ANTI-AGING SKIN CREAMS

Skin Cream Hype

Skin cream. Wouldn’t it be easy if that was all we had to ask for at the beauty counter. Even with todays product savvy consumers, buying skin creams is a bit hit and miss. Why? Because we are easily caught up in the marketing hype and have little knowledge of the ingredients in each product.

So let’s start by looking at the basics and try to determine which ones you really need, and which ones are just pumping up the market.

Moisturisers

Moisturisers prevent water loss from your skin cells, keeps them hydrated and nourished and provides a protective barrier from the elements.

In the past, many moisturisers achieved this by using a impervious layer on the skin, which whilst keeping moisture in and environmental toxins out, also meant that your skin could not breathe.

Fortunately today, good quality moisturisers are smarter and use more natural ingredients such as aloe vera, sunflower oil and glycerine.

Many moisturisers also contain a sunscreen. In most, this is mere marketing. At best the sunscreen will only be SPF10 or SPF 15. For real protection from the sun rays to delicate facial skin, an SPF of 30-40 is required. Hence, I wouldn’t worry too much about this as an ingredient, other than it is useful for convenience sake and for minimal outdoor exposure.

Types of Moisturisers

There are several types of moisturisers, depending upon their application and area of body.

• Face lotions
• Facial skin creams
• Body lotions
• Hand creams

All of these moisturise your skin. Although the ingredients in a body lotion are similar to a face lotion, the formula are different. Body lotions need to be more of a protective barrier due to the exposure and wear factor not required for the face. For this reason, they tend to be oilier to give more protection.

Hand and foot creams generally have the strongest barrier protection. These areas a prone to calluses, so intense hand and foot creams contain salicylates or urea to dissolve these calluses. Using such a cream on the face may burn or damage the more delicate facial skin.

Cellulite Lotions

My advice is forget them. There has been absolutely no proof that any lotion can cure cellulite or dissolve body fat.

Night Creams

The time you spend sleeping is the perfect time to detoxify and nourish your skin. It also helps to keep skin moist during periods of low hydration and help protect the facial skin from developing deep lines and creases from pressure of resting on a pillow.

Night creams are similar in formula to day creams but are generally more concentrate to super hydrate the upper layer of skin cells. They often also contain ingredients that whilst have stronger anti-aging properties than day skin care creams, are light sensitive. For this reason, it is not advised to use night skin creams during the day.
Anti-aging or anti-wrinkle skin creams mostly contain:

ceremides or alfa-hydroxy acids smoothen fine lines and wrinkles and act as anti-ageing boosters.

hydroquinone or retinoids remove pigment from the cells of the skin's upper layers and act as whitening agents.

aloe vera, jojoba extracts or glycerine help new cells grow faster and act as repairing agents

Night creams are used more by those over 40. Under 40, your normal day cream is sufficient, with maybe a concentrate eye creams to keep those crows feet at bay.

Find the 'best' skin care cream is a difficult job with so many new versions entering the market every month. My advice is, don't let price fool you. There are many moderately priced skin creams on the market that are very good and are very similar in ingredients to the high priced 'exclusive' brands like creme de la mer. Try:

• Garnier's Wrinkle Lift A
• L'Oreal's White Perfect Night Cream

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