Every year, women are bombarded with miracle ingredients and revolutionary formulations in skin care products. Do these live up to the cleverly marketed promises?….

Glorified formulations, elusive names, glamorous packaging and advertising, What was collagen and placenta thirty years ago became liposome and co-enzyme Q10 today.

According to www.naturalmatters.net; Mainstream manufacturers adopt a new trend in ‘natural’ and exotic ingredients such as lotus flower, green tea and silk proteins. Every new formulation is marketed as a new breakthrough in science and gives a new dimension in today’s beauty world. However, through clever wording, manufacturers are still able to promise eternal youth.

It is not allowed to say, that a cream reverses ageing, but it is perfectly legal to say that skin appears younger. Thankfully, even those claims have to be proven.

The most popular procedure used by cosmetic companies to prove results is by asking 30 women between 30 and 65 years of age, to use an anti-ageing product on one part of their face and a product without the tested ingredient on the other part. After 30 days, scientists measure roughness, wrinkle deepness and moisture levels in skin. However, comparative tests with two different products are not standard. It is not enough to get a positive result. Skin has to appear better after the cream has been used. This is often described as a direct result of one of the ingredients. But there is no scientific proof whether the skin tone has improved through a particular component of the cream.

Most creams improve skin condition, particularly in terms of moisture levels. However, this gives no indication on the effectiveness of certain ingredients.

Dermatologists criticise advertising slogans such as ‘allergy tested’ as this is one of the most basic and cheapest tests to conduct. It says very little about whether a product is non-irritating and safe to use. New substances, which are regularly marketed as miracle ingredients or revolutionary, are mostly clever marketing strategies in order to boost sales figures.

The trend to include exotic ingredients such as lotus flower, water lilies, ginseng and ginkgo is down to the plants ability to act as an anti-oxidant. However, concentrations in creams are far too low. More and more products include plant-based phyto-hormones, which should help in the fight against aging. Theoretically, these substances could work like oestrogen in the skin and increase collagen production, which in return could regenerate sun damage.

Another advertising argument is UV filters. The problem with chemical UV filters is that they are believed to mimic hormones in the body and physical filters such as titanium dioxide and zinc oxide (used in natural/organic sun creams) are difficult to turn into soft and light lotions. According to dermatologists, skin ageing is a huge jigsaw puzzle and so far, specialists have not fully understood its process.

The cosmetics industry throws themselves on these puzzle pieces and formulate products based on the little knowledge we have on skin ageing. Whether this puzzle is ever going to be fully resolved is questionable. Manufacturers desperately mix ingredients, which are believed to be part in developing healthy skin, into formulations which have shown positive results in lab tests: Vitamin A is believed to stimulate collagen production, Vitamin C and E fight against free radicals and co-enzyme Q10 shall reduce stress factors. A scientific proof for this, however, is missing. Dermatologists say that there is hardly any scientific data available to prove the effectiveness of Q10.

I agree with www.naturalmatters.net What is needed are clinical, independent studies and long-term testing to prove assumptions made by the cosmetics industry. Miracles, however, shouldn’t be expected. Ageing is a democratic process; we all age, whether rich or poor, famous or not.

According to the cosmetic industry we can do something to stay young and beautiful forever. Special anti-ageing repair and lifting products keep the myth alive and suggest that we can repair aged skin from the outside. All you need is the right cream, glamorously packaged, with a hefty price tag. We seem to forget that genetic make-up, hormonal imbalances, diet and life style are directly responsible for the quality of our skin tone and texture. The fantasy that special skin care can alter this is an invention of the cosmetics industry. Promises about age control, lifting and vitality, or even 60% reduction of fine lines and wrinkles are pure marketing strategies. Fine lines may be plumped up for as long as a cream stays on the skin, and skin may appear lifted. This effect however is only for a short period of time.

According to an article on naturalmatters.net, ‘Applying topical creams cannot diminish deep wrinkles’, however whilst that is true; deep wrinkles cannot be erased with skincare, many experts will argue that they can certainly take a big leap in improving the appearance of the skin.

<p” style=”text-align: justify;”>Honest and professional guidance in the realm of understanding what really works is more likely to come from a dermatologist, a skin specialist or a facial plastic surgeon who can truly advise you on effective care and maintenance for your face and skin, and offer you a combination of permanent solutions, and short term solutions.

There are new ‘topical creams’ that are far more potent than anything before. In contrast to almost everything you can buy from make-up counters, prescription-only Retin A and Tazarotene creams have been shown to be very effective in turning back the ageing process. They stimulate the production of new skin cells, helping repair skin damaged by too much sunbathing, getting rid of brown spots and rejuvenating its texture. They get rid of fine lines, and shrink pores.

Facial plastic surgeons, dermatologists and skilled cosmetic medical professionals understand that a combination of techniques can be effective in facial rejuvenation, anti ageing and skin care.

People’s skin ages for different reasons, so you need to treat them differently, Some people get sun damage. Faces also age from repetitive muscle action, causing lines on the forehead, crow’s feet and necklines. Fat and support tissue becomes lost or moves down the face – we lose fat in our lips or cheeks, but gain fat under our eyelids. Taking good care of the skin is not just about buying skincare, there are also other fantastic solutions and procedures which are surgical and also non surgical (and let’s not forget the natural solutions too).

One last thought enters the mind: you are only ever as young as you feel.

Sources & Credits: With kind thanks to www.naturalmatters.net