When you pick of a jar of moisturiser ignore the key words at the front of the jar, they are designed to seduce you! Turn the jar around and read whats inside!! I know thats not an easy task, so iI have created a step by step guide to narrowing down the best cream for your skin
1.Choose a Natural Brand
Stripped down to the most basic, you need to choose a cream with ONLY natural ingredients and not just naturally derived. The more chemical sounding names on the jar, the worse for your skin. An ideal jar of product should only contain simple natural ingredients because natural ingredients work in harmony with your body, while chemical ones (even the ones that are copies of natural ones) are recognised differently by your body, and do not give you the same benefits, and often cause harm.
2.Get an Oil Rich Formula
When you read the bottle, what's the first ingredient on the list?I'll bet its water. A cream contains around a lotion moisturiser could be about 50%, so if your cream costs 50 euro for 100ml, you are paying 25 euro for a little bit of water.Water is a cheap addition to a product and it really isnt necessary. All it does is create a fake feeling of moisturisation when you first use a product. Furthermore if a product contains water it is far more susceptible to bacteria so a lot more preservatives are needed to make the product safe.
So you need to be looking for a balm or facial oil rather than a traditional water based moisturiser.
3.Not All Oil is Created Equally
Ok so the base of your product needs to be oil rather than water. But what oil should it be? Its more about what oil it should not be actually.
Liquid paraffin, liquid petroleum, paraffin oil, paraffinum liquidum, petrolatum liquid, petroleum oil,
These are all examples of highly refined by-products of crude oil. Crude oil is also used to make petrol, diesel, and plastic! These are the things to avoid in your product. These ingredients are cheap, readily available and have a very long shelf life, so cosmteic companies love them.
Now, they are also very good at holding moisture in the skin, but they do this by creating a seal on the skin, this prevents the skin breathing and absorbing moisture from the air. The result is that your skin function becomes impaired and it becomes dependant on these substances. Have you ever become dependant on a lipbalm like vaseline? well, thats why.
Instead choose a plant oil such as avocado, safflower (great for oily skin), apricot or almond. They contain vitamins and fatty acids which work well to help regulate your skins natural moisturising ability.
4.Look for Essential Oils and Plant Extracts
There are many active ingredients listed on cosmetics these days, but often these active ingredients simply cannot be absorbed by your skin, their molecules are too large. Also, as I already stated, when you add chemical ingredients to your body, your body may not react to them in the same way as a lab test might. Essential oils have been PROVEN to be absorbed by the skin, and they have a fantastic effect on the skin. Theya re in my view the best thing you can do to improve your skin. Likewise plant extracts have been used for centuries on the skin and can give brilliant results.
5.Organic or Not
I am a big believer in the benefit of using organic skincare products. So if you can afford to I would say go for it. If not, by following the advice above you can still get a great quality cream. See my picks below for help.
Dont forget:
- By avoiding chemical ingredients you are reducing the amount of toxins your body has to deal with and eliminate.
- By choosing a natural formula youare more likely to be choosing a product which is cruelty free
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