February 9, 2008

Collagen Skin Care

Collagen has been widely used in cosmetic surgery as a healing aid for burn patients, reconstruction of bone and a wide variety of dental, orthopaedic and surgical purposes. Until quite recently Collagen as a beauty treatment has not been widely used for household cosmetic makeup.
What is collagen?
It is probably more popularly known in the beauty industry as being used in cosmetic surgery, like lip enhancement.
Collagen is also one of the most abundant proteins found in mammals. Approximately one quarter of all of the protein in your body is collagen. Collagen is the main protein of connective tissue. It has great tensile strength, and is the main component of ligaments and tendons. It is responsible for skin elasticity, and its degradation leads to wrinkles that accompany aging. Collagen also fills out the cornea where it is present in crystalline form.
Without getting too technical about its chemical make up it is a basically a triple helix compound with 1050 amino acids in it. Superimposition of these triple helix compounds produces fibrils of collagen that can be stabilised. By doing this it renders the collagen insoluble, buy using hydrolysis the collagen can be brought into a soluble form resulting in Collagen Hydrolysates. Collagen […]