Moisturizing Skin Care

If there are three words that are important in maintaining a radiant and healthy glow, these are moisturize, moisturize and moisturize.

By decreasing water loss from the epidermis, moisturizers prevent skin dryness. As people age and become increasingly exposed to environmental factors harmful to skin health, the skin tends to lose some of its protective features and may become dry and wrinkled. Choosing good products that let skin retain moisture may help it look attractively supple and soft. Extreme cases of dry and flaky skin — caused by any of a wide range of factors ranging from pollution to indoor office/home airconditioning, to illness or poor physical health — can be addressed with the right moisturizer. Your moisturizing skin care products must suit one’s skin type – normal, oily, dry, combination or sensitive.

Aside from determining the right moisturizer suited for your skin type, the next important thing to do is read as much as you can about possible harmful ingredients. Among the most common potential toxins are parabens.

Parabens serve as preservatives for thousands of moisturizing skin care products. Parabens mimi estrogen and dirsrupt the body’s hormonal processes. Another toxic ingredient is Toluene (benzoic, benzyl), which can be fatal if swallowed, plus so many others consumers unknowingly expose themselves to.

Given the vast array of moisturizing skin care products in the marketplace, finding a suitable option can be utterly confounding. Many people rely on trial and error, and move from one brand (that does not work or live up to its claims) to another. As for those who go by popular brands, dry or oily skin tend to remain a problem despite repeated use of their moisturizers.

Some people have the wrong notion that a moisturizer must be purchased only when one has developed dry skin. This is not the only function of a good moisturizer, though. There is some truth to the expression “beauty in a jar” because a skin care product like an all-around moisturizer can also protect and firm up skin and enhance its texture while also concealing flaws.

In my own experience, I have found shopping at a worthy all-natural product store which has a well-informed customer service officer more gratifying than taking a random pick at supermarkets or drugstore. Doing so takes away much of the guesswork on which is best suited for me, thereby saving myself precious time. I once discovered, for instance, a facial moisturizer brand containing the non-acidic vitamin C called Ester C and DMAE (which happen to be endorsed by an eminent dermatologist, Dr. Nicholas Perricone) which helps skin retain essential moisture. The quality brand, bruited as an antioxidant, boasts of having the most powerful skin-renewing properties. The same all-natural products store also offers a complete line of organic moisturizing skin care and body care items, some of which may be found in online stores.

It also pays to know the specific functions of certain ingredients that go inside your jar or tube of moisturizer. Does it contain vitamins and botanicals to nourish skin, improve skin tone, and reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles with repeated use. It may be worth your while to learn if the moisturizing skin care product you have selected and will be buying contains humectants and emollients, as well as what preservatives went into making them.