Why exactly do we need Vitamin D for great skin?

Often called the ‘sunshine vitamin’, vitamin D plays an integral role in skin protection, skin cell growth and repair. It enhances the skin’s immune system and it’s no wonder then that many medical professionals recommend vitamin D to help combat some inflammatory skin conditions.

True to its affectionate namesake, 90% of the vitamin D our bodies need to support healthy skin, teeth and bones can be absorbed naturally by the sun. The problem? Many of us, particularly in duller, darker climes, are not exposed to sunlight for long enough periods, especially during the autumn and winter months, to stimulate vitamin D production naturally.

All skin types benefit from vitamin D which helps maintain overall skin health. It’s an all-round good egg for proper skin function including boosting the skin’s barrier to keep those harmful substances out and moisture locked in (exactly where we want them).

For a while now, we’ve seen both oral supplements of vitamin D and topical application through skincare on the market. The thing is, the vitamin D made in the skin from exposure to the sun or from ingested food/supplements is not in a form that the body can use. The body needs to transform it into an active form of vitamin D using enzymes.

That’s why our technology, which we put in new Anew Hydra Pro Vita-D Water Cream, targets one of the enzymes that activate vitamin D in skin, which then strengthens the skin barrier for locked-in hydration resulting in healthy, glowing skin after one week. By targeting the enzyme prior to activation of vitamin D in the skin, our technology aims to enhance the skin’s natural activation of the powerhouse vitamin in skin cells. It increases the expression of the enzyme – to help activate vitamin D production – equivalent to the recommended daily dose of sun, just for your skin.

In technical terms, our technology boosts the enzyme 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 1-α hydroxylase which is critical to activate vitamin D. Keratinocytes then work with activated vitamin D to produce skin barrier components for optimal function. By identifying the compounds that can increase expression of this crucial enzyme in skin, we aim to increase synthesis of the active form of vitamin D to improve skin in the same way that we’d achieve with 35 minutes’ daily summer exposure to the sun in New York City, but of course, without the harmful side effects of exposure to harmful UVA and UVB rays.

You don’t need to worry about the technical explanations – we’re here to take care of that for you! You just need to know that the technology in Anew Hydra Pro Vita-D Water Cream, with its lightweight, oil-free, water-cream formula, is working hard to help skin get the vitamin D it needs to maintain a strong barrier and lock in moisture for intensely hydrated, glowing, healthy skin every day. Of course, it’s always a good idea to keep eating vitamin D-fortified foods like milk, salmon, eggs, and mushrooms but by also targeting topically, we’re doing everything we can to create healthy, beautiful, calm skin. I don’t know about you, but when my skin looks and feels great, I do too, so I think it’s certainly worth a go.

By Gloria Huang, Senior Research Scientist at the Avon Innovation Centre