Dear Friend,
In today's marketplace, there are so many skin care products offering so many anti-blemish, anti-wrinkle benefits, deciding which to purchase can sometimes feel like you are out to sea with no land in sight. Advances in technology, along with an aging world population that wants to look younger, are what have fueled this boom in ''cosmeceuticals'' cosmetic products containing nutrients intended to alter the structure, function, and health of the skin.
While topically applied cosmeceuticals are tested for safety, testing to determine whether ingredients actually live up to a manufacturer's claims is not mandatory, and cosmeceuticals are not subject to review by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Some products, like our DermaFex™ Therapeutic Skin Care, utilize advanced or patented ingredients, created and tested through solid research and development. The credentials of other cosmeceuticals, even some with hefty price tags, may not be as impressive. The proof for today's consumers really rests in the clinical trials.
Types of Cosmeceutical Ingredients
There are several types of cosmeceutical ingredients commonly used in skin care products that have demonstrated solid results in studies.
- Retinoids are probably the most prevalent cosmeceuticals in the market. These vitamin A derivatives, like retinol, are used to exfoliate the skin and encourage new skin cells to form.
- Hydroxy acids, like glycolic acid and salicylic acid, are used to speed up the exfoliation process while improving skin tone and texture and are especially helpful in acne medications.
- Antioxidants like vitamin C, vitamin E, and coenzyme Q-10 are included to protect the skin and speed repair of damage caused by internal and external agents like UV radiation, drugs, air pollutants, heat and cold, and free radicals.
- Hormones, particularly low-dose estrogen, are intended to slow the aging process by reversing the loss of skin collagen and elasticity associated with declining hormone levels.
- Botanicals are a broad classification of ingredients that includes most of the "all-naturals". This type of ingredient deserves more scrutiny than those listed above. Many botanicals such as aloe vera and papain (papaya enzyme) have substantial clinical evidence to back up their claims of healing, moisturizing, enzymatic or other beneficial properties.
- Unique, new discoveries are another broad class of ingredients and perhaps the most exciting. The result of ongoing research and development, occasionally new cosmeceuticals like Matrixyl and WGP 3-6 B-Glucan, (pharmaceutical-grade beta glucan), show extraordinary results in initial trials.
So How Do You Know What to Choose?
In all honesty, most of us don't really care how or why a product works, we just want to find something that lives up to its promise of smooth, younger-looking skin. Here are three things to remember that might make finding your way through the sea of products easier.
- Before shopping, be clear about your specific skin care needs. For example, are you acne prone, wanting to get rid of wrinkles, tired of sagging skin, or all of the above.
- Look for the latest, advanced ingredients with clinical studies to back-up claims. Manufacturers should be able to supply you with this information. A little research can go a long way toward saving money and keeping the bathroom shelf from filling up with half-used jars and tubes.
- Don't equate cost with effectiveness.
When making your skin care choices, we hope you will take a look at our therapeutic skin care products. As with all of our OTC products: we've done the research; we have the studies; we've seen results; we use the products ourselves. And if you aren't satisfied with what you see, we also have a money back guarantee.
In Good Health,
|
Newsletters 
