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Most women and almost half of men buy skincare products, but knowing what to choose when pacing the cosmetics aisle can be complicated.

Buzzwords and ingredients that take a degree to understand mean we often end up putting our faith in marketing or recommendations we get from various influencers on social media.

We asked the experts about differentiating "hope in a bottle" from products that will actually give you the results you desire, and what ingredients or words on the package to watch out for.

Understand the ingredients

Big words and long lists. If your eyes go a bit fuzzy when trying to decipher the ingredients on the label of face cream, you're not alone.

„Most creams have so many ingredients with complicated names that it is impossible to know what they all are,“ dermatologist Cara McDonald says.

„You should be concentrating on the first five to seven ingredients. That's because they are generally listed in order of concentration.“ says dermatology expert Yousuf Mohammed from the University of Queensland Diamantina Institute Faculty of Medicine.

„Break it down into what ingredients are helpful and what is harmful for your skin in particular. If you find anything that might cause damage for your skin in the top five, then that's cause for alarm,“ Doctor  Y. Mohammed says. In the facial cosmetics, items that work to increase moisture in the skin, such as glycerol, should feature in the top three or four ingredients, Doctor Mohammed says. You could also expect to see water, glycerin, PEG (polyethylene glycol) and natural oils in the highest concentrations, he says.

„The only way to moisturise skin is maintain the water that would otherwise escape — glycerol, for example, does that. I know that these long chemical names can be intimidating, but in today's world there is hardly any information you can't find on „Google“.“

Irritants and allergic reactions

People with sensitive skin or allergies need to pay particular attention to ingredients in face creams and cosmetics.

„If you have sensitive or allergic skin, then look for products that are specifically formulated for this,“ Doctor dermatologist C. McDonald says.

„In general, they will have much shorter ingredient lists. They should specifically be paraben — a preservative — and fragrance free.“

But be aware: fragrance-free and hypoallergenic products and cosmetics are marketed as better for sensitive skin, but many of those products do in fact contain „fragrance cross-reactor or botanical ingredients“.

And not all irritation means you need to stop using the product, Doctor C. McDonald explains.

„Some irritation early on in medical-grade products and cosmetics is expected. But the results will follow if you push past this point slowly.“

She says slight stinging that settles in a few minutes, mild redness, a tight feeling and/or "very mild" flaking and peeling are common as the skin adapts to new active ingredients.

„I advise patients to drop the application of creams and cosmetics to every second day until irritation settles, then return to daily application. If the irritation worsens or is characterised by significant itch or severe redness, then the product should be ceased altogether.“

Don't fall for marketing techniques

The beauty and cosmetics industry is drowning in empty promises and misleading marketing, but these home truths might help you avoid the traps.

Manage anti-ageing expectations. The world of face creams is a "minefield", explains Catherine Reid from the Australasian College of Dermatologists. Tretinoid is the only chemical scientifically proven to increase collagen in the skin — and is a classified drug rather than a cosmetic.

„Medical-strength tretinoin is the best chemical in anti-ageing products and requires a prescription. Many products contain retinol, which is not the same thing,“ Doctor Reid says.

„Retinol is found in many products that don't require a prescription and is much weaker than tretinoin. Retinol has lower efficacy as it needs to be converted by enzymes in the skin to retinoic acid.“

Doctor McDonald echoes this, adding niacinamide also has shown to „provide a broad array of improvements in the appearance of ageing facial skin“.

But she says even when these ingredients are included in creams, they are not in "active concentrations or formulations".

„They must be the right ingredient for face cream, at an adequate concentration, in the right vehicle to be delivered to the right place in the skin. So most actual products out there have little proven benefit. Most ingredients in face cream do not penetrate the skin and therefore they have no real activity in terms of anti-ageing.“

Expensive doesn't mean better. Most moisturisers contain a large percentage of water, and you're „often just paying for the perfume and the packaging“, Doctor Reid says.

„Expensive products are not necessarily better for you and cheap moisturising cosmetics will do the same for your skin.“

Dr Mohammed agrees, saying „more money doesn’t mean better product“.

New and improved product? Prepare to be dissapointed. Products advertising they are world-firsts or „new and improved“ isn't necessarily a good thing, Doctor Y. Mohammed warns.

„If a company is claiming this is being used in the world for the first time, you are basically a guinea pig,“ he says.

„For face creams and cosmetics to appear on the shelves you don't really need proved clinical trials before something becomes available.“

He says if a favourite product of yours changes, that's "a bummer", because you're essentially starting from scratch in terms of trialling its effectiveness.

Trends and various face creams and cosmetics which often become popular on social media can also often lead people to buy the wrong products for their skin type, Doctor Mohammed warns.

„Always do a patch test to make sure it's working for you,“ he says, recommending using tester products on the neck or back of the hand.

'Natural' and 'organic' are marketing terms. The biggest misconception about face creams and cosmetics is natural or organic products are better, Doctor C. McDonald says.

„Unfortunately these are usually simply marketing terms and don’t mean anything in terms of improved benefits of a face cream or a cosmetic product,“ she says.

Don't let it be all for nothing

Apply sunscreen. If you're not applying sunscreen daily, other „lotions and potions are just hope in a container,“ warns Doctor C. Reid.

„I often ask people, if you are stranded on a desert island, what one product would you take to look after your face? They all say moisturiser,“ she says.

„Unless you are using a sunscreen or a face cream with spf you are wasting your time buying products that claim to have anti-ageing properties, because UV radiation is the main cause skin ageing.“

Use face creams correctly. Proper application of your face cream is all about the amount and timing, explains Doctor Y. Mohammed.

„Fifteen milligrams per 1 centimetre square of skin, or a pea-sized droplet for a palm-sized area,“ is what he recommends, with the exception of high-potency products like serums which require less.

He says collagen-boosting products are best used at night, when the body is already trying to do that anyway.

Doctor C. McDonald says consistency is key, rather than „switching all the time“ to try new products.

„Stick with a regime that will see long-term benefits.“ She says.

#cream #cosmetics #sunscreen #face cream with spf

https://www.abc.net.au/everyday/choosing-the-best-face-cream-for-your-skin-type-and-needs/10828900