Healthy shopping: Antioxidant-rich skincare

Feed your skin and help keep visible signs of aging at bay with antioxidant-filled skincare, says Joanna Evans

If you’d rather not risk the dangers of Botox, good skincare can go a long way toward maintaining healthful, youthful-looking skin. Opt for natural formulas free of harsh ingredients like parabens and phthalates and packed instead with free-radical-fighting antioxidants to help slow the development of visible signs of aging, such as wrinkles, loss of firmness and uneven pigmentation.

Especially look out for these anti-aging ingredients, which have all been found to improve the skin when used topically. And don’t forget to use a good nontoxic SPF to protect your skin from the sun.

Ingredients to look for

Bakuchiol is derived from the Psoralea corylifolia plant. It has a similar effect to retinol (considered the gold standard in anti-aging skincare), improving lines and wrinkles, pigmentation, elasticity, firmness and photo-damage, but without side effects like skin irritation.⁹ 

Coenzyme Q10 can significantly reduce wrinkles at just a 1 percent concentration.¹⁰

Vitamin C is great for improving sun-damaged skin, especially deep furrows and skin elasticity.¹¹ Eating plenty of vitamin-C rich foods is also a good idea.

Niacinamide (vitamin B3) can improve several signs of aging, including hyperpigmentation, fine lines and wrinkles, redness/blotchiness, yellowing (sallowness) and loss of elasticity.¹²

Vitamin E can smooth the skin and help it retain moisture.¹³

Green tea extracts can improve skin moisture and roughness.¹⁴

Products to try

Here are three face products that include some of these important antioxidants along with a multitude of other natural ingredients to support healthy-looking skin.

100% Pure

Green Tea EGCG Concentrate Cream, $28/£22 (1.4 oz / 40 mL)
100percentpure.com

This nourishing cream features EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate), the most abundant and potent antioxidant in green tea, along with vitamin E, niacinamide and vitamin C-rich acai berry fruit extract. In a clinical trial (unpublished) mentioned on 100% Pure’s website, 88 percent of those using the cream reported a reduced appearance of fine lines or pores and 97 percent noticed softer, smoother skin.

Ere Perez

White Tea Phyto-Retinol Elixir, $43/£40 (1.05 oz / 30 mL)
ereperez.com

This lightweight, fast-absorbing elixir contains anti-aging bakuchiol and niacinamide plus three more powerful antioxidants and anti-inflammatories: resveratrol, copper and white tea leaf extract. It also includes sodium hyaluronate and squalane to hydrate and plump the skin.

Kypris

Beauty Elixir III: Prismatic Array, $160/£185 (1.58 oz / 47 mL)
US: kyprisbeauty.com; UK: thegreenjunglebeautyshop.com

Made without essential oils to accommodate scent-sensitive skin, this luxurious elixir is

formulated with Kypris’s Bioidentical Antioxidant Complex, a blend of coenzyme Q10, vitamin C ester and vitamin E. It’s also brimming with skin-softening and rejuvenating botanicals such as grapeseed oil, pomegranate seed oil and sea buckthorn extract.

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