You’ve probably heard of the importance of using antioxidants in the daytime when it comes to skin ageing, but do you know that antioxidants at night can be beneficial, too?
We asked The Skin Diary experts to explain why antioxidants can be useful in your evening skincare routine and how to incorporate them.
What are the key benefits of using antioxidant skincare at night?
At night, our skin and other tissues in the body go into ‘repair’ mode. “During slow-wave sleep (or deep sleep) growth hormones are secreted by the pituitary gland, which is an essential hormone for tissue repair,” explains The Skin Diary’s Dr. Beibei Du-Harpur.
“Antioxidants work synergistically with this process by helping to scavenge damaging free radicals and reduce oxidative stress, which inhibits repair processes. This means that they will enable the body's natural repair processes to work more effectively.”
Do you still need antioxidants in the daytime?
During the day, we’re exposed to a higher level of oxidative stress, which is an imbalance of free radicals and antioxidants. “Free radical generating exposures include UV and pollution; counteracting this by using antioxidants in exposed sites can help minimise free radical damage in our skin.” Over time, free radicals can impact our cellular DNA, which can lead to accelerated ageing.
The long story short is yes, our skin benefits greatly from antioxidants in the daytime so don’t skip your antioxidant serum in the morning and always follow up with sunscreen.
Night Repair Therapy
The Skin Diary’s Night Repair Therapy has the inclusion of bilberry (among many other powerful ingredients), which acts as an overnight antioxidant. “Bilberry is a cousin of blueberry, which is obviously a well known edible antioxidant. Bilberry is rich in antioxidant polyphenols and flavonoids, and therefore has potent antioxidant effects,” explains Dr Du-Harpur. Because of these antioxidant properties, it can reduce oxidative stress, “a process which, over time, leads to suboptimal biological skin ageing. “There are also anti-inflammatory properties of bilberry, which means that there is reduced potential of skin irritation.”
Can you mix antioxidants and retinoids at night?
Combining skincare ingredients can get a little confusing and because each skincare formulation is so different, it’s very hard to give a definitive answer as often it depends. One of the best ways to know for sure is using a product that contains both an antioxidant and retinoid, such as Night Repair Therapy.
