Anti-aging skin care products

It can only improve dry epidermis, fine lines, and collagen loss in the superficial dermis. It cannot eliminate static wrinkles or solve sagging skin, and it cannot replace medical beauty. Choosing the right product that suits your skin type and needs is much more useful than blindly following big brands and believing in gimmicks.

To be honest, I have stepped into more anti-aging traps than I have used essences. Two years ago, I helped my aunt choose anti-aging products. She was fooled by the "smear-based facelift" shouted in the live broadcast room. She spent more than 3,000 on a so-called "quantum anti-aging kit", which was said to "suck back" the nasolabial folds after applying it. However, after using it for half a month, the nasolabial folds were not faded at all, and she was so depressed that she smacked her lips in distress when I threw it away. Later, I replaced her with a 0.1% concentration A-alcohol essence plus repairing cream for less than 200 yuan. I watched her gradually build up tolerance by using it once every two days. She must wear sunscreen every day when going out. After using it for two months, she looked in the mirror and said that the dry lines in the corner of her eyes that were stuck when applying makeup were really smoothed a lot. Now when she meets people, she says that the money she used to throw into the water does not make a sound.

There is actually no unified "standard answer" in the anti-aging circle now, and the skin care logic of different factions is quite different. The hard-core ingredients party only recognizes a few core ingredients that have been clinically proven: retinol and its derivatives, Bosein, and peptides. These three are currently the only anti-aging skin care ingredients recognized by both academia and industry. Other fancy concepts are basically marketing. However, many dermatologists do not recommend that ordinary people blindly pursue high-concentration ingredients. For example, although high-concentration A-alcohol has strong anti-aging effects, people with sensitive skin and thin stratum corneum are prone to redness, peeling, and bad faces if they use it. On the contrary, it will damage the skin barrier and accelerate aging. This is why many people say that "using A-alcohol makes your face bad" - it's not that the ingredients are useless, it's that you haven't chosen the right concentration that suits you.

Nowadays, many brands are following the road-style route. They do not pursue high concentrations of single ingredients, but instead target several core pathways of aging (photoaging, oxidation, collagen loss, inflammation). For example, ergothioneine is anti-photooxidation, ectoine is anti-inflammatory, and low-concentration Bose is a collagen-stimulating product. This kind of product basically does not require the establishment of tolerance, and is very friendly to people with sensitive skin and the elderly. I have several friends who are allergic to it when the seasons change. In the past, their faces were ruined by alcohol-A. I have basically never had any trouble with this type of compound anti-aging essence. Although the effect is not as fast as that of high-concentration alcohol-A, it is more stable. After long-term use, the skin will be much firmer. There is no right or wrong between the two methods. Just choose based on your skin type.

The most debated question is "What is the difference between high price and low price?" Last year, I saw a blind test conducted by a third-party testing agency. For prototype retinol products with the same concentration, the price of a big-name product of more than 2,000 yuan and a domestic product of more than 80 yuan, the difference in type I collagen production rate after 28 days of use was only 4.7%, which is almost negligible. However, the complex system of expensive products is really good, with a lot of soothing ingredients and penetration-promoting ingredients added, which makes the skin feel smoother and less irritating. If you have a sufficient budget and are afraid of trouble, there is absolutely nothing wrong with choosing a big brand. But if you have a limited budget, choose a high-concentration core ingredient product from a reliable brand, and the effect will not be much worse. I am afraid that if you spend hundreds of dollars to buy an "anti-aging essence", the added amount of core ingredients will not even reach the effective concentration, then you will really pay IQ tax.

Let me give you some practical purchasing advice. If you are in your early 20s and your face is a bit saggy and has a little dry lines after staying up late occasionally, there is no need to buy a lady’s anti-aging cream that costs thousands. Just use sun protection and add more than 100 peptide essences. My cousin is 23 this year. She used to stay up late every day and watch variety shows, and her apples were falling off a bit. Then she started wearing sunscreen every day and using a six-peptide serum at night. Within a month, her face became tighter. It was much more effective than the night-time cream she bought for over RMB 2,000. If you are over 35 years old and have static lines on your face that can be seen even without expression, as well as obvious sagging, don’t spend too much money on skin care products. Skin care products can only penetrate into the superficial layer of the dermis. Deeper wrinkles and sagging cannot be solved by applying anything. If you want to improve your skin, you can go directly to cosmetic surgery, which is much more cost-effective.

There are also several things that everyone in the industry knows, but brands won’t tell the truth: "Nobel Prize anti-aging ingredients", "stem cell anti-aging" and "smear-on Thermage" are all IQ taxes. The research on telomerase has not yet been applied to skin care products. When applied to the face, stem cells cannot even penetrate the stratum corneum, let alone promote collagen. There are also products that say they can fade wrinkles in 7 days, but they either add silicone to give you the illusion of smoothness, or they add hormones, which will make your face rotten if used for a long time. The skin's metabolism cycle is at least 28 days. Anti-aging is a slow job, and if you are too hasty, you will only get into trouble.

I have been doing skin care myself for so many years, and I have used at least dozens of anti-aging products. My current combination is VC plus sunscreen in the morning, and 0.2% alcohol A plus Bose cream at night. After using it for almost two years, the dry lines at the corners of my eyes have basically not deepened, and my face has rarely collapsed after staying up late. When friends around me ask me for anti-aging recommendations, I never directly drop the link. I always ask first about my skin type, budget, and acceptable level of stimulation. After all, there is no universal formula for anti-aging. The product you choose is the best if it can match your needs.