When to Apply Antioxidant Skin Care
source:flickr by:SonOfJordan
Say Goodnight With Antioxidants
Most antioxidant skin care sources will no doubt suggest that you apply your antioxidant products in the morning to help protect your skin against UV rays and other forms of environmental damage. Using antioxidants in the morning makes the most sense, mainly due to the fact that daytime is when you’re exposing your skin to the harshest elements. Shockingly, new mindsets are suggesting that your antioxidant application should mainly happen at night. Surprised? You’re not alone. Take a glimpse below to learn about the compelling argument for nightly antioxidant application.
As we know, antioxidants act like sponges that absorb free radicals and other forms of damaging energies. When skin antioxidants are applied in the morning, they will protect your skin in many ways, including by absorbing UV rays, one of the leading causes of free radicals. However, the sun’s rays will also destroy the antioxidants before they can make their way into your skin cells to neutralize free radicals, thereby shortening the beneficial life of the antioxidants and leaving damaging energies within the cell. So, although applying antioxidant skin care products in the morning will definitely help maintain the health and beauty of your skin, the greatest anti-aging skin care benefits will be seen if the antioxidant is allowed to enter the cells.
By applying your antioxidant cream at night, you’re enabling the antioxidants to enter the skin cells where they can do the most good. Once the antioxidants have entered the cells, they neutralize the free radicals that cause damage and eventually lead to visible signs of aging, pigmentation irregularities and more severe issues. In the morning, the antioxidants are still present within the cells and ready to protect against UV-induced damage.
You’re probably now wondering why you shouldn’t just apply your antioxidant skin products both morning and night to cover all your bases. Amazingly enough, you can have too much of a good thing when it comes to antioxidants! Recent studies suggest that over-ingesting oral antioxidants may cause the body to quit producing its own antioxidants, thereby reducing your body’s natural defenses against free radical damage. This cases some skin care experts to believe that over-using topical antioxidants may have the same effect. As with most things, the best results are seen with moderate use. Therefore, you should try to limit your antioxidant application to exclusive morning or night use, preferably the latter.