THE COLLAGEN CONNECTION
When your collagen is plentiful and healthy you will know it by what you see in the mirror. Think of collagen as your skin's mattress, and elastin as the coils that hold it together. Like everything else related to the ageing process, our collagen is at its most abundant during the early childhood years and anyone who has admired a toddler's velvety skin can attest to that. Collagen production slows down in puberty, levels off in your 20s and 30s and - you guessed it - grinds to a halt in later years.
The beauty world is obsessed with keeping collagen safe and sound, and considering what a fundamental role it plays in the maintenance of beautiful skin, this obsession is totally warranted. Perhaps more importantly, collagen helps to heal wounds and scars. Many creams claim to protect it, repair it and regenerate it, but then is scant evidence that any of them actually deliver these promises. (The only exception is the vitamin A derivative tretinoin, which studies show to have a positive effect on collagen.) Years ago, when the anti-ageing skin care market was in its infancy, there was an onslaught on ‘collagen crearns’ that claimed to boost natural collagen. Most people lost faith in them when they realised that the collagen molecule contained in these creams - which was derived from cattle - was too large to penetrate to the skin's barrier. In other words, try, try again.
The fibroblast skin cells produce collagen and it is the degeneration of collagen, both through excessive exposure to the sun as well as extreme environmental conditions, that eventually leads to wrinkles and sagging skin. Once collagen is destroyed it is very difficult to reproduce. Some of the latest non-surgical cosmetic procedures, like collagen injections, help repair the harm, but nothing will ever bring it back to its virgin state
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