guide to flawless skin: ingredients you need in your beauty regimen . . .
By Sara Franc
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ately, the cosmetic section of the store has gotten out of control, seeming to be the result of every brand competing for the consumer’s attention. With this abundant selection of skincare products springing up, it can be difficult to know what really will work and what is just a hype. Glancing at the list of foreign words that are supposed to be the ingredients is completely useless. Polyenylphosphotidyl Choline? Alpha-Lipoic Acid? The ingredients may as well be written in a different language. Forget all of the fancy terminology and stick with the basics. This quick list will allow you to narrow down your scope of ingredients and help you determine which is best for your skin type. Retinol Cream, a derivative of vitamin A, and has been used in skincare treatment for almost 40 years, but why? The answer is simple: it works. Retinol is a powerful antioxidant that protects the skin from free radicals, generates cell growth and repairs damaged cells. Retinol is often used in anti-aging creams to minimize fine lines and wrinkles and improve the skin’s texture.
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Retinol has received a bad reputation over the years because, often times, these retinoids can cause dryness and flaking, as well as redness. To prevent these undesirable effects, begin applying the cream every third night, explains Leslie Baumann, MD, director of the Cosmetic Medicine and Research Institute at the University of Miami. Vitamin A can also cause skin to be more sensitive to sunlight, so it is essential to apply retinol in the evenings.
Although there are many benefits to the use of salicylic acid, it is advised against for those with darker skin tones because the acne tends to be replaced with brown or black spots.
Salicylic Acid is derived from the bark of the willow tree and has been used since the ancient times to treat pain, fever and inflammation. However, it wasn’t until the 20th century that scientists began to look at the properties of salicylic acid for skin treatment. Since then, salicylic acid has become a leader in skin-care treatments for its proven ability to exfoliate the skin increasing cell turnover.
Please note that witch hazel found in supermarkets or grocery stores contain alcohol. It is recommended to avoid this distilled form of witch hazel to maintain all the beneficial tannins, which provide for the strong antioxidant properties for cleansing the skin. Thayer’s Alcohol-Free Witch Hazel is an excellent and affordable witch hazel formula.
Retinol can be found in many overthe-counter skin-care products, but be aware that if retinol is not listed in the first five ingredients, it probably won’t be too effective.
The chemical properties of salicylic acid are closely related to aspirin— they both stimulate circulation: the difference is that salicylic acid stimulates circulation of oil out of the pores and relieves inflammation and redness. In addition to opening up the pores, salicylic acid increases collagen production and removes discoloration from the skin.
Witch Hazel has been used throughout history, originally for medicinal purposes by the American Indians. Now, witch hazel can be found in most supermarkets or drugstores at an affordable price. It is used to heal a wide range of skin problems. Witch hazel can be used to reduce the inflammation of a blemish, shrink under-eye bags, reduce appearance of varicose veins and speed up the healing time of bruises.
Overall, avoid the ingredients that sound as though they were created by a mad scientist, and stick to the familiar. There are still hundreds of other ingredients that can be found in the cosmetics section, but these are just a few basics that can get the product search started and get you closer to skin perfection.