How To Find The Most Effective Skin Care Products Available

From: Kathleen P. Walsh

Hello, and welcome to a new world of skin care,

Are you frustrated with skin care products that don't do what they claim to. It's ironic that the most expensive skin care products have the least effect. On the other hand there are some excellent products that can naturally give your skin a smoother, more radiant and youthful look.

A quality skin product will help reduce bags under, and fine lines around, the eyes, in addition it should even out coloration inconsistencies caused by age spots and other unwanted pigment concentrations.

There are literally thousands of products out there and it can become a little overwhelming. Therefore you need to become well-informed to be able to find one of the few that actually produces real results and eliminates aging from your face and body.

There are two forces at work here. Firstly, people will understandably spend any amount of money to make themselves look better or younger. Cosmetic surgery is a multi-billion dollar industry and so is the topical skin care industry.

Second, as the demand for such products increases, the more products manufacturers will inundate the marketplace with to take advantage of this demand.

Many of these products are hurried to market to meet this demand without any real consideration for research and development. The majority of the budget goes into the marketing of the product.

To us, the consumer everything looks tempting. The  highly decorative containers that the creams come in look enticing. The magazine advertisements are glossy, complete with a youthful looking model or a well known celebrity who doesn't even really use the products.

When you are spending large sums of money for marketing, whether it be on the product containers, magazine, radio, and TV ads, royalties paid to celebrities and models, you are left with very little option but to charge a lot of money for your products in order to balance the books or keep the shareholders happy.

This doesn't mean you and I have to go along with these marketing gimmicks. Nearly all of these companies have a large customer base ready with plastic in hand to purchase their latest products.

 The reality is most people get caught up in all the hype and do not take the time to research the products ingredients  and find out which will work and which ingredients are actually bad for your skin!

Harmful Skin Care Ingredients to Avoid

It seems unbelievable, but many skin care products do contain ingredients that will actually harm your skin over time. Let's have a look at some of these offenders.

Parabens: methyl, propyl, butyl, and ethyl paraben. These are used as preservatives in many skin care products (and moisturizing products) to ensure the product has a long shelf life. The reason is one of economy.

Studies point in the direction that they may cause cancer and also interfere with the body’s endocrine system, in addition to causing allergic reactions and skin rashes.

Fragrances: We all like to smell nice. But, be careful, if you want to smell nice, use a little bit of perfume or cologne....or some body spray. Skin care products should not contain fragrances. Unfortunately, many fragrances are processed from ingredients that are known to be toxic or carcinogenic.

You must remember the largest organ of the body is your skin. Therefore whatever you put on it can be easily absorbed through the pores. Doesn't it seem like I am being contrary recommending you use perfume or cologne as a fragrance but to choose a skin care product without them?

The answer is skin care products can be applied all over the body including the face and neck. This is a large surface area and therefore the larger the area the more absorption of chemicals takes place.

Of course I'm sure that many cologne's and perfumes contain undesirable substances too, realistically I know that people aren't going to cease using these products. Fortunately, with perfumes and cologne's, you can smell nice by a small dab here and there.

In my opinion, this is much more preferable than to use skin care products that also contain potentially hazardous fragrance chemicals that you apply directly and massage into your skin.

Mineral oil. This oil has been present in literally hundreds of products I've examined. Mineral oil also goes by the names liquid paraffin, paraffin wax, and petrolatum on the product label. Mineral oil is used so widespread in skin care products for one reason: it's cheap!

However, you must remember as this is an oil it has the properties of an oil, and once applied, prevents the skin from "breathing." It clogs pores, frustrates your skin's natural ability to eliminate toxins, and can lead to acne flare ups.
 
It will become irritating to the skin, and if you use it for long periods of time, your skin can become dependent on it, causing chapping and dryness. Finally, it can cause premature aging of the skin. It's astonishing this substance is even used in so-called "skin care" products.

Dioxane: (a synthetic derivative of coconut). This substance is widely used in skincare products. It often contains high concentrations of 1,4-dioxane, which is readily absorbed through the skin. Adversely 1,4-dioxane is considered a chemical "known to the State of California to cause cancer". This is a prime reason why people should research ingredients before they buy skin care products.

Alcohols: ethanol, ethyl alcohol, methanol, benzyl alcohol, isopropyl alcohol and SD alcohol. Not all alcohols have the same properties. The alcohols which are usually found in skin care products, are dehydrating and are an irritant for the skin. Alcohols such as these deprive the skin of its natural acid mantle, leaving you unprotected to moulds, viruses and bacteria.

Now that we've looked at some of the bad, let's examine some of the good ingredients and some ingredients that sound good but in fact aren't.

Skin Care Ingredients to Look For

Before we have examine the individual ingredients, it's important to appreciate the finer points of our skin and how this directly relates to what makes a product good or poor.

What is the main reason our skin, irrespective of whether it's on the face or on the rest of the body, develop lines and/or starts to sag? The answer is that the collagen and elastin in our skin begins to break down. This is the key to understanding why our skin changes over time.

Collagen is a protein that is fibrous in nature. Collagen is different from other kinds of protein because it possesses great tensile strength. This is what provides, among other things, firmness to our skin.

As collagen breaks down over time, we lose the firmness of our skin. Wrinkles appear and skin starts to sag.
 
Elastin is also a protein that helps skin stay supple and firm. When your skin is stretched, elastin is the protein that  returns it to its original position.

Over time it does not benefit you to purchase a skin care product that is nothing more than a cream that fills in fine lines and wrinkles. You have the appearance of great skin when it's on...but the illusion shattered when you wash it off.

You need a product that includes ingredients that actually invigorates new collagen and elastin production in your skin. If you can stop or arrest this deterioration, you will begin to turn back the clock.

Some of the manufacturers of the more expensive products will try to mislead the public by including some really good active ingredients. Why would they do that?

Here's the strategy they use. These active ingredients are beneficial for the skin, by including them they can legally list them on the product label. The average consumer thinks they are getting a great product. That's a plus isn't it?

Not really, because these ingredients are expensive, and because most of their budget has already been spent on marketing, they can't afford to put enough of these 'active ingredients' in the product to give you, the consumer, any real benefit for your skin.

When deciding which skin care product to purchase, you should look for the product with a high concentration of these good ingredients.

Collagen

You already understand the importance of collagen, therefore it would follow that buying a product with collagen in it would be the answer. The manufactures who market products that contain collagen know this. Unfortunately it's just a marketing ploy for the simple reason collagen molecules are much too large to impregnate the skin when applied topically.

To get the full benefit, you must find a product whose ingredients that have been proved to reinvigorate your body's own collagen production.

Phytessence Wakame

Phytessence Wakame is an exotic kelp, native to the Japanese Sea. This kelp obstructs a damaging enzyme in your body called hyaluronidase. Hyaluronidase breaks down hyaluronic acid in your skin. I know your thinking, “why do I really need to know this?”

Well, because without hyaluronic acid, the elastin and collagen fibers lose their "glue," which means your skin suffers and leads to a loss of youthful appearance and dark eye circles.

If you wish you can research this on wikipedia, you will read, for example, "Hyaluronan is also a major component of skin, where it is involved in tissue repair."

Cynergy TK

This is a new exciting, cutting edge substance. Cynergy TK has been proved in clinical trials to stimulate not only the regrowth of collagen but also elastin, returning the firmness and elasticity to your skin. Giving you fewer wrinkles, and more youthful, healthier looking skin. It may also help improve your skin's capacity to retain its necessary natural moisture.

Studies have shown a sustained 14% improvement in skin moisture retention over 18 days. Studies on Cynergy TK have also demonstrated a sustained improvement in skin elasticity of 42% over 18 days.

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10)

If you look at the ingredient list for some of the better skin care products, you'll often see CoQ10 listed. CoQ10 is short for Coenzyme Q10.

CoQ10 occurs naturally, it also appears in almost every cell in the body and is known to have antioxidant and energizing properties. It is suspected that this nutrient may be associated with the body's production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) the basic energy component of the cell.

Much of our skin damage and aging comes from free radicals creating havoc in our body's cells. CoQ10's powerful antioxidant ability helps fight the cell damaging effects of these free radicals.

The bad news is, like many other vital building blocks, the amount of CoQ10 in our bodies decreases with age.

Although CoQ10 is a powerful ally, not all varieties are created  equal. One variety in particular excels above the others. This version of it is called Nano-Lipobelle H-EQ10.

The reason why it's different is that most of the CoQ10 present in a typical skin care product is not really usable when applied to the skin.

Nano-Lipobelle H-EQ10, has been specially modified to penetrate deep into the skin, enabling much greater benefits for skin health. In fact, Nano-Lipobelle H-EQ10 can penetrate to a depth of 7 skin layers.

Because this version can achieve such deep penetration, it is extremely effective at neutralizing free radicals in your skin. The result is a powerful anti-wrinkle agent.

Nano-Lipobelle can also stimulate the production of collagen and elastin.

Together, these three main active ingredients are some of the most powerful anti-aging skin care compounds available, and can significantly improve the look and feel of your skin.

Where can you find all three of these anti-aging ingredients in one product line?

The Xtend-Life Natural Products company. This company is located in New Zealand but ships products world-wide. I use their products daily.

The company is not a household name. It doesn't have big Hollywood celebrities endorsing their products for even bigger royalties. They don't advertise on the radio, in magazines, or on TV.

They're one of the few companies that give their R&D an open cheque book to find the absolute best products available.  Best in terms of their effectiveness in creating beautiful skin, that looks healthy and younger-looking, without any adverse side-effects. 

They are unique in that they not only manufacturer, but also  develop and formulate  all of their products. They continually research new skincare active ingredients, to be able to bring you the benefits ahead of everyone else.

Let me ask you a simple question. Would you like to be one step ahead of everyone else by using skincare products that are on the cutting edge of cell rejuvenation technology?

If you're serious about wanting to achieve firmer feeling younger looking softer skin, why don't you visit their site and read about their skin care philosophy. I think you'll be as impressed as I am. At the very least, you'll discover what to look for and what to avoid when it comes to taking care of your precious skin.

Wishing you all the very best,

Kathleen

P.S. I forgot to mention the guarantee, and yes, I know lots of manufactures offer guarantees but I think this one is more comphrehensive than most. They have a three point guarantee on all products.

• 100% Customer Satisfaction Policy. 
• Guarantee of Best Possible Value for Money. 
• Guaranteed Potency and Content. 

WAIT! There's more, how about a refund on both unpened and opened tubes of skin care products, provided no more than one tube of each product is opened. With a guarantee like this what do you have to lose? Go on, give them a try - you won't regret it.