Choosing The Best Skin Care Product

There is really nothing like a best skin care product. There really can’t be anything like ‘The best skin care product’, because skin care products work differently for different people based on the skin type to some extent. A product that is the ‘best skin care product’ for one person might end up being the worst for another person.

So, a more logical question to ask would be ‘What is the best skin care product for my type of skin?’ However, this still is not completely logical. We tend to segregate people into 4 groups based on their skin types i.e. dry skin, oily skin, normal skin and sensitive skin.

However, this classification is just too broad to be used definitively in determining the best skin care product. We can say ‘best skin care product for a dry skin’ or ‘best skin care product for an oily skin’ are better statements than just ‘best skin care product’. But really, that is what it is ‘better’; still not accurate.

So, it really comes to rephrasing the question to ‘What is the best skin care product for me’. Yes, this is exactly the question that you should be asking, and unfortunately there is no easy answer for this. Arriving at the best skin care product for self will need some effort on your part.

First of all, you need to understand how the skin care products work. This is simple. You can consider all skin care products to be composed of 2 types of ingredients Active and inactive. The active ingredients are the ones that actually work on your skin. The inactive ones just help in delivering these active ingredients to your skin. Both the ingredients need to work for your skin, in order for the product to be effective and move on to become the best skin care product for you.

Besides the ingredients, the way you apply your skin care products is equally important. In fact, this is even more important. If you do not know how to apply skin care products, you might forever be hunting for the best skin care product for yourself, when that has already passed you.

Moreover, it’s also important to decide on the frequency of application of the skin care product. The environmental factors - temperature, humidity and pollution level, also affect the selection of best skin care product. Here are a few rules that you could use to ensure that your best skin care product is really the best for you:

* Cleanse your skin before applying that best skin care product.

* Use a makeup remover instead of plain water and remove your makeup before going to bed.

* The effectiveness of active ingredients is reduced when applied over another product e.g. over moisturizer. So apply that best skin care product first and then apply a bit of moisturizer if needed.

* Apply the products on moist and warm skin.

* You will have to experiment with a few products before you arrive at the one that is the best skin care product for you.

* Do not exfoliate too much or too hard.

* Vary your skin care routine as per the seasons (winter/summer etc), changes in environmental factors and changes in your skin type

Note that the best skin care product cannot be determined overnight. It’s only through experiment and awareness that you can find the ‘Best skin care product’ for you.

Vitamin C An Elixir for Your Skin

Vitamin C is often regarded as a wrinkle fighter or an anti-aging agent. The main objective of ‘Vitamin C skin care’, in scientific terms, is to increase the synthesis of collagen (a structural protein that is found in skin). The additional benefit of ‘Vitamin C skin care’ is related to its capability of countering free radicals which cause damage to the skin.

Vitamin C skin care, however, faces a major challenge today. This is related to the oxidation tendency of Vitamin C skin care products. On coming in contact with any oxidizing agent (e.g. air), the Vitamin C in the Vitamin C skin care products, gets oxidized; thus making the Vitamin C skin care product useless (in fact counter-effective).

The oxidized Vitamin C imparts a yellowish-brown color to the Vitamin C skin care product. This is something that you need to check before buying a Vitamin C skin care product. Even after you buy a Vitamin C skin care product, you need to store it properly and keep checking that it’s still good to use (i.e. it hasn’t attained a yellowish-brown texture).

The manufacturers of Vitamin C skin care products have tried to deal with this (oxidation) problem in multiple ways (and research on Vitamin C skin care products is on the top of their list). One such method of retaining effectiveness of Vitamin C skin care products for a long term is to keep a high concentration (say 10%) of Vitamin C.

However, this makes the Vitamin C skin care products even more expensive. The Vitamin C skin care products are already pretty inexpensive and making them even more expensive will throw the product manufacturers out of business. The other way is to use Vitamin C derivatives (like ascorbyl palmitate and magnesium ascorbyl phosphate).

These are not only more stable but also inexpensive. Even though the derivatives based products are not as effective as the Vitamin C skin care products, their stability against oxidation is a very desirable feature that makes them very attractive. Moreover, these are known to be less irritating too.

Talking of effectiveness of Vitamin C skin care products, it’s important to mention that not everyone responds to Vitamin C treatments. So it’s not a magic potion in any way. If you don’t see a noticeable difference in your skin, it might be because of your skin not responding to Vitamin C treatment and the Vitamin C skin care products might not be at fault, at all. As more research goes on, one can only keep our fingers crossed and wait for a complete solution to the challenges faced by ‘Vitamin C skin care’ today.

Pros And Cons Of Skin Care Cosmetics

A beautiful and healthy skin is a big confidence booster. Some people are naturally beautiful and hence don’t use any ‘skin care cosmetic’. Then there are others, who don’t use skin care cosmetic due to their laziness.

Still some feel that skin care cosmetic can harm their skin, and hence abandon the use of any kind of skin care cosmetic. However, there are a large number of people who do use skin care cosmetic that’s why the business of skin care cosmetic is prospering.

So, is skin care cosmetic useful, or is it harmful? Well, the opinions seem divided. However, one thing is for sure Looking beautiful is surely nice and very desirable. Also, too much skin care cosmetic can surely be harmful as such, excess of anything is harmful. So, what does one do?

The first thing is to formulate and follow a skin care routine that will help keep your skin healthy and disease-free. The general recommendation is to cleanse and moisturize everyday, and tone and exfoliate occasionally as and when needed.

Next thing is the skin care cosmetics that you would be using additionally as beauty enhancers. These skin care cosmetics could either be part of your skin care routine or be applied only on special occasions e.g. when attending a party etc.

The most important thing with skin care cosmetic is its selection. Here is a set of rules that you should use when selecting any skin care cosmetic:

* The general rule is to use products that suit your skin type. This is true both for the routine products and for the skin care cosmetic. So check the label to see what it says e.g. ‘for dry skin only’ or ‘for all skin types’ etc.

* Test the skin care cosmetic before using it. This can be done by applying the skin care cosmetic on a small patch of skin e.g. ear lobes and checking the reaction of your skin to the product

* Check the ingredients of the skin care cosmetic for chemicals that you are allergic to. Do not use products that are very harsh on skin e.g. products with high alcohol concentrations; such cosmetics might work for once but cause a long-lasting damage to your skin.

* ‘More isn’t better’. Ensure that you apply the products in right quantity neither less not more. Also, be gentle with your skin and follow the right procedures for application of skin care products. Rubbing too hard or trying to squeeze a pimple can lead to permanent damage to your skin.

* Finally, if you have a skin disorder e.g. acne etc, you should consult your dermatologist before using any skin care cosmetic.