“Vitamin A deficiency is the most common deficiency in the world. Most people do not even realize they suffer from a chronic, localized lack of vitamin A. Because vitamin A is sensitive to light, it is depleted from our skin daily—leading to premature aging. We must replenish it continuously, every single day.”
– Dr. Des Fernandes
Vitamin A is as essential to the skin as oxygen and water are to the body. At birth, the skin has a natural balance of vitamin A, but this balance begins to deteriorate due to UV exposure, pollution, and modern lifestyle habits. Even the cleanest, most nutrient-rich diet today is not enough to meet the skin cells’ demand for vitamin A.
As a result, nearly everyone lives with a chronic deficiency, causing the skin to age more rapidly than our actual years—and to develop other visible issues.
The "Skin Vitamin" Your Cells Cannot Live Without
While vitamin A has long been known as the skin vitamin, recent research has highlighted its deeper role: normalizing skin function and acting as an irreplaceable factor in the growth and maturation of healthy epithelial cells.
Vitamin A is crucial for skin cell regulation. It influences both the nucleus and mitochondria of the cell, directly affecting DNA to ensure proper cell behavior. New scientific studies have now mapped the exact mechanisms by which DNA maintains normal skin cell function—with vitamin A playing a central role.
The Sun Depletes Vitamin A—Fast
As early as the 1930s, it was understood that sun-exposed skin ages faster than protected skin. In the 1950s, South African professor Cluver demonstrated that every time we go into the sun, vitamin A levels drop—not just in the skin, but in the body as well. By 1955, researchers discovered that treating aging skin with topical retinyl palmitate (vitamin A) could visibly rejuvenate it.
Later, researcher Sigmund Berg found that oral vitamin A could even help heal those with severe sunburn.
Why You Need Topical Vitamin A—Every Day
Modern life exposes our skin to daily stressors that strip away vitamin A, and diet alone cannot restore it. That is why consistent, daily use of topical vitamin A is essential—not only for anti-aging but for maintaining healthy, resilient, and balanced skin at any age.
