Successfully transporting your skin through time requires a scientific approach—adding beneficial ingredients that offer important support and protection, while removing by-product substances that accumulate throughout a lifetime, causing the skin to break down. This approach begins by examining the history of skin care from its roots in hygiene to new and evolving concepts focused on optimizing the health and longevity of the skin.
Where We Started
The idea of skin care first came about with the development of soaps and basic skin hygiene. While early soap cleansers took an important step forward in removing sebum and environmental dirt, improved hygiene came at a cost to skin health. The early soaps simply "took off" too much. This led to a need for products that combat dryness such as moisturizers. When it was realized that sun could damage the skin, protective ingredients were added to the moisturizers to create sunscreens. Cosmeceutical moisturizers soon followed to provide antioxidant vitamins and other substances to the skin to optimize protection. Basically, the concept of "adding to" the skin became important.
Where We're Going
Future skin care philosophy now goes beyond "taking off" and "adding to" by focusing on "taking out" those substances that damage skin functioning.
It is well established that skin and all body organs age due to oxidative damage, resulting in the accumulation of oxidative by-products. Our understanding of the impact of oxidative by-products has been enhanced through advancement in other areas of healthcare science, most specifically the science of protecting tissue that has been harvested for organ transplantation. To slow down aging of the tissues, special transport media have been developed to remove by-products from the organ to slow deterioration and allow optimal functioning. One of the important ingredients in these transport media is lactobionic acid, which minimizes the negative effects of oxygen, decreases the concentration of pro-oxidants, and removes transitional metals such as iron through chelation.
Iron performs an important role in the body by carrying oxygen in red blood cells; however, free iron released from old blood cells must be bound and removed. Lactobionic acid can bind iron and "take out" this transitional metal from the body. The incorporation of lactobionic acid into skin care products allows removal of harmful substances from the skin, while other moisturizing ingredients, antioxidants, and sunscreens add substances necessary for skin protection.
The future of skin care is now. "Taking off" sebum and environmental dirt through gentle cleansers, "adding to" the skin with moisturizers, sun protection, and antioxidants while "taking out" damaging substances that decrease optimal functioning.
Zoe Diana Draelos
M.D., F.A.A.D.
Dr. Draelos worked extensively with Nu Skin to create the Nu Skin® Profiler and conducted clinical research on the use of Tru Face™ Revealing Gel with Polishing Peel,™ as well as studies on Tru Face™ Line Corrector and Tru Face™ IdealEyes.® She serves on the board of directors for the American Academy of Dermatology and has a research interest in cosmetics, toiletries, and biologically active skin medications. Dr. Draelos is a practicing, board certified dermatologist in High Point, North Carolina, and a clinical associate professor of dermatology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.