For most skin care consumers, attempting to decode the ingredients on the back of a skin moisturizer product can be a little overwhelming. Fortunately for those of us lacking a degree in chemistry, all moisturizers are pretty much structured in the same way. Moisturizers mimic the skin’s own moisturizing abilities by utilizing ingredients that either impede the loss of water or attract water from the dermis layer to the skin’s surface.
Ingredients found in moisturizers can be broken into two categories: occlusive agents and humectant agents. Occlusive agents create an oily barrier on the surface of the skin in order to seal in the skin’s moisture. Paraffin, beeswax, cocoa, and petrolatum are common occlusive ingredients used in moisturizers. Occlusives can be very heavy and cause breakouts in acne-prone individuals. Some moisturizers replace the use of occlusive agents with silicones which produces the same oily feel minus the pore-clogging properties of oil.
The second type of ingredients, humectant agents, increase the skin’s water content by attracting moisture from the underlying skin tissue. Many humectant agents, such as lactates and urea, found in the top moisturizers occur naturally in the skin. These highly retentive agents can hold up to 1000 times their weight in water making them extremely effective at increasing water content to the surface layer of skin.
Occlusive and humectant agents are not the only ingredients that make up a good moisturizer. Emollients fill in tiny creases between surface skin cells making the skin softer and smoother. Preservatives are essential to preventing the growth of bacteria and minimizing the risk of product contamination. Emulisifiers allow normally, non-mixable solutions to blend rather than separate into layers like oil and water would. Solvents dissolve ingredients making them absorbable. And finally, fragrances are added to disguise foul odors and give the product a pleasing scent.
Moisturizers fall into two groups: water-in-oil and oil-in-water formulas. These moisturizers are better known as night and day creams, respectively. Day creams are light and easily absorbed. Night creams are heavier and more oily than their counterpart allowing it to stay on the skin surface for an extended period of time.
Developing a good moisturizer is a matter of using the proper balance of the above mentioned ingredients. A recommended option to applying a seemingly infinite number of skin care products is an anti aging cream called LifeCell. This all-in-one treatment is not only a moisturizer but an age-spot reducer, corrective eye treatment, lip-plumper, and make-up base. Now that you have taken a crash course in moisturizer formulations, dare to read the active ingredients label before purchasing your next moisturizer.
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