The use of anti-aging skin care products these days is on the increase and all things considered it is perfectly natural; it is not unreasonable to want to continue looking youthful for as long as possible when you consider how much longer most of us are living! This is achieved in beauty products by promoting the growth of connective tissue using the protein collagen which is the most abundant in the skin of all animals; with around a quarter of our skin protein being collagen, the importance of this substance has not gone unnoticed. Collagen is related to other natural substances which help to slow down the ageing process; known as antioxidants, they are the body's method of slowing down the aging process.

Vitamin C is probably one of the better known anti-oxidants in use today but the debate about the daily quota required is ongoing. The main problem when using any skin care treatments which use vitamin C is that oxidization can occur as soon as they have contact with the air.

To get around this some skin care treatments are based on derivatives of vitamin C, which are more stable and less expensive. These new anti-oxidant products are not quite as good as vitamin C although other naturally occurring compounds, vitamin E and lipoic acid can achieve the same effect.

Vitamin E is found in the blood and is an antioxidant that is also used to increase the body's defenses against other health problems; it has been linked to resistance to a number of conditions including certain types of cancer. Lipoic acid is also an energy making component of the body, found in every cell; it is also known to combat the signs of aging very effectively by repairing skin damage caused by the aging process.

Phytochemicals form the other category of anti-aging skin care products which are special chemicals that are extracted from plants with a variety of that are used in skin care today. A secondary but more important use of phytochemicals is the effect they have on the prevention of some strains of cancer; for example:

<ul> <li>Cancer that attacks the Prostate</li> <li>Cancer that attacks the Breast</li> <li>Cancer of the Colon</li> </ul>

These are some of the most common (and increasingly so) cancers in the world today.

Surprisingly, the group of vitamins; B5, B6, and B12 have also shown that they can be used to help reduce the effects of ageing. This is a vast area that has the potential for many new anti-ageing skin care products and services in the future but research needs to continue. There is no doubt that what has been learned so far is only a small part of the jigsaw puzzle; there is still a long way to go however, before methods that successfully reduce the effects of age are commonplace.

In time it is hoped that less expensive and more reliable anti-ageing skin care products will become available for a larger number of people to use. However, man-made skin care regimes should be used only as a supplement; in some respects the real way ahead lies in our own hands as there are many things we can do to reduce the signs of aging - naturally. Simple things that can make a difference in slowing the signs of ageing; these include physical activity, restful sleep, maintaining good dietary habits and removing stress from your life.