Although vanity plays a large part in the use of anti-ageing skin care products and treatments, the growth in popularity is due in no small part to the fact that we are all living and working longer. Twenty-five per cent of the skin’s protein is collagen. Most anti-ageing products (collagen included) fall into the category of anti-oxidants which are the body’s method of slowing down the ageing process.

You probably know many anti-oxidants by name, including vitamin C, the use of which is still, even now, hotly debated in the science and nutrition community. Unfortunately all skin care treatments that use vitamin C have the problem of atmospheric oxidization to contend with once the product is exposed to the air.

More stable skin care treatments are now available that are almost as efficient and actually cost less to manufacture. Although these products are good, they cannot actually compare with vitamin C but fortunately vitamin E and alpha-lipoic acid are also anti-oxidants so can be used to gain the same effect.

It is found in the blood it is an anti-oxidant that is also used to increase the body’s defenses against other diseases. It is known to combat the signs of ageing very effectively by reversing skin damage caused by the ageing process.

They are removed from various plants. A further benefit of these phytochemicals is their ability to prevent the onset of breast cancer, prostate cancer and colon cancer all of which are on the increase globally.

It has also been discovered that there are anti-ageing benefits to vitamins B5, B6 and B12. This just goes to highlight just how complex and far reaching the whole field of anti-ageing skin care products is and why so much more research is required.

Although current regimes are effective, there are still many challenges to finding better and more efficient ways to combat the effects of time. The amount of research going on in this field will undoubtedly bring results in time, hopefully bringing down the cost of these anti-ageing skin care products in addition to increasing their reliability.

In some respects the real way ahead lies in our own hands as there are many things we can do to reduce the signs of ageing naturally. So, drinking plenty of water, getting a good night’s sleep, exercising regularly, maintaining healthy eating habits and keeping stress at bay are essential means of delaying the ageing process.