A skin cream is the foundation of your home skin care regimen. Unlike a cleanser or a scrub, a cream needs to have long lasting affects. But can it? Is yours a miracle worker or are you just applying a cream for no real benefit? What’s in one skin cream that makes it work, while others are just moisturizer placebos?

When you are at the cosmetic counter, the spa, or the drugstore, what should you look for? For starters, the modern ingredients available today are way too advanced to settle for just any old moisturizer. The moisturizers of 10 or 20 years ago don’t begin to match up to the skin creams of today. Why? The active ingredients give the skin the ability to absorb active ingredients. These active ingredients can change the depth of a wrinkle, the production of collagen or the messengers in the skin that send signals to cells to react a certain way.

Skin Cream Ingredients

Let’s look at some ingredients that can make or break a great moisturizer. Some popular ingredients in skin creams include the following:

• Peptides – peptides have became very popular because they physically can boost collagen, help reduce wrinkles and transmit numerous other messages to the cells
• DMAE – reportedly from scientific research helps
• Alpha Lipoic Acid – patented, alpha lipoic acid actually prevents damage and acts as an anti-oxidant
• Glycolic or Salicylic Acid – Both acids help to exfoliate the skin, while helping to introduce ingredients that will
• Retinol – There is the acid form of Vitamin A and the fat soluble.  Both work to regenerate the skin, but the fat soluble form actually absorbs deep into the skin.
• Copper – an ingredient in our bodies, copper in skin cream helps to re-nourish the cells.
• Vitamins A, C, & E are the triangle of skin nutrients needed to make the skin appear healthy.  All three of them help to keep the skin healthy.
• Botanical Extracts – Extracts of plants and flowers are the backbone of our science today. Understanding all of the affects of the thousands of extracts is a cosmetic chemist’s playground.

Try not to read only the front of your moisturizer or just the advertising. Look at the ingredient label. What are the ingredients?  Do you recognize any ingredients that might be anti-aging? If the ingredients look familiar, are they at the top of the list or the bottom?

Getting a great skin cream is a must for your daily skin care routine.  That’s why the #bellaskin tips help you understand the importance of great home care regimen.