KING REIDYZ
ALLAH IS BLACK 😎
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WHAT IS COLLAGEN?
Collagen is a protein that is naturally found within human skin that decreases as we age. Pinch the skin on back of your hands and release it, your skin will snap right back into its original shape and what is doing that is collagen. If you were to do the same thing with a much older person, you would probably realize that it takes much longer to snap back for their skin since the collagen in their skin is lost. Collagen and his brother, elastin keeps your skin from sagging.But, inhibiting sagging is not the only function of collagen; it also gives volume to the skin and that is why old people have much thinner skin. When collagen is lost, your skin will also start to show up fine lines that will soon turn into wrinkles. So, collagen is one of the most important things that is making you look young.
Collagen is synthesized by fibroblasts. It can be easily destroyed by both internal factors (free radicals for example), external factors (photo-aging / UV damage) and its synthesis can be inhibited (caffeine is one of those molecules). Collagen structure can be damaged by all these factors and the damage can be irreversible (hence aging).
MINOXIDIL AND COLLAGEN
Minoxidil is known to inhibit collagen synthesis. Hair loss is frequently accompanied by overabundance of collagen and minoxidil happens to be one of the chemicals that inhibit collagen synthesis. But the problem is Minoxidil *may* decrease collagen in your face. Several reports from users seem to state that since starting minoxidil some people experience rapid aging, wrinkles and thinning in skin under eyes which may manifest itself as dark circles or under-eye bags. As far as I know no study claims Minoxidil = wrinkles but I understand that many people are extra cautious about it and I would like to address those concerns. Also I really don't want to practice fear-mongering, so do know that only evidence about this that I came across are empirical and you probably don't need to worry about this.WHAT TO DO?
There are three different things you can do about it in my humble opinion. Keeping minoxidil out of your face, eliminating other factors that are destroying collagen and encouraging your skin to synthesize more collagen.KEEP MINOXIDIL OUT OF YOUR FACE
I don't know if other people experience this but I think minoxidil slowly drips down to your face without you realizing it. One day, after I had applied minoxidil I looked in the mirror and realized tiny, tiny streams of liquid were dripping down to my face, and because they were almost microscopic I could not realize that. Solutions:
- So wear something like this on your forehead while applying minox and wash it frequently.
- You could also wear something that will cover your head while going to bed so that the liquid will stay on your scalp.
- You can also try to use an occlusive (like vaseline) at night to form a barrier against minox on your face.
- Be sure to you cleansed your hand completely after applying minox.
- Do not touch your hair during the day. Touching your hair and then touch your face is a no-no, even if minoxidil has dried down.
- If you follow a skincare regiment, do not swipe the product from your hairline to all over your face and be sure to cleanser your forehead before applying any product to your face.
ELIMINATE OTHER THINGS DESTROYING COLLAGEN
So even if you lose some collagen due minox, you can make that up by preventing other causes of collagen loss. Sun is literally the devil. UV light makes up a majority of external factors of aging.
- Wear sunscreen both outdoors *and* indoors *everyday*. Windows and clouds will block out most of the UVB radiation (so you won't burn on a cloudy day or indoors) but UVA will not be filtered by glass or clouds and UVA penetrates deeper than UVB so it might be a more potent pro-aging factor.
- Sunscreen wears off due to exposure to UV light, sweating and sebum so be sure to reapply through the day.
- Adapt a healthy life style, don't smoke, don't drink too much, exercise, sleep adequately, eat healthy etc.
SYNTHESIZING MORE COLLAGEN
There are very, very few things that are in fact proven to tackle the collagen problem. These are:
- Retinoic Acid / Tretinoin: This is the collagen increasing molecule. Using this with sunscreen will outperform almost anything that you can do at home. But, tretinoin is an ingredient that should be treated with utmost respect and if you are going to go with that route.
- Also do know that some people report an increase in hairloss with tretinoin while others say tretinoin + minox works miraculously so use it at your own risk. It's not an OTC product though so you need to talk to your dermatologist anyway. There are OTC alternatives to tretinoin though, like retinol but do know that those have much, much less evidence backing up their claims. Retinol and adaplene seem to be best choices for OTC but there are other retinoids like hydroxypinacolone retinoate, retinyl retinoate, retinaldehyde etc. Use retinoids only at night. Retinoids increase sun-sensitivity.
- Peels: There are tons of different peels like AHAs (alpha hydroxy acids), phenol peels, TCA (trichloroacetic acid) etc. but you will probably have access to only low concentration AHAs out of all these since things like phenol peels are very dangerous and should be administered by an actual dermatologist but that's OK too, afaik low concentration AHAs can still be very effective. By AHAs I mean glycolic acid, lactic acid, mandelic acid, citric acid and acetic acid. Out of these only glycolic acid and lactic acid are subjected to long term studies while mandelic acid continues to be popular and citric/acetic acids are almost non-existent in skincare. You should only be exfoliating at night. AHAs increase sun-sensitivity.
- Vitamin C: Vitamin C not only encourages collagen synthesis but also acts as an antioxidant. But there are tons of different forms of vitamin C and only L-Ascorbic Acid is proven to increase collagen synthesis *and* subjected to long term studies. LAA is especially powerful when combined with Vitamin E and Ferulic Acid. And no topical application of Vitamin C and taking Vitamin C pills are two different things. Dermatologists are kinda divided on use of LAA though, some think LAA is beneficial while others believe it does not penetrate the skin so doesn't do anything at all. Vitamin C can be used both night and day as long as it is paired with sunscreen but it degenerates quickly when exposed to UV light.
- Niacinamide (Vitamin B3). Niacinamide decreases inflammation, irritation and is shown to decrease collagen loss in some studies. Niacinamide is the one easiest to use but the least effective imo. Niacinamide does not increase sun-sensitivity and can be used both in morning and at night.
Points I want to make about this part:
- Actives like Vitamin C and Tretinoin should always be used with sunscreen.
- Introducing all of these at the same time will burn your face off. Be sure to do your research on these ingredients and form an adequate regiment before starting anything.
- Other ingredients that claim to increase collagen like matrixyl, plant stem cells, rosehip oil etc. are a bit wonky in their claims. So I advocate using niacinamide/LAA/tretinoin/AHAs instead of those things until new evidence on their efficacy are published.
TL;DR: Be paranoid about minoxidil being transmitted to your face, use sunscreen and adapt a healthy life-style. If you want to go further; Tretinoin, Vitamin C, AHAs, Niacinamide are "at-home treatments" that may help you but be sure to do extensive research on them before using them. Using them incorrectly or using too much / implementing too many of them at the same time will result in a chemical burn. Also, remember the evidence about minoxidil causing aging is mostly empirical so you don't need to be paranoid about it!
