How effective are anti-ageing creams?

Most of the anti-ageing creams in market make boastful claims to “erase wrinkles in matter of days”, give you “ageless skin as that of a celebrity”. But does their popularity, high price or advertisements with big celebrities translate into the effectiveness? The answer is that anti-ageing creams do a have a modest effect, but there won’t be a miracle as decreasing your age to a decade or two. In this post, we would discuss what benefits should be expected from anti-aging creams and how to use them effectively.

What benefits should be expected from anti-ageing creams?

• As we grow old, skin ageing sets in, the decaying changes start in both dermal and superficial layers of skin. Anti-ageing creams reverse or prevent the changes only in superficial layers , as they have less penetration in deeper layers. Though, some ingredients as retinol and some of the peptides do have beneficial effects in deeper layers too. In sufficient quantity these may help in collagen remodelling. Thus, the efficacy of the anti-ageing creams is only modest, and limited to upper layers of the skin.
• Anti-ageing creams delay the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Their regular use reduces the existing fine lines, diminishes the deep wrinkles to some extent and delays the formation of new wrinkles. Only a few anti-ageing ingredients have proven efficacy on deep wrinkles. So, we should have realistic expectations from the anti-ageing creams. We should not get swayed by anti-ageing cream advertisements ,claiming to miraculously decreasing your age by 10 years or make it as that of a known celebrity.
• There are also the additional benefits with regular use of anti-ageing cream as improvement in texture and tone of dull or patchy skin giving an even toned and smooth look. Daily use of topical anti-oxidants improves skin tone, prevents and reverses the signs of photoaging.
• Prevention is better than cure, this very much applies to the use of anti-ageing creams. Start using these creams as early as 25 to 30 years of age (before the ageing process set in or even appearance of fine lines) to gain maximum benefit from them.
• An anti-ageing cream should be used as a night cream in your skin care regimen. Retinol-containing products should always be used at night, as they cause irritation in sunlight. Thus, during day time, protect your skin from ultraviolet rays of sun by sunscreens and use anti-ageing creams as a night cream.
• The benefits of anti-ageing creams are apparent only a few weeks of regular use. This too depends on individual response to various ingredients.

While you spend enough amount of money to buy advanced anti-ageing products, don’t forget the basics to get youthful and glowing skin, like:

• Uptake of nutritious diet
• Sound sleep
• Daily exercise & yoga
• Using moisturizers and sunscreens
• Following healthy lifestyle (quitting smoking, for example)

In our upcoming posts, we would discuss other products and procedures available to treat wrinkles and other signs of ageing. If you like this post, don’t forget to share it with your friends.