## 4 Discussion  
In order to investigate whether the cosmetic products on the market actually have antioxidant activity as declared, their antioxidant capacity was tested using selected analytical methods. The antioxidant capacity was examined in hydrophilic and lipophilic extracts of the products tested. As the anti-aging creams themselves contain antioxidants soluble in water and lipids phase separation was necessary in order to gain a clear insight into the antioxidant capacity of the samples tested. As they were very complex samples, the extraction process itself had to be optimised beforehand and adapted to this type of sample. The methods used to test the antioxidant capacity were spectrophotometric based on the ET mechanism. Based on the results obtained, the antioxidant activity of the extracts was compared with the corresponding standards and the results are presented as their equivalents. As a review of the literature did not reveal similar determination in the individual phases of a cosmetic product. the suitability of the test methods for determining the antioxidant capacity was estimated. The DPPH method only took into consideration values obtained for the first hydrophilic and lipophilic extracts. This is because only the first extracts had absorbance values lower than the positive blank, which means that the substances responsible for the antioxidant activity are extracted immediately at the beginning of the extraction. The results show that the lipophilic extracts had higher equivalents per gram of sample and therefore, a stronger antioxidant activity, which is expected sincetocopherol and other fat-soluble antioxidants in the composition of the cream are at higher percentages than hydrophilic antioxidants. The absorbance values for extracts 2 and 3 were much higher if compared to the corresponding positive blanks. This means that these extracts contain components that interfere with the measurement by absorbing at the same wavelength or forming complexes with DPPH and preventing its reduction. It is known that plant pigments interfere with the DPPH method because they absorb visible light in the same region in which the measurement is carried out [12; 13; 14]. Creams are extremely complex \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \hline
**SAMPLE** & **A1** & **A2** & **A3** & \(\overline{X}\) & **SD** & **CV (\%)** \\ \hline BLANK & 0.603 & 0.603 & 0.602 & 0.603 & 0.0007 & 0.12 \\
1 & 0.460 & 0.461 & 0.461 & 0.461 & 0.0007 & 0.15 \\
2 & 0.456 & 0.455 & 0.455 & 0.455 & 0.0007 & 0.15 \\
3 & 0.478 & 0.479 & 0.479 & 0.479 & 0.0007 & 0.14 \\
4 & 0.460 & 0.460 & 0.460 & 0.460 & 0 & 0 \\
5 & 0.482 & 0.483 & 0.483 & 0.483 & 0.0007 & 0.14 \\
6 & 0.482 & 0.480 & 0.480 & 0.481 & 0.0010 & 0.21 \\
7 & 0.093 & 0.093 & 0.092 & 0.093 & 0.0007 & 0.75 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 17: Absorbances obtained for hydrophilic extracts of cream samples (ferroion chelation method with ferrous). \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c} \hline \hline
**Sample** & **mg EDTA/g of Sample** \\ \hline
1 & 18.80 \\
2 & 22.97 \\
3 & 6.51 \\
4 & 19.54 \\
5 & 3.77 \\
6 & 5.14 \\
7 & 271.2 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 18: Results expressed in mg EDTA/g of sample (ferroion chelation method with ferrous). matrices which can be seen on the compositions indicated on the packaging. Each of the creams analysed contains extracts of different plant species that have been added with the aim of improving the antioxidant activity. These extracts contain plant pigments that are both water-soluble and fat-soluble and are distributed in the appropriate phases by extraction (water: acetone or hexane). Therefore, their influence can be found in both types of extracts. Since the identification and determination of the contents of plant pigments in the extracts examined did not take place, their presence in the first extracts and their effects on the results obtained cannot be excluded with certainty.