Have you ever felt confused and overwhelmed when trying to choose the right skin care for yourself? And did you feel that some of the products are probably quite overpriced? Let me guide you through some very simple, efficient and very affordable options to make your skin look great again.

I think that it is not really worthwhile having an expensive cosmetic treatment if you do not use high quality, anti aging skincare on a daily base. And I would like to take a deeper look at the reasons for that in today’s blog.

The Quick Fix?

Quite often I see people who walk through the doors of my clinic for the first time and want something done quickly. Some people are concerned about fine lines and wrinkles and will sometimes say “Could I just have a little bit of Botox for my crow’s feet or the line between my eyebrows?”

And we can certainly help our clients and jus correct these lines and provide a quick fix. But when we take this approach, it often happens that your eyes appear younger and fresher. But in contrast, the rest of the face remains the same age. This can result in disharmony and, sometimes, even an unnatural look.

To prevent this, I recommend my customers to use high quality anti ageing skincare on a daily basis. Especially before any expensive cosmetic treatment. And this is because anti ageing skincare is simple, affordable and highly effective.

Skincare is affordable, effective and simple. And….it makes a big difference!

If you use the right products, just daily skincare alone can significantly improve fine lines and wrinkles, reduce age spots and uneven skin texture. As a result, you will look younger, fresher and more radiant. I sometimes even see clients who cancel cosmetic treatments because they have tried good skincare and are just happy with the result as it is. It can make such a difference to someone’s appearance!

But there are so many different products out there that it can be difficult or even overwhelming to choose the right product. On top of that, many products are quite aggressively marketed and the actual ingredients are not clearly explained or labeled. And due to that you may even end up with a very expensive product that does not work very well for you.

So how should you best navigate this jungle of anti ageing skincare?

In my experience, it is best to stick to ingredients that are simple, effective and have been used for a long time. This ensures that these ingredients are safe. On top of that we know them well enough to know how they work. The three powerhouses of anti aging skin care that are really well studied and have been around for many, many years are our simple Vitamins: A, B, and C.

To make it simple, I recommend to follow the simple ABC rule. Just remember: A,B,C.

So let’s start with a short journey through our simple, yet effective skincare.

Vitamins are simple ingredients and very effective

1. Vitamin A (also called Retinol)

In my opinion, any woman above the age of 30 should consider using a mild retinol to prevent and treat ageing signs of the skin. This is because it helps skin to produce more cells that are younger and, as a result, make skin look more radiant and healthy.

It is not uncommon that retinol causes irritation and redness of the skin when you use it for the first time. So it is important to only use small amounts in the beginning. Once you tolerate it quite well, you can then slowly increase how much and how often you use it. You should also only use retinol at night and wash it off in the mornings. This is because retinol makes skin more sensitive to sunlight.

There are several different forms of retinol on the market, and I would recommend the more fat soluble forms of retinol. Examples for fat-soluble retinoids are granactive retinoid and retinoyl palmitate. These fat-soluble forms penetrate the skin better and cause less irritation. On top of that they seem to be more potent and beneficial.

2. Vitamin B (Niacinamide)

Vitamin B is a very gentle and well tolerated vitamin. But nevertheless, it is highly effective and is especially well known for its ability to improve uneven pigmentation and age spots. It is also quite commonly used to treat acne as it improves oily skin and enlarged pores.

      3. Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid)

Vitamin C is very popular amongst skin care addicts for its brightening capabilities. As we age, our skin becomes more and more depleted of vitamin C. This lack can cause dullness and unhealthy looking skin. For that reason it is important to use skincare products that replenish yo skin with this important antioxidant.

The problem with vitamin C is that it is very unstable on skin and quickly becomes ineffective. To prevent this from happening, new forms of vitamin C were developed that are fat soluble. This means that the vitamin C can penetrate into the deeper layers of the skin and does not become unstable. Once it has arrived in the deeper skin layers, it will be converted to pure vitamin C and brighten skin from within.

To help you further, I will write another blog for you just about the different forms of vitamin C.

Peel away the years with the occasional peel

Peels remove dead cells on top of your skin. This gives way to newer, healthier skin cells and, as a result, skin will look younger and more radiant with a more even skin tone.

Most peels are made of naturally occurring fruit acids, such as grape fruit, citrus fruits or sugar cane. Depending on how strong or concentrated these natural acids are, a mild peel will only remove the upper layer of skin whereas the deeper peels go a bit deeper than that.

The mild peels are called AHA (Alpha-Hydroxy Acid) and the deeper peels are called BHA (Beta-Hydroxy Acid).

Generally speaking, you can use both peels at home. The mild peels are a good option for busy people who need an easy but effective skin care option for their daily use. In contrast to that,  I would only recommend to use the deeper peels two or three times per year. This is just to give your skin a bit of a break in between peels.

Does my mosituriser really need to be the newest and most expensive innovation on the market?

Not really! There is a myriad of moisturisers out there, and I am sure many of these have a nice feel on your skin. Some of them can be quite expensive and promise intense rejuvenation. But, in fact, they are just as effective as any affordable moisturiser from the local chemist.

The best known and most traditional moisturiser that people have been using for a long time are ceramide, urea and cetomacrogol. People have been using these moisturisers for a long time, and they are commonly prescribed by doctors for dry to very dry skin and even eczema. Based on studies and years of experience, these moisturisers hydrate skin well and make it look plumber and healthier.

But there are many, many more new and innovative moisturisers out there. One of them is hyaluronic acid, a naturally occurring sugar in your skin that is able to attract water and therefore hydrate skin. This sugar is made of tiny, little molecules. These can be connected (cross linked) with each other in a laboratory to form bigger molecules. Often the small and big molecules are mixed together in moisturisers. This is because the smaller molecules penetrate into your skin and moisturise it from deep within, whereas the bigger molecules stay on top of your skin and form a protective barrier.

Oftentimes, these products tend to be expensive because a lot of research has gone into developing them. But, again, carefully ask yourself if you really need to spend a lot of money on the newest technology if  the traditional moisturisers are as effective.

Don’t Forget The Good, Old Sunscreen

Did you know that there are 16 ingredients currently approved in the US that can be used in sunscreen. But only 2 of these ingredients were deemed a 100% safe. Those are zinc oxide and titanium oxide. So I would always recommend a sun screen that contains either zinc oxide or titanium oxide or both.

Zinc oxide provides high protection against UVA and UVB rays, whereas titanium oxide is very effective against UVA rays but does not offer as high protection against UVB rays.

Just to remind you, UVA rays are the ageing rays that cause premature skin ageing like wrinkles and age spots. These rays are able to penetrate glass windows. In contrast, UVB rays cause the typical sunburn and can not penetrate window glass.

And here are a few more tips:

• Did you know that you should apply your sunscreen before your mosituriser?
• If you use several skin care products, always apply the thinnest product first, then gradually increase thickness. The thickest product should be last.
• Sunscreen is very unlikely to make you vitamin D deficient.

References

• Juliet M. Pullar, Anitra C. Carr, and Margreet C. M. Vissers. The Roles of Vitamin C in Skin Health. Nutrients 2017 Aug; 9(8): 866. [Pubmed]
• Malwina Zasada and Elżbieta Budzisz. Retinoids: active molecules influencing skin structure formation in cosmetic and dermatological treatments. Postepy Dermatol Alergol. 2019 Aug; 36(4): 392–397. [Pubmed]
• Niacinamide – mechanisms of action and its topical use in dermatology. Skin Pharmacol Physiol. 2014;27(6):311-5.doi: 10.1159/000359974. Epub 2014 Jun 27. [Epub]
• Skin Resurfacing Chemical Peels. Shireen Samargandy; Blake S. Raggio.
• Lee KC, Wambier CG, Soon SL, Sterling JB, Landau M, Rullan P, Brody HJ., International Peeling Society. Basic chemical peeling: Superficial and medium-depth peels. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2019 Aug;81(2):313-324. [PubMed]
• Landau M. Chemical peels. Clin Dermatol. 2008 Mar-Apr;26(2):200-8. [PubMed]
• Costa IMC, Damasceno PS, Costa MC, Gomes KGP. Review in peeling complications. J Cosmet Dermatol. 2017 Sep;16(3):319-326. [PubMed]
• Monheit GD. Medium-depth chemical peels. Dermatol Clin. 2001 Jul;19(3):413-25, vii. [PubMed]