Ingredients Combination – Can They Spell Danger For Your Skin?

'Too many cooks spoil the broth'. Same is the case with the ingredients of skin care products. While the ingredients may be great individually, they may fail to deliver effective results when used in combination with others. Here are some combinations that you should avoid.

Vitamin B3 and Sirtuins

It has been proven that Vitamin B3 i.e. niacinamide inhibits the activity of sirtuin, a type of protein. Sirtuins turns off the unnecessary gene expression and thus help to prolong the life of fibroblasts that contain collagen. However, niacinamide negates this activity thus rendering sirtuins' activity useless.

Niacinamide, by itself has immense skin care benefits. It helps reduce hyperpigmentation, red spots, sallowness, and the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles). Similarly sirtuins by themselves help to prolong collagen production. And if you want to derive the benefits of both the ingredients, you would have to use each of them in alte
ate skin care routines. Otherwise you can use skin care products that contain niacinamide and preserve the collagen production of your skin by other methods. For example, you can avoid unprotected and overexposure to the UV rays of the sun Use products that are rich in retinoids and antioxidants or even go for professional treatments like microdermabrasion, Botox and so on.

Retinoids and AHAs & BHAs

Retinoids should not be used along with beta hydroxy acids like salicylic acid and alpha hydroxy acids like glycolic acid. This is because both the BHAs and the AHAs inactivate the retinoid, a powerful anti aging ingredient.

Ideally, BHAs should be used in the morning along with sunscreen and AHAs should be reserved for the night time along with retinoids. BHAs have the tendency to make the skin thinner and increasingly susceptible to sunlight. In fact, increased sun sensitivity is a side effect of using AHAs as well.

The optimal pH environments differs from ingredient to ingredient. When the pH is higher than the ideal levels, the inactive salt form of acidic ingredients becomes prominent. However, for pH optimal for retinol esterification. If the pH is say between 5.5 and 6.0, then it would be almost impossible to achieve such a pH that would allow the ingredients to optimize themselves.

Moreover, when you use retinoids along with AHAs and BHAs, all the three ingredients serve to thin down the outermost layer of the skin (stratum Cornelius). On the other hand, AHAs when used individually help to increase the overall thickness of the skin. Retinoids also increase photosensitivity of your skin.

Vitamin A and L-Ascorbic acid

Vitamin A and Vitamin C are excellent skin care ingredients that help to enhance the skin quality. And there are several skin care products that contain these ingredients. However, in order to achieve the maximum benefits of each ingredient, its best to use them separately. Ideally, you should use Vitamin C based skin care products in the morning and those with Vitamin A in the evening. This is again because of the optimal pH levels. Studies have reported that Vitamin C and its derivatives should be formulated at a pH lower than 3.5 so that there is enough time for the ingredient to get absorbed into the skin surface. This is possible because the molecule of proportionated and therefore is able to penetrate the skin surface very easily. Unfortunately though, pH optimal for retinol esterification is between 5.6 to 6.0. This decreases the effectiveness of both the ingredients in comparison to what they could have delivered separately.