Anti aging cream aims to help the user look younger by visibly reducing wrinkles, expression lines, discoloration, pigmentation changes, blemishes, and the other related conditions of the skin.
The majority of anti aging creams contain retinal, which in its various concoctions is supposed to provide users with a rejuvenated look thanks to it being able to stimulate the growth of skin cells while also reducing dark spots. In addition, they may use alpha hydroxy acids as well as beta hydroxy acids whose effect is that of peeling especially when they are used as chemical peels. These effects though are dependent on the concentration as well as how they are applied which means that the end result may not always be absolutely satisfactory.
Simple Anti Aging Cream Products
Even a simple moisturiser, with no special ingredients can almost instantly make wrinkles less deep. This is because as the moisture is outsourced by the skin, it puffs up, so this temporarily lessens the appearance of lines, so don't be fooled by expensive products offering an instant effect.
Prevention
The anti aging cream with the strongest scientific support is sun cream. Sun exposure is the cause for many of the changes we associate with old looking skin, such as coarse wrinkles. Minimising sun exposure by using a good quality sun cream that offers protection against UVA and UVB can help to minimise skin damage and premature aging of the skin.
Permanently Reduce Wrinkles
Everyone is really looking for an anti aging cream that is not just prevention but a way to permanently reduce the wrinkles they already have.
Too good to be true? - Perhaps not, recent clinical studies on an acne medication called tretinoin, or retinoic acid, showed that it could reduce the appearance of fine lines in sun damaged skin. This treatment however is only available on prescription as it can have on pleasant side-effects such as redness, itching and peeling.
Can good cosmetic anti aging creams have a similar effect? - The BBC interviewed Chris Griffiths at the University of Manchester who was involved in the tests on trestonin. He was recently asked to run a similar study on sun damaged skin, but this time using a standard cosmetic moisturising cream. To their surprise they found the cream also had an ability to repair damaged skin. Griffiths does stress however that the effects of the cosmetic cream were not as dramatic as using tretinoin.
Griffiths states “it wouldn't surprise me at all if other, up till now, designated cosmetic anti aging cream products actually have more effects on skin physiology and skin structure than we gave them credit for in the past. But then you start to question what is a cosmetic and what is a pharmaceutical.”
This is the problem for cosmetic companies, if they prove a anti aging cream product really can heal damaged skin, it could then be classed as a medicine. This would mean that they would require years of expensive tests before they could acquire a licence.