The $62.5 billion beauty industry has been lying to you and stealing your money in the name of age-defying youth. They charge you a fortune for skin creams, lotions, potions and masks that are supposed to “reverse aging” or “repair DNA damage” or some other bunk. And it’s all bunk—the FDA has repeatedly slapped beauty industry giants for misleading claims and false advertising. The truth is, all the skin creams you’ve ever used only work as a hydrating cream. Everything else is pure marketing malarkey.

However, I bring good news today. Because, while expensive beauty creams might not work, there is one substance that’s been proven—in multiple studies—to visibly reduce wrinkles, fine lines, and skin texture. In as little as six weeks! What’s more, this near-magic substance is easy to find and offers a host of added benefits that, trust me, you’re going to want. But to understand how it works, first, you have to understand why you get wrinkles in the first place.

Your Body’s Biggest Organ

It’s often been said, but it’s usually forgotten: Your skin is your biggest organ. Lots of people think of it as an inert piece of impermeable flesh, but it’s much more than that.

For one thing, your skin let’s in about 60% of what it touches—which is why you need to be especially careful with those fancy chemical-laden skin creams with long ingredient lists.

It’s an urban myth that your skin needs to breathe or you’ll die—call it the Goldfinger Legend, after a famous James Bond death scene. But that isn’t true.

What is true is that your skin is full of pores, opening and closing, letting substances in, blocking them, or pushing them out. Your skin is less a plastic wrap around your body, and more a layer of sponge that tightens or loosens, depending on conditions.

And, of course, your skin plays a huge role in regulating your body temperature, through sweat.

But one of its most important functions is protecting all the rest of your organs from the outside world. That means everything from scraping against the branch of a tree, to stopping damaging UV rays from impacting the rest of your body.

It’s that last part we’re most interested in today. As you probably know from countless skincare commercials, over-exposure to UV rays isn’t good for you. Most damaging, UV rays can penetrate your cell walls, and alter the DNA inside each cell nuclei.

That’s bad news. Damaged DNA can cause cells to malfunction, or even—sometimes—turn cancerous. And your skin is your first defense against that happening to vital organs inside your body.

What’s more, UV radiation can interact with oxygen in your cells to create free radicals—atoms which have unpaired electrons. It’s these free radicals that wreak havoc in your cells.

And it’s these free radicals—and the oxidants that cause them—which are largely responsible for aging skin.

There are internal factors as well. For instance, starting at around age 20, you start producing 1% less collagen a year. Collagen is the building block of the spongey layer of your skin…so, as we lose collagen, we see dips, ridges, and lines forming beneath the surface of our skin.

So, while we can’t control aging, in and of itself, we can control—and counteract—some of the causes of aging.

Benefits of Astaxanthin For Skin

There’s one supplement that dominates the competition, when it comes to antioxidant properties: astaxanthin.

Astaxanthin is a carotenoid, like beta-carotene. It has a deep red color—in fact, astaxanthin gives a red tinge to foods rich in it, like shrimp and salmon. And it’s often fed to farm-raised shrimp and salmon to give them that familiar, pink color.

Studies show that astaxanthin is unique in its antioxidant properties. It can either give or take electrons, to balance out free radicals (most chemicals can only do one or the other). And it can do so without becoming unbalanced itself.

In other words—not only is it an antioxidant, but it’s twice as effective as most, and can do the job over and over.

And, when it comes to countering the effects of free radical aging on your skin, astaxanthin is a total superstar. After only six week’s use, one study found subjects had a 50% improvement in skin moisture content, a 50% reduction in fine lines and wrinkles, a 50% improvement in skin elasticity, and a 40% reduction in skin roughness.

That’s an improvement I’ve never seen duplicated elsewhere. Astaxanthin is, simply put, the best supplement for your skin that I’ve ever seen.

And, since it is such a powerful antioxidant, it comes with some bonus properties. By eliminating free radicals, it helps prevent and fight cancer and inflammation as well.

Astaxanthin is a nutrient we all need. But it’s simply impossible to get enough through diet alone. That’s why I recommend it as a supplement to all of my patients.

Be careful what kind you get. Astaxanthin can be created synthetically, but the naturally-occurring version is about three times as powerful. So you want to find a supplement that uses the real deal.

But even the synthetic version will do more for your skin than just about anything else out there. And you don’t have to worry about some complicated application, or nighttime rituals. Just take 4 mg every day, orally, and you’re good to go.

Forget the ineffective creams, or the expensive anti-aging treatments. All you really need is an astaxanthin supplement every day. It works better and helps clean out the rest of your body at the same time. Add it to your routine today.

References

• 2006;10:91-95. Accessed Mar 10, 2017.
• Tominaga K, et al. Cosmetic benefits of astaxanthin on humans subjects. Acta Biochimica Polonica. Published 2012;59(1):43-7. Accessed Mar 10, 2017.
• Kidd P. Astaxanthin, Cell Membrane Nutrient with Diverse Clinical Benefits and Anti-Aging Potential. Alternative Medicine Review. Published 2011;16(4):355-364. Accessed Mar 10, 2017.
• Tyrell, RM. Ultraviolet Radiation and free radical damage to skin. Biochemical Society Symposium. Published 1995;61:47-53. Accessed Mar 10, 2017.
• Obagi, Susan. Why does skin wrinkle with age? What is the best way to slow or prevent this process? Scientific American. Accessed Mar 10, 2017.
• Fox, Maggie. Does your wrinkle cream really work? FDA warns about false claims. Today.com. Published Mar 23, 2015. Accessed Mar 10, 2017.
• Staff. A Red Miracle For Skin Health. Dermascope. Accessed Mar 10, 2017.

Last Updated: May 29, 2021
Originally Published: April 5, 2017