Beauty And The Blog

When you look for anti-aging products, what do you look for? It’s important to know the components of a good anti-aging product, whether it is a serum or a moisturizer. If you have read any of my earlier posts you already know that I am not all that enthusiastic about cleansers that contain anti-aging ingredients, why pay the extra money for something that is on your skin such a short time and rinsed away? Active ingredients need to stay on your skin a while to do their work. And that just doesn’t happen with a cleanser. Off it all goes down the drain….

So, 5 things. 5 things that are not negotiable when it comes to ingredients in your anti-aging routine. This is important stuff, because each of these 5 things does a different job. And we need all those jobs done to maintain the complexion we all strive for.

Here’s the line up for your anti-aging team:

1- Antioxidants: These help heal the skin and assist in collagen production. Daily free radical damage is prevented or reduced. The effectiveness of sunscreens is boosted. But be aware that antioxidants are sensitive little things. They deteriorate and lose potency when exposed to air and light. So think about packaging. I like tubes and pump bottles. Air and light stays out.

Vitamins A, C and E are the ones to look for. And there are many forms of each. Some good ones are: green tea, grape extract, pomegranate extract, soy extract and beta carotene. The more there are in your product the better. You want it to be a party, the more the merrier, ok?

2- Skin Identical Ingredients: Youthful skin naturally contains certain substances that make it smooth, fight infection, protect it from the environment, repair the skin’s barrier structures and help it retain moisture. Skin identical ingredients mimic the structure of the skin to help prevent moisture loss and improve texture while protecting it from damage.

Ceramides, glycerin, hyalauronic acid, proteins, amino acids, glycosaminglycans, and fatty acids are a few to look for. Your skin can’t hold moisture and look less wrinkled if the barrier structures are damaged. These ingredients will repair the skin’s barriers and allow it to hold necessary moisture and appear less wrinkled. Regular use will improve dry skin. Love that, dry skin is so not fun.

3- Cell Communicating Ingredients: Skin cells are easily damaged. When they are they regenerate into irregular, rough and mutated cells. The sun and hormone fluctuations cause this. One way to fix or slow this is to provide your skin with ingredients that communicate, have a chat, with these older damaged cells and provide missing information, so to speak, that will enable the cells to start behaving as younger undamaged cells. This happens to be my favorite group of ingredients. I want those younger looking cells that produce an even, more radiant skin surface. You do too, right?

Cell communicating ingredients ‘tell’ your skin to stop producing the bad cells and make better healthier cells. And this means fewer deep wrinkles.

Look for niacinamide, retinol, synthetic peptides, lecithin, and adenosine triphosphate. All great choices in the cell communicating group of ingredients.

4- Sunscreen: 75% of what we think of as aging of the skin is caused by the sun. And you still want that tan? Nooo. Sunscreen will prevent wrinkles and age spots. And more importantly, skin cancer. Make sure you are using at least an SPF of 15. Look for broad spectrum sunscreen that protects from UVA and UVB rays. And stay the heck out of tanning salons, would ya?!

Get proper protection by using a sunscreen that contains one or more of these ingredients: titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, avobenzone, Mexoryl SX, or Tinosorb. And use it everyday! It should be in your day moisturizer, or add it as an extra layer on top. Consider that an order.

5- Make Sure You Choose The Correct Formulas!: Is your skin dry, oily or a combination? For dry skin look for creams that are thicker or balms and ointments. An oily skin should try gels or nonaqueous products that are unlikely to clog pores. For combination skin think about treating the center, more oil prone areas of your face with the gels and nonaqueous products, the drier areas with the more emollient products.

Hopefully this information will help you to navigate through the hundreds of products available and find the ones that really offer what your skin needs. Quality ingredients make all the difference.

Photo by Fincs