What Do Anti-Aging Skin Products Actually Do?
By Doug Brinlee
No one likes to get old. It is hard enough dealing with all the internal problems that can arise from age but you don’t want to look old. Everyday you may look at yourself in a mirror and see new lines that were not there before. Women especially want to halt the signs of aging. There are whole lines of beauty products on the market today that claim they can miraculously make you look like a twenty year-old (well, maybe not twenty but at least thirty). The problem is you don’t know how well these products work. Some are liable to have better results than others. But what do anti-aging products actually do?
To understand how anti-aging products work, you have to understand the aging process. Wrinkles are caused by cell breakdown due to age but there are some other factors. As you get older, the nutrients and your body’s natural moisture slowly becomes depleted, especially around the face. When the skin is not getting properly moisturized because of your body's cells naturally breaking down, then the end result is wrinkles, sagging skin, and blotchiness. Another point to remember is that your face is exposed to pollutants and irritants every day which can cause damage to the skin. Other parts of your body are covered up and protected from the elements, but your face and hands are constantly at risk.
How Do Anti-Aging Products Work?
Most anti-aging products do actually work to some degree or another. The way they work, though, can vary depending on the product and its ingredients. First of all, anti-aging products work by helping to tighten the muscles under the skin that cause wrinkles. By doing this, they can prevent wrinkles from getting worse and in some case the products can relieve wrinkles entirely (but usually only temporary). While some deep wrinkles will not go away and may only be corrected by a doctor, many signs of aging can be lessened by using these products. All those tiny lines around the mouth and eyes can be lessened and yuour skin can once again have a healthy glow to it without blotches or blemishes from age. The best anti-aging creams will be those that add nourishments such as natural vitamins, minerals, and moisture back. They can also help rebuild and repair your skin. However, in order for the products to work correctly, you have to make sure that they are used as directed. The results are going to vary on an individual basis depending on the advancement of aging.
Good Antiaging Ingridients
Okay, we are going to get a little technical here. First of all, anti-aging products are only effective if they contain the right ingredients. You want good antiaging ingredients that will replenish what your body is losing. One important ingredient is Anti-oxidant acids. Anti-oxidants are essential in helping to repair your skin after it has been damaged, either from the process of aging or from exposure to the environment. When choosing a good anti-aging product, look on the ingredients and make sure it has this.
As you get older, your body’s collagen begins to break down which you need for firm skin. There is this fairly new ingredient called Cynergy TK that is suppose to stimulate your own collagen and encourage it to grow. There have been some research into Cynergy TK that proves it not only stimulates just your collagen but also elastin, which your skin needs to be flexible and to return to normal after being stretched.
And finally, vitamins are also very important ingredients in effective anti-aging products. The two that your body really needs is vitamins A and E. These provide important nutrients for your skin to maintain a healthy look.
Antiaging Products You Should Avoid
Not all anti-aging products are as effective and some even contain ingredients which are counter-productive. These are some of antiaging products you should avoid. Again, it is important to check out the label for the list of ingredients. There are three main ingredients in anti-aging skin products that you should look out for. The first is mineral oil. Yes, I know, it is used in many skin products as a moisturizer but there is a drawback to using it. Since it is an additive oil that you are applying to your skin you run the risk of clogging up your pores and causing more skin problems. Then you have to go out and buy another product to counter that. See how the industry works? Try to avoid any products with mineral oil.
Another ingredient that you should avoid is alcohols such as ethanol, ethyl alcohol, methanol, benzyl alcohol, and isopropyl alcohol. These types of alcohol are found in many skin care products but the problem is that they can dry out your skin and strip away essential natural oils for moisturizing. This will leave your skin damaged which is completely counter-productive to what you are trying to do.
And the third type of ingredient that you should avoid is collagen. No, it is not harmful or anything but rather misleading. Many manufacturers of anti-aging products advertise that their product contains collagen which can replace your body’s own depleted collagen. The fact is, the molecules in collagen are too big to pass through our skin. You can get anti-aging products that stimulate our body’s own collagen but you can’t replace it by using just a cream.