4 Important Ingredients in Natural Wrinkle Creams
By Skin Care Editor | July 16, 2010
A natural wrinkle cream containing antioxidants, proteins, plant extracts and nourishing oils could be exactly what you need to improve your skin’s health and appearance. Here’s a look at the benefits of specific ingredients.
Grape Seed Oil
Grape seed oil can be used for cooking. Some chefs like it because of its unique “filming” ability. It forms a film over the pan and the vegetables being cooked. This allows them to use less oil.
When applied to the skin, the film acts to hold moisture in. The benefits of use may include reduced wrinkles, scars and stretch marks. It can help improve circulation. Because of its antioxidant activity, it protects against free radical damage (one of the causes of cellular aging) and it may reduce your risk of skin cancer.
You can purchase grape seed oil at gourmet food stores and use it “as is”. Or, you could look for a natural wrinkle cream that contains it. It may be particularly beneficial for repairing damage around the eyes.
Wakame Kelp Extracts
Wakame is one of the most nutrient-rich varieties of kelp. Kelp is simply another name for seaweed. It is sold in health food stores around the world. The extracts must be properly prepared in order to be used on the skin.
The minerals in wakame are necessary for balancing the skin’s moisture content. The extracts have antioxidant activity and contain B vitamins that help to provide protection from sun damage, another cause of wrinkles.
But, the primary benefit of wakame has to do with the skin’s hyaluronic acid content. Along with collagen and elastin, hyaluronic acid is essential for smooth, firm skin. Without wakame, the skin’s hyaluronic acid content decreases with age. Wakame keeps that from happening.
Coenzyme Q10
Any natural wrinkle cream worth its price will contain coenzyme Q10. There is more scientific evidence supporting its benefits than there is for any other single ingredient.
Coenzyme Q10 is a popular dietary supplement. It is particularly beneficial for the heart. It keeps heart rates stable and helps with some kinds of murmurs.
The concentration of coenzyme Q10 in all of the cells of the body starts to decrease with age. The skin’s COQ10 is quickly depleted during sun exposure.
Scientists have had to reduce the size of the COQ10 molecules in order to allow them to penetrate deep into the skin. A natural wrinkle cream containing this reduced form is beneficial for reducing wrinkles and reversing sun damage. It not only protects against free radical damage. It reverses it.
Vitamin E
You might not know that most of the vitamin E for sale in the US is synthetic, derived from petrochemicals. There are only a few companies that still use the naturally occurring form of the antioxidant.
The benefits of use may include a reduction in fine lines and the prevention of age spots. It can also be used to replace the irritating artificial preservatives that so many companies use.
There are other ingredients that should be included in natural wrinkle cream. You might want to learn a little more about them before you buy.
Topics: Anti Wrinkle Creams, Herbal Skin Care, Holistic Skin Care, Natural Skin Care, Organic Skin Care, Skin Care, Skin Care Ingredients, Skin Health | No Comments »
Natural Facial Products with Antioxidants Can Repair Damaged Skin
By Skin Care Editor | July 14, 2010
The natural facial products on the market include cleansers, masks and anti-aging creams. Toners and astringents are available, too. But, most people really don’t need them.
What everyone needs is a good moisturizer. A recent study conducted by the University of Maryland showed that plain old tap water strips the skin’s protective oils. Doctors call the oils sebum.
Sebum provides protection, but also starts to smell bad, if it is not washed away on a regular basis. So, bathing is necessary. It’s just as necessary to follow each bath or shower with the use of a good moisturizer.
When you go to compare the moisturizers on the market, you will see that there is a huge difference in price. Cheap products go for less than a dollar per ounce, while expensive ones containing the anti-aging ingredients can go for as much as $100 per ounce. You have to wonder what the difference is. Let me tell you about it.
The cheapest products are not actually moisturizing. Most of them contain an ingredient called petrolatum. Petrolatum is nothing more than white petroleum jelly. You probably realize what petroleum jelly does to your skin. You certainly wouldn’t think that natural facial products would contain it. But, some of them actually do.
Glycerin is a much better moisturizer. It can be derived from plant fibers or from chemical compounds. You would probably need to ask the manufacturer in order to find out where the ingredient comes from. Some manufacturers provide a great deal of information on their websites. Their hope is to inspire confidence.
Other manufacturers provide very little information. There hope is that people don’t care about ingredients. A sales rep from one of the companies providing natural facial products told me that one day. No one cares what the ingredients are. I care and so should you.
Grape seed oil is an excellent moisturizer with a unique filming ability. This ability allows it to hold moisture in and keep dirt out of the pores. So, it is one of the dual purpose ingredients. Actually, it has another purpose. It serves as an anti-aging ingredient, because it has antioxidant activity. Antioxidants prevent and repair free radical damage.
If we’re smart, we will avoid some of the things that trigger free radical damage. Overexposure to the sun and cigarette smoking are two of the things that can easily be avoided.
But, we have to use antioxidant-rich natural facial products, because we cannot avoid everything that could damage our skin. That brings us full circle back to taking a bath.
If you live in an area serviced by a public treatment facility, the water that you shower in contains toxins. Many of them are used to control bacteria and algae levels. The toxins can cause increased numbers and activity of the free radicals naturally present in the skin’s layers.
That’s just one more reason to use antioxidant-rich natural facial products on a daily basis. Keeping free radical damage to a minimum will keep you looking younger.
Topics: Moisturizers, Natural Skin Care, Organic Skin Care, Skin Care, Skin Care Ingredients, Skin Health, Sun Damage | No Comments »
Over the Counter Wrinkle Remedies – Sorting Through the Latest Fads
By Skin Care Editor | July 12, 2010
Over the counter wrinkle remedies may contain a number of ingredients or only one. Hyaluronic acid has become a popular choice for creams and lotions, but doctors say that it does nothing when applied topically. The reason for its inclusion in cosmetics has nothing to do with its effectiveness.
Hyaluronic acid, collagen, elastin and an assortment of synthetic fillers will stretch out wrinkles when they are injected into the deepest of the skin’s layers. The injections are widely advertised. They have different brand names. You have probably heard some of them.
They are available at day spas, dermatologist’s offices and from cosmetic surgeons. They range in price from $400 to $1000 per shot. The immediate effects may wear off in as little as three months. The effects provided by the so-called “collagen boosters” will not appear for several months.
So, if your goal is to look great for your daughter’s wedding, then a hyaluronic acid injection might be a good choice. It is less likely to form hardened nodules under the skin’s surface. It can easily be dissolved with another injection if you don’t like the results. But, if you are looking for effective rub-on wrinkle remedies, it won’t do a thing.
You might say that cosmetic manufacturers are riding the coattails of the injection’s popularity. The companies did the same thing when collagen injections were the “in” thing. They use advertising claims like “safe Botox alternative” or “no needle cure for wrinkles”. The truth is that none of these solutions are cures.
Some creams and lotions are beneficial as long as you use them on a regular basis. Using the term “cure” leads people to believe that you can use it once and never have to bother with it again.
There are effective topical wrinkle remedies, but they must be used on a daily basis for three weeks to three months before you see optimum results. Optimum in this sense means that you might notice some improvement early on, but you will see even more as time goes by.
If you stop using the cream, lotion or gel, the benefits will fade away. It’s kind of like staying out of the sun.
Dermatologists say that if you protect your face from the sun consistently for six months, you will look five years younger. Your skin will look smoother and more even-toned. But, a day at the beach will redo the damage.
Topically applied wrinkle remedies containing collagen or hyaluronic acid are a waste of money, because the molecules are too large to penetrate the skin’s surface. It is true that the skin’s collagen and hyaluronic acid content decreases with age, but that issue cannot be addressed by using a cream or lotion containing them. The key is to protect what is present or stimulate the production of more.
Wakame kelp extract is an ingredient known to prevent the skin’s hyaluronic acid levels from becoming depleted. Functional Keratin is known to stimulate collagen production. Some of the more advanced over-the-counter wrinkle remedies contain both of those ingredients. That’s the kind of remedy to look for.
Topics: Anti Wrinkle Creams, Collagen & Elastin, Skin Care, Skin Care Industry, Skin Care Ingredients, Skin Care Routine, Skin Wrinkles | No Comments »
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