Beauty Myths Part 2
 Beauty Myths Part 2. Last month we looked at Cleansers and Toners and this month we will look at Moisturisers and Anti-aging products. Prepare to be suprised with some facts you may never have been told and discover the real ways to preserve your skin.
3. Moisturisers - AHAs, vitamins, retinol
Moisturisers have got to be one of the stickiest topics around (pardon that pun!). There is so much confusion and so many new innovations coming out all the time.
AHAs (Alpha-Hydroxy Acids) are basically a way of exfoliating your skin without your having to do anything more active than smear on a cream, whereas before you would have needed some kind of facial scrub. Or a rough face-washer. And when these acids are put in a cream they act every day, rather than the once a week or so that a scrub would be used. This means that every day the top layer of dead skin is removed and your skin works hard to produce new skin at a faster rate. Thus the skin on top is fresher once it reaches the top layer because it hasn't waited so long to get there.
There is nothing inherently wrong with AHAs, in fact they can be very good, but my caution would be: use them in moderation.
I'm not sure about the wisdom of using them every day. Some skin experts are now saying that doing this can wear out the skin and actually leave you looking worse later on instead of better! Whether that is true or not, I can’t say, but my advice would be to use an AHA product at most every other day and give your skin a rest in between.
Moisturisers with vitamins in them. Here is a kettle of worms. But it's not all that confusing: God made vitamins in our food so we could eat them, and send them through our bloodstream to the places in the body that need them. Your skin is not built to take in vitamins externally, and vitamins are not built to go in through your skin. But I hear you say, 'But they've done tests! They've proven it works!' It does work, but only when the vitamins are formulated to fight the free radicals that stop your skin from doing its job (ie producing collagen and elastin).
Many moisturisers claim to have Vitamin E in them but almost none of those are high enough quality or concentration to actually do this. Do your research before putting your faith in a Vitamin E cream or any other cream.
As far as Retinol goes, you could write a whole book on that. Gerald McKnight, in fact, almost did, he has dedicated a whole chapter to it in his book 'The Skin Game'. What he discovered is that retinol works by actually damaging the skin ever so slightly, therefore spurring the growth of new skin which is untouched and fresher than the old layers. Use retinol enough and just imagine what you will end up looking like. Great at first, I would say, but in 20 years time I hate to think - I have no proof but imagine a face covered in scar tissue perhaps? Or maybe I'm just being a scaremonger.
You may agree that voluntarily damaging your skin every day does not really make sense. On the other hand it is now a long time since retinol was originally invented. Some of the off-the-shelf creams are starting to advertise the use of retinol in their products. It may be safe these days in newer, more sophisticated formulas.
4. Anti-age supplements - collagen, elastin, etc
If you want to hear something gross, ask where the collagen in your face-cream came from. Here's the deal: plants do not produce collagen. So where do you think it came from? It is an animal substance. One known source is the the placenta of newly-born calves, and I sure as hell do not want that on my face, no matter how good it makes me look.
But the main point about collagen and elastin is that when you buy these creams you are throwing away money almost - it is a daily fix, not a lasting one. You put the cream on, it makes the wrinkles puff out and seem smaller, but by the end of the day the effect is gone.
Now if you have enough money to use it that way, and plenty of women do, then that's your choice. But when it comes to anit-ageing, prevention is better than a cure all the way. These creams do nothing more for the skin, in the long run, than a regular moisturiser. Their effect is cosmetic. You may as well spend the money on a face-lift, and that is a whole new kettle of fish if you want to debate about that.
Apparently the only reputable substance that works is anti-oxidant treatments – creams and serums. The way these creams work is not by delivering the anti-oxidants (which are basically vitamins) into the skin for its nourishment. What happens is that the vitamins counter-act the attack of free-radicals which speed up the ageing process.
So, ladies, here is the deal, the BEST prescription for skin care and anti-ageing:
* Don't use soap or alcohol on your skin.
* DO use an eye-cream.
* ESPECIALLY use a sun-protection factor of 15 on your face daily.
* Use anti-oxidants.
This article is courtesy of 
Smart Poppy - Australia's Online Cosmetics Discounter
Advice and information presented on this website is of a general nature only and is not intended to constitute or replace professional advice for individual or specific conditions. While we make every effort to ensure that the information is correct, we take no responsibility for any loss or damage arising from its use. Information and resources provided are not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice or to contradict health advice given. Your Mum was right, you should eat your vegetables.
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