How to choose a cream for winter skin care: educational program from a cosmetologist
'24.12.2019'
Source: Womo
Julia Baykova, cosmetologist at the Medloung Clinic, winner of the international cosmetologist contest VBA 2018 in the nomination “cosmetologist-esthetician” told the publication Womo about skin care in the cold season.
Properly selected cosmetics for the face is an important component of the beauty and health formula of any woman.
When you hold a new jar of cream in your hands, what do you pay attention to first of all? In the name, country of origin or composition of the cream? How not to make a mistake in choosing cosmetics, so that it brings the expected effect of benefits and does not harm health?
Knowing the ingredients that make up creams, serums, lotions, and fluids will help you. They can hide under hieroglyphs, which only experienced biochemists can decrypt.
Let's try to figure out the most popular ingredients.
Hyaluronic acid in the cream
She especially warms the soul of those girls who know about the benefits of injections hyaluronic acidbut insanely afraid to give injections. Therefore, their choice will fall on the cream, which includes hyaluronic acid.
It is believed that the most effective ingredients in the cream are on the top list on the label. But! It is wrong to determine the effectiveness of the cream by the position in the list. What we can understand from the first words is what the base of the product is. The oils and emollients that make the cream rich in sensations and nutritious are all at the top of the list.
Hyaluronic acid at the top of the list of cream composition is extremely rare. Just because its working concentration ends at 1%. And it is very much and sticky to the sensations on the skin. Therefore, it’s normal to see it near the end of the list of ingredients.
Or, for example, peptides. Even if the peptide is used at a concentration of 10% (such as Argirelin), the active substance (Acetil Hexapeptid - 3) is displayed on the label by its dry weight, which is 0,001%. That is, if the active substances are arranged in order from a higher concentration to a lower one, all peptides should be at the end of the list.
Cosmetics manufacturers know current trends and, of course, use them as a marketing ploy. Nursing cosmetics - this is not a medicine, so she needs to be also aesthetically beautiful. And in a beautiful product is always a beautiful label! Therefore, you can write all components less than 1% in a way convenient for the marketer. That is, to take all the "tasty", popular ingredients in the middle of the list. So peptides and hyaluronic acid appear in the middle or even the beginning of the list, if the product is closer to the gel by consistency.
The properties of hyaluronic acid are invaluable. It is able to bind and retain water, preventing dehydration of the skin. As part of cosmetics, it creates a natural film that smoothes the skin and maintains its protective properties.
On the subject: Rule 60 seconds: a free way to improve the condition of the skin
In the winter, when the skin becomes drier, it is necessary to purchase a cream that contains hyaluronic acid (Hyaluronic Acid.). In cosmetics, hyaluronic acid is commonly used in high molecular weight form.
Its molecules cannot penetrate into the skin, since the basal layer of the skin, in which new cells are born, simply will not let it through. But hyaluronic acid creates a protective film on the stratum corneum, which prevents the transdermal loss of water from the deeper layers of the skin, especially in winter, when the skin becomes drier and more sensitive.
Very often a small amount of hyaluronic acid is added to the cream simply so that it can be written on the label. If you see that the cream contains hyaluronic acid, but the cream is very cheap, then I hasten to assure you that this ingredient is simply not here! Marketing move of the manufacturer? Unfortunately yes!
In winter, a good moisturizer should not be included glycerol. Although it is believed that it is the main source of skin hydration, but it is not! Glycerin is able to draw water from the deeper layers of the skin. And in winter, our skin is already too dry, so it requires additional hydration.
Are silicones in winter cream good or bad?
In fact, silicones act as protective occlusive films, that is, they keep transepidermal water loss from the dermis of the skin and at the same time protect the upper layers of the skin from wind and frost.
Do not forget that such a cream should be used only when going outside. When arriving home, such a protective winter cream should be washed off and a moisturizer with low molecular weight hyaluronic acid should be applied according to the type of your facial skin.
How to find out if there are silicones? They are hidden under the following words on the label:
- cyclopentasiloxane
- Cyclomethicone
- Dimethicone
- Cetyl demethicone
- Ketearyl
- methicone
- Dinethiconol
- Stlaryl dimethicone
- Trimethylsilyl lamodimethicone
- Amadimethicone.
Do not confuse vegetable oils with mineral
If you see MINERAL OIL in the cream, then it is based on PETROCHEMISTRY products, NOT VALUABLE vegetable oils, which must be part of the winter cream.
- Lanolin - Lanolin
- paraffin
- Paraffinym liguidum
- Isoparaffin
These are all close relatives of the mineral oil, and these words are easy to find on the label.
And if you see in the composition of the cream Isohexadecane, C 21 - 28 Alcane, then these are synthetic emollients that replace paraffins and mineral oil. They give a feeling of density, smoothness to the cream.
Sulfates (Sulfate), formaldehyde releasers (Formaldehyde), Phthalates (DBR, DEP) - phthalates and stabilizers that give the cream a special softness, are very toxic and can cause cancer.
Alcohols (Alcohol) in the winter cream should also not be present, since alcohol overdries the already dry and dehydrated skin in the cold period of time.
On the subject: 8 skin care mistakes you make every day
What healthy ingredients should a winter cream contain?
Winter protective face cream should be dense, it contains useful vegetable oils that nourish and protect against wind and frost, and also help restore the immunity of damaged skin cells - corneocytes, eliminating peeling and irritation.
It can be: jojoba oil, wheat germ, cocoa, calendula, chamomile, sage and macadamia.
It’s good if your cream contains flax oil. It richly omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, contains alpha-linolenic acid and oleic acid and vitamins E and F. It has anti-inflammatory and normalizing effects, cleanses the sebaceous glands, relieves irritation and accelerates the regeneration of the epidermis.
Also winter cream should include allantoin and panthenol - they well restore the protective functions of the skin and contribute to the healing of face frostbite.
Coenzyme Q10 in the cream eliminates the free radicals that we get from food, water and the environment, and also slows down the aging process of the skin, saturates the skin cells with oxygen and provides the energy necessary for the growth of a new collagen protein and elastin - the supporting fibers of the skin.
Of course, I didn’t list all the useful ingredients, but knowing even the listed components will help you not to get into the marketing tricks of the manufacturer, but only choose what you need - a winter cream that will promote the immunity of your skin and help you endure the cold months of the year.
