In recent years, skincare has become quite popular around the world. In fact, skincare alone makes up about 23 % of the beauty industry, with more potential for growth in the upcoming years. Because of this, there is high demand both for innovative products and products that work more efficiently than ever before at treating aging and wrinkles as well as increasing the general health of the skin. One of these possible new frontiers may use plant-derived antioxidants to help against the aging process and improve skin health.
The use of plants for different medicinal purposes, along with their benefits, has been seen since ancient times in some cultures. Because of this, expecting researchers to expand the influence of plant extracts into skincare is not a large assumption to make. Specifically, the main characteristics of plants that may make a large difference within the realm of skincare are those with antioxidant properties. In addition to antioxidant properties, some of these plants have skin regenerative and UV-protective properties that may prevent any stressors to the skin that can cause skin cancers as well as aging.
Through plant-derived antioxidants as a type of skincare, as found in essential oils, increased protection from UV radiation, thus preventing photo-oxidative stress, has been shown. With this stressor (photo-oxidative stress) present, excess exposure to sunlight may have negative effects such as collagen breakdown and chronic inflammation in the skin.
Because this is a relatively new field of research, new combinations of plant extracts may have even greater benefits to the skin than what was previously used. However, more extensive research needs to be done to make sure that there are no other adverse effects on the body as well as to see how extensive their effectiveness truly is. The world of plant-derived antioxidants has only recently been applied to cosmetology and beauty, so there remains much to look forward to in terms of their application in these fields.
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