PROTECTING SKIN FROM WITHIN

Whenever somebody says a product can make women look younger, or erase their wrinkles, or firm up their skin, my bullshit detector goes off so loud it wakes up the neighbors. Maybe it’s from years of covering the lifestyle beat that you get so used to hype – whether it’s for a new product, a new designer, a new restaurant, or even a politician – that one eyebrow is perpetually raised and unfortunately sometimes stays raised even after you’ve seen the subject yourself.

Then there are those products that surprise you for actually delivering on their promise. I once used a moisturizer that promised to firm up my skin, but I mistakenly applied it too near my eyes. The product did make my skin look tight, and unfortunate-ly even the skin around my eyes, making me look like I had cried all night.

So at our interview with Dr. Lars Lindmark, vice president for science and development of Ferrosan A/S, the makers of Imedeen, we asked him straight off what’s so different about Imedeen’s new Time Perfection capsule. Don’t we have enough products on the market to obsess over?

The answer to the latter is yes, Imedeen has over 200 competitors and Lindmark is quick to point out that they are the leading product with over 25 percent market share. The answer to the former is a formula that combines two powerful ingredients that have been making headlines only in the past 10 years or so.

"We have introduced powerful antioxidants by using compounds from tomato, which is lycopene, and grape seed extract," he says. "One is lipid soluble and the other is water soluble. You need both, you just can’t take one to get the same results because your body needs to get rid of all the free radicals in your system. Time Perfection contains the exclusive Biomarine Complex and the patented Lycophence Complex."

Imedeen Time Perfection is a "defensive mechanism," building the skin from the inside, which is probably the best way to start skincare. "I strongly believe in the combination of topical products and internal products to take care of your skin inside and out."

Lindmark is too polite to say it, but we get his point: It makes no sense to cover your face with expensive creams if the layer under the skin is unhealthy. You will get wrinkles and lines until you repair what’s inside.

Imedeen identifies six paths on its road to skincare.

• It helps neutralize the skin-degrading processes.

• It improves the skin's moisture balance.

• It reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

• It diminishes the visibility of dilated capillaries and pigmentation spots.

• It leaves the skin with a brighter, more youthful and even complexion.

• And it helps shield and defend the vital structural elements of the skin.

Dr. Lindmark promises that you’ll see results as soon as two to three months after you start using it. The recommended dosage is two tablets every day – and no, the skin won’t improve doubly fast if you take double dosage.

The real breakthrough, according to Lindmark, is the patented combination of lycopene and grape seed extract, and Imedeen’s skin revitalizing formula Natural Marine Complex. 

By themselves both lycopene and grape seed extract have benefits not just for the skin but for the whole body. Lycopene is that carotenoid that gives tomato its red color. It’s been proven to be an antioxidant to neutralize free radicals, which as we all know, damages the body’s cells. Studies, including a six-year research done by the Harvard Medical School and School of Public Health, show that high intake of lycopene in tomato products is also associated with lower cancer risk.

Grape seed extract is just as impressive in promoting health. Not only is it seen as an antioxidant, it is also cited by studies as protection against cancer and heart diseases. For example, Nutriherb.net describes grape seed as containing bioflavonoids called proanthocyanidins, "which greatly enhance vitamin C activity to strengthen cell membranes and protect them from oxidation damage. Grape seed’s antioxidant properties work to strengthen the capillaries by protecting against free radicals and enhancing collagen production (a protein fiber necessary for cell growth and repair). It helps with allergies by inhibiting the release of histamines and grape seed extract’s bioflavonoids have an anti-inflammatory effect that inhibit the release of certain enzymes which promote inflammation. Grape seed encourages good circulation and blood vessel health…Grape seed also reinforces skin collagen and the reduction of collagen breakdown."

Lindmark says that "independent US global researchers Stephens & Associates showed in a clinical study that continued use of Imedeen significantly improves the skin’s moisture balance, visibly reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, diminishes visibility of capillaries and wrinkles, and leaves the skin with a brighter, more youthful and even complexion."

The studies both in and out of Imedeen’s labs "also confirmed that Imedeen Time Perfection significantly improves skin firmness, reduces enlarged pores, improves smoothness on both face and body and diminishes eye bags and dark circles."

"You usually experience improvement first on dry areas such as the shins, elbows and hands, followed by the face and the rest of the body."

When should women start taking such supplements? "Now," Lindmark says with a laugh. "Seriously, before they reach 40, because a lot of the changes in the skin coincide with the aging of the body. The aging of the skin is actually on the dermis, which is the layer giving the skin structure, firmness, and support. It starts to deteriorate at about the same that you start seeing changes in your bone mass, just at the end of your thirties. The natural aging process, along with other factors, causes degeneration of the dermis. Our skin becomes thinner, drier, and less elastic, and fine lines and wrinkles start to appear."

Well, you know what they say about 40. Life may begin at 40, but so does the downhill slide.

Lindmark says the company developed the Time Perfection formula over three years, "working with different universities and groups" in their research.

He reveals that there’s a new theory going around in skincare. That aging skin, according to some dermatologists, may be due to "micro inflammation."

"Compared to having inflammation in the whole body, you can have localized, small level of inflammation," says Lindmark. "If this proves to be true, Imedeen users will benefit as well because grape seed has anti-inflammatory properties."

Skincare products make up a billion-dollar global industry that just keeps getting bigger each year. Just what are women doing wrong that they need all these products?

Dr. Lindmark says:

1) Women stay too much in the sun. What is too much? More than 30 minutes a day! While it’s okay for the rest of the body, the face is another story – it’s very sensitive and some parts of the skin are very thin, like the forehead, hence they get more wrinkles.

2) Women don’t drink enough water. Water is "a sort of lubricant and you need it to make sure all your systems are working. Water is probably the most forgotten nutrient."

3) They don’t get enough sleep. "There’s an old saying in Europe that you get the best quality of sleep before midnight. My mother used to tell me that I need to sleep ‘a couple of hours before midnight.’"

4) Women drink too much coffee, soft drinks and drinks with plenty of sugar. Smoking is bad for the skin, too.

5) They don’t eat regular food. It’s not just a question of eating the right foods but also eating at the wrong time. "We should eat proper breakfast," he emphasizes, sounding very much like a mother.

Lindmark says if you take care of your skin when you’re young, you will reap the rewards when you grow older.