You consider your lifestyle to be pretty healthy, right? You try to eat yours greens (sometimes with extra croutons) and you work out (aka: walk the dog). No matter how healthy your lifestyle may be, you’re still missing out on essential vitamins for slowing the aging process. A great solution is to use topical creams that provide your skin with the vitamins it’s missing! Here are the best vitamins for skin that you can find in everyday products:
Vitamin A for Wrinkles
Vitamin C for Spots
- Find this vitamin in moisturizers made to keep vitamin C stable (opaque, airtight containers are ideal). Look for ‘C’ near the middle of the ingredients panel to confirm the 5% or higher concentration needed to see skincare benefits.
- This is the best vitamin to decrease the free radicals that trigger wrinkling, sagging, and other aging changes. Vitamin C also helps smooth and firm skin and fade brown spots. In one study, women who treated sun-damaged skin with a ‘C’ cream for six months saw significant improvement in fine lines and discoloration. For best results, combine vitamin C & A products.
Vitamin E for Moisture
- Find vitamin E in sunscreens and after-sun products. The best anti-aging products contain at least 1% vitamin E, so it will be listed near the middle of the ingredients panel.
- This vitamin is proven to help skin retain its natural moisturizers by hydrating dry skin. Some studies show that when it’s used before UV exposure, skin is less red, swollen, and dry.
Vitamin K for Dark Circles
- You can find vitamin K in eye creams that also contain retinol.
- This is the best vitamin for removing under-eye circles. Fragile capillaries that allow blood to leak into skin are one cause of under-eye circles. Vitamin K (aka phytonadione) may control blood clots to prevent the circle effect. Daily use of a vitamin K cream significantly lightened circles after 4 months in one study. But because the cream also contained retinol, researchers aren’t sure which ingredient deserves credit for the improvement. Retinol alone thickens the translucent under-eye skin, and lightens melanin that makes circles more prominent.