Not all moisturizers are created equal. Bad moisturizers are a dime a dozen. They line the shelves of drug stores and are full of empty promises. It's time to have a heart-to-heart chat with your moisturizer and see if it's up for the job or maybe it's time to find a replacement.
Start with these questions:
1. Are you mostly just preservatives?
Poorly-made moisturizers in cheap, wide-mouth jar containers are almost entirely made of preservatives to prevent the serum from spoiling or growing mold. How do we know this? Because wide-mouth jars are a breeding ground for mold: as soon as you open the container, the product is exposed to air and light; when the lid is replaced, the result is a dark, damp, bacteria-friendly environment, ripe for mold growth. Don't see any mold? That's because the product is filled to the brim with preservatives. Why pay for preservatives?
2. Will you disrupt my natural hormones with harmful ingredients?
Many moisturizers contain hormone-disrupting chemicals like parabens, sulfates, and fragrance, to name a few. These hormone disruptors can lead to issues like organ toxicity, cancer, infertility, and more. If all you wanted was moist, supple skin, why increase your risk for disease?
3. Do you have added ingredients to nourish and strengthen my skin?
A good moisturizer will not only moisturize your skin but also deliver Vital Vitamins like Vitamins A, B, C, and E. Even better are moisturizers that contain anti-oxidants and probiotics. Each of these over-achieving ingredients has its own benefits to strengthen and support your skin.
4. Do you prevent transepidermal water loss?
Transepidermal water loss is just a sciencey way of saying: "dehydration because water is leaving the body through the skin." This is something our skin does naturally, and some of it is good (like sweating to keep cool), but too much can leave your skin dehydrated. Structural fats (like ceramide, sphingomyelin, and phospholipids) in a good moisturizer prevent transepidermal water loss, so your skin can stay hydrated longer.
5. Will you support the barrier function of my skin?
Structural fats mentioned above also support the barrier function of the skin. The skin barrier is important because it not only keeps moisture in, it also keeps bad things out (bad things like bacteria, disease, UV radiation, free radicals, pollution, smoke, etc.).
6. Will you enhance my NMF?
Okay, what is NMF? NMF stands for Natural Moisturizing Factor. Our skin naturally moisturizes itself, but structural fats mentioned above (yeah, they're that important) can increase the skin's ability to moisturize itself. That means that a good moisturizer is the gift that keeps on giving! Not only does it moisturize you for the day, but it conditions your skin to moisturize itself.
How did your conversation with your moisturizer go? If you're looking for a moisturizer that has all the right answers, we recommend having a chat with HYDRATE.