks and side effects. Eyeseril® is another peptide that specifically targets bags and dark circles under the eyes by inhibiting the enzymes that cause skin loss of elasticity and blood vessel constriction. It expands the capillaries, promotes blood circulation and thus improves skin elasticity by up to 35%.

Shea butter is a natural lipid that lubricates the skin, making it softer and more supple.

Squalane is also a natural lipid and part of the skin’s own hydro-lipid film. It generates a soft feeling on the skin without being greasy.

Ceramides support the natural balance of the skin’s metabolism.

Sorbitol holds water molecules on the skin’s surface and is particularly used in toners.

Urea binds additional moisture in the upper skin layer and thus protects the skin from drying out.

The world of anti-aging products is big. We’ll keep you up-to-date with anti-aging tips and information on the best skin care products and how they work.