Skin Ageing: Natural Weapons and Strategies

Abstract

The fact that the skin is the most visible organ makes us aware of the ageing process every minute. The use of plant extracts and herbs has its origins in ancient times. Chronological and photo-ageing can be easily distinguished clinically, but they share important molecular features. We tried to gather the most interesting evidence based on facts about plants and plant extracts used in antiaging products. Our main idea was to emphasize action mechanisms of these plant/herbal products, that is, their “strategies” in fighting skin ageing. Some of the plant extracts have the ability to scavenge free radicals, to protect the skin matrix through the inhibition of enzymatic degradation, or to promote collagen synthesis in the skin. There are some plants that can affect skin elasticity and tightness. Certainly, there is a place for herbal principles in antiaging cosmetics. On the other hand, there is a constant need for more evaluation and more clinical studies in vivo with emphasis on the ingredient concentration of the plant/herbal products, its formulation, safety, and duration of the antiaging effect.

Guidelines for Formulating Anti-Pollution Products

“…The study showed that white tea extract reduced the activities of the enzymes, which breakdown elastin and collagen and improve skin's natural elasticity and strength [45].…”

Organic cocoa extract -loaded surfactant-based systems intended to skin bioadhesion

“…Phenolic compounds are composed of an aromatic ring that is linked to a hydroxyl group, which donates electrons and hydrogen atoms. As a result, these compounds are exceptional antioxidants (Silva et al, 2010;Binic et al, 2013;Reuter, Merfort, Schempp, 2010).…”

“…These factors produce a large number of aggressive oxidants that damage all of the biological skin cell membranes (Silva et al, 2010;Binic et al, 2013;Datta et al, 2011;Dupont, Gomez, Bilodeau, 2013). Accordingly, the use of skin care products and cosmetics has been utilized to mitigate the cutaneous photoaging process (Visscher, Pan, Kitzmiller, 2013) and these products are commonly composed of plant extracts (Binic et al, 2013).A great number of plants and plant extracts are studied for their antioxidative action arising from their phenolic substructures. Phenolic compounds are composed of an aromatic ring that is linked to a hydroxyl group, which donates electrons and hydrogen atoms.…”

“…Phenolic compounds are composed of an aromatic ring that is linked to a hydroxyl group, which donates electrons and hydrogen atoms. As a result, these compounds are exceptional antioxidants (Silva et al, 2010;Binic et al, 2013;Reuter, Merfort, Schempp, 2010).Cocoa, the dried and fermented seeds derived from Theobroma cacao, has been consumed since 1100 B.C. by ancient civilizations such as the Mayans and Aztecs (Hurst et al, 2002).…”

Low-interferences Determination of the Antioxidant Capacity in Fruits Juices Based on Xanthine Oxidase and Mediated Amperometric Measurements in the Reduction Mode

“…4 The antioxidants intake was correlated with an improvement of the antioxidant markers level in biological fluids, 5 but the physiological relevance of the antioxidant consumption was not sufficiently demonstrated, according to European Food Safety Agency 6 and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). 7 Numerous cosmetic products, 8 food additives, 9 herbal health products 10 or nutritional supplements 11 are marketed and commercialized based on their antioxidant content. New substances with higher antioxidant capacity are synthesized from natural compounds.…”