Eye Wrinkle Reduction

One of the first signs of aging are "crows feet" that occur around the eyes. The area around the eyes has very thin skin and needs proper care. Unfortunately, some of the ingredients that are used in face and body creams are designed to go deep into the skin. These are not desirable for under eye wrinkles as the eyes may become irritated. Therefore, it is better to use a dedicated eye serum or gel so you can maximise benefits without any risk to your eyes.

I would recommend that you use natural anti wrinkle products, and use them every morning and night for optimum reduction of under eye wrinkles. The serum or gel should be free of chemicals, fragrances and mineral oils and contain lots of active and proven anti aging products. There are many natural ingredients that have been shown to be beneficial to wrinkle reduction around the eyes. Check out products and ingredients like Eyeliss, Haloxyl, Homeo Age, Cynergy TK, Nanobelle Coenzyme Q10, Babassu, Crodomol CAP, Phytessence Wakame, Retin A plus natural vitamin E and active manuka honey.

But don't just rely on anti wrinkle products to reduce under eye wrinkles. Maintain healthy lifestyle habits and your skin will benefit long term. Here are some tips to help with wrinkle reduction around the eyes:

• Wear sunglasses when outside in the sun. This will help protect the area around the eyes and stop you squinting.
• Put on sunscreen before you go out in the sun, paying special attention not to miss the skin around the eyes.
• Cleansers and toners can make your skin dry, so don't forget to moisturize afterwards.
• Get lots of anti oxidants in your diet.
• Drinks lots of water.
• Avoid smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, stress and over-eating.
• Get enough sleep and take time out to smell the roses.

I like that last point.

The Importance Of Vitamins & Minerals

Vitamins and minerals are essential for our body to function correctly. As our skin is an integral part of our body, healthy eating will assist with skin rejuvenation. In fact, an absence of some vitamins and minerals are damaging to the skin and possibly result in skin disease and a premature increase in aging.

The following are various vitamins and minerals important for healthy skin;

Vitamin B-Complex

B-complex normally refers to the group of vitamins that include B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin), B5 (pantothenate), B6 (pyridoxine), B12 (cyancobalamine) and folate.

Vitamins B1 and B2 are important for energy production in the cells. Lack of these vitamins may occur in people who base their diet mainly on processed grains and potatoes.

Vitamin B12 is essential for a range of processes in the cells. A lack of this vitamin is very detrimental to neurons and rapidly dividing cells, including skin cells. B12 is found almost exclusively in meat, poultry, fish, eggs and diary products. It has been shown that no active B12 is found in algae (such as spirulina) or fermented soy products. Therefore, vegetarians are at risk of this vitamin deficiency.

Just like B12, folate is also important to rapidly dividing cells, including skin cells. Green leafy vegetables and beans are the most abundant sources of folate. Liver is the only food from an animal source that is rich in folate. Folate can break down during cooking. So the best way to get enough folate in your diet is to eat liberal amounts of fresh or slightly cooked vegetables.

Vitamin A

Vitamin A is essential to the normal life cycle of skin cells. A lack of vitamin A causes the skin to become dry and prone to wrinkles. No skin treatment will work effectively if a person is vitamin A deficient.

Vitamin A can be found in foods such as eggs, organ meats and diary products. Several plants, like carrots and broccoli, can provide carotenoids that the body can convert into vitamin A.

Vitamin C, Iron & Copper

These three are important for the production of collagen. A lack of these nutrients decreases the skins elasticity and healing ability. Vitamin C can be found in fruit and vegetables, iron is found in whole grains and meat products and copper is found in trace amounts in a diverse assortment of foods.


Just about all vitamins and minerals are required for healthy skin, but some are particulary important. To maximize the benefits of any anti aging treatment, you need to eat plenty of healthy foods to get the necessary vitamins and minerals. But, all in moderation, of course. Too high dosage of some vitamins and minerals may be detrimental to the body.

The New Buzzword - Cosmeceuticals

Derived from a cross between cosmetics anf pharmeceuticals, the term "cosmeceuticals" implies that these anti aging creams are better than ever. Unfortunately, these anti wrinkle products aren't the wonder creams that the cosmetic companies would like you to believe.

In a recent test (2009), French and US organisations jointly tested popular anti wrinkle creams and lotions. On average, each cream was tested on 20 women, aged between 30 and 70 years old, for 3 months.

The results showed that all creams had some benefits on all women, but none of the creams had an effect on all participants. And there seemed to be no correlation between the type of active ingredient and performance, nor did cost relate to performance.

Are We Surprised?

If you've already spent a pile of money on anti wrinkle creams that haven't come up to your expectations, this conclusion won't come as any surprise. But there are several reasons why you may also find cosmeceutical creams don't work for your wrinkles...

Firstly, the science of skin aging isn't simple. There are numerous aspects involved, including varied cell regeneration rates, loss of subcutaneous fat, attack from free radicals, varying hormonal levels and breakdown of skin cell components. Therefore, trying an anti wrinkle cream that targets just one or two of these factors won't benefit other skin ailments that you may have.

Secondly, everybody has different skin types. So, it's logical that different anti wrinkle products will generate different results for different people.

Thirdly, while the results from "scientific studies" may indicate that specific components will work in a laboratory situation, it doesn't guarantee that the product will work when you use it on your skin. More often than not, the active ingredients can't even penetrate your skin. Or the active ingredient may be unstable and deteriorate, thereby not having sufficient concentration to affect your skin. Additionally, other ingredients may hinder the activity and benefits of the prime ingredient.

There are a lot of expensive products on the market that don't do a lot in the way of skin rejuvenation. But, coming out of the wrinkle cream reviews, here are three anti wrinkle products that hold some promise:

• tretinoin (also known as retinoic acid), found in perscription-only creams.
• AHAs (alpha hydroxy acids), but only in concentrations of greater that 10%.
• sunscreen. Try wearing sunscreen, sunglasses and a hat to minimize the amount of skin damage from the sun's UV rays (and it's likely to be the least expensive, too!).

It’s So Versatile!

Skin is so multi-talented! I think that it's just fascinating stuff. It is our natural protective body covering. It keeps our muscles, bones and other organs inside our body while keeping infections out. Skin helps maintain our bodies at just the right temperature and it provides us with our sense of touch.

So when we take care of our skin, we're assisting it to do all the work that it's designed to do. And taking care of our skin NOW will help prevent problems in the future, such as (more!) wrinkles and age spots.

A sound understanding of the various parts that make up our skin and their role can be valuable in understanding the aging process. And once the basics are known, it can help us work out which anti aging treatment and skin rejuvenation products make good sense and which are just a waste of time and money.

In the next post, I'll provide a very quick overview of "The Basics of Skin" so that we can understand the basics behind what causes wrinkles and how to achieve wrinkle reduction - sort of like Skin Biology 101.