Probably the most important aspect to anti-aging and age-reversal therapies is in combating free radicals that contribute to overall skin and collagen degradation. "Free radical" is a term used to describe any molecule that differs from conventional molecules in that it possesses at least one free electron, causing it to react with other molecules in highly volatile and destructive ways. In a stable molecule the electrical charge is balanced, and to create this balance electrons come in pairs so that their electrical energies cancel each other out. Atoms that are missing electrons combine with atoms that have extra electrons, creating a stable molecule with evenly paired electrons and a neutral electrical charge. A "free radical," on the other hand, has an extra negative charge and is searching for another electron to balance itself out, even if it means breaking up molecules that make up cellular structures to do it.
This Free Radical Theory Of Aging is the leading theory of why we age on a cellular and molecular level. To keep these radicals from literally destroying all of our cells, the body uses antioxidants to neutralize them. The term “antioxidant” refers to a broad spectrum of substances that bind to free radicals and balance out their electrical charges before they can attack cellular structures around them. The “oxidant” part of the term comes from oxygen being the most notorious for needing its electrical charge balanced out (hence anything that can balance its charge being an anti-oxidant). However, there are many types of free radicals that have nothing to do with oxygen; just the term “antioxidant” has stuck through the years as referring to those compounds that neutralize free radicals in general. Antioxidants quench several types of free radicals, not just those broken apart by unstable oxygen (peroxide).
The Importance Of Hydrophilic Antioxidants
Antioxidants are classified into two broad categories: those that are soluble in water (hydrophilic) and those that are soluble in lipids/fats (lipophilic). When an antioxidant is “soluble” in one of these mediums it is referring to the dissolving of that substance (or group of substances in the case of complex extracts) so that it remains dispersed without the need for stabilization (i.e. it will remain homogenous within the skincare product without separation). For our purposes here we will be discussing water-soluble antioxidants.
In general, aqueous solutions (containing largely water and water-soluble ingredients), such as serums, are ideal treatment products for the skin because of their ability for greater penetration. For a long time oils and oil/water emulsions were the preferred medium of skincare products because these were easiest to preserve and also had the most immediately perceivable results (e.g. moisturizing and creating skin “suppleness”). Ironically, it’s due to the fact that oils tend to remain more in the epidermal skin layer instead of absorbing into the deeper dermal layer that they were preferred by most skincare companies. The product user can feel oils on the skin for an extended period of time and thus is reminded of the product’s presence, leading them to believe it is “long-lasting,” while as water based products quickly absorb and leave little trace. It’s the fact that water-based products, most notably serums, absorb so quickly and deeply that make them the most ideal for active treatments and by extension active antioxidants.
Many of the most powerful antioxidant-rich extracts and isolated antioxidant compounds in nature are water-soluble and ideally delivered through aqueous serum products. For instance, all tea extracts (green, red, white, etc.) contain powerful antioxidant forms like polyphenols, EGCG, Superoxide Dismutase and Catechins that are best delivered through aqueous mediums. Likewise, the active phytonutrients from the extracts of Grapeseed (with a high procyanidolic value and resveratrol faction), Olive Leaf (with oleuropein), and Gingko Biloba (with flavonoids and terpenoids) have a high affinity to water and are ideally delivered through an aqueous serum medium. This doesn’t even speak of the several collagen-enhancing ingredients in skincare like polypeptides and water-soluble Vitamin C forms that numerous clinical studies have demonstrated are best utilized by the skin when absorbed quickly and deeply through products with high water factions. For this reason we have centered our line around aqueous serum treatments that contain a wide range of antioxidant-rich, water-soluble extracts and phytonutrients to reverse the look of skin aging on both the cellular and visible levels.