DALLAS—
Texans love the sun and that's a good thing because there's plenty of it. Researchers at UCLA reviewed published studies to see if vitamins really can protect us from the suns damaging rays or or even reduce the signs of sun damaged skin.Baylor-Dallas dermatologist Christine Brown said there is mounting evidence that topical vitamins can help.
"Most of the evidence supports topical application of vitamins in the way of topical vitamin A and vitamin C in terms of addressing photo-aged skin and stimulating collagen production." Dr. Brown said.
But that's when vitamins are applied directly to the skin. So what do consumers do with the maze of cosmetics touting vitamins that help reduce wrinkles? Dr. Brown said that vitamins mixed in skin care products may greatly reduce their effectiveness.
"Keep in mind that these antioxidants, which means that they oxidize easily, they are very unstable so if they are not formulated properly they become ineffective very quickly when exposed to air." Dr. Brown said.
Laura Peirce is a self professed outdoors girl and loves to run in the sun. She's said she'd always wondered about vitamin infused cosmetics that claim to make women look younger.
"I do. That doesn't necessarily cause me to buy them but it is appealing. I look more for SPF in a lot of the cosmetic products that I buy." Laura said.
Researchers found that vitamins show great potential in reducing the effects of sun exposure but warn that skin care products with vitamins may not help that much. When there is proof it works, Laura said she'll be one of the first to give it a try.
"Heck yes! Why wouldn't I?
Dr. Brown says there is enough evidence that topical vitamins work to support their use, as for oral vitamins, researchers say more clinical trials are needed.
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