A word about ingredients...

A lot of people when searching for skin care ingredients fear the ingredient declaration on the back of the product.  And rightfully so, it may as well be written Italian.  So here is a breakdown of some of the ingredients commonly found in your skin care products. Side note: refer to other posts to get a breakdown of other popular ingredients.  In an effort to avoid repeating myself, I won't cover those stellar ingredients in this post.  Ok so here we go....

Peptides show up on the ingredient dec as:

Acetyl Hexapeptide- 3 ( also shows up as Argirleline TM). this fella simmers down facial muscles, so they move less.  The theory is if muscles move less, less lines show up on the face.  This little gem is supposed to be like Botox TM in a bottle.  It really isn't anywhere near the caliber of Botox TM, but it does help ease up those expression lines and it works really well to extend the life of your Botox TM treatment.

Palmitoyl Pentapeptide- 4 (also shows up as Matrixyl TM ).  This steller feller is becoming known as retinol's sister- meaning it has similar properties as retinol without any of the irritation.  This is a great ingredient to be on the prowl for if you're concerned with anti-aging, but have sensitive skin.

Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide- 7 (also shows up as Rigin TM ).  This guy helps to control inflammation.  This is good because inflammation ages the skin, so if it's controlled, so are the fine lines, laxity, and dullness that may creep up on your skin as your years creep up.

Minerals:

Copper:  anti oxidant- which means your skin is protected to some degree from free radicals.  Free radicals age the skin, so you want to be protected from them and they are everywhere.  AHHH!  This fella also promotes wound healing, so if you want to help your skin to avoid a scar after and injury, use copper!

Selenium- a very potent anti oxidant.  Also used to control fungal infections- you'll see it in anti-dandruff shampoos.

Zinc- One of my faves.  Offers a great sun protection.  It's a physical block between you and the sun.  This guy also helps in wound healing and helps to simmer inflammation, so it is great for rosacea prone or acne prone individuals.  Honestly everybody can benefit from zinc.  loooove zinc.

Others:

Green Tea Extract: potent anti-oxidant.  A great guy to have in your skin care.  Look for this ingredient in your sunscreen to amp up your sun protection.

Idebenone:  Similar to Co-Q-10.  Idebenone is more aggressive than Co-Q-10.  Both ingredients are potent anti-oxidants, sometimes too potent because some people have found this fella a little too irritating.  However, if your skin can tolerate it, it's a great ingredient.  This ingredient also helps to lighten pigmentation.

Kinetin- popular in the Kinerase line.  This is a plant hormone that helps to protect and regenerate the skin.  This is a great option if you're concerned with anti-aging, but your skin is highly sensitive.

Lycopene-  a carotenoid that protects the cell.  Derived from tomatoes and a great ingredient to be added to your sunscreen.

Reservatrol- Derived from grape's skins.  Think wine.  This is a great anti oxidant.  This guy also calms down inflammation.  Woo hoo!

Squalene- derived from sharks and olive oil.  This ingredient is designed to match the skin's own sebum and will not clog the pores.  This is a great ingredient for acneic skin types who are experiencing extensive dryness due to aggressive skin care products.  Also good for dry skin types.

Hyaluronic Acid-  A humectant found in are skin naturally. However, as we age we lose oodles of it. Bummer.  Babies skin looks so firm and plump due to this magical ingredient.  his duded hydrates the skin via water, rather than oil. This is a great ingredient for all skin types!

There are way more ingredients out there, but hopefully this will help you understand your products a bit more.  If there is a certain ingredient you have questions on, please don't hesitate to ask.  If I don't know the answer, I'll find someone who does. :)