Often times, products that promise anti-aging benefits are actually making us look older in the long term. They are simply a way of delaying the inevitable.
As we get older, many of our skin's properties change. The skin becomes thinner, less elastic, and less firm. Such characteristics are more commonly known as the signs of aging.
As the signs of aging are attributed to many causes, they have resulted in a myriad of anti-aging products, each devoted to fighting a single believed cause or effect. Many products wrestle with oxidation reactions, which are known to damage cells, making them replicate imprecisely. Antioxidants (vitamins) in this case, shield cells from the damaging effects of exposure, known as free radical damage. Other products strip the outer layer of the skin to expose a "fresh" new inner layer, which appears smoother and healthier, but provides no lasting benefit.
Still, most products work by way of a chemical reaction that causes the skin to contract and tighten up, which in turn diminishes the visibility of existing wrinkles, but offers a less than feasible solution for many reasons.
Such artificially induced chemical reactions can cause more harm than good. As the skin is artificially contracted, it actually becomes looser once the effects wear off, or once the individual discontinues treatment all together. And if they continue treatment, they will gradually have to increase the dosage, or buy a more expensive product to achieve the same effect.It works like a drug. The reason Collagen poses no such risk is that it does not "trick" skin cells into thinking that they no longer have to work for themselves. Artificially tightening the skin basically tells your reconstructive cells that their job is done, and they can stop working. And that's exactly what happens. Collagen however, doesn't just heighten diminished collagen levels; it works alongside the biological processes that link collagen proteins together, making your own processes work better. Biochemically active collagen makes your own cells more effective in performing their job function: to boost collagen levels in the skin.
Anti Aging Creams Can Make Protein Producing Cells Less Active. ___________________________________________________________
Believe it or not, your skin strives to retain elasticity and thickness on its own. It’s just that it is less able to do so as we get older. But if we artificially tighten the skin by applying chemicals, the collagen producing skin cells that keep it elastic and firm are put into a state of inactivity (even though vitamin A stimulates the collagen producing skin cells, it's ability to do so is greatly limited) When this happens, wrinkles emerge due to the skin's inability to stretch without imprinting cracks, commonly known as wrinkles. Most quintessentially, agingis the breakdown of proteins. Proteins are extremely long molecules consisting of hundreds of atoms and are responsible for maintaining the connectivity of the cells in our skin. As we get older, we become less able to precisely replicate these long protein molecules, and they simply become shorter and less able to provide the same structural support as they once did.
