Antioxidants aren’t just in the food you eat

Antioxidants have long been touted for their health benefits, and are often referred to in foods such as blueberries and black berries. But did you know you don’t have to eat your antioxidants to benefit from them? When applied topically in skincare, antioxidants can play a significant role in how youthful your skin looks and feels.

Antioxidants and skin

Every day our skin battles against natural threats including UV and toxins, which in a word can come down to oxidation. Oxidation is largely caused by the occurrence of ‘free radicals’ that come in contact with skin, and causes discolouration, wrinkles and fine lines to ageing skin.

Luckily, the skin is naturally equipped with a network of protective antioxidants, which stabilises or deactivates free radicals before they attack skin cells. Interestingly, such antioxidants are also made up of vitamins and minerals that can be found in most flora.

Not surprisingly, antioxidants in skincare products can have a significant impact on your skin’s health and appearance, protecting the skin and reducing signs of ageing to a degree. This ranges from calming inflamed skin to tightening and toning, by limiting the production of damaging free radicals as well as acting as preservatives in cosmetics.

Antioxidants in botanicES’ skincare

At botanicES, we have carefully selected the antioxidants incorporated in our skincare range to maximise benefits and do just what we promise our products will do – care for skin.

Our formulations include:

• Our patented Natural Coffee Extract
  Caffeine helps protect cells against UV radiation and slows the process of ‘photo-ageing’. The humble coffee bean extract also helps reduce redness, dryness and flakiness of the skin. It acts as a vasodilator, which means ingredients can penetrate and hydrate the skin faster. It’s the hero ingredient in all our products and when combined with our other high antioxidant ingredients, packs a powerful punch, naturally.
• Certified organic Kakadu Plum Fruit Extract
  This is one of the richest sources of Vitamin C in the world, in fact, studies show the concentration of vitamin C in Kakadu Plum is at least 50 times that of oranges! This powerful antioxidant protects the skin against environmental ageing and brightens the skin, correcting age spots, pigmentation and dark circles.
• Certified organic Licorice Root Extract
  This is a potent antioxidant that is a strong anti-inflammatory and soothing skin anti-irritant. Licorice Root Extract is also known for slowing the signs of premature ageing and that’s why we have included in our products that target those notorious visibly ageing areas – the Face Crème and Eye Serum.
• Vitamin E
  Vitamin E has widely been used as an inexpensive antioxidant in cosmetics, due to its natural tissue-repairing and collagen producing properties. A strong anti-ageing group of molecules, Vitamin E complements our natural ingredients nicely.

Protection and early intervention with antioxidants

No-one is immune to the signs of ageing. Nasty pollutants and free radicals threaten our skin daily – whether we are out in the sun or sitting in air conditioning, but there’s so much we can do to amplify our skin’s defences. We all have the ability to delay the onset of visible ageing through proper care and nourishment, keeping skin looking youthful. Healthy looking skin starts with caring for it both inside and out.