Because an increasing number of people are living to a greater age and are more active, it is not unreasonable to want to continue looking youthful for as long as possible. Twenty-five per cent of the skin’s protein is collagen. Most anti-aging products (collagen included) fall into the category of anti-oxidants which are the body’s method of slowing down the aging process.

One of the best known anti-oxidants is vitamin C and despite continual research, no-one body involved can decide just exactly how much our body should consume on a daily basis. 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.

Manufacturers are trying alternative skin care treatments to vitamin C that do not have this oxidization problem or cost as much to produce. 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.

Vitamin E is an anti-oxidant and component of human blood whose purpose is to help increase the body’s immune system against diseases including cancer. It is known to combat the signs of aging very effectively by reversing skin damage caused by the ageing process.

They are removed from various plants. Like lipoic acid, phytochemicals help reduce the occurrence of cancers such as prostate, breast and colon cancers.

Surprisingly, the group of vitamins; B5, B6, and B12 have also shown that they can be used to help reduce the effects of aging. This is a vast area that has the potential for many new anti-aging skin care products and services in the future but research needs to continue.

While a great deal has been learned about this subject, it is only the tip of the iceberg and more long term effective methods need to be discovered to reverse or slow down the effects of time. There may be many challenges still to overcome but in time scientists believe they will succeed in producing more effective anti-aging skin care products that are less expensive and available to more people.

However, man-made skin care regimes should be used only as a supplement. Natural methods are known, but few actually follow them.