CoQ10: This is a co-enzyme, so technically it’s not a vitamin, but it does have vitamin-like properties. The reason they say CoQ10 supplements are so important is because we make less and less of it as we get older (in fact, production is said to start declining after we hit 21). CoQ10 is used by almost every cell in the body, therefore it supports healthy cell function – including your skin cells!

Alpha Lipoic Acid: There is a large body of research out there which points to alpha lipoic acid also being an important anti wrinkle vitamin. Like CoQ10, it also is found in the mitochondria of cell and assists in the production of cellular energy. In addition, it has powerful antioxidant properties. Alpha lipoic acid supplements come highly recommended for the skin.

Acetyl L Carnitine: Again, this is another substance that we produce less and less of as we get older. There is evidence out there which suggests that many people get an L carnitine deficiency when they get older, which can result in poor cell performance. So not only does L carnitine support cell function, but they reportedly also are needed to metabolize long chain fatty acids in your cells.

Vitamin C: This is very versatile anti wrinkle vitamin that supports healthy cells. However since it is a water-based vitamin, it only stays in the body a few hours. This is why it’s important to use vitamin C supplements every several hours instead of only once a day.

Resveratrol: This antioxidant has been getting a lot of buzz lately and for good reason! It’s found in small amounts in grapes. There is a wide body of research which suggests that not only does resveratrol help slow down the signs of aging (like wrinkles) but it may also support a healthier, slimmer, more toned body naturally. The latest studies recommend taking at least Resveratrol 500 mg once per day, but unfortunately most resveratrol supplements come in much weaker strengths.

Q:

A: Anti wrinkle patches are one of the latest products to hit the market. Just as the name implies, they are patches which are worn on certain parts of the face, which according to the manufacturers, help you fight wrinkles. Although I thought they were a gimmick when I first heart about them, after I researched them I came to find there are actually a number of benefits.

How are they worn?
Typically, the anti wrinkle patches come in different shapes and sizes tailored to specific parts of the face. For example, the patch which would be used on the forehead is a different shape than the ones for eye wrinkles. Depending on who makes it, they are either made for one-time use or they may be re-usable for a few days.

Since you don’t want to go walking around with patches on your face, these are designed to be worn while you’re in the privacy of your own home (like when you get home from work until when you get up in the morning). Some of them are designed to only be worn for 30 minutes or so at a time, twice per week.

How do they help wrinkles?
Again, the exact ingredients vary by manufacturer, but all of them contain ingredients which are considered to be wrinkle fighters. They may contain vitamins (like A and C), moisturizers (like hyaluronic spheres) and a plethora of other things.

But what they’re known to do best is removing dead skin cells. Many anti wrinkle patches contain alpha and beta hydroxy acids which offer excellent skin exfoliation. When you combine that with the sticky texture of the patch, it ends up being a great way to pull off those dead skin cells and rejuvenate the skin.

Where can you buy anti wrinkle patches?
I know they are sold online, but I haven’t seen them for sale at any local stores yet. Once they become more popular I’m sure we will begin to see them stocked in the beauty aisle of drugstores. But for now, you can only get them online.

How much do anti wrinkle patches cost?
The prices vary by manufacturer. Right now, there are a few companies making them and they all seem to be pretty reasonably priced. The most popular appears to be the DermaGen Anti wrinkle patches system, which I saw for as little as ten dollars.

The Discovery of Ascorbic Acid
The process of discovering vitamin C actually took place over the past several centuries. During long voyages at sea in the 15th century, the crew were primarily only given meat and crackers to eat. As a result, they would come down with a disease known as scurvy; it causes bleeding from almost every mucus membrane on the body, discolored pale skin, and both mental and physical deterioration. Meanwhile much of Europe was experiencing a scurvy epidemic during the winter months. Around this time explorer Jacques Cartier made an interesting observation –those who consumed citrus fruits regularly would not get the disease, and it would cure those who already it.

Unfortunately it wasn’t until 1742 that this vitamin C was conclusively linked with scurvy, made by a British doctor named James Lind. He would give the juice from lemons to those with the disease and they would recover. And it wasn’t until just the last decade or two that ascorbic acid skin care has came about.

Heat Destroys Vitamin C
Dr. Lind publicized his discovered in 1753, but it took nearly 50 years for the British navy to start giving fresh citrus fruits to sailors. However, the rest of the world largely ignored this advice for over a hundred years. Why? Because to cut costs, they tried boiling down citrus fruit to carry on board. But that didn’t work so they figured the advice was no good. However it wasn’t until the early 1900’s that we discovered that heat (boiling, cooking, etc) destroys vitamin C. This is why ascorbic acid is now added into various products which have been pasteurized. More and more skin care and anti-wrinkle products now make use of ascorbic acid; vitamin C skin cream, vitamin C skin serum, etc.

However there are many different wrinkle creams that stand by their ability to decrease the appearance of wrinkles as well as help prevent them from forming. Many of these products are available for purchase online but at a costly price. So how does one choose the one that will work for them without going broke? Well, there are many factors that one should take into consideration when finding the perfect cream to fight the signs of aging.

Choosing a Product
Let’ see here, well many people who are interested in finding a product that works as a great anti aging skin treatment as well as helps reduce the fine lines and wrinkles usually wants a product that does a multitude of functions. One, it helps decrease these skin imperfections of lines and wrinkles as well as supplies an adequate amount of moisture to help prevent the formation of new and future wrinkles from forming. This factor is also essential for people who are wanting to introduce an anti aging skin product into their beauty routine. Many people also enjoy the rejuvenation that their skin receives when using these products. This is because these products not only change how their skin looks, but how it feels as well. One product that has been know to do this is Endless Youth Anti Wrinkle Cream.

Endless Youth Review
This cream is said to help with not only the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, but also helps those in the fight against signs of aging. It is so effective is because it is scientifically engineered with special ingredients that contain anti aging properties. These properties are a combination of 9 peptide-based ingredients which help reduce the magntiude of wrinkles as well as keep skin from premature aging.

The main ingredient in Endless Youth Anti Wrinkle Cream is called Matrixyl 3000. Matrixyl 3000 is another form of the peptide Matrixyl, just a different title. Each peptide has it’s own seperate function in regards to the skin’s aging process. In order to increase these benefits, a person can use products that contain a combination of these peptides to increase it’s effectiveness. Many studies have been done to show it’s effectiveness on skin. Many participants who used this cream saw a decrease in the appearance of wrinkles as well as saw a significant improvement in the texture of their skin.

Using It
The great thing about this product is that it isn’t harsh on your skin like many of the other anti aging skin/wrinkle products. You can actually use it up to two times a day. You can begin your day by using this phenomenal cream and again before you go to bed at night that way you can let the cream work it’s magic all while you catch up on your beauty sleep.

Now that you are more informed about what this fabulous product does for many people you can decide whether you believe it is a good skin care product for your anti aging needs. Endless Youth Anti Wrinkle Cream is definitely one anti aging product that lives up to it’s name in a variety of different ways. It’s worth a shot!

So what should you look for? It’s simple – use products with higher strengths of the active ingredients which are proven to work. Believe it or not the best ones don’t necessarily cost a lot.

What is the best wrinkle serum? That all all depends upon the problems you are trying to treat. We all have different needs so there is no universal answer. Only you can decide.

To understand what you need to be looking for in an anti-aging product, you first need some basic knowledge about what these products are made of. The following reviews can help you find the best anti wrinkle serum for both the quality and the money.

The Base
Almost all creams and serums are made with a base. This is usually a mixture of water and some type of oil. Petroleum jelly (Vaseline) may also be used. As the name implies, it’s a by product of petroleum (oil). It was actually discovered by accident as a by product that formed during drilling.

Because the above products are so cheap to make, skin care manufacturers love using them in their products. Often times, they use too much of the “cheap stuff” and not enough of the “good stuff.” What is the good stuff? We will talk about that next.

Active Ingredients
This is the good stuff. This is what you need to pay attention to when shopping for an anti-wrinkle serum. You want as much of these ingredients as possible, and less (or none) of the base products. However because these substances are usually costly to produce, skin care companies often cut corners and only put a little bit of them into your serum. If you’ve wondered why the stuff you buy at the store doesn’t work… that’s the reason.

So what ingredient should you be looking for? Well there are a few that have been proven effective in treating the signs of aging. However they don’t all work equally. We will discuss what we consider the best one in a moment, but first let’s talk about some of the others which are also beneficial.

Peptides
In a nutshell, these tell your skin to produce more collagen. As you probably already know, collagen is perhaps the most important part of your skin. When you’re young you have a lot of it, but as you age, the amount drastically decreases. The result is thin, dry, and wrinkled skin. They also help to bring copper into your skin. Now you may be asking why the heck you need the same stuff pennies are made of in your face?! Well, research points to copper helping in the healing of your skin. But before you go grind up a penny and smother it on your face, you need to realize that in order to be the most effective, you need to penetrate the deepest levels of your skin. Because peptides are so tiny, they are great at working their way deep.

Retinol
Now this works in an entirely different the way than the other popular ingredients. It works in an exfoliating manner, by changing the way your skin works. What it does is cause you to shed and replace the cells faster. Why would you want to do this? Well, when you were younger your skin does this more frequently. This has been proven effective but you should be warned that most retinol serums you find at the store contain very little of it.

Hyaluronic Acid
In the world of anti wrinkle treatments, this might be considered the holy grail. This is what is used in injections like Restylane. And while they may work great for filling up big wrinkles, the drawback is that they have to re-done in around 6 months and it does nothing to address your fine lines or other the rest of your face because it’s only injected in one tiny area. Plus it costs a few hundred dollars per treatment.

Recently, this ingredient has been found effective when applied topically in certain formulations that can penetrate the surface of the skin. Unfortunately though it’s expensive to make. Some brands put an itty-bitty amount in their products just so they can say it contains hyaluronic acid, but if you read the fine print, you will there’s hardly any in the bottle.

What’s The Best Anti Wrinkle Serum?
There are a few companies which are currently manufacturing excellent products with these ingredients in very high concentrations. I have experimented with many of the leading brands and my personal choice are the products from Is Clinical Skincare. The Is Clinical Active Serum is what I use, but the Is Clinical Super Serum is also a great choice. That being said, I haven’t tried everything, so I’m sure there are others which are equally impressive.

Many people ask what is the “magic ingredient” that makes some require a prescription? Well, the truth my may surprise you. There is actually only one that is approved by the FDA for anti-aging symptoms. The ingredient is a form of vitamin A called retinol. Usual skin care products use an acid form of this. It’s extremely effective because it increases how fast your skin cells grow and replace the old ones. There are only a couple prescriptions currently that have this ingredient in it. They work good, but they’re far from being the best. Why? Because their formulations don’t include any of the other groundbreaking ingredients that have been clinically proven effective at fighting wrinkles. So in other words, the RX versions are only good for one thing.

The Advantage of Over-The-Counter
That means you’re in luck. The best wrinkle creams out there are actually over the counter. The unfortunately part is you won’t find them at your local drugstore. You see the companies carried at those places are mega multi-billion dollar conglomerates. For liability reasons they don’t like to sell very strong concentrations. They’re afraid of lawsuits by people for skin peeling and irritation. So what to they do? They sell week creams. So you have to look elsewhere…

Who Sells The Strongest Ones?
A number of stores online and many dermatologists sell these stronger versions. There’s no prescription required because although many use a higher amount of retinol, they do it just below the cutoff point for it to still be over-the-counter. Not only are they extremely effective, but also more cost effective. True, they often do cost more than what you see at Walgreens, but they’re almost always way cheaper than the RX alternatives. And remember, because those are cosmetic, insurance doesn’t cover them. So if you go to a doctor and get prescribed it, you will be paying close to $200 out of pocket just for one tube… ouch!

Our Favorite Ingredient
But back to those other ingredients we mentioned. What are they? Well, the one we can’t recommend enough is something called hyaluronic acid. You may have heard of this before because this is the same stuff used in restylane. But skin care companies like Is Clinical Skincare are finding it also can help to apply it to the surface of your skin, too.

Now don’t expect any drastic change like you would if you shot your face up with a bunch of this stuff, but it has been clinically proven in many instances in wrinkle reduction. It also aides in collagen production so it’s an active approach to take to improve your skin, rather than just trying to fix it. The great part is that hyaluronic acid skin care products are becoming more and more affordable as they surge in popularity.

]]> http://www.anti-wrinkle.org/best-over-the-counter-wrinkle-cream/feed 0 http://www.anti-wrinkle.org/anti-wrinkle-pillow http://www.anti-wrinkle.org/anti-wrinkle-pillow#comments Sat, 08 Aug 2009 01:41:34 +0000 admin http://www.anti-wrinkle.org/?p=29 I’m a side sleeper. No matter how hard I try I can’t sleep on my back. So when I heard about the anti wrinkle pillow which was designed for people like me, I was interested. But does sleeping on your side really cause wrinkles? Does this product really work or is it a scam? I was determined to get to the bottom of this and find out.

The Side-Sleeper Dilemma
Obviously the best solution would be to simply sleep on your back, with the back of your head on the pillow. But it is literally impossible for me. I’m not even joking when I say literally. Get this- I was in a horrible car accident 5 years ago. My entire body was crushed, including my pelvis when was crushed into tiny pieces. They had to go in and reconstruct my pelvis using all sorts of plates, screws, and more. Despite the fact that I was in intensive care on life support… guess what I did? I kept turning over to my side in the hospital bed. Yep that’s right. Despite the fact that I physically could hardly move a bone from head to toe was crushed and was in a coma, I kept turning to my side. It was the same story through my lengthy recovery.

So I totally sympathize with you when you say it’s impossible for you to sleep on your back. Indeed, for me and others, it does seem to be literally impossible for us to do that. When people tell us to simply stop being  a side sleeper to prevent wrinkles, just don’t even listen to them, because they don’t know what it’s like for us!

Does Sleeping On Your Side Cause Wrinkles?
Being that sleeping on my back is perhaps one of the most impossible tasks for me to accomplish, I got discouraged after many failed attempts. Then I started looking into the alternative solution some claim is helpful, which are anti wrinkle pillows. But just as I was about to buy one, I began to question if sleeping with your head smashed in the pillow really does cause facial wrinkles? My findings may shock you.

Well first of all, we don’t know every cause of wrinkles. We only know certain things which can make them worse and you prematurely age, hence the reason we have a huge anti wrinkle cream industry. But one consensus is that it’s your facial muscle movements over time that causes wrinkles. That makes sense. However when your sleeping, your facial muscles are completely relaxed. So relaxed you may be drooling on the pillow. So if are muscles are relaxed, are wrinkles really forming?

The Shocker
At this point I was leaning towards side sleeping as not being a cause. But I hit up the forums to find out more. I read every plastic surgery forum and beauty message board I could find. One was a particularly interesting story about someone’s mother who primarily slept on one side, and once she was in her sixties, you could tell what side she slept on. Her dermatologist also said that if someone is a side sleeper, he can “always tell” what side they sleep on once they hit their 50’s, 60’s, and higher. That’s it… I was sold. I need to get one of these pillows!

There are several different designs on the market. I don’t know yet which one is best. But they all do the same thing (or at least claim to) and that is having a donut like hole in the center of the pillow to prevent your face from squishing on it. But I don’t know how effective that can be because your chin and forehead would still be squished and pulled by the top and bottom of the pillow, but I suppose it is better than nothing. I’ve ordered my antiwrinkle pillow and will report back on my findings.

Well, the reviews are in, and they may shock you.

Let’s first take a look at the background of these wrinkle creams. Athena is a specialty skincare manufacturer that only uses organic ingredients. They are actually a subsidiary of the company Adonia Organics. They aim to use ingredients which have been scientifically proven. Their philosophy is to incorporate both recent scientific breakthroughs along with the ancient wisdom used by women in the Greek Isles to keep their faces looking beautiful.

Athena 7 Minute Lift
Now this is a pretty incredible substance. As mentioned, they make some claims that are pretty hard to believe. They claim that their proprietary blend of twelve different oils are the active ingredients in this product. So let’s take a look at exactly what they are claiming, and whether or not this is the best anti aging cream you should be using.

First of all what they claim that is in 7 minutes of applying this to your face, you experience phenomenal reduction in the appearance of wrinkles, including fine lines. Is this really possible? Well, notice the phrase they used” “appearance of.” They don’t claim to cure your wrinkles in seven minutes. They are merely saying that with their product,  it will appear as if these lines have either gone away or been minimized.  But do they deliver on their promise?

Well, from personal research as well as compiling Athena wrinkle cream reviews from the internet, it appears that this product does do what they advertise and temporarily gives you a “face lift” so to speak. But the bad part is that this is only a temporary effect that might only last a few hours. It’s not taking away your wrinkles, it’s just making them temporarily less noticeable. Also you need to be reasonable with your expectations. If you have extreme sagging and bags, you can’t expect it to just miraculously make you look like twenty year old again.

Is It Really The Best Wrinkle Cream?
The honest truth is that if you just want a temporary effect that will last a few hours, this is definitely one option to consider. However, if you’re like me, you probably want to get to the root of the problem and fix it permanently rather than temporarily. There are a few amazing chemicals and compounds which have been proven effective at offering lasting wrinkle reduction which this Athena  cream doesn’t have in it. What are some of them?

• Retinol: This actually increases the speed at which your skin cells replace themselves  (similar to how your skin acts when you’re younger).
• Hyaluronic Acid: This “magic potion” as it’s been called by many, has been clinically proven to stimulate collagen production, which as you know is an essential part of your skin.
• Glycolic Acid: This helps to not only fight fine lines, but also even out brown spots and dark spots.

Yes or No?
The use of Athena wrinkle cream may not be a bad idea when you need a “quick fix” to look good for an important event. But if you’re going to use it, we recommend you combine it with another product which contains one or more of the above ingredients. Unfortunately the ones you can buy at stores only use these compounds in very low percentages because of their cost to produce. However if you shop online you can find some that use a much higher percentage. That’s why it’s important to consult reviews to compare and contrast products to see which would be best for your specific skin type.

So why are so many flocking to the groundbreaking products offered online? Because the honest truth is that because of liability and cost reasons, what you will find at the local store are only products with low concentrations of the proven ingredients you need to fight wrinkles.

First of all it should be pointed out that it’s not that skin care products at stores don’t work at all. Some of the pricier ones, such as Roc, Olay, and L’Oreal do contain some good ingredients. The problem is – in my opinion – they aren’t using enough of that “good stuff.”

Cutting Costs and Liability
The problem is that these are subsidiaries of huge multinational corporations. They are in business to make money, and a lot of it. Sometimes, that can mean cutting corners when it comes to the formulations they use. There are only a few key ingredients out there that have been clinically proven to really work on wrinkles. That itself is great news that there really is hope! But the bad news is that they tend to cost a lot to manufacture.

So if you’re a huge multinational corporation that has shareholders to report to, and are expected to have better earnings every quarter… what are you going to do? One thing you may do is not use as much of these powerful ingredients in your product lines. For our own liability, we’re not going to say who we accuse of doing this, but you can go ahead and make your own assumptions. Now don’t misread this – we’re not saying the companies are lying about what they put into the bottles. What we’re saying is they put small amounts, and to realize that, you have to know what to look for on the fine print. You need to know what concentrations are best and what it says on their package.

Only a Few Big Players
Many people are disappointed to hear this viewpoint, but it gets worse. Unfortunately nowadays in America, we have very few choices when it comes to shopping for beauty products at the store. Sure, it may look like a lot of choices to you, but did you know that many of those “different” brands you see on the shelf are actually owned by the same huge corporation?

Then you need to take a closer look at the store you’re buying it from. This is the first time in history where no matter where you go in the country, you’re probably shopping at the same store. The Wal-Marts, CVS, Walgreens, etc. Thanks to mergers and acquisitions over the years, go into any town big or small, and stores such as these will probably be your only options. And like the skin care companies, they have shareholders to answer to. So it’s in their interest to sell brands they can make the most money off of. Brands that they can work out “sweetheart” deals by purchasing massive quantities of them. So basically what you have are mega skin care companies and mega retailers being buddies. Now that doesn’t offer the consumer much of a comparison, does it?

Making The Best Choice
Luckily, we can make an educated choice. A choice that is not only good for our face, but also our wallet. There are numerous manufacturers now that only focus on one thing – skin care. These are private companies answering to the customers only, not shareholders or boardmembers. They use the same proven ingredients the multi-billion dollar companies use, except they use them in a lot higher quantity.

As an added bonus, they often use higher quality – pharmaceutical grade – instead of cheaper formulations made in a third world country. So remember this when you compare anti wrinkle creams. Ingredient labels speak for themselves!

The truth is that most are not nearly as effective as they claim. This is especially true with what you see on drugstore shelves, because they cut corners and don’t use the better (more expensive) ingredients. The good news is there are many anti-wrinkle creams out there that use real science to deliver clinically proven results. These are often sold online because they cost a little bit more to make but usually they’re well worth it.

It’s understandable that you’re probably dubious of most product claims. After all, they all claim to work yet their results usually fall short. What do we recommend? We actually recommend something which may be counterintuitive, and that is to ignore manufacturer’s claims of effectiveness. Instead, you should pay attention to what clinically proven active ingredients they use in their products, and in what concentration they use them. Because the truth of the matter is that there are a few key ingredients which have been proven to increase collagen formation, reduce fine lines, and even out skin tone.

So what you want are anti-wrinkle products which contain these substances in high concentration. What should you look for?

Glycolic Acid: This is a very powerful substance that is used to exfoliate your skin. By doing so, dark spots of pigmentation are often minimized as your body sheds the old skin and grows new. However the stronger strengths of this can have adverse side effects if it’s not used properly – too much itching, peeling, and burning. Because of this “risk” the brands you find at stores typically don’t use this. It’s too much of a liability for them to use an effective concentration of it. Now  they may put a small amount of it into their serums and cleansers simply so they can claim it contains glycolic acid, but if you read the fine print on the label, you will discover there’s not much in there.

Retinol A: This is another very effective ingredient. It works by increasing the cell turnover rate where it is applied. It can take a few weeks to get use to this and for the peeling to subside, but after that, the results are amazing. The prescription treatments Retin A and Renova use a form of retinol as their active ingredient. Being that Renova is the only FDA approved prescription topical product to treat wrinkles, it speaks volumes of the effectiveness of retinol. Fortunately for you, this can also be found in many non-prescription anti-aging creams.

Hyaluronic Acid: No treatment regime is complete without hyaluronic acid serum. This is the same ingredient used in the most popular injectables. Now when it’s applied the surface of your skin in the form of a cream or serum, it is also absorbed. Now you can’t expect this technique to miraculously fill in deep lines and make them invisible, buy many say it improves them. Because this is such a costly ingredient to make, you probably won’t find it in any significant concentrations in your drugstore products.

The best anti-wrinkle products on the market combine at least two of these chemicals. One of my favorites out there meeting this criteria would be the Is Clinical skin care products. Is Clinical Youth Complex serum has an extremely high concentration of pharmaceutical grade hyaluronic acid.