Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Anti-aging creams: Are they effective or not?

Oh, those fine lines and wrinkles...When they occur, we know that our teenage years are over forever.

And every women (and men too actually) who care about her skin, start to look for anti-aging creams in that hope that they can stop and reverse the aging process.

We can find countless anti-aging creams on the market which promise for us almost eternal youth.

But what's the truth? Are they really effective or are we wasting our money? Which one is better: the cheaper or the expensive one?

Before I start to answer these questions, let me explain some things about wrinkles.

Why do we have wrinkles?

Probably you already answered the first half of this question: we have wrinkles, because we are getting old. And the second half in a very simple: Over 30 years old, in the skin's connective tissue the collagen and elastin decrease, so wrinkles occur.

With aging the fibroblast cells produce less and less collagen and elastin fibers, therefore the dermis sinks and the skin loses its firmness, elasticity and becomes wrinkled. The skin is less able to bond moisture and the greater portion of the oils have disappeared, leaving the surface dry and cracked. The hormone levels have an impact on skin aging too. There is a reduction in the supply of beneficial hormones delivered to the skin cells, so the fat pads in the skin begin to shrink and the result is a sagging skin.

In my other post I am talking about why collagen and elastin creams aren't effective: The truth about collagen

We can't do anything against aging and top of that there are other factors that effect wrinkles too:

  • Genetics: if your parents don't have too much wrinkles (let's say they are over 50 years old), there is a chance that you will not have wrinkles too soon either and vica versa
  • Smoking: smoking slows down the blood circulation and the skin can't get enough oxygen. If oxygen doesn't get to the cells, then the cells can't rebuild and they don’t regenerate as quickly as they should and fine lines and wrinkles occur. Smoking also stimulate our body from harmful free radical formation.
  • Lack of sleep: sleep researchers say your body is healing and repairing itself while you are sleeping and as I wrote in my previous post, at night the metabolic activity of the skin cells are the highest. So if you don't sleep enough, then the cells can't regenerate themselves.
  • Sun exposure: the sun damages the fibers of the connective tissue, breakdown the collagen and elastin. Note: UV rays can pass through glass!
  • Skin color: darken skin gets wrinkles later than light skin

Our skin aging is an unstoppable process. There are some wrinkle creams that have ingredients that may reduce the appearance of wrinkles, but the bottom line is: every creams, laser treatments, chemical peels, fat transfers, Botox, filler injections, etc give us just temporary solutions. Some of the common ingredients in wrinkle creams contain ingredients that may improve the appearance of wrinkles, no real scientific studies have been conducted.

Drugstore wrinkle creams are not distributed by prescription and this is why they have lower concentrations of active ingredients. It means the products’ results are limited and short-lived.

Just because some anti-aging creams are more costly doesn't mean it has better effects than a cheaper one. Price generally has nothing to do whatsoever with effectiveness.

There are certain creams which show some improvement, but as you stop using them, your skin will be as it was before. Many creams contain ingredients that aggravate the skin enough to result in a little bit of swelling, which in turn is what covers the actual lines and wrinkles.

I heard about many anti-wrinkle and eye-wrinkle creams that how amazing they are, but when I checked their ingredients I had to realize that they weren't safe or effective. In a wrinkle cream -and any other creams- you have to avoid mineral oil, fragrances (if it's not essential oils) and some alcohols.

What are the effective ingredients in a wrinkle cream?

  • Retinol
  • Hydroxy acids (Alpha hydroxy acids, beta hydroxy acids and poly hydroxy acids)
  • Coenzym Q10
  • Copper peptides (ie. Palmitoyle penapeptide-4, known as matrixyl)
  • Kinetin
  • Sesaflash
  • Green tea
  • Phytessence wakame
  • Alpha Lipoic Acid
  • Acetyl Hexapeptide-3
  • Acetyl tetrapeptide-5

And there are of course many other natural remedies for fine lines as Jojoba oil, Chamomile essential oil, Rose essential oil, Apricot-kernel oil, Carrot-seed oil, Grape Seed Oil, Pomegranate Seed Oil, Carrot Oil, Cranberry Seed Oil, pineapple, avocado pulp, aloe-vera, papaya, etc.

Summary:

The ugly truth is: there is no magic wrinkle cream on the market which helps to stop wrinkles and reverse it completely. The best what you can do is try to prevent and slow down the aging process as much as you can with healthy lifestyle, proper diet, lots of water, lots of sleep and natural skin care products (mainly with moisturizer). Aging is a natural process and unfortunately we can't do anything against it, but accept it. Don't forget: every age has its beauty!

Source: SkinCare.net

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