Tag Archives: antioxidant

How to boost the effectiveness of any sunscreen.

Ever feel like you lather on the sunscreen but somehow you can just feel your skin prematurely aging? Even though you tried your best to protect it? Maybe you didn’t realize that sunscreen alone is not enough. Or that you need to apply sunscreen BEFORE you go outside so it can chemically bond with your skin.  “A little dab’ll do ya” will NOT be the protection you need. Make a giant glamorama hat your skin’s BFF for all days forward.

So what happens when your skin isn’t properly protected? Think free radical hailstorm. See the sunburn and redness. Feel pain? Premature aging starts at a cellular level post-sunburn.

focus photography of american flag accent wayfarer styled sunglasses with sea background

FREE RADICALS

What are free radicals? They’re the unstable molecules in your skin that hitch a ride on your collagen layer, damaging it like some freaky kudzu vine smothering a tree.

These unstable molecules are formed when UVA and UVB rays contact your skin. They stabilize themselves by hooking up with other big attractive molecules – your collagen molecules to be exact. Yep- free radicals swipe right every single time a collagen molecule shows up nearby. 🙂

So why is that a problem? Free radicals damage your collagen molecules when they hook up with them. Your collagen layer gets thinner and looks crepe-y and wrinkled instead of thick and smooth.

“Hanson found that the stratum corneum – the skin’s main protective barrier against environmental assault – generated a tremendous number of free radicals when exposed to ultraviolet light. “These free radicals caused considerable damage to both the cytoplasm and the lipid matrix,” she said. “The cytoplasm of the lower epidermis was also dramatically damaged.”

Study Shows Antioxidants Play Vital Role In Protecting Skin,  Date: September 3, 2001, Source:University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign

HOW TO PROTECT YOUR SKIN

So what can you do about it? Use a good physical sunscreen so the UV radiation doesn’t come into contact with your skin.

Can you ever be sure that you’ve completely covered every square inch of skin? Nope.

That’s where antioxidants (sunscreen super-boosters) enter the scene. Where your sunscreen fails to protect and block UV radiation, antioxidants step in as your plan B, kicking butt on the free radicals that are formed.

Which antioxidants boost your sunscreen protection the most? Vitamin C wins hands-down but vitamin E is powerful as well – and both perform better with a helping of ferulic acid.

“CONCLUSION: CEFer (C, E, and Ferulic Acid) provided substantial UV photoprotection for skin. It is particularly effective for reducing thymine dimer mutations known to be associated with skin cancer. Its mechanism of action is different from sunscreens and would be expected to supplement the sun protection provided by sunscreens.”

J Am Acad Dermatol. 2008 Sep;59(3):418-25. doi: 10.1016/j.jaad.2008.05.004. Epub 2008 Jul 7.A topical antioxidant solution containing vitamins C and E stabilized by ferulic acid provides protection for human skin against damage caused by ultraviolet irradiation.

Murray JC1, Burch JA, Streilein RD, Iannacchione MA, Hall RP, Pinnell SR.

So YES, never forget your sunscreen! And YES make sure you’ve got some antioxidant back-up to keep the free radicals out of your life.  Keep up with this routine and say good-bye to the wrinkles, brown spots and collagen damage that free radicals cause.

ANTIOXIDANT PROTECTION FOR YOUR SKIN

We offer a variety of antioxidant products that will act as your security detail when the cray-cray free radicals come calling: Vitamin C+ Firming serum,  CSRx Antioxidant Defense Complex, all of our Transforming Infusion product line plus Antioxidant Perfecting Cleanser and Toner.

Each of these layer perfectly under sunscreen. No balling up or weird texture changes – just a big added boost of free radical protection.

“Theoretically, supplementing sunscreens with antioxidants could boost the body’s natural defense against the formation of UVA-induced free radicals; therefore serving as a second layer of protection against UV radiation that passes through the first layer of UV protection.””

04 August 2011 American Academy of Dermatology New study supports recommendation to use broad-spectrum sunscreen for protection against skin cancer and early aging

Remember to apply your antioxidant favorite first. Second, apply your favorite physical sunscreen BEFORE you go out in the sun so it can properly bond with your skin.

As always, I welcome all your comments and questions.

Kindly, Patricia

#LoveYourSkin #ActiveIngredientsThatWork

Spill the tea, Dr Glow Girl!

I SHALL!

Who are you, Glow Girls and Boys? Who makes up the Cellular Skin RX Glow Nation out there? No surprise to moi that you are a sophisticated, educated mostly female community of 45, 55 and 65+ years young foodies, art lovers, world travelers, and book readers, all aging happily, healthily and gracefully.

When you travel, dressed beautifully no doubt, you head to islands and beaches for your R&R, (with sunscreen, glamorous sun hats always at the ready, of course, darlings!) You enjoy gourmet cooking, fine dining, TV and film award shows and watching music videos – there are dancing queens among you! It’s la Loca Vida for my Glow Girls and Boys!

You’re a fun-loving, life-living group who have been with CSRx for a long time. You’re a loyal bunch who stick with the tried and true. Because those Active Ingredients DO work. Most of you have been using CSRx products for years (if not decades) now. Yes, darlings, Glow Girls and Boys may marry, have children, move, have grandchildren, divorce, start businesses, change hair color -pastel metallics even, retire, too, but the one constant for so many of you has been Cellular Skin RX keeping your visage glowing and healthy through so many life events.

Where are you living your best life, showing off your gorgeous complexions? Mostly in the USA (California, Texas, Illinois, Florida, New York, South Carolina, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Oregon among others) but yes, we have a large, super loyal Glow Nation contingent in Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, the UK, Netherlands, Australia and even in Sweden and Finland. (How do you say “more moisturizer, please” in Finnish, darlings?)

If you’re a Glow Boy, you’re between 25 and 34 into soccer and finance and you like to place BIG orders when you shop. Glow Girls, you’re in good company!

So which products are your “if I were stuck on a deserted island” picks, your everyday go-to’s, your most recommended to your BFFs? Drum roll please, Dr. GlowGirl is ready to announce the 2021 winners. Envelope, please!

2021 TOP TEN BEST SELLERS

1. Vitamin C+ Firming Serum (BEST SELLER SINCE 2004)

2. CSRx Transforming Infusion, 10% Niacinamide Concentrate (Went straight to #2 best-seller status upon introduction)

3. The Multiplier Hi-Performance Vitamin C Serum (This one surprised us. We weren’t sure you’d want a daytime and a night-time C serum.)

4. ProgeniDerm Anti-Senescence Skin Stem Cell Serum (Perennial favorite since the mid-2000’s)

5. Full Appeal Face Plumping Complex (New Kid on the Block runaway best-seller)

6. Eye Bright Treatment Serum

7. Firming Densifier Active Treatment Moisturizer (Knocked Biolipid Repair Creme out of the top spot)

8. ULTRA Relax-A-Line Maximum Wrinkle-Relaxer Serum

9. Beauty Butter 15 Minutes to Gorgeous Hybrid Sleep Mask/Moisturizer

10. CSRx Antioxidant Perfecting Cleanser

2021 MOST POPULAR NEW PRODUCT

Full Appeal Face Plumping Complex

RUNNER-UP

The Multiplier Hi-Performance Vitamin C Serum

2021 MOST POPULAR FACIAL MOISTURIZER

Firming Densifier Active Treatment Moisturizer

2021 MOST POPULAR EYE MOISTURIZER

Lifting Eye Serum

2021 MOST POPULAR SKINCARE KIT

Anti-Aging Best Seller Kit (C+ Firming Serum/CSRx Transforming Infusion, 10% Niacinamide Concentrate)

2021 MOST SEARCHED ON SKINCARE INGREDIENTS

Matrixyl Synthe 6 (In Firming Densifier)

Acetyl Hexapeptide 30 (In ULTRA Relax-A-Line)

Palmitoyl Oligopeptide (Firming peptide in various products)

Was it fun to get to know your fellow Glow Girls and Boys? I certainly enjoyed it!

Signing off Very Truly Yours, Gorgeously, Gracefully, Happily,

Dr. Glow Girl

UV Rays continue to damage DNA hours after exposure.

Damage After Dark—UV Effects Continue Long After Exposure

March 11, 2015

NOTE from Cellular Skin Rx: Damage from UV rays can be mitigated even after a burn by applying Vitamin E oil and CSRx Antioxidant Defense Complex to the skin. Both absorb the free radicals that continue to be present and actively damaging DNA for hours after the initial exposure. Ever notice how once you feel burned, it seems like the burn is way worse hours later or in the middle of the night? That is the effect of the UV radiation absorbed by the skin continuing to radiate throughout the dermal layers. Thankfully, CSRx Antioxidant Defense Complex and simple Vitamin E oil that can be purchased at any drugstore stop this inflammatory cascade and absorb free radicals before they can do maximum damage to the skin. Aloe vera might make you feel better but it does nothing to stop the inflammatory/DNA damage cascade that starts once your skin has been over-exposed to UV rays.

This article originally appeared on www.​sciencedaily.​com, February 19, 2015. 

Much of the damage that ultraviolet radiation (UV) does to skin occurs hours after sun exposure, a team of Yale-led researchers concluded in a study that was published online February 19 by the journal Science.

Exposure to UV light from the sun or from tanning beds can damage the DNA in melanocytes, the cells that make the melanin that gives skin its color. This damage is a major cause of skin cancer, the most common form of cancer in the United States. In the past, experts believed that melanin protected the skin by blocking harmful UV light. But there was also evidence from studies suggesting that melanin was associated with skin cell damage.

In the current study, Douglas E. Brash, clinical professor of therapeutic radiology and dermatology at Yale School of Medical, and his co-authors first exposed mouse and human melanocyte cells to radiation from a UV lamp. The radiation caused a type of DNA damage known as a cyclobutane dimer (CPD), in which two DNA “letters” attach and bend the DNA, preventing the information it contains from being read correctly. To the researchers’ surprise, the melanocytes not only generated CPDs immediately but continued to do so hours after UV exposure ended. Cells without melanin generated CPDs only during the UV exposure.

This finding showed that melanin had both carcinogenic and protective effects. “If you look inside adult skin, melanin does protect against CPDs. It does act as a shield,” said Brash, also a member of Yale Cancer Center. “But it is doing both good and bad things.”

The researchers next tested the extent of damage that occurred after sun exposure by preventing normal DNA repair in mouse samples. They found that half of the CPDs in melanocytes were “dark CPDs”—CPDs created in the dark.

In searching for an explanation of these results, Sanjay Premi, associate research scientist in the Brash laboratory, discovered that the UV light activated two enzymes that combined to “excite” an electron in melanin. The energy generated from this process—known as chemiexc­itation—was transferred to DNA in the dark, creating the same DNA damage that sunlight caused in daytime. Chemiexc­itation has previously been seen only in lower plants and animals.

While noting that news of the carcinogenic effect of melanin is disconce­rting, the researchers also pointed to a ray of hope: The slowness of chemiexc­itation may allow time for new preventive tools, such as an “evening-after” sunscreen designed to block the energy transfer.