Dr Des Fernandes is the founder of Environ Skincare and was initially a cardiac surgeon working in the first heart transplant team in his home country South Africa. His passion was plastic surgery and he returned to this and enjoyed helping children with cleft palate problems, subsequently specialising in reconstructive work. He has written numerous scientific papers for plastic surgery making him internationally known.

More recently he writes and lectures on skin health and rejuvenation with the use of vitamin A preparations. He also pioneered skin needling or as he prefers to call it Collagen Induction Therapy!

Environ Skincare 

The range was formulated because he lost 2 melanoma patients in their twenties. So this prompted him to study the mechanism of skin cancer and effects of the application of vitamins on the skin and Environ was born. Initially only 2 creams were made based on Vitamin A B,C and E as antioxidants and hydroxy acids, only for his patients use but demand grew. All very unusual back in 1988!

Now distributed world wide, it continues as a family business with Dr Des as the chief formulator still pioneering innovative products and setting a gold standard. It’s one of the few companies with it’s own factory manufacturing pharmaceutical grade products.

How Vitamin A Works

Dr Fernandes used vitamin A personally having from 1982, the medical fraternity became aware of Vitamin A as retinoic acid for skin rejuvenation in about 1985 .

Vitamin A manages and often reverses many signs of sun damaged skin by activating DNA to normalise skin cell activity. It also inhibits the action of enzymes that destroy collagen, supports the immune system of the skin. The dispersion of melanin through the skin is controlled and it helps restore the blood vessels that feed the skin.

Vitamin A has never had a great following because it was either used in high concentrations, especially in over the counter products and caused retinoid reactions. Alternatively other low concentrations did not make any changes. Most people thought that only retinoic acid was the topical version that worked. Environ uses other forms of Vitamin A. 

Why Its Different

Environ is different to other aesthetic skincare companies, it does not boast about concentrations of Vitamin A, which are meaningless unless we know their relative activity. That’s the reason they use international units of Vitamin A. This means they can reach the potential of retinoic acid products.

Environ also were pioneers in the introduction of the most active version of Vitamin C, still acknowledged as such. Environ has many active ingredients in its products, whereas most other companies concentrate on only one or two.

New Developments 

Vitamin A and antioxidants will always be part of the future of cosmeceuticals due to their prove effects. Dr Des says ‘Without them I believe you cannot call a product ‘Skin CARE’. I believe peptides are going to be a major player in skin thickening, pigment control, increased elasticity, etc. I personally believe that more and more active peptides offer us more than the pursuit of individual or combinations of growth factors.

Content taken from https://aestheticmedicalpractitioner.com.au/

A link to Dr Fernandes explaining the range here. 

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