Rubbing banana peels on the face is a hot topic on TikTok and other social media platforms. Some influencers even claim that rubbing banana peels on your face can smooth away wrinkles similarly to popular injectable treatments like BOTOX®.

While bananas do contain antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds, so do many other ingredients such as argan oil, green tea and vitamin C. There is nothing magical about banana peels in particular, and no topical ingredient is going to give you the same level of results as injectable treatments.

The downside to trying the banana peel facial hack is smelling like a banana all day or night, and in rare cases, bananas can cause a skin allergy. Fortunately, there are lots of other options to smooth away wrinkles and protect your skin from oxidative stress.

Antioxidants in skincare

Antioxidants have the ability to neutralize free radicals, also called reactive oxygen species (ROS), which can cause inflammation, pigmentation and aging if left unchecked. Free radicals are highly unstable molecules because they are missing an electron. They will steal electrons from other cells, causing cell damage.

Antioxidants are stable enough to donate the missing electron to the free radical without causing any damage.

This is why getting enough antioxidants in your diet and skincare regimen is so important — antioxidants can slow the aging process and maintain healthy, functioning cells.

What are best antioxidant skincare ingredients?

As stated earlier, banana peels are not the only source of antioxidants. There are many different antioxidant ingredients found in skincare products that have been formulated to maximize their efficacy. Just some of the most common antioxidant ingredients found in skincare include:

▪ Argan oil

▪ Coenzyme Q10

▪ Coffeeberry extract

▪ Curcumin

▪ Grape seed extract

▪ Green tea

▪ Pomegranate

▪ Resveratrol

▪ Vitamin C

▪ Vitamin E

What are best wrinkle treatments for skin?

If you are hoping to see BOTOX results from a banana peel, you will be undoubtedly disappointed. There is no way that any topical skincare product could produce the same results as an injectable wrinkle treatment like BOTOX or fillers. Additionally, in-office skin treatments offer much longer-lasting results than you might see from a facial or other topical skin treatment.

Some of the most popular and most effective anti-aging skin treatments include:

▪ Injectable neuromodulators like BOTOX®, Dysport®, Jeuveau®, and Xeomin®

▪ Injectable fillers like JUVÉDERM® and Restylane®

▪ Non-surgical skin tightening devices like Ultherapy

▪ Microneedling

Bottom line

You don’t have to smell like a banana all day to help your skin stay healthy and youthful. Add an antioxidant product or two like argan oil or green tea extract to your skincare regimen to get the antioxidant benefits without the banana peel mess. If you want more dramatic anti-aging results, ask your dermatologist about the best in-office skin treatments for you.

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