Search

Astaxanthin, One of the Most Powerful Antioxidants: Its Skin Benefits and How to Use It

かずのすけ · ▶ 19:44 · 4 min read
EnglishespañolIndonesia日本語한국어português繁體中文

Translated from 日本語

Open on YouTube ↗
Overview

This is a summary of an explanation by cosmetic chemist Kazunosuke, drawing on Fujifilm's expertise and hands-on experiments with the raw ingredient, covering the skin benefits of the excellent antioxidant astaxanthin and how to incorporate it into a skincare routine.

4 min read
1:39

1. What Is Astaxanthin?

  • One of the most powerful antioxidants in nature: A type of carotenoid, like the β-carotene found in carrots, characterized by its vivid red color.
  • Origin: It is known as the pigment that gives salmon, shrimp, crab and similar creatures their color, but it is actually biosynthesized by the microalgae they feed on, such as Haematococcus.
4:44

2. Remarkable Antioxidant Power and How It Differs from Vitamin C

  • About 6,000 times the quenching ability of vitamin C: In quenching singlet oxygen, the reactive oxygen species generated by UV rays that is most deeply involved in skin aging, it boasts overwhelming figures: about 6,000 times that of vitamin C, and surpassing coenzyme Q10 and tocopherol.
  • Different areas of strength: Vitamin C excels at eliminating hydroxyl radicals but is poor at quenching singlet oxygen. Combining the two allows for antioxidant care with no gaps.
8:25

3. Why Is It So Gentle Despite Being So Powerful? (A Different Mechanism of Action)

  • Energy-quenching mechanism:
    • "Reducing-type" antioxidants such as vitamin C become oxidized themselves, which reduces and denatures skin proteins and the like, and can sometimes cause irritation.
    • Astaxanthin absorbs the energy of reactive oxygen species, converts it into heat or other forms of energy, releases it, and returns to its original state (a mechanism similar to that of UV absorbers). Because it does not react with anything other than its target, it is extremely gentle and also long-lasting.
  • Little concern about allergies: Most cosmetic-grade astaxanthin is derived from algae (Haematococcus pluvialis extract), so it can generally be used even by people with shellfish allergies.
12:06

4. Benefits and Uses in Skincare

  • Defensive anti-aging care: Rather than an active ingredient that directly stimulates collagen production, it is a "preventive" ingredient that thoroughly protects against collagen breakdown, melanin oxidation and inflammatory damage caused by reactive oxygen species. Using it alongside ceramides is also recommended.
  • Protecting other beauty ingredients (retinol, vitamin C): It protects beauty ingredients that are prone to oxidation and degradation from UV rays and reactive oxygen species on the skin's surface.
  • Combating sebum oxidation and pore problems: As an unusual fat-soluble antioxidant, it blends easily with sebum and strongly suppresses the formation of lipid peroxides, which cause skin problems and clogged pores.
  • Use in morning UV care: Because it can neutralize reactive oxygen species generated by UV rays and near-infrared light that get past sunscreen, adding it to your morning skincare routine is extremely effective.
16:30

5. Fujifilm's Proprietary Technology: "Nano Astaxanthin"

  • Regular astaxanthin does not dissolve in water and turns cloudy and clumps together, but nano-capsule technology allows it to disperse evenly and beautifully.
  • The smaller particles and greater surface area improve its antioxidant power by about 9 times compared with the regular ingredient, while its stability against light and heat and its penetration into the stratum corneum have also been dramatically enhanced.

Article published