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What Makes A State-of-the-Art
Moisturizer?By Paula Begoun
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Moisturizer is a
ubiquitous term that has lost meaning over the years. With all
the anti-aging, anti-wrinkling, lifting, firming, nourishing,
organic, works-like-Botox, eye cream, and throat cream
products touting their miracle formulations, it's hard to know
where moisturizers fit into the picture. In actuality,
regardless of the name or claim, "moisturizers," whether they
are in cream, lotion, serum, or even liquid form, must supply
the skin with ingredients that maintain its structure, reduce
free-radical damage (environmental assaults on the skin from
sun, pollution, and air), and help cells function more
normally. When moisturizers contain the well-researched,
effective groups of ingredients that can do these things, they
are as close to "anti-aging" and repairing as any skin-care
product can get.
Contrary to what the cosmetics
industry at large would like you to believe, a
state-of-the-art moisturizer does not rely on one "star"
ingredient to enhance skin's appearance or function, or to
improve the appearance of wrinkles. Month after month,
consumers are faced with new ingredients, each claiming
superiority over any number of predecessors, although the
majority have no substantiated, non-company-funded research to
prove these assertions. This constant yet ever-changing list
of "best" ingredients may keep things interesting for cosmetic
marketing departments, but it rarely helps the consumer
determine what is needed to maintain healthy, radiant skin.
All skin types will benefit from daily, topical
application of antioxidants, anti-irritants, and water-binding
agents that work to mimic the structure and function of
healthy skin. Aside from antioxidants, cell-communicating
ingredients, and ingredients that mimic skin structure, dry
skin also needs emollients such as oils (non-fragrant, ranging
from olive or evening primrose to borage or sunflower),
triglycerides, and fatty acids (lipids such as cholesterol,
lecithin, and linoleic acid).
Daytime versus
Nighttime Moisturizers
Putting aside the claims, hype,
and misleading information you may have heard, the only real
difference between a daytime and nighttime moisturizer is that
the daytime version should contain a well-formulated
sunscreen. For daytime wear, unless your foundation contains
an effective sunscreen, it is essential that your moisturizer
features a well-formulated, broad-spectrum sunscreen rated SPF
15 or higher. Well-formulated means it contains UVA-protecting
ingredients of titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, or avobenzone
(also called butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane). Regardless of the
time of day, your skin needs all the state-of-the-art
ingredients I describe in the following paragraphs.
The brilliance of cosmetic chemists and advanced
ingredient technology allows for the creation of all types of
moisturizers (with and without sunscreen) that have elegant
textures, silky applications, and superb finishes. The days of
plain, water-and-wax moisturizers are over (though many lines
still sell such formulations to unwary customers). Using these
antiquated formulations is like using computers made in the
1980s. That would be cheating your skin by not giving it the
best that's out there to help it (dare I say it) "look
younger." The following is a list of the key elements of
today's state-of-the-art moisturizers, the kind I recommended
highly:
Ingredients that Mimic the Structure of
Skin
Ingredients that mimic skin structure go by
several names including natural moisturizing factors (NMFs)
and I have often referred to them in my books as water-binding
agents. These are suitable for all skin types. "Water-binding
agent" and NMF are general terms that refer to ingredients
capable of keeping water in the skin or repairing the skin's
intercellular matrix (fundamental external structure). There
are many ingredients that have these functions. Humectants, of
which glycerin is a classic example, draw water to skin and
are one vital component of a moisturizer. But what good is
attracting water to the skin if the structure isn't there to
keep the water from leaving? It turns out skin cells usually
have plenty of water if they don't become damaged, and healthy
skin's water content typically ranges from 10-30%. Once skin
is irritated, over-cleansed, exposed to the sun, or dehydrated
by air conditioning or indoor heaters its integrity is
compromised and water loss ensues. This occurs when the
substances that keep the skin cells bound together to create
the surface structure we see as skin (the intercellular
matrix) are depleted. This intercellular structure is made up
of many different components, ranging from ceramides to
lecithin, glycerin, polysaccharides, hyaluronic acid, sodium
hyaluronate, sodium PCA, collagen, elastin, proteins, amino
acids, cholesterol, glucose, sucrose, fructose, glycogen,
phospholipids, glycosphingolipids, glycosaminoglycans, and
many more. All of these give the skin what it needs to keep
its cells intact. Just adding water is meaningless if the
intercellular matrix is damaged. When a moisturizer does
contain a combination of these NMFs and water-binding
ingredients, it can help reinforce the skin's natural ability
to function normally, improve skin's texture, and with
continual use of products containing the ingredients mentioned
above, can eliminate dry skin.
Anti-Irritants
Anti-irritants are another
vital aspect of any skin-care formulation. Regardless of the
source, irritation is a problem for all skin types, yet it is
almost impossible to avoid. Whether it is from the sun,
oxidative damage from pollution, the environment, or from the
skin-care products a person uses, irritation can be a constant
assault on the skin. Ironically, even such necessary
ingredients as sunscreen agents, preservatives, exfoliants,
and cleansing agents can cause irritation. Other ingredients,
like fragrance, menthol, and sensitizing plant extracts, are
primary irritants and are typically void of genuine benefits
for skin, so their usage is negative, at least if you're
serious about creating and maintaining healthy skin.
Anti-irritants are incredibly helpful because they
allow skin healing time and can reduce the problems oxidative
and sources of external damage cause. Anti-irritants include
substances such as allantoin, aloe, bisabolol, burdock root,
chamomile extract, glycyrrhetinic acid, grape extract, green
tea, licorice root, vitamin C, white willow, willow bark,
Willowherb, and many, many more. Their benefit to skin should
be strongly considered because this is a rare case where too
much of a good thing is better!
Antioxidants
Antioxidants are an essential
element to a state-of-the-art moisturizer. A growing body of
research continues to show that antioxidants are a potential
panacea for skin's ills and ignoring this while shopping for
moisturizers is shortchanging your skin. What makes
antioxidants so intriguing is that they seem to have the
ability to reduce or prevent some amount of the oxidative
damage that destroys and depletes the skin's function and
structure, while also preventing some amount of solar
degeneration of skin (Sources: Cosmetic Dermatology,
December 2001, pages 37-40; Current Problems in
Dermatology, 2001, Volume 29, pages 26-42; Dermatologic
Surgery, "The Antioxidant Network of the Stratum Corneum";
July 31, 2005, pages 814-817; and Journal of Pharmaceutical
and Biomedical Analysis, February 23, 2005, pages
287-295).
The most common antioxidants used in
skin-care products include alpha lipoic acid, beta-glucan,
coenzyme Q10, curcumin, grape seed extract, green tea, soybean
sterols, superoxide dismutase, vitamin A (retinyl palmitate
and retinol), vitamin C (ascorbyl palmitate and magnesium
ascorbyl palmitate), vitamin E (alpha tocopherol,
tocotrienol), and extracts from lemon and rosemary.
A
key point to keep in mind while considering a moisturizer with
antioxidants is packaging. Although antioxidants have great
ability to intercept and mitigate free-radical damage, their
main irony is that they deteriorate when repeatedly exposed to
air (oxygen) and sunlight. Therefore, an antioxidant-laden
moisturizer packaged in a jar or clear (instead of opaque)
container will likely lose its antioxidant benefit within
weeks (or days, depending on the formula) after it is opened.
Look for moisturizers with antioxidants that are packaged in
opaque tubes or bottles and be sure the orifice (where the
product is dispensed from) is small to minimize exposing the
product to air.
Cell-Communicating
Ingredients
This new group of ingredients is getting
attention for their role in helping skin function more
normally. Medical journals refer to these as "cell signaling"
substances—but I think "cell communicating" is more
descriptive of what they do in relation to skin care.
 Whereas antioxidants work by intervening
in a chain-reaction process called free-radical damage,
"grabbing" the loose-cannon molecule that causes free-radical
damage to nullify it, cell-communicating ingredients,
theoretically, have the ability to tell a skin cell to look,
act, and behave better, more like a normal healthy skin cell
would, or to stop other substances from telling the cell to
behave badly or abnormally. This is exciting news because
antioxidants lack the ability to "tell" a damaged skin cell to
behave more normally. Years of unprotected or poorly protected
sun exposure causes abnormal skin cells to be produced.
Instead of normal, round, even, and completely intact skin
cells being regenerated, when damaged cells form and reproduce
they are uneven, flat, and lack structural integrity. As a
result of these deformities, they behave poorly. This is where
cell-communicating ingredients (examples are niacinamide and
adenosine triphosphate) have the potential to help.
Every cell has a vast series of receptor sites for
different substances. These receptor sites are the cell’s
communication hookup. When the right ingredient for a specific
site shows up, it has the ability to attach itself to the cell
and transmit information. In the case of skin, this means
telling the cell to start doing the things a healthy skin cell
should be doing. If the cell accepts the message, it then
shares the same healthy message with other nearby cells and so
on and so on.
As long as there is a receptor site and
the appropriate, healthy signaling substance, a lot of good,
healthy communication takes place. But a cell's communication
network is more complex than any worldwide telephone system
ever made. The array of receptor sites and the substances that
can make connections to them make up a huge, complex, and
varied group with incredible limitations and convoluted
pathways that we are still finding out about. And as far as
skin care is concerned, it's an area of research that's in its
infancy. No doubt you will be hearing more and more about
cell-communicating or cell-signaling ingredients being used in
skin-care products, despite the lack of solid research. The
good news is that, theoretically, this new horizon in skin
care is incredibly exciting. (Sources: Microscopy Research
and Technique, January 2003, pages 107–114; Nature
Medicine, February 2003, pages 225–229; Journal of
Investigative Dermatology, March 2002, pages 402–408;
International Journal of Biochemistry and Cell Biology,
July 2004, pages 1141–1146; Experimental Cell Research,
March 2002, pages 130–137; Skin Pharmacology and Applied
Skin Physiology, September-October 2002, pages 316–320;
and www.signaling-gateway.org).
All of the elements
above are prime factors that contribute to making what I (and
many cosmetic ingredient researchers and chemists) consider a
state-of-the-art moisturizer. It is important to know that
there is no single "best" moisturizer available. Instead,
there are many brilliant formulations, and consumers can find
a truly elegant product for their skin type, be it a
serum-type moisturizer for use on combination or oily skin, or
an emollient-rich product to help remedy dry skin.
Emollients
For those with truly dry skin,
not caused from irritating or drying skin-care products,
emollients are lubricating ingredients that are critical for
making skin feel hydrated. These provide dry skin with the one
thing it's missing—moisture—in the form of substances that
resemble those the skin produces for itself. Emollients are
ingredients like plant oils, mineral oil, shea butter, cocoa
butter, petrolatum, fatty alcohols, and animal oils (including
emu, mink, and lanolin, the latter probably the one ingredient
that is most like our own skin's oil). All of these are
exceptionally beneficial for all cases of dry skin, and easily
recognizable on an ingredient list.
More
technical-sounding ingredients like triglycerides, benzoates,
myristates, palmitates, and stearates are generally waxy in
texture and appearance but provide most moisturizers with
their elegant texture and feel. Overall, emollients create the
fundamental base and texture of a moisturizer and impart a
creamy, smooth feel on the skin. Silicones (seen on the label
in terms ending in "siloxane") are another interesting group
of lubricants for skin. They have the most exquisite, silky
texture and an incredible ability to prevent dehydration
without suffocating skin. All of these ingredients spread over
the skin to create a thin, imperceptible layer, recreating the
benefits of our own oil production, preventing evaporation,
and giving dry skin the lubrication it is missing.
For Those with Normal to Oily Skin or Minimal
Dryness
You may be wondering what to use if you don’t
have dryness but still want to give your skin the ingredients
it needs to look and feel better. Moisturizers in cream, balm,
or ointment form are bound to be problematic if you have any
degree of oiliness, and so are many lighter-weight lotions.
What works instead is to look for water- or silicone-based
fluids (including well-formulated toners) or serums that are
loaded with beneficial antioxidants, anti-irritants, and
ingredients that mimic the structure and function of healthy
skin (including water-binding agents such as glycerin or
lecithin and cell-communicating ingredients such as
niacinamide or adenosine triphosphate). Using such products
will give your skin what it needs without layering on
emollients, thickeners, or other heavier ingredients that are
elemental for dealing with dry skin but often troublesome for
combination or oily skin. If you have combination skin but
suffer from very dry areas, you may have no choice but to
address the dryness with a more emollient moisturizer. The key
is to only apply it to the dry areas and make sure it doesn’t
migrate to oily zones.
What about sunscreen? Great
question, because this is a daily essential for every skin
type! Because most sunscreen formulations apply and perform
best when formulated in lotion or cream-based emulsions, this
can be a tricky area to navigate for someone with oily skin or
oily areas. The good news is that silicone technology has made
it possible to create ultra-light sunscreens that allow the
active ingredients to remain suspended and spread easily (and
uniformly) over skin. They aren't as prevalent as standard
sunscreen creams and lotions, but such products are available
from most of the major skin-care players, including Clinique,
Estee Lauder, Neutrogena, and Olay. Many smaller, niche lines
offer such products too, including companies such as DDF
(Doctor’s Dermatologic Formula) and Peter Thomas Roth.
(Other sources for this article: Current Molecular
Medicine, March 2005, pages 171-177; Applied
Spectroscopy, July 1998, pages 1001-1007; Skin Research
and Technology, November 2003, pages 306-311; Journal
of the American Academy of Dermatology, March 2003, pages
352-358; Skin Pharmacology and Applied Skin Physiology,
November-December 1999, pages 344-351; and Dermatology,
February 2005, pages 128-134).
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