Skin ageing is a multifactorial process consisting of two independent mechanisms: intrinsic and extrinsic ageing.
The first, intrinsic or innate ageing, is an unpreventable process, which has an effect on not only the skin but all internal organs and is just physical ageing.
The second, extrinsic ageing, is the result of exposure to external aggressors and factors, mainly UV irradiation, which is also known as photo ageing.
Skin ageing is also associated with the loss of moisture in the skin, which brings us to the key agent responsible for retaining water in the skin, Hyaluronic Acid, a glycosaminoglycan, which has the unique capacity to bind and keep water molecules present in the skin.
In humans, Hyaluronic Acid is most abundant in the skin, accounting for 50% of the body’s total supply. This is then divided up between the dermis and the epidermis, where the dermis has a significant higher content than that of the epidermis.
Hyaluronic Acid in the dermis regulates water balance, osmotic pressure and ion flow and functions as a sieve, excluding certain molecules, enhancing the extracellular domain of cell surfaces and stabilises skin structures.
Youthful skin manages to keep its turgor, resilience, pliability and plumpness, due to its high water content. But daily external injury, in addition to the normal process of ageing, causes loss of moisture in the skin, as the key moisture molecule Hyaluronic Acid can be broken down by a free-radical mechanism.
Premature ageing of the skin is the result of repeated and extended exposure to UV
radiation.
Approximately 80% of facial skin ageing is attributed to UV-exposure.
UV radiation damage initially causes a mild form of wound healing and is associated at first with an increase of dermal Hyaluronic Acid.
Repeated and extensive exposures to UV ultimately simulate a typical wound healing response with deposition of scar-like type I collagen, rather than the usual types I and III collagen mixture, which results in abnormal glycosaminoglycan content and distribution compared with that found in scars, or in the wound healing response, with diminished Hyaluronic Acid that then decreases skin resilience and pliability.
We use Hyaluronic Acid in our Divine Ambrosia Serum. As mentioned above, free radicals can break down Hyaluronic Acid if other antioxidants levels in the skin are low, this is why we paired it up with our super-antioxidant VitaNova™. It eliminated the free radicals in the skin very effectively, making sure that Hyaluronic Acid levels and the skin itself stay healthier for longer.