| 
Best
skin care products
Facial toner
Natural skin care
Skin Care Tips for Women
Skin Care Tips for Men
Key techniques to
healthy skin
Best
Skincare Products articles
10
things you must do to get great face
The right (&
wrong) ways to cleanse, moisturize & exfoliate your
skin
Facial Skin
Care Products
How to Rejuvinate Your
Skin
|
Home
> Articles > Facial
Skin Care Products
Facial Skin Care Products
by: Dr. Edward F. Group III, DC, Ph.D, ND, DACBN
The skin on your face is exposed to a barrage of toxins and environmental
damage on a daily basis. It must withstand pollution, ultraviolet rays,
wind, and debris, as well as the harmful chemicals in 99% of all skin
care products and cosmetics. The skin on your face is the most delicate
skin on your body. Therefore there are many specialty products that
have been developed specifically for your facial skin. It can be difficult
to decipher which products perform which tasks, and which products would
work the best with your skin type. Here’s a primer on the most
common facial products available.
A Word About Facial Skin
Before you can select the facial skin care products that would work
best for you, you need to determine your skin type. Basically, facial
skin is categorized as either normal, oily, dry, sensitive, or combination.
If you’ve never had problems with oily skin or dry skin, it’s
likely that you have “normal” skin. The pores of normal
skin are small and the overall skin tone is even. Oily skin, on the
other hand results in medium to large pores that are prone to blockage
and breakouts. Oily skin is usually slightly too moderately greasy and
is thicker and firmer than normal skin. Dry skin feels tight and itchy,
especially in the winter. It is thinner than normal skin and may even
be slightly rough to the touch. People with sensitive skin are usually
the ones who actually know their skin type. Sensitive skin is prone
to rashes and breakouts from any kind of irritants such as sun, perfumes,
shaving cream, temperature extremes, and even soap. Avoid products with
dyes, perfumes, or unnecessary chemical ingredients in all skin conditions.
As its name implies, combination skin has both dry and oily patches.
Most commonly, combination skin exhibits an oily “T-Zone”
(forehead, nose and chin) with dry skin on the cheeks and around the
eyes.
Facial Skin Care Products
- Facial Cleansers: Soap can be very drying to facial skin. So it
is best to use a facial wash or cleanser that is specifically designed
for the face.
- Skin Toners: Skin toners offer extra cleaning and help to restore
the pH balance of your facial skin. However, these products can be
quite drying, so if you have dry or sensitive skin, you will not need
to use a skin toner.
- Anti Aging Creams: Facial skin care creams made of antioxidants
(particularly vitamins C and E), vitamin A or alpha-hydroxy acids
(AHAs), are commonly used to help reduce the appearance of wrinkles
and restore luster to the skin. These products may make a variety
of claims regarding their efficacy and time required to see results.
Use caution when reviewing a facial skin care product that claims
to be a “miracle cure” to aging.
- Eye Creams: Eye creams are specifically made to pamper the delicate
skin under and around the eyes. They help to plump and tighten under
eye skin and they can reduce fine lines and wrinkles (like crows feet)
that develop around the eyes. I recommend “Parfait Visage”
- Moisturizers: Moisturizers help to hydrate skin and reduce the
effects of aging over time.
- Sunscreen: Sunscreen is the most important facial skin care product
for the health and protection of your skin. The sun’s rays,
even in small amounts can be very damaging to the skin on your face.
Protect it with a natural sunscreen of at least an SPF 15 everyday.
- Facial Cleansers: The fragile skin on your face needs a gentle
cleanser that is designed for facial skin. Facial cleansers may come
in liquid, foam, gel, towelette, or bar form.
AHAs: Alpah Hydroxy Acids (AHAs) work wonders at smoothing out the
texture of skin and reducing the visibility of fine lines. These products
work by sloughing off dead skin cells to unblock and cleanse pores,
to improve oily skin or acne, and to improve skin condition in general.
The extent of exfoliation that a facial skin care product is capable
of depends on the type and concentration of the AHA, its pH (acidity),
and other ingredients in the product.
- Exfoliators: These facial skin care products utilize a variety
of ingredients such as nuts, alpha hydroxy acids, and microcrystals
to gently remove dead skin cells and reveal the healthy, radiant skin
underneath. They are best used occasionally to restore luster to dull
or dry skin.
Sunless Tanners: As their name implies, sunless tanners are used to
tan the skin without exposure to the sun. These products vary greatly
in quality, time requirements, and ease of application. They should
be used with caution. A poor quality or poorly applied sunless tanner
will produce unnatural results. These sunless tanners also contain
harmful chemicals which can be absorbed by your skin.
|
 |