Tell Me about State-of-the-Art Moisturizers.

The following is a discussion of the key elements of today's state-of-the-art moisturizers. See also Our Innovative Ingredients. You will find that our moisturizers are truly state-of-the-art!

Ingredients that Mimic the Structure of Skin

Ingredients that mimic skin structure go by several names including natural moisturizing factors (NMFs). Water-binding agent and NMF are general terms that refer to ingredients capable of keeping water in the skin or repairing the skin's intercellular matrix (or basic external structure). Many ingredients have these functions.

Humectants draw water to skin and are a vital component of a moisturizer. But what good is attracting water to the skin if the structure isn't there to keep the water from leaving? Skin cells usually have plenty of water if they aren’t damaged or compromised. In healthy skin, water content typically ranges from 10-30%. If skin is irritated, over-cleansed, exposed to the sun, or dehydrated by air conditioning or indoor heaters, its integrity is compromised and water loss ensues. Aging skin also loses its ability to hold water.

The damage occurs when the substances that keep the skin cells bound together to create the surface structure we see as skin—called intercellular matrix—are depleted. This intercellular structure is made up of many different components, including ceramides, lecithin, glycerin, polysaccharides, hyaluronic acid, sodium hyaluronate, sodium PCA, collagen, elastin, proteins, amino acids, cholesterol, glucose, sucrose, fructose, glycogen, phospholipids, glycosphingolipids, glycosaminoglycans, and many more.

All of these give the skin what it needs to keep its cells healthy and firm. When a moisturizer does contain a combination of these natural moisturizing factors and water-binding ingredients, it can help reinforce the skin's ability to function normally, improve skin's texture, and with continual use, result in skin that is radiant, firm, smooth-textured and noticeably improved.

Anti-Irritants

Anti-irritants are another important aspect of any skin-care formulation. Irritation is a problem for everyone’s skin. Whether it is from the sun, oxidative damage from pollution, the environment, or from the skin-care products a person uses, irritation can be a constant attack on the health of your skin. Ironically, even such necessary ingredients as sunscreen agents, preservatives, exfoliants, and cleansing agents can cause irritation. Other ingredients, like fragrance, menthol, and sensitizing plant extracts, are primary irritants and are generally void of genuine benefits for skin.

Anti-irritants are incredibly helpful because they allow skin healing time and can reduce the problems of oxidative and other sources of external damage cause. Anti-irritants include substances such as allantoin, aloe, bisabolol, burdock root, chamomile extract, glycyrrhetinic acid, grape extract, green tea, licorice root, vitamin C, white willow, willow bark, Willowherb, and many more. Their benefit to skin should be strongly considered when evaluating skin care products. This is a rare case where too much of a good thing is even better!

Antioxidants

Antioxidants are an essential element to a state-of-the-art moisturizer. A growing body of research continues to show that antioxidants are a potential panacea for skin's for many skin problems. What makes antioxidants so intriguing is that they seem to have the ability to reduce or prevent some amount of the oxidative damage that destroys and depletes the skin's function and structure, while also preventing some amount of damage to the skin from exposure to the sun!

The most common antioxidants used in skin-care products include alpha lipoic acid, beta-glucan, coenzyme Q10, curcumin, grape seed extract, green tea, soybean sterols, superoxide dismutase, vitamin A (retinyl palmitate and retinol), vitamin C (ascorbyl palmitate and magnesium ascorbyl palmitate), vitamin E (alpha tocopherol, tocotrienol), and extracts from lemon and rosemary. Reflection’s Choice products are loaded with these! It also matters, however, that the ingredients are there in effective amounts and in stabilized form. Look where key items are included in the ingredient list. In many cases, the actual percentage of the ingredient, particularly AHAs, is listed.

Cell-Communicating Ingredients

This new group of ingredients is getting attention for their role in helping skin function more normally. Medical journals refer to these as "cell signaling" substances", but cell communicating" describes more accurately what they do in relation to skin care. The good news is that, theoretically, this new horizon in skin care is incredibly exciting. I will have more on this soon!

Emollients

Emollients are lubricating ingredients that are essential for making skin feel hydrated. They are very important for those with truly dry skin. These provide dry skin with the one thing it's missing—moisture—in the form of substances that resemble those the skin produces for itself. Emollients are ingredients like plant oils, mineral oil, shea butter, cocoa butter, petrolatum, fatty alcohols, and animal oils (including emu, mink, and lanolin, the latter probably the one ingredient that is most like our own skin's oil). All of these are extremely beneficial for all cases of dry skin.

Technical-sounding ingredients like triglycerides, benzoates, myristates, palmitates, and stearates are generally waxy in texture and appearance but provide most moisturizers with their elegant texture and feel. Overall, emollients create the fundamental base and texture of a moisturizer and impart a creamy, smooth feel on the skin.

Silicones are another interesting group of lubricants for skin. They have an exquisite, silky texture and an incredible ability to prevent dehydration without smothering our skin. All of these ingredients spread over the skin to create an imperceptible, protective layer. They recreate the benefits of our own oil production, preventing evaporation, and giving dry skin the lubrication it is missing.

For Oily Skin

You may be wondering what to use if you don’t have dryness but still want to give your skin the ingredients it needs to look and feel better. Moisturizers in cream, balm, or ointment form are bound to be problematic if you have any degree of oiliness, and so are many lighter-weight lotions. What works instead is to look for water- or silicone-based fluids (including well-formulated toners) or serums that are loaded with beneficial antioxidants, anti-irritants, and ingredients that mimic the structure and function of healthy skin (including water-binding agents such as glycerin or lecithin and cell-communicating ingredients such as niacinamide, ceramides, or adenosine triphosphate).

Using such products will give your skin what it needs without layering on emollients, thickeners, or other heavier ingredients that are elemental for dealing with dry skin but often troublesome for combination or oily skin. If you have combination skin but suffer from very dry areas, you may have no choice but to address the dryness with a more emollient moisturizer. The key is to only apply it to the dry areas and make sure it doesn’t migrate to oily zones.

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