In general, the healthier your skin is, the better it will look.
So, how do you go about making sure your skin is getting all of the oxygen, nutrients, moisture, and blood flow that it needs to glow? Read on in this article to learn about 3 go-to gentle skincare ingredients that help make your skin look better while boosting its overall health.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C isn’t just great in your diet, it plays a huge role in skin health when both consumed and applied. Vitamin C is a potent antioxidant, and when it is in your skin, that means that it can help fight off free radicals, prevent collagen breakdown, and protect against UV damage from too much sun.
A lot of skincare serums and creams mix in vitamin C for its ability to brighten the skin and give it a glowy and dewy texture, and with the added benefits of UV and free radical protection, this ingredient is a skincare win-win. Look for “vitamin C” or “ascorbic acid” written on the label to see if your product contains vitamin C, and try to aim for a product with between 5%-20% vitamin C.
Since vitamin C is a slightly acidic ingredient, going above 20% will likely just cause more irritation and bee a little too intense without giving you additional skin benefits. You can sometimes even find vitamin C in pharmaceutical-grade prescription brightening creams.
Niacinamide
Niacinamide is a vitamin, vitamin B3 to be exact and, it turns out that this B vitamin plays a big role in the health and beauty of your skin. Historically, vitamin B3 was given to people who were diagnosed with a B3 deficiency called pellagra (which can cause dementia, skin inflammation, and GI issues.) Researchers and doctors then noticed how much better the skin of these patients looked after vitamin B3 treatment, and niacinamide’s entrance into the beauty world began.
Niacinamide has been found to help with skin hyperpigmentation, water content, skin texture, and blotchiness, along with benefits for wrinkles and elasticity. Niacinamide is so gentle, it can be safely used multiple times a day – even for those really sensitive skin sufferers. This vitamin can be found in many foods such as meat, eggs, green vegetables, beans, and grains, as well as most multivitamins. You can sometimes also find niacinamide in topical form in creams and serums, like this pharmaceutical-grade anti-aging night cream.
Hyaluronic Acid
Hyaluronic acid may sound like a synthetic skincare ingredient, but it is in fact naturally produced by your skin cells. This skin component, which is actually considered a carbohydrate, has a beautifying superpower in that it can hold up to 1000x its weight in water!
This means that hyaluronic acid helps keep your skin’s hydration in place, plumping out those skin cells, and giving your face a full, smooth, and dewy appearance. Hyaluronic is also gentle enough to be used in those with sensitive skin, since it is a natural product. Some products even use hyaluronic acid to help dampen the irritating effects of certain other harsh beauty ingredients like retinoids.
Unfortunately, this hyaluronic acid production tends to taper down over time, meaning that your skin has more trouble holding onto water as the years creep on. To help replenish some of this magical moisture molecule, you can apply it on a daily basis just after washing your face or stepping out of the shower to really lock in that water content. You can find hyaluronic acid in some skincare products over the counter, or mixed into some pharmaceutical-grade prescription anti-aging and brightening creams.
Conclusion:
Healthy skin is beautiful skin so long you are using supplements with natural ingredients that boost both the health and looks of your skin at the same time is ideal.
Vitamin C, Niacinamide, and Hyaluronic Acid are three ingredients that already reside to some extent in your skin anyway, so replenishing them on a regular basis can be gentle yet powerful in terms of skin health benefits.
Check the back labels of your current products to see if you are already boosting your skin health with these ingredients, or look into swapping out your harsher and less natural products for ones that highlight these 3 awesome ingredients.
