Cosmeticine Blog

If you are looking at the skincare aisles in your local shop, or browsing the skincare section of a beauty website, you will likely see two main selling points on the front of the packaging. One will be the purpose of the skincare product – there are many fantastic and innovative products which focus on smoothing skin, reducing blemishes, hydrating skin, and many more great benefits.

The other main characteristic listed front and centre of a skincare product bottle is often the key ingredient. Have you ever read ‘Contains Vitamin C’ or ‘Hyaluronic Acid’ and wondered what the advantages of these ingredients are?

In this blog, I take a look at four skincare ingredients that are seen in many products, and explore the main benefits and purpose of each of them.

HYALURONIC ACID
Let’s start with hyaluronic acid. Hyaluronic acid is often referred to as the skincare hero ingredient. It’s something more and more people seem to be adding into their usual skincare routine. But why is this? Topical hyaluronic acid in a serum formulation can increase skin hydration by 55%. Topical hyaluronic acid skin hydration has been seen to improve skin plumping, improve smoothness by up to 60%, somewhat reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, and improve overall skin appearance. It also possesses an excellent skin tolerability profile. Topical hyaluronic acid is suitable for all Fitzpatrick (colour) skin types. Low molecular weight hyaluronic acid serums are safe and helpful.

RETINOL
Tretinoin/Retinol is considered the gold standard agent used in anti-aging treatment. The most commonly used are 0.025%, 0.05%, or 0.1%; approved for facial fine wrinkles, and hyperpigmentation and moderate to severe facial photo-damage skin. A study result suggests that long-term use of 0.025%-0.05% Tretinoin emollient cream with a once-daily application is a safe and effective treatment.

VITAMIN C
Topical creams with Vitamin C are shown to have beneficial effect with respect to UV irradiation protection; however most effective formulations contain both vitamins C and E, plus a delivery vehicle. Consuming vitamin C by eating fruit and vegetable has promoted good skin health. Signs of aging in human skin can be ameliorated through the provision of vitamin C. Use of vitamin C to the skin greatly assists wound healing and minimises raised scar formation.

PEPTIDES
Topical application of the peptides complex can be seen to significantly increase dermal collagen expression (inner skin layer collagen production) and laminin. Studies show that complex peptides can improve fine wrinkles on face and neck.

*This blog explores the benefits and purpose of these ingredients only. Refer to product labels for specific usage advice and more.*