The Wavelength

5 Key Ingredients to Restore Your Skin Elasticity

March 9, 2022

Your skin may not bounce back as quickly as it did in your early 20s, but there are steps you can take to restore elasticity and firmness. And no, it doesn't involve an anti-gravity machine or daily facials.

What Is Skin Elasticity?

Skin elasticity is your skin's ability to stretch and return to its original form. Over time, your skin naturally loses some elastin and collagen that help maintain skin elasticity. As you lose these essential structural compounds, your skin can begin to sag and wrinkle more easily.

How Skin Elasticity Is Lost

While losing skin elasticity is a normal part of the aging process, there are ways we inadvertently speed up the process.

Inadequate Nutrition: A diet poor in fruits and vegetables lacks skin-healing antioxidants, polyphenols, and other skin-supporting nutrients.
Sun Exposure: The UV rays from the sun enhance the breakdown of elastin and collagen. Wearing sunscreen can help to limit the sun's impact on skin elasticity (1).
Smoking: People who smoke have fewer collagen and elastin fibers in their skin than those who don't (2). Chemicals in cigarettes increase the breakdown of these fibers.
Air pollution: Exposure to air pollution can accelerate overall skin aging through oxidative stress.

5 Ingredients That Can Improve or Restore Skin Elasticity

Although eating a healthy diet, protecting your skin from the sun, and avoiding first and secondhand smoke can help keep your skin healthy, there are some specific nutrients and ingredients that can help restore your skin elasticity.

Collagen

You have a network of collagen in your skin which creates structure and firmness. As you age, the collagen breaks down, leading to a loss of skin elasticity. Conversely, collagen peptides have been shown to support the skin by stimulating collagen production and increasing skin hydration (3).

While 28 types of collagen have been identified, collagen type I and type III are most commonly found in the skin.

Collagen type I: This is the most abundant collagen type in the body and is most often associated with strong and supple hair, skin, and nails (4).

Collagen type III: An integral part of wound healing and the second most abundant collagen type in the human body (5).

Blueshift Skin Defense Plus uses VERISOL® B, a bovine-sourced bioactive collagen that boasts both type I and type III collagen. We include VERISOL® B because it's a form of hydrolyzed collagen peptides that delivers shorter chains of amino acids derived from collagen that is more efficiently absorbed and used by the body. VERISOL® B is science-backed and clinically shown to improve skin texture, smoothness, and appearance and promote nail growth at just 2.5 g- unlike other large and messy collagen products touted.*

Studies have found that VERISOL® B not only significantly improved the skin elasticity of middle-aged women, but women who took 2.5 grams of VERISOL® B daily saw improvement in eye wrinkles after four weeks and an increase in procollagen type I and elastin after eight weeks (6).

Retinol and Retinoids

Retinol and Retinoids are derived from vitamin A and are often used orally or topically to treat fine lines and wrinkles. You might see retinoids under the name of “retinal, tretinoin, isotretinoin, and alitretinoin.” These products stimulate the production of collagen in the skin with long-term use. They're also known to strengthen the skin, increase hydration, and protect against collagen loss, making them a great addition to your skincare regimen (7).

Hyaluronic acid

This superstar ingredient is a substance that your body naturally produces all on its own. But, like collagen and elastin, your body begins to produce less and less of it with age.

The primary purpose of hyaluronic acid is to keep your skin moisturized and supple and is available topically or as an oral supplement. Supplementing with hyaluronic acid is a great way to help increase skin elasticity, moisturization, and volume (9).

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is the ultimate multitasker when it comes to protecting your skin from the rapid effects of aging. With its antioxidant properties, vitamin C can help minimize the sun's damage to the skin and regulate collagen synthesis, which we know is vital to maintaining and restoring our skin elasticity. Some excellent food sources of vitamin C include red bell peppers, oranges, broccoli, and brussels sprouts (12).

One study including more than 4,000 middle-aged women found that higher intakes of vitamin C were associated with a lower likelihood of a wrinkled appearance (10).

We designed Blueshift Skin Defense Plus to contain more than the recommended daily intake of vitamin C to support maximum collagen production and firm, radiant skin.

Vitamin E

This fat-soluble vitamin is a powerful antioxidant that can be taken orally or applied to the skin. Vitamin E and C act together to prevent damage to the skin caused by the sun's UV rays (11). Blueshift Skin Defense Plus contains both vitamin E and C to help prevent skin damage.

While sunscreen is your best defense against sun damage, this antioxidant can help provide further protection. You can find vitamin E in supplements and topical lotions, along with getting it through foods. Sunflower seeds, almonds, avocados, and fortified cereals are all excellent sources of vitamin E (13).

How Skin Defense Plus Helps Improve and Restore Skin Elasticity

Every ingredient in Skin Defense Plus is selected to support hydrated, firm, healthy skin from within. Skin Defense Plus contains hyaluronic acid, 2.5 g of clinically proven collagen peptides that help restore elasticity, plus vitamin C and vitamin E to help protect your skin from sun exposure and other pollutants.

Enjoy glowy, nourished skin from the inside with our flavorful, antioxidant-packed drink.

VERISOL® B is a registered trademark of GELITA.

References:

1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24639418/

2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7230126/

3. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26362110/

4. https://www.sciencedirect.com/book/9780128098479/biochemistry-of-collagens-laminins-and-elastin

5. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17921406/

6. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24401291/

7. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6791161/

9. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10989-019-09827-1

10. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17921406/