I'm 45 and for the past couple years my skin's been looking kind of yellow-muddy, especially in morning light. Not tired-yellow, more like the whole undertone shifted. Selfies in my kitchen (north-facing, harsh) were starting to make me flinch.
Routine was solid enough. Vitamin C, retin-a 3x/week since 41, sunscreen daily, weekly acid. Getting texture wins but the dullness just would not budge past a certain point.
Went in for a mole check last spring and asked my derm, half-joking, if there was anything else I could try. She said something like, at my age with what I'm already doing, most of the improvement left is probably internal not topical. Threw out the words "glycation" and "antioxidant support" without pushing anything specific. Just an offhand comment but it stuck.
Spent a while reading. Looked at glutathione first because it's all over social media, but the oral versions barely absorb, and IV drips weren't going to happen for me. Then kept running into ergothioneine, which I'd never heard of. Mostly comes from mushrooms and most people (especially in the US) don't get much from diet. There's some research on it protecting skin cells from oxidative stress specifically, which is what got me curious enough to actually try it.
So two changes. Started cooking with mushrooms a few times a week, shiitake and oyster when I can find them. Added a low-dose ergothioneine supplement, single ingredient, nothing else in the capsule.
About three months in. Morning skin is noticeably less muddy. Undertone in that awful kitchen light is closer to what I remember from my late 30s. Under-eyes also look better but I've been sleeping more so who really knows.
So figured I'd share. If any of you have gone down the internal-antioxidant road, curious what actually worked. Or didn't.
Submitted July 14, 2026 at 05:32AM by blogalec https://ift.tt/xB1LKJD
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