Vitamin E in Skin Care

Oils, whether they be vegetable and plant oils in a jar, or oils that make up the cell membranes of an organism are prone to oxidation and degradation. This oxidation can be stopped by antioxidants, particularly vitamin E. 

Oils are mainly triglycerides which are composed of fatty acids. These fatty acids are carbon chains that consist of either double bonds or single bonds between the carbons.  Carbon chains containing single bonds are known as saturated fatty acids while those with one or more double bonds are referred to as unsaturated. It is the unsaturated fatty acids that are more prone to oxidation and the risk of oxidation increases with the number of double bonds.

This oxidation is initiated by light, heat, metals or oxygen, so keeping oils away from these helps to slow oxidation, but it is inevitable. A free radical contains an unpaired electron which makes it highly reactive and unstable. It is looking for an electron on another molecule to steal, thus setting up a chain reaction of forming free radicals. When these oxidative products are formed from oils the breakdown products are off flavor compounds such as ketones, aldehydes, alcohols and more. They tend to have a characteristic smell known as ‘rancid’.

Your body is constantly making free radicals, and at the same time making antioxidants to stop them from causing damage. Hopefully, a nice balance exists, but not always. The oil in a bottle on your shelf or your newly made skin care product has no way to make antioxidants like your body does so it is helpful to add an antioxidant to prevent oxidation.

Vitamin E is an important oil soluble antioxidant to protect polyunsaturated fatty acids and other cell membrane components from oxidation. Vitamin E reacts with a lipid radical faster than that lipid radical can react with other lipids and so suppresses the propagation of oxidation.  It does this by transferring a hydrogen atom to a lipid free radical. Of course now the vitamin E molecule becomes a free radical but it can react with another vitamin E free radical to form a non-radical product. This terminates the chain reaction of oxidation.

Vitamin E is a family of eight different molecules; 4 tocopherols and 4 tocotrienols. Vitamin E is high in wheat germ oil, canola oil, and almond oil, but commercially, vitamin E is typically extracted from soybean oil. Buy your vitamin E from a skin care ingredient supplier, do not use capsules from the store as this is not pure vitamin E.

Bottom line is that your skin care products should contain an antioxidant such as vitamin E to prevent the breakdown of oils in your product. Many crafters are being taught that this is similar to a preservative that will prevent the growth of bacteria or fungus in a product where it is not at all similar. If you have a product that contains any form of water, you need to have a preservative to prevent growth of microbes. Vitamin E will not prevent growth of microbes, but vitamin E should be in your products that contain oil to prevent the breakdown of these oils.

To learn more about preservatives (anti-microbials) see this post on What is the Best Preservative?

What are Wrinkles

Changes in the texture of the skin that appear as lines, creases or folds are called wrinkles. They are normal changes in the skin that occurs with aging. Medically, wrinkles are known as rhytides.

The two layers of skin include the outer epidermis which lies on top of the second layer called the dermis. With time there is a decrease of large structural molecules including collagen, elastin and glycosaminoglycans in the dermis. This leads to decreases in elasticity, firmness and structure of the skin resulting in wrinkles.
The cells of the outer layer or epidermis slow their rate of cellular reproduction causing the epidermis to become thinner with age.

With time the epidermis and dermis tend to separate some. This separation leads to decreased blood supply and nutrients to the cells of the epidermis.

Wrinkles begin as fine lines and deepen with time. They occur mostly on the face, neck, backs of the hands and the forearms. They are not physically harmful, but can of course influence a person’s self-perception, and lead to a lack of confidence.

Expression lines that occur on the forehead, eyes and the corners of the mouth from talking, laughing and frowning can begin as early as in a one’s twenties. These lines eventually deepen into wrinkles and folds that affect deeper layers of the skin. Wrinkling of the skin caused by sun exposure can show up in the thirties. In the forties as dry skin becomes a problem, lines begin to deepen and progress through the fifties and sixties.

This process of aging skin is accelerated by exposure to excess sunlight, environmental pollutants and cigarette smoke. Internal factors associated with aging skin include decreases in estrogen levels that occur with menopause and decreased in metabolic activity of the skin cells. Fair skinned people are also more prone to wrinkles. There is no real evidence that stress promotes wrinkle formation, but many of us feel we have ‘earned’ our wrinkles through life’s challenges.

Protecting the barrier function of the skin is an important way to decrease the formation of wrinkles. Use of a good moisturizer to help maintain water in the skin and prevent water loss can delay and diminish lines. Look for a moisturizer that contains water and high quality oils to help prevent loss of moisture from the skin. Humectants such as glycerin, hyaluronic acid, hydrolyzed proteins, even hydrolyzed oat products can help.

There is of course extensive research done each year to investigate possible ingredients for skin creams that can help in the treatment and prevention of wrinkles. Although many ingredients end up being marketing hype, there are a few ingredients that have potential to help decrease the appearance of wrinkles. The trouble is that some of the anti-aging creams are able to garner large price tags and it has
to be questioned whether it is worth the price without solid data to back up the claims.

Nutrients such as antioxidants help combat environmental damage and are important in diminishing wrinkles as well. Antioxidants include vitamin C, vitamin E, alpha lipoic acid, carotenoids and green tea. Most importantly using these nutrients topically can only go so far, what we eat is also very important so remember to eat fruits and vegetables that are high in these nutrients.