Sweet Tooth. Saggy Skin. Deep Dive into the Sugar-Skin Connection.

We need to talk about your sugar addiction

It’s 8pm. You finished dinner an hour ago. Your belly is full. But you have a tingling sensation for something more… for something sweet. You reach into the pantry and rummage through the selection of chocolates and lollies you keep for a rainy day (or more like, for every day at 8pm…). You break 4 blocks of the Cadbury bar, and grab a few snakes. As you sink your teeth into them, you feel the rush of joy as the sugar hits your bloodstream. 

Sugar is an important source of fuel for our body. The glucose from sugar is stored in our muscles as glycogen and serves as the primary source of energy for your body and brain. Consumption of sugar also triggers the mesocorticolimbic system (the whaaaaat!?) known as the “reward pathway” in the brain. Basically what this means is that when you consume sugar, our brain releases dopamine which makes you feel gooooood 🤤. There is even evolutionary survival logic as to why that is the case… our body is making us feel good because we are consuming its primary source of fuel. 

In the hunter-gatherer days when sugary rich foods were rare, we needed an incentive to gorge whenever possible to survive. In this day and age where sugar is readily available and in abundance within our diet, moderation is key. Excessive sugar will lead to weight gain because it is calorie rich, causes your body to create extra fat and is addictive to the brain’s reward pathway, meaning we crave more of it. 

Most importantly for you to note (at least from our perspective as a skincare brand…!) excessive sugar can also be detrimental to skin health.

How does sugar affect your skin?

Sugar impacts skin health due to a process called glycation (say whaaaat!?). We’re not trying to bamboozle you with big jargon to convince you that we are subject matter experts, we promise. Think of this as a free crash course in the human body because we know you were most likely snoozing during year 9 chemistry class. Glycation is a process where sugars and simple carbohydrates stick to proteins and cause their functional breakdown, meaning they cannot perform their important roles. 

Glycation is most concerning to skin health when the sugars and simple carbohydrates stick to collagen and elastin, which are the two key structural proteins in your skin, hair, nails and joints. When collagen and elastin start to have a functional breakdown, you start to experience wrinkles, sagging and less youthful, buoyant skin- in essence, this is rapid onset of ageing.

From the age of 20, our body already loses its ability to synthesise collagen. Glycation accelerates that. We’re not going to sit here and say “No more sweets after dinner!”... After all, we all love to indulge in foods that release dopamine. Life is short and sweet, and we must enjoy it. But let’s enjoy it responsibly with a balanced diet with high glycemic index foods in moderation (think, processed food such as soft drinks, chips and lollies). 

We can also take extra measures for our skin health by investing in antioxidant and collagen rich skincare products. 

Antioxidant + Collagen Skincare Products vs Glycation

OK, so you’ve got this far and you’re thinking… damn, it’s going to be tough for me to control my sweet tooth - what else can I do to avoid the onset of rapid ageing from glycation?

Well, you’re in luck because daily use of our 4-step Essentials System will enable you to deliver two antioxidants - Vitamin C and Vitamin E - and a first of its kind vegan collagen to your skin in just 3 minutes a day (the same amount of time it takes to get your sugar hit!).

Of note is our Structure Serum which contains Vitamin C, Niacinamide and Vegan Collagen. Vitamin C and Niacinamide play a powerful role as antioxidants which fuel our immune system, neutralise free radicals and inhibit glycation. They also change the way light reflects on your skin giving you a visible glow. Literally. Studies have shown that topical application of collagen can offset both the impact of glycation and the decline in our body’s natural synthesis of collagen. Our collagen is 100% PETA approved vegan and made using recombinant DNA technology to exactly resemble the human collagen molecule making it far more effective than the fish scales or cow hooves the rest of the collagen skincare products on the market contain 🤢

So, whether you're a sweet tooth who orders the Crème Brûlée, a savoury kinda person that goes for the cheese platter, or just someone who wants to take things to the next level, consider antioxidant and collagen rich skincare products. PS we’ve got your skincare covered 😉

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