On Anti Wrinkle Creams with Celebrity Endorsements
Thursday, June 24th, 2010Expensive celebrity-endorsed anti wrinkle creams are being advertised on television and in glossy magazine ads. The question in most people’s minds is whether or not they really work.
The skeptic will assume that they don’t, while the hopeful person will give them a try. No matter who you are, you will be pleased to know that some of the compounds included in these products are effective.
You just won’t find the effective ingredients at the right concentration in all of the heavily advertised products. Those companies are counting on you to buy because you admire the celebrity spokesperson. They have no evidence to support their claims.
What you want to look for is a company that publishes the results of clinical studies on their websites. Those are indisputable facts.
While the compounds used in those studies might not work for every single person, they work for most people. One requirement is that you continue to use them on a regular basis.
People often give up if they don’t see immediate results. What you have to remember is that the best anti wrinkle creams provide few immediate results. They work on the long-term to improve the skin’s health, which as times goes by improves its appearance.
What’s wrong with your skin’s health? Toxins, damage from sunlight, low levels of important compounds like hyaluronic acid, decreased production of elastic fibers, lack of new skin cell growth…those are some of the things that are wrong with your skin’s health.
Some of them are natural parts of the aging process. But, that does not mean they are unavoidable. Judging from the latest research, avoiding them simply requires giving your skin more nourishment.
The skin’s outer layers get a great deal of damage and have very little protection. One of the things that protect the skin is sebum and we wash that away every time that we shower. So, the first thing that anti wrinkle creams should do is perform the same function performed by sebum. They should protect and moisturize.
The second thing that they should do is improve the skin’s antioxidant content. Antioxidants protect against damaging free radicals. The antioxidant coenzyme Q10 has been shown to reverse sun damage and wrinkles.
It took three months of daily use to see a 30% reduction in wrinkles. If you stop using the effective anti wrinkle creams containing coenzyme Q10, you will stop seeing benefits and the damage can be redone.
The third thing that the creams should do is improve the skin’s elasticity. It is lost elasticity that causes sagging and contributes to the depth of wrinkles. The best ingredient for improving the skin’s elasticity is called Functional Keratin. It has been shown to provide a 40% improvement in elasticity after only 18 days of use.
When it comes to fast-working, there is nothing that works faster than Functional Keratin. But, the best anti wrinkle creams combine it with coenzyme Q10 in order to provide even more results. You won’t see celebrities endorsing products containing those ingredients. But, that doesn’t mean they’re not available.
Over-the-Counter Anti Aging Skin Care Products
Friday, June 18th, 2010
Dermatologists often compare the effectiveness of over-the-counter anti aging skin care products to the effectiveness of Retin-A, the only prescription anti-wrinkle cream. Until recently, there was no comparison.
Nothing worked as well as Retin-A for people who could get beyond the unwanted side effects. Those include redness, itching and irritation. Burning is yet another side effect many people experience. The burning is usually the hardest for people to deal with.
They may be able to deal with a little redness or even some itching, but burning is another issue entirely. It’s painful. The natural reaction is to want to rinse it off as quickly as possible.
No one is sure why Retin-A causes people so many problems. Of course, they aren’t sure why it works, either. Most of us believe that most of the benefits would be due to the antioxidant activity.
While Retin-A is a synthetic compound, it was derived from naturally occurring vitamin A, an antioxidant. Vitamin A is known to be important to the skin’s health and appearance, although no one knows exactly why that is the case, either.
It is known that anti aging skin care products should contain antioxidants, because they address one of the causes of cellular aging. That cause is free radical damage. Antioxidants can prevent and reverse free radical damage. They are a part of the body’s natural defense system.
The reason that Retin-A burns, causes redness, itching and irritation is understood. The synthetic form is the acidic version of vitamin A. Naturally occurring sources of vitamin A are non-acidic, although they can be toxic.
The vitamin A found in animals is toxic to humans in large amounts. It can cause illness and even death.
Most of the vitamin A in our bodies is made within our bodies through the conversion of beta-carotene. The best anti aging skin care products on the market today contain plant extracts rich in beta-carotene. The extracts provide the same benefits as Retin-A, but without the side effects.
Then there is coenzyme Q10, another antioxidant. Judging from the latest studies, it is even more effective than Retin-A. It can be used on sun-damaged skin to reverse wrinkles and other types of damage.
But, antioxidants are not the only things that we need to fight the visible signs of age. That’s why antioxidants are not the only compounds you will find in the best anti aging skin care products.
The skin’s moisture balance must be maintained in order to prevent wrinkles. Excessive dryness is one of the causes of wrinkles and sagging.
The average moisturizer contains petroleum-based oils that cannot be absorbed by the skin’s cells. The companies should not be allowed to call them moisturizers, because they are not moisturizing.
The best moisturizers are plant-based oils, nearly identical on a molecular level to those produced by the human body.
Maybe in time, dermatologists will be able to judge over-the-counter anti aging skin care products by evaluating the ingredients they contain. Luckily, you and I don’t have to wait. We can do our own evaluations.
Natural Way to Tighten Skin – Increase Collagen & Elastin Production
Tuesday, May 25th, 2010
There aren’t many natural ways to tighten skin. While exercise can tone muscles and building muscle can stretch out the skin’s layers to the point of causing stretch marks, exercise does not contribute to the production of collagen and elastin fibers or stimulate other processes that would improve the skin’s firmness.
Exercising is good for your body in many ways. It can help to improve the skin’s health and appearance by balancing hormonal levels and perspiring can help to keep the pores clean. But, if you want to improve the skin’s tightness, what you really need is an anti-aging cream. Luckily, some of the best ones contain only naturally occurring ingredients. So, you can still be sure of safety.
Some of the beneficial compounds have been used by people for thousands of years. There is no need to choose a product full of synthetic or toxic chemicals. There is no need to risk allergic or other adverse reactions. You can find a cream that is 100% safe and non-toxic. You just need to read the label of ingredients.
Stimulating the production of collagen and elastin would be one of the natural ways to tighten skin, because the elastic fibers are what keep the skin’s layers tight in the first place. There are some contributing factors, such as regular production of new skin cells, which increases thickness and firmness. But, the elastic fibers are primarily responsible.
Researchers have proven that it is possible to stimulate the production of new elastic fibers. The research initially was aimed at promoting healing in burns and other injuries. It is now an important thing to consider when studying anti-aging compounds, because decreased production of new elastic fibers is known to accompany the aging process.
So, when you are looking for natural ways to tighten skin, look for an anti-aging cream that contains Functional Keratin. It has been shown to stimulate the production of new collagen and elastin fibers, as well as stimulate the production of new skin cells. In clinical testing, volunteers that used a cream containing it on a daily basis for 18 days had a 40% improvement in elasticity.
Improving elasticity is one of the natural ways to tighten skin, because it is the skin’s elastic nature that makes it tight. As we age and due to damage done by irritants, toxins and allergens, elasticity can be lost. It can happen at any age due to sudden weight loss, health problems, pregnancy or poor nutrition.
In order to see the biggest benefits, you should use a moisturizing cream during the day and another one at night. The benefits of a nighttime cream cannot be overstated, especially if it contains avocado extract. The extract has been shown to increase the amount of collagen present in the skin. More collagen means more collagen fibers, which means more elasticity and firmness.
There could be other natural ways to tighten skin. But, nothing beats using a good anti-aging moisturizer on a daily basis.
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