Like most of us in this economy, Jill didn’t have a lot of extra money to spend. She really wanted to get a good moisturizer, as cancer treatments had dried her skin, leaving it flaky and irritated, but there were so many other things on her shopping list, like shoes for the kids, new tires for the car, pet food, and prescriptions, that she figured a bargain jar from the drugstore would do the trick just fine.
Little did Jill know that she may have just cost herself more money in the long run.
How could this be so? Are moisturizers-or other skin-care products, for that matter-really all that different? According to many beauty and health experts, they are. Betty Wolfe, skin-care product researcher writing for “Nutrition for Better Skin,” says, “In all honesty, it is better to spend more money on one truly good product than to spend less on something that only looks effective. The forty dollars I spend on one bottle of cream to moisturize my skin and stop redness and irritation is far less expensive than the ten dollars or so a week I spent on products that only served to make my skin worse.”
We don’t normally think of skin-care products as making our skin worse, but it’s possible-especially with products that are cheaply made and full of potentially harmful chemicals. They may smell nice (because of unnamed chemicals making up the fragrance) and look nice in fancy packaging, but that only disguises low-end ingredients that provide maximum profit, but perhaps little benefit to your skin. After all, if you’re applying ingredients that are well-known allergens, skin irritants, hormone disruptors, and potential carcinogens, you’re creating a situation in which you will then have to buy more products to stop the damage caused by the ones you already applied. And unfortunately, a lot of the skin-care products that are readily available in stores fit this description.
Bottom line? Research the products you buy, and then invest in those with high-quality, effective, safe and organic ingredients known to improve the health of skin-things like vitamins, keratin, shea butter, and natural extracts. The dedication of the manufacturer, the studies behind the product, and the actual ingredients in it are far more important than the price tag. This goes for overpriced items as well-those that sell for hundreds or even thousands of dollars may be no better than a quality $50 cream. Check out our ingredients to avoid, research your product at the Skin Deep Database, and invest your money wisely-your skin and your budget will thank you!
Have you found some quality skin-care products worth the investment? Please share.
Photo courtesy NetFalls via Flickr.com.
