As Young as I Feel™ Serum for younger-looking, healthy skin

Most of the powerful skincare ingredients in As Young As I Feel serum are enough, each on its own, to rejuvenate your complexion and to receive star billing in a youth-promoting formula.

"I absolutely love the As Young As I Feel serum." - A.S.

Have you had it with wrinkles and sagging skin? Are you tired of noticing the lines deepen and the spots darken?

Call it vanity, call it what you will, we women want to stay young-looking - for ourselves as well as for our men. I doubt that I will ever meet the woman who welcomes the signs of age.

This serum should make you happy. It has me. I use it twice a day, sometimes by itself, sometimes with Ma Jeunesse™ and Creme Rose™. I am thrilled with, blown away by the results.

I'll tell you in a moment what's in this amazing serum. But I had to limit ingredients to what helps the skin to renew itself (proven, see below) and reduces the signs of aging safely. I wanted a product to act fast to reverse what I was seeing on my face but I refuse to chance health. Surgery is, for me, out of the question. Botox injections, forget it...not on my list of alternatives.

Matrixyl™ is an ingredient that's been proven to stimulate collagen renewal by triggering a natural response in the body to produce it.

According to the studies of the ingredients proven to help collagen renewal, results really come in over about 60 days and increase from there with continued use.

Apricot kernel oil, argan oil, autumn olive berry extract, blueberry seed oil, black raspberry seed oil, black currant seed oil, cherry kernel oil, cistus (labdanum or rock rose) hydrosol (plant water), Co-Enzyme Q-10, Colloidal Copper, Colloidal Gold, cornflower hydrosol, DMAE, Egyptian Blue Lotus Extract, Emu oil, GABA, honey hydrosol, hyaluronic acid, idebenone, lavender hydrosol, lecithin, lipoic acid, Matrixyl™ 3000, MSM, melissa hydrosol, neroli (orange blossom) hydrosol, parsley seed oil, plum kernel oil, Resveritol™, pure essential oil blend, rock rose and wild rose flower essences, rose hip seed oil, rose hydrosol, royal jelly, sandalwood hydrosol, Swedish Flower Pollen Extract, sweet almond seed extract), Ubiquitol, Vitamin E mixed tocopherols, Wildberry Extract, witch hazel hydrosol.

Here's information on some of these amazing ingredients:

Emu Oil

Emu oil is the most abundant ingredient of my serum. This oil ranks as one of the very most effective cosmetic and anti-aging ingredients.

The emu is the Australian national bird, related to the ostrich, kiwi and cassowary. Aborigines held this bird to be of the highest importance in their lives. They used it for its healing properties and created clothes, food, shelter from it. They also derived spiritual meaning from the emu as a gift of God, much as Native Americans did from the bison. Read on. Why they held it in such esteem will become more apparent.

The oil I use is fully refined (certified by the AEA (American Emu Association) don't tell me you didn't know that existed?) and in this case, this is important for purity.) The emus from which our oil is derived are raised free-range, and never fed hormones or anti-biotics in their natural feed. Emu oil is a non-toxic, anti-bacterial, anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory oil which offers regenerative, soothing, healing, emollient and moisturizing effects to the skin which are astounding. Emu oil is a superb moisturizer and emollient, perhaps the best, and it is known to regenerate collagen and restore elasticity to the skin.

Here is some amazing news: emu oil penetrates deep into the dermis, into all the seven layers of skin. Its ability to pull the other beneficial ingredients into all layers of the skin is unparalleled. Why it penetrates so easily is perhaps also due to its lack of phosphorus. According to Alabama researcher, Allen Strickland, "There's no phosphorus in our skin. If you put anything on your skin that has phosphorus in it, your skin is "programmed" to keep it from penetrating. Anytime you put anything on your skin that is phospholipid deficient, or has no phosphorus, it penetrates right through.&quot.

Emu oil has been found in a study by Dr. Margaret C. Craig-Schmidt, Associate Professor of Nutrition and Food Science at Auburn University to be a very rich source of fatty acids such as linoleic acid and oleic acid and its fatty acid composition is very similar to that of human skin. It is possible that similarity is part of why emu oil is so healing to our skin.

And "It was interesting to note that when I looked through the literature concerning the drug and cosmetic industry," expressed Dr. Craig-Schmidt, "I learned that this (oleic) fatty acid is a known enhancer of transport of bio-active compounds through the skin. In other words, the high presence of oleic acid in the Emu oil may be one of the reasons that it is able to penetrate the skin to a large degree and at the same time be able to carry active compounds through the skin where they can have an effect in the body."

Emu oil has powerful, all-natural anti-inflammatory properties. It has been found to reduce redness, itching and scaling that can be associated with various skin conditions and is used successfully to treat arthritis, psoriasis, balding, acne, age spots, scarring, eczema (reduces both irritation and scarring), joint pain, swelling and stiffness, bruising, burns, soothing of post-surgery wounds, and the list goes on and on. In Australia, Dr. G.R. Hobday clinical use over ten years of emu oil has been mainly for the skin, treating "dry skin problems, muscle aches and pains, and the treatment of wounds." There are also anecdotal (as reported in testimonials of people) reports of results for shingles, psoriasis, carpal tunnel syndrome, diaper rash and circulation problems especially as regards the extremities. It's good stuff!

What moved me most to use emu oil is the fact that it has been proven to stimulate the regeneration of collagen. It is phenomenally restorative. Research studies have revealed that with the use of emu oil, dry, aging skin actually thickened by 2-3 times! (Study: "Influence of Emu Oil on Skin Thickness in Older Individuals" by Dr. Leigh Hopkins, from a presentation given at an AOCS (American Oil Chemists Society) Session in Chicago, IL, May 1998.

Plus, the oil was found noticeably to reduce wrinkles and age spots (ref: "Moisturizing and Cosmetic Properties of Emu Oil" a double-blind study, presented at the AEA national convention in Nashville, Tennessee. August 1994 by Alexander Zemtsov, M.D., M.S. Indiana Univ School of Medicine, Monica Gaddis, Ph.D. Ball Memorial Hospital, Victor Montalvo-Lugo, M.S. Ball Memorial Hospital and other studies.)

Emu oil (in testing done at the University of Texas at Houston) was found to be a non-comedogenic [pore-clogging] substance, helping to keep the skin healthy.

With the use of emu oil by over 500 patients over ten years as reported by Dr. G.R. Hobday of Australia, no allergic reactions have been reported. The doctor says, "From clinical experience with Emu oil, it became obvious that its major actions were its anti-inflammatory properties and its ability to penetrate the skin. It also appears to provide some solar protection."

From studies in the early 90s, "The potent anti-elastase [elastase is a pancreatic enzyme that digests elastin] activity demonstrated could provide an anti-degenerative effect on dermal tissues particularly during dermal damage through strong UV radiation (sunburn)."

I could have just stopped at emu oil, but there's more.

Matrixyl(tm) 3000

This amazing ingredient is an amino-peptide complex (contains Palmitoyl Oligopeptide and Palmitoyl Terapeptide-3) proven in studies to greatly and quickly help reduce the signs of aging. As messenger molecules, these are capable of regulating cell activities; the activate cellular renewal processes that have weakened with age. A French study presented at the 2002 World Congress of Dermatology showed that over the four months of the study, Matrixyl brought about

• a 50% decrease in wrinkle depth
• a 68% decrease in wrinkle density
• a 24% decrease in wrinkle volume

Wrinkle density, volume, depth? Well, anyway, it reduces wrinkles. I'm happy. And the deeper the wrinkle, the more dramatic the effects. A separate study showed positive benefits in collagen and elastin, and another study showed significant benefits for reducing age spots, dark circles and improving skin firmness.

And Matrixyl 3000, a further advancement, has been shown to be significantly more effective in reconstructing and repair the skin. My serum contains 10% Matrixyl 3000.

Cells called fibroblasts deep in the skin produce collagen and elastin. Collagen and elastin help give the skin its youthful, moist, plump, thick appearance. Fibroblasts come to the aid of damaged skin by regenerating collagen and elastin. As we age, our fibroblasts become less and less effective and our skin looks more and more dried up, blotchy, thin and wrinkly. Polypeptides send the message to fibroblasts to get busy and produce collagen and elastin. Now the skin can once again hold water properly and look smoother and younger.

GABA

This is gamma-amino butyric acid, a super-antioxidant, muscle relaxant amino acid that is found naturally in the body. GABA is great especially for lines around the eyes and mouth as it smoothes fine lines, crow's feet and wrinkles. It tightens the skin over a few minutes and the effect increases with continued application.

Colloidal Copper and Colloidal Gold

These copper and gold colloids are actual nanoparticles of the metals and have been reported (anecdotal, testimonial evidence) to have amazing skin anti-aging benefits (and other phenomenal results taken internally). We need these metals in trace amounts. I use the actual colloids, the true colloidal metals, as differentiated from ionic metals; the vast majority of products containing what are called colloidal copper, silver and so on, are ionic. Ions are not the same as particles of the metal themselves and do not have the same effects. True colloids are safe and beneficial. If you wish to find out if what is called a colloid is in fact one, this may help: ionic metal solutions are clear, the colloids show their color. In my formulation, for the greatest results, I include far more than the tiny, nominal amounts I have discovered to be added (I mean a drop or two!) in some skin care products touting these expensive ingredients.

Egyptian Blue Lotus Extract

This ingredient, a euphoric and aphrodisiac treasured by the ancient Egyptians, is a very potent anti-oxidant and free-radical scavenger. This is the true Egyptian Blue Lotus Extract also called Blue Water Lily, the real thing, very costly but worth it.

Wildberry Extract

A mixture of anti-oxidant berries: blueberries, raspberries, Autumn Olive Berries, blackberries, cherries and rosehips that has been used for anti-aging assistance as well as skin lightening and softening.

Autumn Olive Berry Extract

Even richer in healing lycopene (a very protective pigment in the group that includes beta-carotene), up to 17 times richer, than tomatoes. This is an important discovery for people with serious diseases such as heart but it has meaningful applications to skin care and skin regeneration as well.

PhytoLift

The sweet almond seed extract, as its name implies, brings its wonderful anti-aging properties to this formulation.

Royal Jelly and what bees make it from, flower pollen, contains all known nutrients and is highly bio-available being at the bottom of the land's food chain. One or the other of these makes its appearance in virtually all my skin care products. Amazing nutrition.

Flower essences

of rock rose and wild rose, flowers of trees whose extracts may help with the ravages of aging.

Hyaluronic acid

a component of skin that keeps it moist, supple and youthful-looking.

More anti-oxidants

The highest-quality, most effective vitamin E available, Co-enzyme Q-10, idebenone, lipoic acid, DMAE, MSM and more... wow.

Outstandingly antioxidant oils Blueberry seed oil, black raspberry seed oil, black currant seed oil, parsley seed oil and others.

Hydrosols and a few essential oils important for aging skin Cistus (labdanum or rock rose), cornflower, witch hazel, rose, melissa, neroli (orange blossom), honey lavender and sandalwood. Ooooh!

I swear I noticed a difference the very next day. At this rate I should look like a baby in 60 days! Talk about a new lease on life! - A.S.