Anti-Aging Skin Care: Why Can't We Just Keep it Simple?
If you've ever tried to find a skin care product to deal with
the skin care concerns of aging skin, you're probably as
confused as the average person. There are so many products and
ingredients that tout 'increase in this', 'decrease in that' ,
'revitalized this and revitalized that' and on and on and on.
Many empty promises or over-hyped formulations.
In order to understand what anti-aging skin care products are
intended to do, you have to first understand about what the
aging process is for skin. Aging skin has the condition where
the structural proteins that bind and support the skin, collagen
and elastin, lose their resiliency and cohesion, causing the
skin to wrinkle and/or sag. The body's ability to produce new
collagen and elastin also diminishes with age while the cells in
the various layers of our skin decline and thin, loosing the
ability to adequately maintain moisture. Without proper
hydration, the healing mechanisms of the skin cease to function,
adversely affecting the skin's ability to receive nutrients and
repair itself. The result is rough, lose, wrinkled skin.
Of course, we all want to have the best skin possible at any age
and are searching for solutions to maintain our skin's
youthfulness. In our quest and with the constant marketing and
advancements in skin care, it can sometimes be difficult to find
an affordable and effective solution for great skin care.
However, what you need to know is that it doesn't have to be
that complex (as many of the product name suggest!). What you
should consider is that what any skin care program should be is
simple. That's it, just simple. The results that we all want are
simple: soft, smooth, clear, radiant, younger-looking skin.
Too much of the time now days, skin care marketers are trying to
convenience consumers that they need formulations that no
average consumer can understand, or day and night products, or
formulations that highly successful, well-known personalities
would use. If you think about it, how many products do you
currently have in your storage that were purchased because of
these marketing strategies? With these types of advertising,
there are so many re-touches and questionable representation of
the product effectiveness because the personality also receives
so many other types of services and procedures that impact the
condition of skin that you really cannot know the true results
that the highly marketed products will bring. The positive side
of the situation is that there are constant and ever evolving
advances in skin care and we all have the option for our skin
condition improving with age.
If you are looking for a skin care program, there are some
guidelines you may want to consider when making your skin care
choices:
Protect your skin while you are in the sun and extreme weather.
Use proper protection.
Drink lots of water. It's so important for proper skin
hydration and keeping your body clean from toxins and other
chemicals that could cause adverse reactions in your skin.
You should know what you are using on your skin. If you can't
pronounce the majority of the ingredients or there are more than
5 or 6 ingredients, then it may be too complex for what your
skin actually needs. Skin care that uses these types of
formulations are full of fillers, coloring, preservatives, and
chemicals that are not beneficial for your skin and come with a
high price where the consumer is paying for the filler more so
than the active ingredients. These types of ingredients are only
needed to fill up the bottle and make it appealing to smell or
touch. Sometimes products will contain multiple active
ingredients but in order to formulate these ingredients, it
requires that other ingredients be added. You end up paying for
something your skin cannot use. The cheaper ingredients are
filling up the bottle. Try a similar approach to how you would
choose your food (skin is 'live cells' and needs nourishment).
Watch the labels and choose products with skin healthy
formulations where the active ingredients are 80% of the
ingredients.
You should use a good and effective cleanser. This is the most
important step in your skin care process. Many cleansing
products do not leave your skin feeling smooth and deeply
cleansed. Find a product that goes deep into the pores, provides
light exfoliation and conditioning, and does not leave any
residue. Applying moisturizers and treatments on top of skin
that is not completely clean will just make the problem worse by
clogging pores and showing a rough, uneven skin texture.
You should be able to adjust your program to meet your skin's
daily needs. If you can't adjust the use of the products to
match what your skin needs on a particular day, are you really
getting what you need? Your program should be able to hydrate,
heal, and renew your skin. You should see this gradual
improvement everyday and not have to wait 30 to 60 days for
results. It's like watering a plant. A plant that needs water as
a critical nutrient will respond immediately to the water being
absorbed through its roots and perk up within a few hours. Watch
your skin for a week or so and you'll know how effective the
program can ultimately be for your skin care needs.
You should be able to quickly go through your regime. It should
not take more than 5 minutes. A skin care program should include
the steps to cleanse, exfoliate, treat and/or moisturize. You
should be able to pick and choose what you need based on you
skin's current condition for that day.
You should not be able to feel the product on your skin. In
order for skin care to really be effective, it must penetrate
the skin cells. Product sitting on top of your skin is product
that is not penetrating the skin layers. Products with fillers
and other unnecessary, complex formulations will may not get
deep or directly enough to provide the treatment and results you
are looking for. You should not know that you are wearing your
skin care.
You should feel comfortable with makeup optional skin. If your
skin care is really working, your skin will improve and you will
not want to put makeup on it if you don't have to. Most skin
problems are correctable to a large degree. You should be able
to go out feeling confident that your skin is at its best (with
minimal makeup) no matter what your age is. Also, by using
makeup less, you are giving your skin more time to repair and
restore itself without the interruption of other product
chemicals on your skin.