I have a confession: I am an antioxidant addict, but more on that in a minute.
You see working in the cosmeceutical industry for over 8 years means you pick up valuable tidbits of knowledge that shape your own at-home skincare regimen. Our providers and lead doctors are some of the best in the industry, so it would be stupid not to! And, since my position is marketing I get to see all the latest and greatest that vendors are offering and sometimes I’m lucky enough to get to try them out for myself. You would think that would make you a disloyal consumer, but not me! My personality tends to be a bit more on the absurdly loyal side, maybe it has to do with the fact I was born the year of the dog or, and this is the more probable explanation, it has more to do with results.
So, let’s talk about this addiction…when I first started working at SBA dermatology, Dr. Bruce would always mention the importance of antioxidants (apart from sunscreen of course). The science behind it is quite fascinating! In a nutshell a great antioxidant not only helps your sunscreen work BETTER, it can also help fight sun damage and free radicals, all while fighting pigmentation. At the time I quickly turned onto Skinmedica’s C+E. It was a great product (and still is), but mostly I loved the feel of the product. It was luscious and my makeup went on so nicely! But as my knowledge grew about penetration and how difficult it was to produce a quality shelf stable Vitamin C (that lasted to the last drop), my focus shifted to the Antioxidant Authorities themselves, SkinCeuticals®, and in particular their CE Ferulic! My addiction soon became an obsession. It really is an amazing product, and one of the leaders in the market. The science behind it has fantastic proof about penetration, stability and efficacy. Best of all, MY SKIN looked awesome on it! I loved it so much that for a couple of years I didn’t even want to consider ANYTHING else. I was in love and addicted, and that was it. It stayed with me through life’s ups and downs, two babies and countless super-sunny summers. I had no plans of ever giving it up. Ask anyone in my office, I would buy 2 of these at a time, so I would never run out – OH, THE HORROR of running out!
Then one day this year the unthinkable happened. In my over-zealousness in making sure I would never run out; I must have kept one too long under the counter. I try to practice good at-home inventory control with First-In-First-Out, but something must have gone wrong. My last bottle of CE ferulic was OXIDIZED: DUN DUN DUN! I know this sounds ridiculous, but life is a series of habits and like I said – I was/am addicted. I couldn’t just leave my house without my antioxidant that day– I mean, I would probably shrivel up into an old prune and hyperpigment the minute my face touched outside air…. right?!? (not really) What a nightmare! As I turned to what was under the sink, I realize all I have is this new product that Revision® Skincare had been trying to convince me to give a shot. For the first time in over 6 years, I was going to try something new. Some of you can probably relate: the idea that you are so settled into your habits that you overlook something great. I know I almost did. I had seen all the science behind Revision’s C+ and it had been incredibly compelling. So, I gave it a fair shot. What is crazy is that in only 8 weeks I saw visible new results! My skin looked healthier, more even-toned and glow-ier (is that a word?). It was wild, after my second child I had looked in the mirror and noticed more pigmentation than before but I thought maybe this was as good as it was going to get. You know aging and all that…
Looking back, I have learned a really valuable lesson. It isn’t that the other products were not as good, it was that my skin has been changing over time and I had plateaued. You can’t get stuck in your habits that you forget to try new things. Currently, I only use it in the mornings but now I can’t wait to see how these results could supercharge with twice a day usage. This new product also gives me blue light protection which is pretty new and since I am on screens 80% of my day, that’s pretty desirable. In the future, I think I will re-think my addiction because the truth is, even if you get obsessed with a product, your skin can and most likely will plateau at some point. So, from now on, I will remain addicted to antioxidants but maybe not as loyal to just one to make sure I get the best possible “fix”. (Some of the staff have been raving about some of the other antioxidants we carry…)
I feel a little naked now that I have shared one of my BIG beauty secrets, so for those of you who don’t “antiox” regularly *GASP*, the only thing I can say is – try it! Try it for 8 weeks daily, and maybe we can be addicted together!
Visit our online store at www.shopmdskincare.com and try our onetime code CPLUS15 to get 15% off of your first antioxidant purchase! 😊
Need help picking out your antioxidant and don’t know where to start? On our website you will find a curated collection of not just antioxidants and you can feel at ease that its picked for its science, superior ingredients and by and expert in the field of skin, and as you can see – we use them too. If you have any questions or need help with products you can ask us at products@sba-skincare.com.
About Maite
Maite has been the marketing director at SBA dermatology for the last 8 years. She is completely addicted to antioxidants, loves working in the industry and finds SBA a wonderful cutting-edge place to be: filled with the greatest team of clinical and office staff a gal could ask for. She protects her face from sun damage prodigiously and thinks Botox, Miradry and Laser Hair Removal are “so worth it!” among other things.