Face Skin Care » Face Creams

How About Some Coffee With Your Skin Care?

admin — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 23:54:01 +0000

Coffee and skin care? It might surprise you to learn that in 2006 in the United States over 140 skin care products containing caffeine were launched compared to just 21 in 2003.

Coffee had a hard time of it in the 20th century while the U.S. Food and Drug Administration waffled over whether it was good or bad for you. As we move solidly into the 21st century, more indications of coffee’s beneficial properties are surfacing, and nowhere is that more evident than in the lucrative skin care market.

Primarily, coffee and caffeine are finding their way into skin lotions and creams because of antioxidant properties and tightening and firming qualities. Caffeine applied to the skin operates in three ways – as an antioxidant, a diuretic and a vasoconstrictor. Among others, Avon, Neuturogena and L’Oreal have included caffeine in some of their products.

For years, caffeine has been used in products sold to reduce cellulite. It’s clear that caffeine dehydrates fat cells by somehow energizing them which in turn causes the sodium/potassium component of the cells to vacate. Consequently, water disappears as well. Bottom line – skin on buttocks and thighs becomes smoother.

Caffeine’s vaso-constricting characteristic also makes it a favorite ingredient in eye gels for reducing puffiness and dark circles as well as tightening skin around the eyes. Of course, nothing eliminates cellulite or troubled skin around the eyes completely. The best you can hope for is noticeable improvement, perhaps only for a few hours.

With the explosion in coffee based skin products, it now is seen in body scrubs, face creams and fragrances. A number of products even smell like coffee and contain ground coffee intended as an exfoliate. Some purveyors have even gone so far as to suggest that the absorption of caffeine through the skin will yield the sort of alertness you can expect from drinking coffee.

Not so fast say the dermatologists. None of the products harbor concentrations sufficient to produce the jolt one might hope for from a cup of java. Moreover, absorption is through the skin slow, so it’s questionable whether enough of coffee’s stuff can penetrate to enhance alertness. Infusing the coffee aroma in products, is thought, on the other hand, to stimulate perkiness by association.

Some promising studies on mice suggest that the caffeine in coffee may kill off skin cancer cells on radiated animals. So far, the results appear promising, but cannot, as yet, be translated to humans. However, many sunscreens do contain caffeine since it has been shown to have some sun blocking effects.

A few folks are even suggesting that investment in expensive skin care potions is unnecessary. It’s claimed that you can receive the same benefits by concocting your own home brewed coffee soaps and body scrubs from used coffee grounds. Formulas are even offered.

Hey, now you can shower with your espresso!

By: Robert Knechtel

Night Face Creams Should Be Part of Your Skin Care Routine

admin — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:50:10 +0000

Want to look younger by day? Then you should be choosing among the quality night face creams to use. And, when you find one like I have, use it consistently and diligently.

Not only will a night face cream help you look better the very next day, but if you buy the right one, with powerful, natural and scientifically proven ingredients, you can make your skin’s appearance look smoother and softer over the months and years ahead.

Night creams should be rich in emollients and natural oils that don’t clog your pores. Although some of the best creams contain ingredients that sound like they will leave a heavy, greasy feeling on your skin, they shouldn’t.

Lastly, night creams should contain ingredients that can literally turn back the clock by countering the two major causes of skin aging, which are: 1) loss of collagen and elastin as we age (two vital skin proteins) and 2) free radical damage on skin cells (antioxidants that can penetrate into the skin are needed to counter this damage before it occurs).

The following are some of the natural and proven ingredients in the night face cream that I think is one of the best on the market. Some of these substances may also be available in other brands as well.

1) Shea Butter — a natural emollient and moisturizer. As such, it will soften up your skin overnight. With long term use, however, it can also help reduce age spots (brown spots on the skin); help minimize the appearance of scars and blemishes. And it also has a potent ability to fight skin inflammation.

2) Babassu – This incredible and natural substance comes from the Amazon. It has been used there for centuries for skin health. But now science is using it in high quality night face creams to help make the skin velvety-soft and smooth.

It also forms a barrier (not visible) that helps keep dirt and grime out of your skin, which is great especially while you are sleeping since no matter how much you clean your pillow cases, bed sheets, and blankets, there are always going to be a great deal of dirt particles, dust, and other things not visible to the naked eye that can get in your skin.

3) Active Manuka Honey. No, this isn’t like taking regular honey and rubbing into your face. This is a special type of honey that easily absorbs into your skin and is rich in antioxidants that help fight free radical damage before these free radicals do damage to your skin cells. While you sleep, active Manuka honey will soften up your skin

4) Cynergy TK — Get ready, this one is going to sound weird, but it’s one of the most fascinating, cutting edge and clinically proven ingredients you should look for in your night face cream. This natural substance is derived from a special type of New Zealand sheep wool. Sounds crazy, I know.

But studies show Cynergy TK is rich in keratin, which is a vital structural skin protein. Cynergy TK was pioneered by a New Zealand company to be functional keratin, which means it can be readily absorbed into the skin. Studies show it boosts collagen and elastin production in human tested volunteers, and also boosts skin elasticity and moisture levels.

You won’t tend to find these amazing substances in big name brand products. You have to do your research on the niche, elite, skin care companies that are pioneering a new generation of effective night face creams.

On my website, I reveal more of these natural substances.

By: Victoria S. Pedersen

Skin Care – Choosing the Right Anti-Aging Face Cream

admin — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:14:23 +0000

There is no magical anti aging face cream. There is nothing that comes in a bottle, tub, or any other fancy container that can actually reverse the aging process, and any product which claims to do so should be steered away from.

The key to either keeping a face look young or making a face look younger, is choosing the right face creams that offer realistic results without harsh chemicals. Slapping chemicals on the delicate facial skin may initially decrease the appearance of age, but over time is likely to actually make you look older and unhealthy. When choosing such creams, go natural.

Sunscreen is the first and best stop along the anti aging trail. Protecting the skin from the damage the sun can dish out is the first step to preventing further damage. The earlier this process is started, the more protection from aging facial issues you will be granted. It is that simple. The sun has become the enemy for skin care. Once, it was considered healthy to bath in the sun, soak up its nutrients and get a healthy golden glow in the meantime. Now, the sun will eat away at your sin cells and make you look older, faster.

Choosing the right face cream starts with looking for the natural and organic ingredients found in nature, especially those loaded with vitamins, minerals, lanolin, collagen, and other botanicals. These natural ingredients are not only in nature, but most of them are also already found in your skin. Over time, your skin loses some of the potency of the natural ingredients and when you replace them, your skin begins to look healthy.

Microderm abrasion is the fastest growing anti aging face cream system on the market today. The cream, which also contains microbeads, is rubbed into the skin with a special applicator. It is the equivalent to using sandpaper to smooth a piece of wood. You can reduce marks and blemishes on wood by sanding it the same way you can reduce marks and blemishes on the facial skin. When using microderm abrasion, the anti aging face cream is just as vital as when using face cream alone. Anti aging face creams that are loaded with vitamin K are known to produce reasonable reduction in facial bruising and spider veining that can happen with age.

Botanicals and vitamins should be loaded in face creams for it to be even somewhat effective. The more natural ingredients that can be found in the cream, the more likely it is to work well. Nature supplied us with everything our skin needs to be healthy, and the ingredients we need to maintain our skin condition (or improve it) can also be found in nature.

By choosing our face creams carefully, we can prolong our looks of more youthful skin, which in our current society can help us land better employment, better second time around partners, and even have more friends. This may not be fair, but it is a fact of living in our youth obsessed society.

By: Kelvin Ho Wee Min

Beware of Collagen Skin Care Products – Why Face Creams With Collagen Don’t Work

admin — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 05:45:04 +0000

Before you rush out to buy collagen skin care products, there’s something you need to know: face creams with collagen don’t work.

Shocking? Perhaps. Hard to believe? Yes. In this article I’ll tell you why and give you a much better solution to increasing skin collagen and elastin, the two important protein connective tissues that help the skin maintain its structure and elasticity.

The reason is quite simple. The molecules of these proteins are too big to penetrate the skin. In order to work, they need to penetrate down to the lower skin cells. They can’t do that.

The fact that the versions you’ll find in skin creams are usually derived from bird and cattle sources don’t help much either.

In other words, collagen skin care products truly is a waste of your time and money. But if face creams with collagen cannot provide the answer, what can? After all, the anti aging and anti wrinkle properties of these connective tissues are no myth. Something must be done!

How To Naturally Increase Collagen Connective Tissue In The Skin

Your body is actually pretty good at producing this stuff all by itself. As we grow older however, production decreases. What happens next? The skin loses structure, becomes thinner and starts to wrinkle.

Bottom line: you look old.

So if you can’t supplement it with creams, what do you do?

You get the skin to produce more of it.

Some skin care products now feature ingredients like functional keratin, which has been clinically proven to stimulate the skin to naturally produce more collagen connective tissue, as well as elastin fibres.

The obvious benefit here is clear: your skin gets more of these proteins in the most natural way possible, and exactly where they’re needed most.

Even natural oils like avocado is known for its ability to increase the production of these fibres. Instead of looking for collagen skin care products, find products that can actually make a real difference by increasing the natural production of these critical proteins.

By: Alex Beckman

How to Pick Beauty Skin Care Face Creams That Work

admin — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 20:42:10 +0000

Over the last years many skin care products have appeared in the market, some don’t work, others work a little and others are not even safe to use, so how do you choose the right beauty skin care cream? What are the ingredients that you have to look for?

First you need to know that as we age our skin loses some firmness and elasticity because our body decreases the production of elastin and collagen proteins. However free radical oxidation is also a major cause of skin damage and it is usually our fault because we do not protect our skin correctly and we have very unhealthy lifestyle.

So what you need to do is use a good skin care face cream that improves your skin at the cellular level but you also need to make some lifestyle changes to prevent the formation of wrinkles and premature skin aging.

The best creams that i have used are the ones that are made with natural ingredients like avocado extract, jojoba oil, manuka honey, grape seed oil, vitamin c, water and others. But there are also some potent natural compounds like cynergytk, CoenzymeQ10 and Wakame kelp that can do wonders for your skin.

On the other hand common creams use chemical ingredients and synthetic substances that are not healthy for your skin like parabens, petrolatum, alcohol, fragrances and mineral oil.

If you really want to improve the health of your skin from the inside out you need to use natural beauty creams, if you keep using the same products you will not get any long term benefit because those creams only work on the surface of your skin.

Really good natural creams can stimulate your skin collagen and elastin production, have potent anti oxidants and increase your hyaluronic acid. This way your skin will be protect it from free radicals and prevent the formation of the signs of aging.

By: Lauren G. Fox