Putting Your Best Face Forward

by: GeoffHopkins
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Word Count: 494

The Fountain of Youth. We've all heard of it, the spring that a drink from which grants an eternally youthful body. It is a legend we all at one time or another wish existed. If it did one can only imagine how long it would be before it were completely drained.

Who wouldn't want to recapture their youth - or at least preserve it as long as possible? There is a wide variety of products, from wrinkle creams to vitamins, designed to do just that. The brisk sales of these anti-aging products demonstrate that, indeed, many women (and men!) intend to keep their skin looking as youthful as it can, well into middle age.

We look in the mirror and take careful note of the crow's feet, laugh lines, worry lines, wrinkles and creases that we've been collecting over the years. Like rings on a tree, these lines and creases serve to highlight the fact that we are getting older. It doesn't help to look at a picture taken of us at a young age in which none of these signs were visible. A steady stream of anti-aging moisturizers have entered the marketplace, "guaranteed" to do effective battle against the dreaded crows feet and other signs.

Of course, consumers are frequently dubious of any product that makes such claims, and with good reason. What are these magic ingredients, and how do they work? Can anyone really bottle the freshness of teenaged skin? How can you tell which is the best wrinkle cream?

It's important to know about the ingredients in various anti-aging creams before purchasing. So, why are some wrinkle creams better than the others? The active ingredient in many wrinkle creams is retinol, which is a form of vitamin A. Retinol is effective in making wrinkles less noticeable, because the skin absorbs the vitamin A and uses it to make new surface cells. It also increases the amount of collagen in the skin, which improves elasticity.

Whereas retinol functions to reduce the severity of wrinkles, another popular ingredient is alpha hydroxy acid, AHA. AHAs chemically peel away the outer layer of skin. The concentration is very low to prevent serious damage, so the peeling effect while slight, adds a glow the skin as new cells beneath the peeled away dead cells become visible.

The mere presence of one or both of these active ingredients does not answer the question of which product is better. The degree of concentration of the active ingredients is much more likely to determine the effectiveness. A product with a higher concentration of retinol may be much more effective in producing a more youthful look than a product containing only a small amount of retinol.

It never hurts to ask the question "Why are some products better than others? or "Which wrinkle creams would be most effective?" Asking the question leads to getting the facts you need to make a choice, second best to the "Fountain of Youth" but a good choice nevertheless.

About the Author

Geoff Hopkins has worked in the wrinkle treatment industry for years. He maintains websites about anti aging wrinkle cream and anti aging creams.  

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