subject: Anti Aging Solution: Moisturize! [print this page] Do you want to fight the signs of aging, keep wrinkles at bay and reclaim the beautiful skin you had in your youth? There's no real secret to do this. Following a healthy lifestyle, eating a diet rich in nutritious foods, and getting enough sleep are essential, but when it comes to skincare products, the most important product you should consider is your moisturizer.
Moisturizers are the best way to protect the skin from the damage caused by environmental hazards, like sun exposure and aridity. While they won't eliminate existing wrinkles, a good moisturizer will hydrate the skin and prevent it from getting dry, chapped and weathered, which will in turn keep your skin smooth and soft - elements of a healthy complexion. Drinking your mandatory 8 glasses of water a day will help flush the body of toxins, but it won't keep you skin as hydrated as a topically applied moisturizer. That's just an old wives' tale.
Beautiful skin is achieved by moisturizers that contain two essential ingredients: an emollient and a humectant. Emollients, such as lanolin, serve to fill in the spaces around dead skin cells located on the surface of the skin. Doing this creates a smoother and softer complexion. Humectants, such as hyaluronic acid, attract water to the skin's surface, whether it is from the environment or from the deeper layers. This help with suppleness and elasticity. If you've got really dry skin, greasier ingredients like beeswax can even help retard the evaporation of water from the skin. All the other ingredients in a moisturizer, regardless of how fancy and expensive they are, really just assist these two key players to perform better.
Moisturizing while your skin is still damp following cleansing is vital in maintaining a gorgeous complexion. There is absolutely no excuse for forgetting this critical step, and it won't help to slather on the cream hours after you've showered. The only reason why anyone would be able to skip this step is if their skin produces a sufficient amount of sebum (natural skin oil) on its own. There are a lucky few who have this ability, but with age, sebum production does gradually reduce and so eventually, everyone must use moisturizer. So, you might as well start when you're young!
