AGE-PROOF your skin with this ‘snowy’ secret

I know, the fall season has only just begun… and that means it’s WAY too early to be talking about snow.

But if you’ve been thinking about how to beat back aging, there’s an Arctic beauty trick I want to share with you today.

It’s known as “watermelon snow”…

And it could hold the secret to keeping your youthful appearance.

It’s a HYDRATING hero…

And the more dried out you are… the older you LOOK.

This special type of “snow” can also REPAIR your DNA… and “SWITCH ON” your longevity genes.

Here’s how it works… and why you WON’T have to BRAVE the winter chill to get some of it.

Crimson tide

It happens on mountain peaks throughout the world’s polar regions… where the frost is practically PERMANENT.

The SNOW turns RED.

Aristotle was the first to document this “crimson tide”…

And in the CENTURIES that followed, explorers MARVELED at what looked like streams of blood running down the snowy white cliffs.

In fact, NO ONE knew where the color was coming from… until the early 1900s!

Turns out, it’s because of a special type of algae known as Chlamydomonas nivalis.

This “snow algae” can survive BRUTAL temperature changes – and, in fact, PREFERS the freezing cold! (They call that “cryophilic.”)

Although it’s naturally green, it “blooms” a reddish hue — thanks to an increase in a carotenoid pigment called astaxanthin.

That’s what PROTECTS the algae from the sun’s UV rays, which are even MORE harmful at higher elevations.

Now, you already know astaxanthin as the age-fighting nutrient that gives salmon and shrimp their pinkish color.

And it’s also been shown to SHIELD our skin from sun damage.

In snow algae, the protective power of this antioxidant appears to get STRONGER with GREATER exposure to potentially damaging UV rays!

But snow algae ALSO contains OTHER skin-protecting nutrients – including a group of protein building blocks called peptides and a polysaccharide called hyaluronic acid.

Together, they help BEAT BACK the structural changes that make your skin get OLD.

Their actions include…

• COMBATTING dryness, with 12% less water loss  in one study
• SMOOTHING wrinkles by increasing collagen production and inhibiting the enzymes that destroy collagen , and
• RESTORING your youthful appearance.

In fact, in one study, snow algae proved to be SO hydrating… it moisturized the skin of 100% of the study subjects !

There’s more to snow algae than meets the eye…

Because it works to STAVE OFF aging on the inside, too.

It can activate a longevity gene… but that’s not all.

It SLOWS the aging process… by maintaining the activity of an age-related enzyme called AMPK.

AMPK clears debris that creates inflammation… and damages our DNA… when it builds up in our cells.

As we get older, AMPK becomes less active… the cellular “waste” piles up… and you get OLDER, FASTER.

But in one in vitro study, snow algae stimulated AMPK activity human skin cells by 105%!

And amping up AMPK can also help trigger DNA repair – a key to staying YOUNG.

Now, you don’t have to set off for Greenland… or the Alps… to harvest snow algae yourself.

It actually grows in the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California… and along the highest peaks of Colorado.

But conditions have to be JUST RIGHT for the snow to take on its “watermelon” color and health benefits…

That is, when it’s warm enough for the snow to be just a little bit melted.

Because this type of algae THRIVES in the watery spaces BETWEEN the snow crystals!

Fortunately, you don’t have to worry about going through that hassle.

Snow algae powder is slowly being introduced into more skin products…

And both astaxanthin and hyaluronic acid are widely available as supplements on their own and in anti-aging formulas.

To leave old age out in the cold,

Melissa Young