Women spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars each year on expensive anti-ageing creams. But the pricey creams may not be all they are cracked up to be and in many cases the same effect can be achieved by using plane old, inexpensive moisturiser.
Women need to be careful to not to be taken in by fancy advertising or “scientific sounding words” For example, “These emollients are specially formulated with aqua and humectants.” In plain English this means, “These lotions and creams contain water and moisturisers. Also, it is probably a good idea to avoid products that claim to offer ‘miracles’; if it sounds to good then it probably will succeed in taking your money and nothing else.
Often times the fine print tells you the real truth about the product with statements like, “has not been proven to have a physical lifting effect” or “although it has been designed to target problem areas around the thighs and bottom it has not been proven to have a slimming effect.” The advertising or names of these products often times leads consumers to believe the opposite of the truth.
The products that do work tend to only have the same effect as a simple inexpensive moisturiser would. Wrinkles deepen and increase with time. Bar having a facelift the only way to reduce the appearance of wrinkles is by using creams and makeup. However, it seems that all the expensive anti-aging creams do is get absorbed by the skin, swells up and give the temporary appearance of fewer wrinkles. The exact same effect can be achieved by using a standard moisturiser that does not claim to contain any fancy ingredients such as peptides, retinal, c-60 and boswelox.
There are a number of factors that contribute to the development of wrinkles. One of the main factors discovered by scientists appears to be your genes. Wrinkles will probably run in the family. Take a look at your mother’s face; it is likely you will development a similar level of wrinkles.
However, genes are not the only factor contributing to wrinkles. Exposure to the sun is one of the biggest causes of wrinkles. The best way to prevent wrinkles is just a simple application of sun cream that includes UVA and UVB protection.
Speaking to the BBC, Dr. Tamara Griffiths of the British Skin Foundation, said, “There’s very robust scientific evidence that sun exposure is the cause of many of the changes we associate with looking old like coarse wrinkles and sallow texture.”
In fact scientists believe so strongly in the protection benefits of sun cream that it may be the only cream that is entitles to claim ‘anti-ageing’ benefits.
After exposure to the sun the next biggest cause of wrinkles is smoking. “Both sunlight and smoking create nasty molecules called free radicals.” These free radicals are very bad for the skin, causing damage and taking away the skins elasticity by attacking its collagen.
Currently there is no miracle cream that will reduce wrinkles caused by sun damage and the aging process. However, there still may be hope. Tretinoin a prescription acne crème has shown some positive effects on the skins ability to produce collagen. However this cream has a number of unpleasant side effects, which result in it only being able on prescription.
Tretinoin is now being studied further at the University of Manchester. The university is also conducting tests on moisturiser.
Another reason to beware of the promises anti-ageing creams make is that these are cosmetics. Chris Griffiths from the University of Manchester says that if the cosmetic company actually develops a cream that they can prove repairs damaged skin then it would possibly fall into the realm of pharmaceuticals. This would mean that the product would not released onto the market for a much longer period, as years of testing would have to be conducted before a license was granted.
Until more tests on Tretinoin are done the best way to reduce the ageing process is to avoid smoking, stay out of the sun and using a simple moisturizer that contains UVB and UVB protection. Save your money for your vacation.
Sources
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/6498421.stm
http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/boltonlife/display.var.1272851.0.top_tips_for_keeping_young_and_healthy.php
Expensive Anti-Ageing Cream No Better Than Cheap Moisturiser
