My Friend The Dermatologist

Photoaging is a response in your skin to the sun. It can cause brown spots (lentigo’s), wrinkles, and pigment irregularity. The standard of reversing and preventing photoaging is the use of sunblocks to prevent further damage and the use of an agent to reverse the damage by increasing collagen production.

Lets start with sunscreen. The sunscreen should have a broad spectrum sunblock in them. You should look on your bottle at home and make sure it has one of the following ingredients : zinc oxide, parsol 1789, avobenzone, or mexoryl-9. If it doesn’t have one of these ingredients then you should get another one. These ingredients block UVA and UVB. The SPF number only reflects protection against UVB. So, you could have a SPF of 50000 and it doesn’t mean it protects against UVA.

UVA penetrates the skin deeper and can cause extensive photoaging. If you want your skin protected well from photoaging effects such as wrinkling and pigmentary irregularity make sure it has one of the ingredients listed above.

I use Solbar Zinc it is my favorite sunblock. I am absolutely addicted to the beach and use so much of it, I should buy stock in the company:)

The next step is the use of topical agents to reverse the signs of photoaging. The standard of care is the use of topical retinoids like Retin-a or Tazorac. These agents which are used for acne and other conditions are also blockbusters when it comes to using them to reverse photoaging as well as keeping the skin clear of breakouts. You can get them from your dermatologist. If you need a dermatologist visit the American Academy of Dermatology.

Now, there are other ways of reversing photoaging and it usually involves the use of a topical antioxidant. There are numerous products on the market that are advertised as antioxidants but it is beyond the scope of this entry. Today we are only going to review Revaleskin.

Revaleskin is a novel new antioxidant made of coffee berry extract. The coffee berry includes bean, hull, and pulp. It is reported to have 15x the antioxidant power than fruits or green tea based on the ORAC scale. This is impressive. Studies done on the use of this cream showed 20% increase in fine lines and 15% improvement in roughness and dryness as reported in the April edition of Skin and Allergy News.

Another study by Zoe Draelos, MD a very well respected dermatologist, compared Revaleskin with Purpose Moisturizing products and at 6 weeks showed significantly less skin roughness and more skin hydration/moisturization.

In summary, Revaleskin should be used as adjunct to the standard of care for reversing and preventing photoaging which is sun block and a retinoid like Retin-a or Tazorac. If you are already using Retin - A and full spectrum sunblock, then this novel and powerful coffee berry antioxidant cream called Revaleskin could be for you.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS