The Best Anti-Wrinkle Creams: Top 10 Items Needed for Anti-Aging Skin

Cream Daniela VladimirovaThere are a number of factors that contribute to aging skin and wrinkles.  Exposure to the sun, diminishing hormones, free radicals, smoking, and even gravity all contribute.  There are also multiple changes that occur to the skin that result in wrinkles and an aged appearance.

Collagen gives skin its strength, elastin gives skin its elasticity, and glycosaminoglycan makes skin more rigid. They all diminish and weaken over time.

Now, more than at any other time, we have options to reverse these effects. There are little things you can do daily to help reverse and prevent wrinkles and there are more extreme measures you can take for a drastic change.

1. Tretinoin

This is one of the most well-studied products in the war against wrinkles.  It is probably the most effective ingredient in a cream to induce collagen synthesis within the skin.  Daily use of tretinoin for at least six months will increase the skin’s collagen and will noticeably reduce light wrinkles.1  Mulitiple studies also confirm that tretinoin is effective in treating sun-damaged skin.  It makes both structural and molecular changes to the skin.2

2. & 3. The Estrogens

Estriol and estradiol are two natural estrogens that your body makes (even if you’re a man).  As they diminish in your body, wrinkles become worse.  Scientists who noticed this effect deduced that putting estriol and estradiol in a cream might reduce wrinkles.  These estrogens were found to be highy effective in preventing and treating aging skin by increasing collagen synthesis3 and improving the moisture, firmness, and elasticity of the skin.4

The downside to numbers one, two, and three on this list is that they require a prescription.  Even more inconvenient is that estradiol and estriol are natural and therefore cannot be patented, so there are no manufactured facial creams that contain either estrogen.

However, most compounding pharmacies, like Brighton, can easily create one for you.

The most common dose to ask your doctor for is 0.3% estriol or 0.1% estradiol.

4. Vitamin A/Retinol

Vitamin A, also called retinol, is a very common ingredient in the best drugstore and online anti-wrinkle creams.  It can improve fine wrinkles by stimulating the accumulation of collagen in the skin 5 and can make the skin more equipped to withstand skin injury. 6

5. & 6. Vitamin C and E

Free radicals destroy collagen and elastin –- the fibers that support the skin.  Antioxidants, like vitamins C and E, stop free radical damage. For this reason antioxidants are a common ingredient in anti-aging or wrinkle creams.

Vitamin E has been shown to help prevent scarring, and both Vitamin E and C have been clinically shown to help improve photodamaged skin7 and decrease the appearance of wrinkles.8

7. Alpha Lipoic Acid

Alpha Lipoic Acid skin creams have become quite popular.  It is a good antioxidant so it works in the same way as Vitamin C and E do.  There are not as many clinical studies that demonstrate lipoic acid’s efficacy in reducing wrinkles, but one study monitored the effects of a daily application of 5% lipoic acid on the faces of women for 12 weeks.  They concluded that the cream reduced the roughness of the skin and decreased fine wrinkles.9

8. Viniacinamide

Viniacinamide is a form of Vitamin B3.  It improves skin in a number of ways.  It reduces fine lines and wrinkles, red blotchiness, and skin sallowing.  It also improves elasticity.10 Applying niacinamide to the skin has also been shown to be beneficial in treating acne.11

9. Glycolic Acid

Glycolic acid is another ingredient used in wrinkle creams.  It can help reduce wrinkles by removing the outer layer of old skin and stimulating the regeneration of new skin.12

Pill Box 2

10. Multivitamins

Multivitamins Reduce Wrinkles. It may seem like a weak addition to this list, but believe it or not, there have been scientific studies conducted that show taking a multivitamin every day can improve wrinkles.  One study demonstrated an improvement of fine wrinkles by 21%.4

Best Anti-Wrinkle Cream for Men

All of the above nutrients are also effective for men.  However, another ingredient in a man’s arsenal should include testosterone; not in a facial cream, but in a cream that is rubbed into the arms to increase testosterone levels in the body.

Have you ever noticed elderly people whose skin is so thin it resembles tissue paper?×

This is because their blood levels of testosterone are extremely low. As we age our hormone levels decline.  Increasing testosterone levels will thicken the skin and strengthen it.  This actually applies to women too, just at a much lower dose (4 mg a day instead of 100 mg).

Non-Pharmacological Methods

Scars and deep wrinkles usually require a more drastic approach. Microdermabrasion, botox, fillers, chemical peels, lasers, and face-lifts can all be effective.

Not all of these items and methods need to be used in order to decrease wrinkles, but each one has been shown to be effective.  Start with a daily multivitamin and then go up the list.

References

  1. Dugas B,  Buchholz L. (2008). “Core Curriculum for Plastic Surgical Nursing: Nonsurgical Skin Rejuvenation: Chemical Peels and Microdermabrasion”. Plastic Surgical Nursing 28(3): 144-7.
  2. Leyden J. (1998). “Treatment of Photodamaged Skin with Topical Tretinoin: An Update”. Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery102(5): 1667-71.
  3. Schmidt J, Binder M, Demschik G, Bieglmayer C, Reiner A. (1996). “Treatment of Skin Aging with Topical Estrogens”.International Journal of Dermatology 35(9): 669-74.
  4. Kainz C, Gitsch G, Stani J, Breitenecker G, Binder M, Schmidt JB. (1993). When applied to facial skin, does estrogen ointment have systemic effects?” Arch Gynaecol Obstet. 253: 71–4.
  5. Varani J, Warner R, Gharaee-Kermani M, et al. (2000). “Vitamin A Antagonizes Decreased Cell Growth and Elevated Collagen-Degrading Matrix Metalloproteinases and Stimulates Collagen Accumulation in Naturally Aged Human Skin”.  Journal of Investigative Dermatology 114: 480–486.
  6. Kafi R, Kwak H, Schumacher W, Cho S, et al. (2007). “Improvement of Naturally Aged Skin With Vitamin A (Retinol)”.  Arch Dermatol. 143(5): 606-612.
  7. Rachel J, Jamora J. (2003). “Skin Rejuvenation Regimines: A Profilometry and Histopathologic Study”.  Arch Facial Plast Surg.5(2): 145-9.
  8. Fitzpatrick R, Rostan E. (2008). “Double-Blind, Half Face Study Comparing Topical Vitamin C and Vehicle for Rejuvenation of Photodamage”. Dermatologic Surgery 28(3): 231-236.
  9. Beitner H. (2003). “Randomized, placebo-controlled, double blind study on the clinical efficacy of a cream containing 5%α-lipoic acid related to photoageing of facial skin”. British Journal of Dermatology 149(4): 841-9.
  10. Bissett D, Oblong J, Berge C. (2005). “Niacinamide: A B Vitamin that Improves Aging Facial Skin Appearance”. Dermatologic Surgery 31(s1): 860-6.
  11. Carraway J. (2004). “Using Aldara, Copper Peptide, and Niacinamide for Skin Care”. Aesthetic Surgery Journal January  24(1):83-4. 
  12. Rubino C, Farace F, Dessy L, Sanna M, Mazzarello V. (2005). “A Prospective Study of Anti-Aging Topical Therapies Using a Quantitative Method of Assessment”.  Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery 115(4): 1156-62.
  13. Udompataikul M, Sripiroj P, Palungwachira P. (2009). “An oral nutraceutical containing antioxidants, minerals and glycosaminoglycans improves skin roughness and fine wrinkles”.  International Journal of Cosmetic Science 31(6): 427-35.

photo of face, credit: daniela vladimirova

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