Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, September 13, 1994 TAG: 9409140024
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By RIDGELY OCHS NEWSDAY
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But if you want to know the future of face and body creams, at least in terms of marketing, it is ... (drum roll) ... antioxidants. Right now, that means mostly vitamins C and E. Beauty companies are taking a variety of approaches. Elizabeth Arden has entered into a joint research venture with the nonprofit Linus Pauling Institute to research vitamin C and is launching a new line of creams that will contain antioxidants. Estee Lauder has joined the French government in an eight-year clinical trial to test the health benefits of oral and topically applied antioxidants and already has some skin products that contain them. Lancome has come out with Bien Fait, a moisturizer that contains antioxidants as well as a sunscreen with SPF 15. Going full circle and zeroing in on people's confusion about which vitamins to take, Avon has marketed a whole line of oral vitamin supplements containing antioxidants keyed to maintaining health for men and women at different ages.
Do they work?
Well, maybe.
Antioxidants, primarily vitamins E, C and beta-carotene (a preformed, or early, version of vitamin A), taken orally have become the wonder non-drugs of the decade, apparently neutralizing the effects of oxidation by free radicals.
Antioxidants have the ability to bond with these radicals and neutralize them. Research so far has indicated that taken internally they may reduce the risk of heart disease and some cancers - although how and to what extent remains controversial.
In terms of your skin, this presumably means lessening the effect of the sun's ultraviolet radiation - so-called photoaging. In fact, their greatest use may be when they are coupled with sunscreens.
``Antioxidants increase the protective qualities of sunscreens because they absorb that radiation which isn't absorbed by the sunscreen,'' said Joe Gubernick, senior vice president for research and development at Estee Lauder Corp. Gubernick said that if people started using these formulations early enough at a later age ``they will look 10 years younger and would significantly reduce the risk of skin cancer - which isn't bad.''
Researchers have found that oxidation in the body, likened to a rusting process, can cause damage to cells. What happens is that free radicals - unstable oxygen molecules that occur as a result of normal chemical processes or because of pollution such as smoking - look for a ``bond.'' In their frenetic search for this bond, they may steal particles from other molecules, create abnormal compounds or set off a chain reaction that can damage cells, lipids and proteins and even alter genetic material.
Most research on has been on how oral supplements may help prevent certain diseases. Information on antioxidants in skin creams is much sketchier. It's long been known that vitamin E helps reduce inflammation, and it has been added to skin creams as a ``natural'' moisturizer. But its precise role as an skin antioxidant is just being explored. There's even less information on vitamin C, although its potential seems to be as great as vitamin E's.
Oxidation on the skin occurs mostly because of ultraviolet radiation from the sun. The body has its own natural antioxidants - a whole range of enzymes with glamorous names like superoxide dismutase and glutathione reductase, along with low concentrations of vitamin E and C. But as we age or if we are overexposed to the sun, the body has a harder time keeping up with the constant bombardment from UV rays. This can lead to ``photoaging'' - wrinkles - and, worse still, skin cancer.
In experiments on hairless rodents exposed to ultraviolet light radiation, those who were lathered up with creams containing high concentrations of vitamin E beforehand showed fewer wrinkles and fewer skin tumors from ultraviolet radiation.
In experiments on pigs put under sunlamps, dermatologists at Duke University found that vitamin C protected against UV exposure. It was even effective after exposure in reducing the amount of sunburn. ``We all are bombarded with a lot of sunscreen,'' said Douglas Darr, one of the inventors of a vitamin C solution. ``If you throw in a few antioxidants, then maybe you will have to use less.'' In fact, Darr and his colleagues are so pleased with their results they are trying to market their vitamin C solution.
Why do you need to put vitamins on the skin if you eat a healthy diet or take a multiple vitamin?
``Only 10 percent of vitamins get to the skin, so topical applications are a real benefit,'' said Gubernick.
by CNB