Skin care advertisers promise women so much…and do they deliver? Is it really possible that a supermarket brand such as Olay can halt the 7 signs of aging? Well quite frankly I doubt it given the ingredients. So what indeed can a product such as this can do for your skin?

Olay falls into the category of a cosmetic which is classed as a product that helps to maintain the surface of the skin. The ingredients don’t pass through the stratum corneum and as such are active only on the top
layer of skin which means they don’t stimulate any structural changes in the deeper layers of skin. What cosmetics can do is maintain the moisture level on the skin by blocking water loss and nourish the top layer of skin with herbs and nutrients. This is ideal for dry, dehydrated and normal to oily skin with no significant issues. However, if you want results for skin conditions or slow ageing, you are going to need more than a cosmedic.

Cosmeceutical products contain “active” ingredients which are capable of treating beyond the surface of the skin. They are used by beauty therapists and skin professionals to bring about skin change results where
there are conditions such as premature ageing, pigmentation, acne and rosacea. Ingredients that you may recognize that are considered cosmeceutical include active AHAs, retinoids, and some herbs among others. I also think that many oils such as bilberry, sea buckthorn seed oil, acai pulp oil, lingonberry seed oil and tamanu nut oil fall into this category as they are high in natural phytonutrients such as carotenoids, tocotrienols and essential fatty acids that help maintain and improve the health of skin cells.

The newest category of product is called cosmedical which are really just hyped up cosmeceutial prdoucts. They may employ advanced delivery methods ensuring the benefits are delivered as deep as possible into
the skin, higher strengths ingredients or contain clinical trialed ingredients. Therapeutically they can target past and present skin damage. They may also have a preventative affect to some degree and help slow the ageing process. Ingredients that you can look for include AHAs, retinoids, newer forms of vitamin C such as Ascorbyl Tetraisopalmitate, peptides, hyaluronic acid, antioxidants and SPF technology (micronized zinc
oxide).

Please let me know if you have had any experiences with skin improvement using cosmeceutical or cosmedical products or ingredients.

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