Maintaining a youthful, glowy, and overall healthy skin should be one of our main concerns as we age... Cleansing and moisturizing are two key factors in order to achieve that... Yes, cleansers remove makeup, dirt and protect against pollution but they can also dry the skin out if not used properly or if they are not designed to suit our skin's needs... That is where the moisturizers come into play since they not only increase the skin's water content, but they also protect it and encourage the shedding process making it smoother...
The number of moisturizers in the market is truly astonishing and every single one of them claims to have exclusive properties that no other has... But do they??? In today's post, we will cover the basics and the must-have ingredients that you should look for in a moisturizer no matter your skin's concerns...
Most of us would agree that an ideal moisturizer should reduce and prevent skin's water loss - the evaporation of moisture from the skin to the atmosphere -, restore the lipid barrier, be non-sensitizing and non-comedogenic, absorb rather quickly, feel cosmetically acceptable and, of course, have a reasonable price point...
The easiest and quickest way to see what's what is to take a look at the first 5 on the product's list of ingredients... Since companies are obliged to list their ingredients in order of highest to lowest concentration, the first five represent approximately 80% of the entire formula so those are the ingredients you should examine and look up...
Dermatologists conclude that there are 3 factors/ingredients that are of main concern while others include others as well... I have categorized these ingredients in the following:
THE HYDRATORS
First are humectants that attract water from the lower layers to the epidermis... In cases where the humidity is above 70% then they attract moisture straight from the atmosphere... The most commonly used are hyaluronic acid, honey, aloe, and glycerin while the most effective are sodium lactate, glycerin, sodium PCA and ammonium lactate...
The natural moisturizing factors (NMF) are responsible to help the skin to maintain water on the upper layers with the most common being urea and amino acids...
Lastly, there are some low-level exfoliants that can also help with skin's moisture... There are mainly alpha-hydroxy acids (AHAs) like glycolic, mandelic as well as lactic acid...
THE SMOOTHERS
Another category that is crucial for the effectiveness of your moisturizer are emollients... They stay on the upper layer to smooth skin out and act as lubricants... They also prevent humectants from evaporating too quickly...
Such ingredients are jojoba oil, lanolin - which is rather expensive and not so common or in low concentrations - squalane - that mimics sebum - fatty acids and ceramides... The last two are also barrier-repairing ingredients!!!
THE SEALERS
So you have applied your moisturizer... And now??? How can you be sure that you have sealed and "trapped" all the goodness into your skin??? That's where occlusives play a vital role in forming a protective barrier on top of the epidermis...
They basically slow down the evaporation process on the skin's surface and they work best when applied on damp skin ;)
The most common are beeswax, mineral oil, shea butter, coconut oil as well as cholesterol which is a natural occlusive and a barrier-repairing molecule...
THE PROTECTORS
Applying SPF is crucial beyond any words... You just HAVE to wear SPF EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. and that is it!!! No questions asked... What do you mean it's cloudy outside or you are not leaving the house today??? Karen, please... Put on sunscreen... An put a lot of it on!!!
In short, a good moisturizer should contain insoluble SPF filters which are larger particles that will not be absorbed into the body like zinc oxide and tinosorb M, S, A2B...
THE PRESERVATIVE SYSTEM
Hear me out now... Many gel-like creams contain high concentrations of water meaning they NEED to have some preservatives in them otherwise after the first use the container will become a pool of growing bacteria...
I am not talking about any nasty parabens here... Look out for any essentials oils, food-grade, or plant-based ones...
If you made it so far bravo!!! You are one step closer to choose the correct and most effective moisturizer for your needs... I would like to conclude this post with a list of things that you should definitely avoid when searching the ingredients' list...
Many ingredients of moisturizers have the potential to cause irritant and allergic contact dermatitis; therefore, it is necessary to be aware of such potential allergens...
Fragrance is one major ingredient you stay away from... They can be irritating as well as cause severe allergic reactions... According to this study, 68% of drugstore moisturizers contain fragrance in high amounts...
Silicones are also a no-go because although they do seal in moisture they counteract with shedding trapping dead skin cells on top of your skin leading to breakouts...
Thirdly lookout for any polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) since they have limited stability and they can cause free radicals and attack DNA cells i.e. grape seed or soybean...
Lastly, stay away from oleic acid as much as possible... Here instead of oxidation, the problem is that oleic acid weakens the skin barrier causing redness...
As you can imagine the "perfect" moisturizer does not exist but I truly hope that today's blog post made it easier to understand and break down ingredients...
What are you go-to moisturizing creams and what is the number one ingredient you look for in one???
XOXO
.....Just your typical beauty sinner.....
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