We’ve all heard of the Fountain of Youth - that mythical spring that grants eternally supple limbs, dewy skin, and vibrant hair to all who drink from it. Unfortunately, such a fountain is only the stuff of legends, or it certainly would have been drained by now!
Although the Fountain is nowhere to be found, we still seem determined to hold on to or recapture our youthful looks. Witness the wealth of products selling briskly on the market, vitamins, anti-aging creams, tonics and a host of other items. We hope that the right combination will give us back the youthful skin and glowing complexions of our youth.
It doesn’t help to look at a picture taken of us in our youth. We see the soft, smooth skin and the cracks, lines, and wrinkles we see in the mirror today are not to be seen in the picture. So we look to the shelves of our grocery store, drug store, or health foods store where we find the anti-aging creams designed to do battle against our laugh lines and crow’s feet.
Of course, consumers are frequently dubious of any product that makes such claims, and with good reason. What are these magic ingredients, and how do they work? Can anyone really bottle the freshness of teenaged skin? How can you tell which is the best wrinkle cream?
An active ingredient such as retinol, a form of vitamin A, is the basic active ingre
dient for many wrinkle creams and retinol- based creams are indeed often more effective in the battle against wrinkles than is the case for other products. Retinol promotes the development of new surface cells and also increases the amount of collagen in the skin, the combination reducing though not completely eliminating, wrinkles.
Whereas retinol functions to reduce the severity of wrinkles, another popular ingredient is alpha hydroxy acid, AHA. AHAs chemically peel away the outer layer of skin. The concentration is very low to prevent serious damage, so the peeling effect while slight, adds a glow the skin as new cells beneath the peeled away dead cells become visible.
So, why are some wrinkle creams better than the others? The answer is most likely found in the concentration of the active ingredients. A cream might claim to contain retinol, but it could be present in such a small amount that it would be ineffective. On the other hand, a cream with a higher percentage of retinol might well be very capable of refreshing and plumping the skin for that dewy, youthful look.
It never hurts to ask the question "Why are some products better than others? or "Which wrinkle creams would be most effective?" Asking the question leads to getting the facts you need to make a choice, second best to the "Fountain of Youth" but a good choice nevertheless.
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