I am a makeup artist, NOT an aesthetician or dermatologist. One loves to play with color, the others are skin care specialists. As I am getting older, I know I need to become more educated about what ingredients I should be looking for in my skin care and cosmetic products that help slow down the aging process. However, most of the ingredients that you read on the outside of these products are super confusing – from how to pronounce them to knowing exactly what it is they can do for you. Thanks to Allure’s Recent Insider Beauty Guide article “Skin Care A to Z,” they broke it down for us all. Here are a few key ingredients (heavy hitters) I’ll be looking for…
{A vintage Ponds Cold Cream ad.}
The above ad was touting the ingredient homogenized lanolin – neither of which was included in my Allure article. Maybe those two don’t mean much anymore??
Here are simplified (um, dumbed down!) versions of the Allure magazine descriptions us common folk (non-aestheticians and non-dermatologists) can understand:
Wrinkle Fighters & Anti-Agers:
1. AHA’s (Alpha Hydroxy Acids). These are chemicals that help with the cell turnover process that slows down as we get older. So it basically sloughs away dead skin cells. Key ingredient for anti-aging creams and cleansers.
2. Glycolic Acid – A type of AHA. It is obtained from sugarcane and dissolves away a gluelike substance that holds onto dead skin cells, making it easier for those cells to be removed, thus making skin brighter and smoother.
3. Retinoids & Retinol. Retinoids is an umbrella term used to describe all vitamin A derivatives used in skin care. Retinol is the most effective type of NON-PRESCRIPTION retinoid (also called Retin- A) which helps to ramp up exfoliation and in turn helps produce new collagen (which is a protein that makes up 80% of our skin and gives us firmer skin.)
4. Hyaluronic Acid. Another common sugar molecule, it can absorb 1,000 times its own water weight, therefor it can help plump up the skin tissues and prevent moisture from escaping (which leads to dried up wrinkle skin). It’s a key ingredient in fast acting injectables like Juvederm and Restylane.
Blemish Fighters:
1. Benzoyl Peroxide. This is an acne fighter that helps clear clogged pores, reduces inflammation, and kills bacteria that causes pimples. Can cause major dryness.
2. Salicylic Acid. A type of BHA (Beta hydroxy acid – differs from AHA bc it can permeate thru clogged pores) that removes excess oils and dead skin cells, thus keeps pimples at bay.
Of course there are tons more ingredients out there, but these are just the ones I see most often that I always get confused as to what exactly it is they do. Looks like I need to incorporate all of these in my skin care routine if I want to slow down the wrinkles and blemishes!!
Do you get confused and overwhelmed by all of the many ingredients in skin care products like I do?? Which ones are most important to you?
*In case you were wondering from the Ponds ad – homogenized means blending together of unlike elements, and lanolin is a fatty substance extracted from wool used in cosmetics, ointments, and waterproof coatings.*
