Monday, April 7, 2014

Moisturizers: Why Your Moisturizer Plays Such A Big Role In Skin Condition

This article is all about moisturizing. Learn all about moisturizers, what they do and why we need them.

Here’s what you’ll learn:
  •         First, you need to know the science behind the skin, what our skin needs and why moisturizing is important.
  •         The perfect moisturizer; what it should do and why.
  •         Added Benefits that are now in moisturizers. Treat while moisturizing.
  •         What moisturizer you should use for your skin type.
  •         How to properly moisturize your skin.


Science of the Skin and Moisturizers


The skin is a complex organ with many layers. It’s actually the largest organ in our bodies. It’s designed to minimize moisture loss from the body while preventing foreign materials from entering. To accomplish these functions, the skin must have a protective covering of lipids, or oil-soluble molecules. If this function is disrupted, it results in trans epidermal water loss or TEWL. This is associated with a bunch of conditions such as dermatitis and other chronic diseases. Moisturizers can prevent and improve these conditions because they restore the skin and help create a barrier to prevent water loss.

This is why moisturizers usually contain some oil-soluble components and can be used to restore the skin to its natural condition. Most moisturizers use a mixture of oil and water soluble components called an emulsion.  

But oil and water don’t mix! So then you need a surfactant. A surfactant is a chemical that attracts both oil and water to mix them. A surfactant must have two parts, one that binds water and one that binds oil.

Example of a surfactant: One of the most common examples of a surfactant is dishwashing soap. It contains chemicals that bind both water and oil. When combined with water, the mixture can bind the greasy residue on our dishes. It pulls it off as the mixture runs over the dish. Water alone would just slide over the oil and wouldn’t be able to remove it from the dish.

Hydration


Moisturizing your face is not only an important part when taking care of your skin but keeping your body well hydrated is just as important.

Not drinking enough water can affect virtually every aspect of our health. Your skin carries out a ton of biochemical reactions. If there isn’t enough moisture then many of these reactions aren’t carried out properly, which causes your skin to look dry and dull.

Dehydration can also accelerate the aging process and dry skin is one of the biggest causes of wrinkles, so moisturizing your face will help combat these factors.

The Perfect Moisturizer

A combination of hydration, lipid replacement and protection is needed. You want to hydrate your skin, replace lipids and provide a protective barrier. Water alone won’t increase the moisture level because it would just evaporate off the skin. A protective lipid coating is also needed to prevent the loss of water. Our skin has a protective barrier but it needs help. Ideally, a product will partially protect the skin by supplementing the barrier. By partially protecting it your natural barrier still has to work and will continue to work even if it’s taken off. If you put on a completely occlusive product, your natural barrier will be disrupted and it won’t work when you take it off.

Some properties that you’ll find in moisturizers are humectants like glycerin and lactic acid that help attract and help retain moisture and emollients made from fatty acids that soften and smooth. These are often in moisturizers and occlusives (known as “barrier creams”), such as petrolatum, dimethicone or lanolin and  leave a film on the surface of the skin and seal in moisture. 

Most products contain a combination of humectants, emollients and occlusives, so it’s easier to choose a moisturizer based on your skin type.

Added Benefits

Not all skin moisturizers are made the same and they certainly don’t contain the same ingredients.
Always wear a moisturizer that contains a sunscreen of SPF 15 or higher during the day to protect your skin from sun damage.

The newest thing in moisturizers is liposomes. They’re little spheres of lipids. They look like little bubbles that can restore the lipid layer but also can carry active ingredients inside them introducing a whole new spectrum of ingredients. These ingredients are vast and can do all sorts of good things for our skin.

A Moisturizer for Every Skin Type

So what do we need based on our skin type? Each skin type needs a different type of moisturizer because each skin type has different needs.

Here’s what I suggest with every skin care selection. Don’t look for a certain product because this can be deceiving since manufacturers make claims that can’t be proven. Instead of looking for a product, look for ingredients.

Dry Skin – Dry skin is usually caused by an impaired barrier. The skin is dry because the barrier is not producing enough oil and it’s impaired. The barrier being impaired makes the person with dry skin susceptible to TEWL. So these people need a moisturizer with hydration, oil and they need a barrier cream or something to coat and protect.

Try to look for ingredients like hyaluronic acid (attracts water and locks it into the surface), fatty acids, Copper PCA (a powerful humectant that brings moisture from the atmosphere into skin), Glycerin (a highly effective humectant present in all natural lipids.  Attracts just the right amount of water to skin to maintain balance.  Forms a natural barrier that keeps moisture in and skin smooth), Lecithin (helps improve the skin's barrier function) and Shea butter.

Oily Skin – This type of skin has a barrier that is overactive. The barrier is producing an excess of the natural oils and because of that skin is oily and greasy. This can cause the follicles to get clogged with oil. Oil, debris and dead skin cells can get stuck together and clog pores and people with oily skin will then have breakouts because of it.

Many people think they have oily skin if they get a little shiny sometimes. You can label your skin oily if an hour after you wash it, it’s oily. If you start getting oily hours later, odds are you have combination skin.

So many people think the solution is simple, get rid of the oil. But it’s not that easy. You don’t want to strip away all of the oil because that’s what’s protecting your skin.  It’s a tough balance to find when most products geared towards oily skin are harsh and can strip and damage skin. What often happens when people try to get rid of the oil is that the skin starts producing more oil to make up for it.

People also think that they don’t need to moisturize if they have oily skin and that’s also not true. You need to moisturize in order to keep your skin balanced so it doesn’t try to over compensate and produce more oil.

Unfortunately, our skin types can’t be changed. They are genetic and can only be controlled. The trick to moisturizing oily skin is to control the oil. Oily skin obviously isn’t lacking in oil so you will need a moisturizer that is light and oil-free.  This skin type can really benefit from products that control oil. Look for ingredients like salicylic acid. In small amount this ingredient will eat oil and will control the oil. Warning: using anything over 1% salicylic on a daily basis can over process, so stick to safe levels.

Combination skin - This is a combination of 2 skin types. Most of these types are oily in the t-zone but normal or dry in other areas. This skin type needs to be balanced. This skin type needs an oil-free, light weight moisturizer that will balance the skin. Look for these ingredients: Lactic Acid and Amino Acids (provide lightweight hydration that helps keep skin in balance), Dimethicone (An oil-free, moisturizing ingredient that helps protect and condition skin and self-adjusts to absorb only where needed) and Water-Soluble Silicones (oil-free, noncomedogenic ingredients that replenish moisture,  prevent further moisture loss and self-adjust to skin’s needs, absorbing only where needed).
Sensitive skin – This skin type is really unique.  Sensitive skin can be related to impaired barrier function of the skin’s surface layers. Without this protection, skin becomes dry and easily irritated. Barrier function can be diminished through intrinsic ageing, sun exposure, climatic conditions and the use of skincare products that remove skin lipids (sebum) and cause irritation.
Sensitive skin types need a moisturizer that will help fortify the skin barrier function, contains no known irritants or sensitizing agents and are very mild. The perfect moisturizer would hydrate, moisturize and protect without irritating. Look for some of these ingredients: Hyaluronic Acid and Glycolipids (encourage the skin to attract and retain vital moisture), Lecithin (helps improve the skin's barrier function) and Chamomile Extract and Arnica (soothe and improve suppleness).

Steps to moisturizing
After you cleanse your face, you should immediately tone and moisturize. If you leave it too long after cleansing without doing this, the moisture can evaporate, taking your skin’s natural moisture with it. Apply the moisturizer to your entire face as well as your décolleté.



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