Japanese women have long known how to keep their skin looking youthful. In the past, Japanese women would go down by the ocean and wash their faces with sea algae. Now the vitalizing substance in those sea algae has been incorporated into a facial cleanser cream.
What is that substance, and how is it able to keep skin from aging? What biochemical reaction is stimulated or inhibited by the substance in a simple alga? What potential lies in an understanding of that reaction? Could someone create an ideal facial cleanser by utilizing only those Japanese algae?
At least one maker of facial cleanser has asked those questions. At least one team of biochemists has sought to obtain the perfect set of ingredients for a facial cleanser cream.
In order to discover the answers to the above questions, one has to learn something about antioxidants. Wakame (kelp) is a type of algae that is found in the waters off the Japanese shores. Japanese cultivate Wakame; they use it in a number of Japanese dishes. Japanese realize that by eating Wakame they can hold-off the unwanted aging of the skin cells.
Wakame contains an antioxidant. Antioxidants prevent aging of the skin by interfering with the chain reaction process responsible for causing free radical damage. A free radical is a molecule that travels wantonly in a living cell. If not captured by an antioxidant, that loose molecule can damage the cell.
So can a simple sea alga hold the answer to all of the problems that affect human skin? No, antioxidants do slow the aging of cells, but they can not solve every problem that is familiar to the dermatologist. Antioxidants can not, for example repair the damage caused by years of exposure to the sun's rays.
Does that mean that Wakame is not a useful facial cleanser? Does that mean that it would be foolish to put the substance extracted from Wakame into a face cream?
Actually, there is nothing wrong with extracting chemicals from Wakame and adding them to a skin care product. Still the effectiveness of that product would depend on the number of different substances that any team of biochemists might obtain from a single Wakame plant.
A biochemist might want to extract sodium, iron, potassium and calcium from such a plant. Wakame contains 15 times more calcium than milk. Sodium, iron, potassium and calcium all work together to keep skin healthy.
Wakame contains a chemical called phytessence. When skin is treated with phytessence, that chemical inhibits the action of hyaluronidase, an enzyme in skin cells. Why would it be good to have a skin care product that could inhibit the action of hyaluronidase?
Hyaluronidase breaks down the hyaluronic acid in the skin. That acid plays an important role in the performance of certain cell functions. That acid works with collagen and elastin to insure the maintenance of each cell's elasticity. In addition, the hyaluronic acid helps skin cells to remain smooth and well-toned.
When a facial cleanser cream contains pytessence it can maintain its important protein fibers. When a cell continues to make collagen and elastin then it retains the substances that give skin a youthful appearance. The characteristics associated with aging do not appear on a face that has been treated with effective skin care products.
Laurel is a dedicated researcher of skin care health and products. She shares her research on her website
http://www.beautiful-skin-site.com. If you have unwanted wrinkles, fine lines and damaged skin, visit now to learn about the skin care line Laurel personally recommends.
