First of all, your skin is an organ, and like other organs in your body, it needs several things to be completely healthy. Your body could not survive if you gave it food but never water, or exercise but never sleep. Different skin has different needs. In order to truly give your skin the protection, benefits, and repair it needs to fight the signs of aging, it is necessary to treat each of its individual needs. A good anti-aging skin care system should work synergistic-ally and should contain:
A Soap-free Cleanser: Soap strips skin of the natural oils necessary to protect it and keep it looking healthy. A good cleanser should clean pores gently and leave skin feeling soft and supple.
A Toner: A toner corrects the PH level of skin. If the PH level is not in balance, neither will skin be in balance. It will become either too dry or too oily, or be a combination of both. Just rinsing your face with water will throw off the skin’s PH balance.
A Light-weight Eye Cream: The skin around the eyes is made up of very sensitive glands. This is why the first signs of aging occur there. Using a normal cream around the eye area will cause the skin to stretch and droop over time.
A Sun Protective Day Cream: A good day cream should have an SPF of at least 15 and should be light-weight and moisturizing.
A Night Cream: Night creams contain special ingredients that help skin in it’s natural regeneration process, which happens at night. Skin also can become seriously dehydrated at night as it works hard to heal and repair damage done during the day.
Next, we all agree that an anti-aging skin care product should produce results, or do what it says it will. Have you ever bought a product that claims some sort of benefit, only to find after weeks of use it hasn’t done a thing? Or it’s even made your skin worse. Here’s the reason why: Mineral oil. Mineral oil, or petroleum, makes up the base of over 96% of all skin care, cosmetics, hair care and beauty products on the market today. It is an occlusive, colorless and odorless substance that is a by-product of crude oil. It has no added benefit, and has even been found to be damaging. First, mineral oil is occlusive, meaning it creates a barrier. As a barrier, it both prevents beneficial ingredients in skin care products from penetrating and stimulating the cells, and toxins the skin is responsible for excreting form being able to escape. Mineral oil is the leading cause of acne breakouts, and prolonged skin conditions. It is also the number two cause of premature aging, because it prevents dead skin cells from sloughing off and allowing new skin cells to take their place. Repeated use of mineral oil could also have a negative effect on your health as it has been strongly linked to cancer and has even been banned in European countries.
Another thing a good anti-aging skin care product should not have is animal by-product. What is animal by-product you might ask? Euthanized pets from vets and animal shelters, road kill, the entrails from slaughter houses, and farm animal carcasses are gathered and sent to rendering plants where they are boiled until the fat rises to form a foamy froth on top. That froth is then taken and sold to cosmetic companies and used as a filler or thickener in most skin care, cosmetic, and hair care products. Not only is this disgusting and potentially harmful because of the hormones present in livestock, it also affects the quality of the product. When a product is loaded with fillers it becomes less concentrated, meaning you have to use more. The only way to know if a product contains animal by-product or not is to read the label. If it says, “No Animal By-product” you’re good to go. If not, I’d be searching for another product.
The last thing we look for in a good anti-aging product is that it is safe. Did you know that whatever you put on your skin is absorbed in 26 seconds? Research has shown that more toxins enter the body through the skin than the mouth, so we figure, it’s probably a good idea that the product we’re going to be slathering on ourselves twice a day should not contain any harmful ingredients. Aside from chemical dyes and fragrances, some other ingredients known to be harmful include, mineral oil or petrolatum, Formaldehyde donating preservatives, parabens, sodium lauryl sulfate or sls, and talc found in many powders.
So if you’re looking for a good anti-aging skin care product that is targeted, concentrated, produces results, and is safe, you may need to look a little further than your local drug store. Even many products found at the health food store can contain harmful ingredients as they are not required to meet FDA standards. Swiss skin care is usually your best bet as they have to adhere to very high standards that surpass even the FDA standard. Also, look for products that contain super ingredients like vitamins A, C, and E, and are formulated mainly from plants and botanicals, as they will far surpass the safety and quality of those that are chemically based; which, unfortunately, make up over 90% of all beauty care products.
Get educated about the many beauty products out there and how to find the best ones, and your skin will thank you for it by looking radiant and youthful into your old age.