2007年12月19日星期三

Caring For Your Skin Using Cream And Vitamin C

Age doesn't make you less of a person. It only does if you are not taking care of your well-being and you start to abandon the realms of healthy living. For those people who are becoming stressed out by visible signs of aging, it's never too late to start regaining that youthful look and glow.

Two of the most common complaints of people when it comes to skin is having different kinds skin disorders or having visible signs of premature aging. These are what different beauty products are for to provide solution to people's common skin problems.

A different kind of cream

It is only natural for people to find ways to maintain and protect their physical beauty. Since not everyone can stay as flawless as babies due to several external factors, more and more products are being uniquely developed depending on the person's skin type and needs.

One of the most popular skin care products available in the market today is the skin care cream. Since creams are known for being easily absorbed by the skin, countless of skin care creams mostly anti-aging are being sold.

According to dermatologists, there are actually over 300 skin care creams and products created to solve different skin problems. Based on long-term reduction of wrinkles, instant reducing of fine lines, antioxidant protective properties that delay skin cell aging, collagen and skin renewal properties and skin smoothing properties, the most common skin care creams include Rejuvinol, Alpha Derma, Idebenol, Strixderm, Avotone, Strivectin-SD, Rejuvenex, and Hydroderm.

Although these skin care creams are known to contain high-grade chemicals and ingredients, which are uniquely formulated to reduce fine lines and wrinkles, most dermatologists still agree that proper skin care can help people maintain younger looking skin.

Here are some helpful tips in achieving that healthy skin:

1. The most basic thing you should learn in caring for your skin is to develop a good skin care regimen. Make sure that you clean your skin every day by deep cleansing it using safe cleansing products.

2. If you are using beauty products such as skin care creams, make sure that you are consistent in using or applying the product/s properly by following the instructions included.

3. Always keep your skin well hydrated by having enough liquid supply in your body by drinking lots of water or juices. Water or liquid intake should be 8 glasses or more daily.

4. If you're a woman, make facial skin care as your top priority by removing your make-up before sleeping. This would prevent skin pore clogging and congestion. Also, keep your makeup clean by replacing sponges and brushes regularly.

5. Always keep your skin moisturized day and night to keep it from harmful elements, which damage it. Use skin care products that have high vitamin E, shea butter, squalene, and aloe vera contents.

6. Protect your skin everyday by always using sunscreen with a SPF of at least 15. This can prevent premature skin aging, wrinkles, and fine lines. Along with sunscreen, protect your skin by using sunglasses, full-brimmed hats, long sleeved blouses, and slacks.

7. If you're smoking, quit. Giving up nicotine intake can help your skin regain its lost nutrients.

8. Reduce excessive intake of caffeinated and alcoholic drinks because they only causes dehydration which only lead to cell death.

Vitamins are essential in keeping the skin healthy. In fact, there are a lot of beauty and skin care products in the market that use these natural vitamins and minerals as their ingredients. Vitamin C, is said to be one of the vitamins that is very beneficial in helping the skin regenerate.

In order to be used on the skin, Vitamin C is transformed to L-ascorbic acid. This form, however, is pretty unstable and is in fact so hard to be used in cosmetics. This is perhaps the reason why there is only a few cosmetic products that carry Vitamin C when compared to other vitamins like A and E. Still, chemists are trying to find ways as this form is found to stimulate collagen synthesis on the skin. Unlike other vitamins, it is also able stay in the skin for as long as three days as well as prevents a reaction called UV immunosuppression, often seen in 90 percent of cancer patients in the country.

In looking for Vitamin C in products, make sure that it contains a stable L-ascorbic form and a low pH level. Highly concentrated products are also recommended. Remember that just because a product advertises Vitamin C on it front level, it does not mean that it contains the kind or the form (L-ascorbic acid) that your skin can use.

Vitamin C as shield from the sun

Vitamin C, as mentioned above, serves as a good shield from the sun, which harms the skin by drying it up and causing wrinkles and lines to show up. Vitamin C does this by neutralizing the reactive oxygen or free radicals, which is often caused by the interaction of sunlight, skin tissues and of course the cell membrane. But though it revents the absorption of light, it should not be used to replace sunscreen. Skin care experts still recommend the use of sunscreen for maximum sun protection. Still, vitamin C can be combined with sunscreens for more coverage and longer protection because once this gets into the skin, it cannot be easily washed or rubbed off.

Vitamin C as an anti-oxidant

Vitamin C is known to play a crucial role in the oxidation process. It prevents free radicals from destroying the skin. Free radicals are caused by ultraviolet rays from the sun and its reaction with oxygen.

Vitamin C stimulates Collagen

The vitamin helps synthesize collagen, a component of the skin that is essential in slowing down the aging process of the skin. L-ascorbic acid signals the collagen genes to begin creating new collagen