“Every person in the world should use Vitamin A on their skin every single day” says Dr Des Fernandes, the sixth top plastic surgeon in the world, creator of the scarless facelift and creator of Environ skincare.
Here are some milestones in the world of Vitamin A:
1954 - The first time a wrinkle was removed with Vitamin A (in its storage form - the cosmetic version). It was ignored!!!
1985 - The first time a wrinkle was reduced by retinoic acid (medical version). The world press exploded with news of the breakthrough.
1959 - Solar Keratosis was treated with retinoic acid. The medical world ignored the evidence that photo ageing was treated.
1976 - The first time Dr Des Fernandes used retinoic acid for acne and scars. He noticed patients got beautiful skin.
1985/86 - The first time Des read that enzymes changed the cosmetic version of Vitamin A to the medical version (the version that works on DNA). Our skin is doing this constantly.
1988 - The first time a cosmetic product was used for photo ageing. Vitamin A had been in creams previously but not at a concentration that gives results.
Environ was born!
So let’s look at what Environ actually is.
Environ is a cosmaceutical product range. Cosmaceutical products contain the most active ingredients you can get before crossing into the world of pharmaceuticals and prescriptions. Environ is based mainly on Vitamin A with vitamins C, E and a powerful collection of antioxidants.
What’s so special about Vitamin A and why do you hear us constantly extolling its virtues?
This important vitamin is the central driving factor in the development of normal, healthy human tissue including our skin, literally from conception to death. We are made of Vitamin A and so we can’t be allergic to it.
Environ products replace the vitamins we lose in our skin daily, predominantly Vitamin A. Known as “the skin vitamin”, it influences some 350 genes that perform an important function in skin health, including the ones that increase cell turnover, improve collagen production and normalise melanocytes (the cells that produce the pigment melanin).
Here’s the science bit:
The benefits of Vitamin A
What it does How it does it
Creates an overall healthy skin Repairs the DNA of Keratinocyte cells
Naturally exfoliates Stimulates cell turnover
Protects and smoothes Compacts the horny layer
Plumps Thickens the spiny layer of the epidermis
Feeds the skin, bringing nutrients to the area Stimulates blood circulation
Helps with both dry and oily skin Normalises the sebaceous glands
Stimulates collagen and elastin production Stimulates the fibroblasts
Locks in moisture Stimulates Glycosaminoglycans
Improves skin immunity Protects and gives potency to the Langerhans cell
Improves pigmentation Repairs the DNA of the melanocytes
More about our friend Vitamin A
Vitamin A also has a natural protection against UV rays, which I’ll talk about more in my sun safe blog.
When skin is deficient in Vitamin A it becomes wrinkled, dull, dry and develops pigmentation. Skin products address these deficiencies and make skin act and look younger.
Skin cells are hard to penetrate, but they’re naturally primed to receive Vitamin A. Vitamin A gains direct access into cells via gates on the cell walls called retinoid receptors. With increased use these gates grow in number.
Few mainstream skincare brands feature Vitamin A as their main ingredient. Most Vitamin A is only available on prescription, as highly active forms can be irritating and must be used under supervision. Vitamin A is also expensive and unstable and therefore must be carefully packaged to prevent it from degrading. Therefore this amazing skin vitamin doesn’t fit the bill for your average slap-it-on moisturiser!
A few of the creams you might have heard of which contain Vitamin A are ROC and Boots No7 Protect and Perfect. So what are the benefits of Environ over these other product ranges?
Environ is the only product range offering a step-up process; starting on a low dose, less active forms of Vitamin A and building up. Most products contain retinyl palmitate and retinyl acetate, fat soluble forms of vitamin A. Retinyl palmitate is the least irritating as 80% of Vitamin A in our bodies is in this form.
Environ products can only be purchased in salons or where advice can be given with the purchase. Products contain the maximum permissible level of Vitamin A in a cosmetic product and are produced under a red light, as white light degenerates vitamins. They’re also vacuum-packed to prevent oxidation. Remember we're made of vitamins too, degenerating under the very same conditions every single day! Check out my blog on salon treatments which could be doing you more harm than good.
And remember no cream can do everything. It must be used as part of a regular regime along with healthy eating and regular salon treatments to really see a difference.
It’s hard to address a vitamin A deficiency purely through topical application (which means applied to the skin). Topically, work up in levels while internally introduce high levels of Vitamin A immediately. Cells absorb all types of Vitamin A when taken orally (more to come on supplementing in my blog on beauty food).
So what does all this mean? It makes sense to take an all-round approach to skin care to make the most of your skin, after all it’s your body’s largest organ:
· Feed the skin internally to get maximum doses of Vitamin A immediately, supported by other vitamins and minerals
· Strengthen your skin with topical application of Vitamin A along with other vitamins and antioxidants
· Protect your skin with a mineral make-up to give natural UVA and UVB protection
Vitamin A is still the only molecule we know that is anti-ageing; nothing else does what Vitamin A does.
Protect and replenish to slow down photo-ageing.
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