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What Should I Look For in Skincare Products? (Part 2)
There are so many Cosmeceutical products available these days how do you decide what is what? Well my simple advice to this would always be check your ingredients and once you find out the key active in a product check out what it does.
Take Retinol for instance. Retinol is Vitamin A and is collectively known as retinoids. Research on this ingredient has been conducted for nearly a century and has given plenty of comprehensive findings regarding the importance of Vitamin A. Studies have shown retinol as a viable solution for combating skin ageing and problematic skin when delivered in a stable formulation at high concentrations. Retinol can be obtained from the diet either directly from foods such as fish oil and liver or indirectly in the form of beta-carotene. In order for Retinol to be biologically active it does need to be able to convert into the Retinoic acid form of Vitamin A and in fact, studies show that concentrations of 1% Retinol produced results equivalent to prescription strength retinoic acid.
What will Vitamin A do for your skin? IF applied in the correct concentrations with the backed science, Retinol will stimulate collagen, exfoliation and increase cell renewal.
Here’s another ingredient people talk about now – it’s the third generation Cosmeceutical ingredient and it’s commonly known as Vitamin C. However, not all forms of Vitamin C work as effectively as L-Ascorbic acid. L-Ascorbic acid is our natural form of Vitamin C – the form our body uses and recognises that means, if you apply it in a serum form there is no conversion process required, the skin already recognises it and finds it useful. Peer reviewed studies (not white papers) being produced are showing that using a combination antioxidant with ingredients like L-Ascorbic acid, Ferulic acid and now Phloretin can offer broad spectrum protection against damaging UVA and UVB rays and when applied topically in conjunction with a broad spectrum sunscreen can be more effective than each of the products alone at preventing the formation of thymine dimers the precursor to skin cancer.
Ferulic acid (Ubiquitous plant antioxidant) is one of the latest ingredients to be introduced into the SkinCeuticals product range – not only is it effective as an antioxidant in its own right so therefore neutralises free radicals but has also been proven to suppress radiation-induced oxidative reactions; absorbs UV (approved sunscreen in Japan), offers anti-inflammatory properties and acts synergistically with other antioxidants, improving their potency, and easily absorbs into skin.
Phloretin is another ingredient which SkinCeuticals have started working with – derived from the bark of apple and pear trees, Phloretin is anti-inflammatory; shown to accelerate cell renewal, act as a pigment regulator and Penetration enhancer.
It’s all about the combination of antioxidants – no one antioxidant works as effectively as a combination. For example, SkinCeuticals have a combination antioxidant combining both L-Ascorbic acid at 10%, Phloretin at 2% and 0.5% of Ferulic in a cosmetically elegant topical product. Application is easy – once a day every day for…………well the rest of your life!
Tracey Beesley
Tracey Beesleys fascination with skincare was born originally from her own sun worshipping skin woes and more specifically her days living and working in Los Angeles, California where she became aware of the extensive aesthetics industry and the use of Cosmeceutical skincare products as a normal skincare regime. But her relentless search for products that really do deliver results led her and her husband David to set up a Cosmeceutical distribution business which has become highly successful over the past eight years. Her business background in advertising, management and extensive skincare knowledge gleaned over the last eight years, has helped SkinBrands to find brands that resonate with todays beauty savvy women. Since bringing SkinCeuticals to the UK in 2003, Tracey and David have helped forge the cosmeceutical market in the UK.
Alison McMath - http://www.alisonmcmath.com
Added on Tuesday 2 March 2010 at 13:27:21
I'm sampling Phloretin CF at the moment and you're right about ease of application. Daily use (for ever) is a small price to pay for healthier skin.
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