What are you looking for in a moisturiser?
Statistically, finding the perfect moisturiser is what women are more interested in than any other skincare product.
When I read that tidbit of information, to be honest, I was confounded? When it comes to moisturising your skin, it’s probably the least important part of your beauty routine.
Read on, and I’ll share what I know to be true.
I rarely go a day without applying moisturising cream to my skin; in fact, there are times when it’s the only product that ends up on my face. I love the soothing relief of a well-formulated moisturiser.
But, there’s more to keeping your skin hydrated than just the daily application of a well-meaning moisturiser.
If all your hopes hang on the best you can find, disappointment will follow, and the quest for the perfect moisturiser will continue.
Is your moisturiser enough?
If I were to take a peek in your bathroom cabinet, I’m pretty sure I’d find a moisturiser. You’ve come to rely on it.
If all else fails, or your beauty routine, for whatever reason, falls to just one thing, then, of course, it’s usually your moisturiser.
It will provide comfort to your skin and assist in protecting your lipid barrier. But is it enough? Can one single product solve all your skincare woes?
Are you hanging all your hopes on just one thing?
Sometimes looking for a good ‘all-round’ moisturiser comes down to economics. Or, you may think spending a little more on your moisturiser means you can save on buying other products, like specialised treatment products, to solve specific skin conditions.
The truth is, no matter how beautiful that jar of cream is or how hopeful the promises? If you skimp on the basics in your beauty routine, you’ll always expect your moisturiser to deliver more than it ever can. You’ll never be happy. No matter how much you spend.
The least essential product in your bathroom cabinet?
Too much time in the sun, years of over-cleansing and harshly scrubbing your skin, and inadequate skin nutrition can all take their toll on the skin and damage its natural protective lipid barrier. Sometimes it seems the only thing between you and the damage inflicted upon the deeper layers of your skin is your moisturiser. But it’s rarely enough if you’re not addressing your overall skincare routine.
What should you do first?
Balance your skin with a gentle cleanser suitable for your skin type, regularly exfoliate with an alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) serum or cream, increase skin nutrition through serum formulations, and wear sun protection every day.
Your skin condition will begin to improve to a point where the skin becomes more responsive and functions as it should. Optimally.
Your reliance on a moisturising cream will begin to diminish. Sure, you’ll still need it, but if the skin is healthy and functioning correctly, you’ll find yourself using a lot less of your favourite cream.
Still not sure?
Sometimes, even with your best intentions, the skin still feels like it needs more.
Seasonal changes take their toll, and even though you’ve been diligent with proper cleansing and using an AHA serum or cream to improve cell turnover, you’re still not happy with your skin?
It could be your skin is struggling to retain moisture because the balance of ingredients in your moisturiser fails to mimic your skin’s protective lipid barrier.
If you’re trying to treat dehydration with a moisturiser for dry skin, you may be over nourishing your skin, and it just doesn’t feel right on your skin, and you really can’t say why? It feels heavy or leaves your skin feeling spongy with enlarged pores.
In search of the holy grail or the perfect moisturiser?
Here’s what to look for in the perfect moisturiser.
The best ingredients for a well-formulated moisturiser are ‘skin identical’.
In other words? Elements that mimic the skin’s natural protective structure and are accepted as part of the skin when topically applied.
Natural Moisturising Factors (NMF) and lipids combine to form a stable structure to the skin and the protective barrier.
There is an extensive list of ingredients that contribute to the composition of your skins Natural Moisturising Factors (NMF), such as:
Ceramides, Glycerin, Polysaccharides, Amino acids, Cholesterol, Lecithin, Glycerol, Phospholipids, Glycosphingolipids, Glycosaminoglycans, Glycerides and Fatty Acids.
When a moisturiser contains these ingredients, you’ll be assisting the skin in its natural protective qualities and allowing your skin to function normally.
The very best formulations will often include antioxidants to boost the skin’s defence against free radical damage and vitamin nutrients such as A, C, and E.
But your skin’s dry?
Finding the best moisturiser for dry skin can be difficult. Identifying the cause of dryness is the first thing to consider before buying a moisturiser.
When the skin is dry, combining Natural Moisturising Factors with ingredients that mimic the skin’s lipid content will provide something very close to the perfect moisturiser.
Look for apricot oil, coconut oil, jojoba oil, starflower oil, lanolin, lecithin, olive oil, safflower oil, sesame oil, shea butter, soybean oil, squalane, and sweet almond oil.
Woah!! That’s a long list of oils? Don’t worry; your moisturiser doesn’t need to contain all of them, but a few of these in the correct combinations can be extremely helpful in treating dry skin, and it will look and feel so much better.
How much moisturiser should you use?
Using too much moisturiser or opting for thick, rich creams to combat your dryness of dehydration will leave you with skin that feels heavy and yet confusingly still dehydrated. Not what you were hoping for, right?
As I’ve mentioned today, get the basics right, and you’ll find your moisturiser of choice will begin to do its job effortlessly, and you’ll no longer seek out the thickest cream you can find to make your skin feel comfortable.
Consider your moisturiser as the supporting act in a balanced skincare routine rather than your skin’s one and only saviour.
When your skin is not so dry, perhaps even a little oily?
Naturally forming lipids make up the intercellular matrix of your skin. Unfortunately, the environment depletes them.
Even oily or combination-oily skin can be robbed of natural fats, especially if there has been a tendency to over-cleanse and scrub the oil away.
This disruption is why oily skin, despite natural sebaceous oil flow, can lack the natural lipids that make up the intercellular matrix.
Oily skin can often and confusingly feel dehydrated, so the same lipid protecting ingredients for dry skin can help, but in less concentrated amounts.
Now what?
So, now that you know what to do first, I guess you’d still like to know which moisturisers I think come close to perfect? Any of those featured below will be a great place to start, and as they’re all professionally prescribed, you’ll also be able to delve a little deeper and find the perfect skin system to bring your skin to life.
Environ Focus Care Moisture + Super Moisturiser
If you still want to hang all your hopes on a single moisturising product, then perhaps Environ’s Focus Care Moisture+ Vita Complex Super Moisturiser would be an excellent place to start.
If you live in a cool, dry climate, often your skin will feel tight and dehydrated. If you prefer a rich emollient moisturiser, then Super Moisturiser can be layered over Environ’s Skin EssenitA AVST Moisturiser. Vita Complex Super Moisturiser is supported by the phospholipid, Myristyl Malate Phosphonic Acid and lipid-soluble vitamin C to protect the skin while providing soothing comfort. It’s a very popular moisturiser in the Environ range.
It’s loaded with specialised peptides to boost the skin’s ability to retain moisture. You’ll be happy.
This moisturiser also contains a reliable and stable form of lipid-soluble vitamin C, making it pretty close to being the perfect moisturiser for most skin types.
Still, you’ll also want to consider one of Environ’s AVST Moisturisers from their Skin EssentiA range to ensure you get adequate Vitamin A quantities. You can find out more about Environ here.
Synergie Skin Reclaim Age Management Formula.
This cream is ideal for dry skin or when ageing is a definite concern — loaded with antioxidants and a few other unusual ingredients like Hematite and the peptide Trylagen, which the manufacturer claims will boost collagen production.
Any cream that protects your skin will indirectly preserve your collagen and elastin.
However, if stimulating collagen is what you want (and who doesn’t), I’d combine this cream with other concentrated serums from the Synergie Skin range for collagen synthesis.
But even so, as a stand-alone product? It’s a well-formulated moisturiser and deserves a place in your bathroom cabinet. You can buy this product here.
Alpha-H Essential Hydration Cream with Rose Geranium.
This cream will provide you with a unique blend of essential oils to reduce the appearance of redness and irritation. The essential fatty acids will help hydrate dry and dehydrated skin.
An impressive moisturising cream containing Jojoba Seed Oil, Macadamia Seed Oil, and Evening Primrose Oil supports the skin’s lipid barrier.
You can find this moisturiser here.
Ultraceuticals (NEW) Ultra Brightening Moisturiser Cream.
This is another excellent moisturiser for all skin types with an impressive list of ingredients.
This cream includes Niacinamide (B3) to protect the skin from environmental stress and essential fatty acids to protect your lipid barrier.
Ultraceuticals is one of my favourite Australian brands. If not this moisturiser, one of the other moisturisers in this range will become a favourite in your bathroom cabinet. You can shop for this brand here.
And now you?
As you can see, I’ve always got something to say when it comes to your skincare decisions. How about you? Have you found the perfect moisturiser for your skin?
If you have a burning question, you can get in touch here.
Need expert advice? Why not book an online consultation?
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See you next time,
