April 2003
Dear Paula,
Have you found some new information about antioxidants that you haven't passed along? According to the latest edition of The Beauty Bible, you don't seem to think that they work or, at best, nothing has been proved. If antioxidants don't work, why have you brought out the Super Antioxidant Concentrate. There are antioxidants in the new formulation of your sunscreen as well.

The May/June 2002 newsletter included an excerpt from your book that stated, "Even if antioxidants did work on the skin to prevent free radical damage ..." (p. 3), which seems to imply that you don't believe that they do work.

On the surface it appears that you are writing one thing, but doing another. Can you please explain this inconsistency?

Christine, via email

Dear Christine,
In regard to my comment above, I was playing devil's advocate rather than making a contradictory statement that antioxidants do not work to prevent free-radical damage. I have not uncovered any new information pertaining to antioxidants, other than the abundance of existing research pointing to the anti-irritant and anti-inflammatory benefits of these topically applied ingredients. There are also a large number of studies showing antioxidants to be beneficial in helping skin heal, mitigating UV damage, and increasing collagen production.

However, I can understand how my comments about antioxidants may seem contradictory in regard to the antioxidant product I added to my line of skin-care products. Actually, there are antioxidants in almost all of my topical, leave-on products, and they've been there from the beginning. What I am really rallying about is that antioxidants are not the answer for wrinkles, nor do they make them disappear. They are also not a substitute for a well-formulated sunscreen, nor are they capable of stopping the skin from aging. Yet that is precisely how many companies whose products contain antioxidants present them?as antiaging miracles. Paula's Choice Super Antioxidant Concentrate makes no such fantastic claims. Rather, it simply hopes to minimize free-radical damage because of the levels and variety of antioxidants it contains.

Minimizing free-radical damage will not change one wrinkle (or lift or tighten the skin), but it can help the skin defend itself from the very things (free radicals) that cause it to become impaired and gradually break down. How much and exactly which antioxidants are needed to accomplish this task is still unclear, as is the issue of whether or not you could ever apply enough antioxidants to truly affect long-term skin damage. Still, I feel strongly that the topical application of antioxidants will likely turn out to be an extremely helpful step for maintaining healthy functioning of the skin, at least that's what the research points to.

Antioxidants have a significant place in skin care for all skin types. There is copious substantiated research showing that topically applied antioxidants have merit and are an important consideration when formulating or shopping for skin-care products, something I have done in my line and many other cosmetics companies are doing as well. In the latest edition of my book Don't Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me, one of the most notable changes was the way I rated moisturizers, toners, and other skin-care products. If they didn't contain an impressive assortment or concentration of antioxidants they did not receive a "happy face."