It’s tipped to be one of the biggest skincare ingredients for 2020 — but what is Vitamin K?
It’s dubbed as the hero product for dark circles, causing a buzz in the beauty world. So Platinum takes a look at this emerging hero ingredient.
Vitamin K may not have the levels of research behind it as say, vitamin C, but it’s the ‘one to watch’ over the next few seasons. It’s the star ingredients in a lot of eye creams, with studies showing it can boost skins elasticity and even decrease dark circles.
In fact, it is used to help you recover from cosmetic procedures like laser treatments and even surgery. This is because it’s shown to help wounds, bruises and cuts heal faster than usual, so your recovery can speed up.
What’s more, its discovery was actually granted a Nobel Prize in 1943 — it’s seriously big news.
What actually is Vitamin K?
Another name for Vitamin K is phytonadione, but Vitamin K flows better off your tongue. It’s not a vitamin that’s restricted to supplements, as you can find it in everyday food. Foods high in vitamin K include leafy greens like kale, spinach, broccoli and cabbage.
Can it improve your skins appearance?
Vitamin K is often found in products tackling broken capillaries, and their associated issues like rosacea and spider veins. This is based on the claim that the vitamin can help with blood clotting, therefore preventing the veins from seeping and causing discolouration.
But some experts aren’t convinced of its abilities to make any difference to veins — big or small —when applied topically in skincare.
How can I use it?
It’s been shown to work best when combined with other vitamins. For dark circles, choose an eye cream or serum that includes caffeine or retinol (but only use the retinol at night). Retinol helps boost your skins appearance of collagen, helping make skin less transparent and thin.
If taken orally as a supplement, it can help build healthy bones, memory function and even protect the cardiovascular system.
So whilst the science is a bit thin on the ground, you may start to see Vitamin K as the beauty buzzword for 2021. You heard it here first!
