4 Reasons To Add Antioxidant Skin Care to Your Everyday

Many of us know that antioxidants are good for our overall health and wellness, but understanding what exactly those antioxidants do to help your skin look its best is a separate lesson.

So, let’s get to the bottom of this powerful molecule. We’re going to talk about what antioxidants are, how they can help, and where you can get them!

What Is an Antioxidant?

Antioxidants are molecules that can help prevent oxidative stress, and that’s why they’re so prominent in skincare formulas. 

Let’s break it down: “anti” as in stops, prevents, or get rid of, and “oxidant” as in a type of molecule that will oxidise other molecules, i.e. cause them to lose an important component called an electron. 

When a molecule loses an electron, it can become unbalanced and unstable, which can eventually cause damage (called oxidative stress) to healthy cells, including your skin cells. 

With that damage, your cells don’t do what they’re supposed to do, and when that happens in the skin, you get premature signs of ageing like loss of elasticity, discolouration, and wrinkles. 

What Exactly Can Antioxidants Do for Your Skin?

Antioxidants are superstars in supporting younger-looking skin — that’s why all of our formulas here at NAYA are rich in plant-based antioxidants. 

While you should be getting a decent helping of antioxidants from a balanced diet, you can incorporate antioxidants into your skincare routine to give yourself additional protection against free radicals and a bevy of anti-aging benefits for your complexion. 

So, let’s break down why it’s worth adding antioxidants or antioxidant extracts to your skincare regimen.

1. Antioxidants Come in Many Forms With Many Benefits!

If you notice that basically every ingredient on your list of things to work into your skincare routine is on this list, it’s not a coincidence. 

Antioxidants are a Skintellectual’s dream for anti-aging efforts, and you’ve probably been using antioxidant products without realising just exactly why the formulas were so effective.

Polyphenols

Collagen is one of the main components that keeps skin looking firm and full. Your body’s collagen production tends to slow as you age, which is why your skin loses that supple youthfulness as you get older.

While collagen loss happens to everybody eventually as part of the normal ageing process, collagen can also be broken down prematurely by oxidative stress. This can make your skin age prematurely since it’s not getting the support it needs to maintain its structure and form. 

Our Everyday Cleansing Oil utilise Pomegranate. 

Niacinamide

Other key skin care ingredients that fall under the umbrella of antioxidants include Niacinamide, which are very popular in anti-aging products. Niacinamide are a form of Vitamin B3, which may help even out your skin’s texture, leaving your overall complexion looking glowing and toned. 

Our Antioxidant Defence Booster includes biocompatible niacinamide, schishandra and desert algae to promote skin cell turnover, all without disrupting your skin barrier or microbiome.

 

Retinol

Retinol, which is a derivative of Vitamin A, is another popular antioxidant that is widely used in anti-aging formulas. 

We have found a natural answers, for those who want to avoid the synthesised Retinol. Sourced from the Amazon in Colombia to your bathroom, all our meticulously formulated products use Cacay oil. 

This make all our products really shine! Naturally-derived and microbiome-minded, this beautiful Cacay Oil is non-photosensitizing and non-irritating, so you can twist open each bottle (or give it pump) and use it on your face, neck, and décolleté after. 

 

2. Antioxidants Are Naturally Soothing

Antioxidants have natural soothing and restoring properties. This soothing property is also key because all that redness and irritation can get in the way of your skin’s natural processes.

Our Everyday Day Cream is the perfect cream moisturiser to help give your skin a blast of antioxidants while soothing skin with Butterfly Flower extract. 

It’s so effective that 100% of women said their skin looked and felt fimer, vitalised, more moisturised, and super nourished after less than two weeks of usage. And not only did their skin look and feel better, but in third-party studies, 95% of participants said their skin barrier felt stronger and more resilient, too.

3. Antioxidants Can Help Brighten Dull Skin

In addition to keeping your skin clear, some antioxidants have the added bonus of brightening dull skin and reducing the appearance of dark spots or uneven tone. 

The queen of this effect is the well-loved Vitamin C, aka L-Ascorbic Acid, which isn’t just an ingredient in your favorite serum — it’s also a powerful antioxidant, which is why we love our Antioxidant Defence Booster. 

Add a sprinkle of this highly biocompatible powder to your favourite water-based serum or cream moisturizer for an easy antioxidant boost your skin will love. We recommend adding it to our Everyday Glow Serum or Aura Essence for a rich helping of skin-brightening botanically-derived goodness!

Vitamin C protects your overall skin integrity by helping to reduce the appearance of dark spots, fine lines, and wrinkles. This is the gold standard if you want dramatically brighter and more even skin.

Our Aura Essence is rich in many nourishing, preventative and balancing extracts, which contains a special cascading antioxidant — once it’s fought off a free radical, it transforms into a new form that can fight off the next free radical, and the one after that (and the one after that!). Read: It’s the antioxidant gift that keeps on giving!

 

More on the Science of Antioxidants                      

Looking for a scientific deep-dive into antioxidants? Here’s what you need to know!

Free radicals are unstable molecules. They’re unstable because they have an unpaired electron that’s desperately trying to pair with another electron. To try and stabilise themselves, they seek out healthy molecules and steal their electrons. This can turn perfectly healthy molecules into unstable ones. 

This can damage your cells, which is why many beauty products talk about the ability to protect you from free radical damage. 

One primary source of free radical damage is UV rays. Other examples include cigarette smoke and environmental factors such as pollution. 

Your body also produces free radicals naturally as a byproduct of everyday processes, so it’s not just outside factors that are the culprits.

If your body has more free radicals than it does the antioxidants to combat them, it can cause oxidative stress.

Oxidative stress means that free radicals are causing stress and damage in your cells because there are no antioxidants to keep them in check. Oxidative stress can lead to different complications, ranging from the development of chronic disease to prematurely accelerating the signs of ageing. 

Antioxidants are the superhero molecules that neutralise free radicals. 

While your body has its own natural antioxidant defences, it significantly benefits from antioxidants you consume through food. Fruits and vegetables like tomatoes, watermelons, and pink grapefruit are rich in Lycopene, a powerful antioxidant. Certain vitamins, such as vitamin E and vitamin C, are also powerful antioxidants you’ll commonly get a lot of in your diet. 

You need to consume antioxidants to keep your body going and your exposure to free radical damage balanced. If you’re concerned about your antioxidant intake, you can speak to your doctor about taking supplements. 

In Conclusion

Antioxidants are crucial warriors in the battle against free radical damage and skin-damaging oxidative stress.

Making sure you’re eating an antioxidant-rich diet isn’t the only way antioxidants can promote wellbeing, either — using antioxidant-rich skincare products can also help to rejuvenate your complexion. Antioxidants are highly effective for addressing premature signs of ageing like fine lines and wrinkles while keeping your skin even-looking and bright. 

Next time you’re looking to add a new formula to your skincare lineup, consider looking for a formula high in antioxidants. Thankfully, here at NAYA, all of our pure, potent, and proven formulas are rich in nourishing antioxidants. 

Not sure where to start? Take our Skincare Quiz here and we’ll help point you in the right direction, antioxidants guaranteed.

 

Sources:

Oxidative Stress: Harms and Benefits for Human Health | Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity

Oxidative Stress, Aging, and Diseases | Clinical Interventions in Aging

Antioxidants in Dermatology | Official Publication of the Brazilian Society of Dermatology