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May 1, 2009 By: American Salon Staff American SalonProducts that address aging hair and skin are gaining popularity, particularly among baby boomers. Here's what you need to know.
No one has managed to discover the fountain of youth just yet, but haircare and skincare companies are getting close. New products have been formulated to combat the signs of aging, from lines and wrinkles to hair that looks dry and brittle. As skin ages, for example, elastins and collagen are broken down by enzymes, causing loose, sagging skin. The moisture content of the outermost layer of the skin also decreases, causing wrinkles, thinning skin, hyperpigmentation, deeper expression lines and dry skin. But key anti-aging ingredients like antioxidant-rich seaweed, moisturizing hyaluronic acid and even SPFs can reduce the symptoms of aging skin.
 Actress Jamie Lee Curtis loves her gray hair, but it still requires a haircare regimen that addresses dryness and brittleness. |
Horst Rechelbacher, founder of Intelligent Nutrients, has just launched a certified-organic line of skincare products that combats free radicals, which cause inflammation. The secret? Intellimune Seed Oil Complex, which delivers potent antioxidants that halt unnecessary aging. According to Rechelbacher, the skin shows what your body knows, sending distress signals in the form of redness, blemishes, bags and fine lines that eventually settle into wrinkles. His solution: Stop the damage with a regimen that includes Intellimune Oil and Intellimune Tablets, which are taken daily to create more powerful, inflammation-free cells.
When it comes to the hair, a few gray strands are not the only sign of the aging process. Rushi Tasker, Joico's vice president, research and development, reports that commonly experienced symptoms of aging hair include the decreased production of hair lipids and pigment. "Hair also loses shine, its fiber diameter thins, and it becomes dry and brittle," he says.
According to Tasker, typical haircare products address the needs of damage caused to the hair fiber by chemical treatments and environmental damage but don't address inherent deficiencies in hair that are caused by the aging process. With the help of advanced ingredients, anti-aging haircare products like Joico's Re:nu Age Defy line can strengthen, improve elasticity and add bounce and resiliency to aging tresses.
"Lipid replacement is an essential element of anti-aging haircare," Tasker says. "It's essential to use products with ingredients that replenish both internal and external lipids to provide hair with moisture balance and fluidity."
Ingredients such as peptides, amino acids and lipids that strengthen hair are also necessary to improve the character of aging hair. Extracts with antioxidant and UV protection benefits serve to defend against fragility. Antioxidants are stable chemical forms that "donate" electrons to unstable free radicals to prevent a chain reaction of electron stealing that leads to cellular damage. "Lycopene is an antioxidant considered to be the most powerful defense against free radicals, one of the main causes of aging hair," says Thia Spearing, director of technical development at Matrix, makers of Biolage Rejuvathérapie. "Blends of omega-3 rich camelina oil, cationic silicone and rice protein found in our line help aging hair retain essential nutrients while bolstering the strength of hair."
With this arsenal of information at your fingertips, you can confidently meet the needs of your aging clientele. —JAIMIE HWANG
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