The plethora of skincare options available today is enough to perplex the most informed of beauty enthusiasts. With beauty buzzwords emerging on a regular basis and products promising to smooth this and correct that, it’s becoming harder to decipher what works, what doesn’t. What ingredients do we need to include in our beauty regimen to see real results? Joe Lewis, the scientist behind some of beauty’s leading anti-ageing products, teamed up with Elizabeth Arden PRO to create a simple, yet scientific, approach that consumers and professionals could use to make educated decisions with skincare.
The Skin Health and Beauty Pyramid aims to take the guesswork out of purchasing the ideal products for your skin concerns, using scientifically proven ingredients that work. Breaking down the pyramid Essential ingredients that we should be incorporating into our daily beauty routine to protect and repair skin create the Pyramid Base. Without ingredients to protect skin against sun and environmental exposure, every other step taken to improve skin health would be undermined.
The pyramid highlights the importance of using SPF daily to reduce the risk of sunburn, skin cancer and the signs of ageing. Although sunscreen plays an important role in skin health, SPF is unable to block all UV radiation and cannot block pollution or cigarette smoke, which is where antioxidants come into play. Depending on their concentration and type, antioxidants are able to reduce DNA and cellular damage and provide beauty benefits including enhancing collagen, reducing the signs of ageing and improving radiance.
The third foundation ingredient, DNA enzymes, has been scientifically proven to play a critical role in providing skin cells protection against oxidative stress from UV exposure and other environmental stressors. The elements in the Pyramid Core are vital in transforming skin. To combat the changes that come with ageing and UV exposure, retinoids and alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs) are essential. Lactic and glycolic acid both have moisturising and exfoliating benefits. While other ingredients that proclaim to nourish and moisturise often just provide skin with a barrier to decrease water loss, AHAs have been clinically proven to activate moisture retention within the skin. Retinoids, such as vitamin A and its derivatives, are able to kickstart cellular metabolism and boost production of collagen. When AHAs are paired with retinoids, the two become a transformative powerhouse essential for serious skin change.
The Top of the Pyramid– peptides and growth factors – is the icing on the cake. Both stimulate the process that signals cells to make proteins, boosting skin renewal. “These ingredients promise impressive results, but are not ‘stand alone’ to deliver the kind of results we see with AHAs and retinoids,” says Lewis.
