Skin Care - Expensive Versus Cheap
Does an Expensive Moisturiser and Soap Guarantee Younger Skin?
Here we will look at some of the most expensive and some of the cheapest skin care products and asking "Does money really buy naturally smoother skin?"
Have you ever wished you could afford thousand-dollar face creams and been sure that would guarantee you looked ten years younger? Have you ever splashed out $100 on a highly recommended face cream only to discover that by the end of the jar you look no different?
Soap
The first thing to do in a good skincare regime is to cleanse. Although it is discouraged to use normal hand soap, there are some more carefully formulated soaps which can be used on the face (though dermatology wars of words still rage on this opinion). If you go down the expensive route, then you may decide to invest in a bar of Plank's Cor Soap for $125. It contains silver, four different types of collagen, chitosan and sericin. Plank's assurance is that their soap has been found to even out the skin tone, reduce the appearance of sun spots and pore size, maintain the skin’s natural moisture factor, visibly reduces the signs of ageing, and protect against the hazardous effects of the sun. This soap has been featured in many publications one of which was Dermatology Times.
At the other end of the soap scale and coming in at under $3 is Pears soap. Originally produced in Oxford in 1789, this is still a firm favourite. It is hypo-allergenic, contains a mild cleansing formula and no colorants. It is non comedogenic, so it won't clog pores. Each bar is mellowed and aged for three months until it reaches a pure transparency. Both soaps have many devoted fans.
Moisturiser
For a normal daytime moisturiser then two possible moisturisers that you could choose are Crème De La Mer The Essence or Revive Intensite Volumizing Serum.
Crème De La Mer The Essence was created by Max Huber, a NASA physicist who had suffered burns on his face and body after a chemical explosion. After 12 years and over 6000 experiments he developed a miracle broth to treat and soothe his burns. It has extracts of seaweed and daffodil bulbs and comes in at just over $3000 for a 21 day supply.
Revive Intensite Volumizing Serum is the brain child of plastic surgeon Dr Gregory Bays Brown who originally made it just for himself and his mother. It claims to slow the loss of facial volume , plump trouble areas and halt the ageing process by turning over dying skin cells 8 times faster and hindering DNA fragmentation. It costs around $750 for 30 ml.
At the other end of the scale? Nivea cold cream is as suitable for the delicate skin of babies as much as the skin of the ageing woman. It contains Eucerit, a special moisturising ingredient and is free from preservatives and dermatologically approved. IT is advertised as being good to use as a face pack aswell as an aftersun, moisturiser and barrier cream. It also has the ultimate in celebrity endorsement being widely known as the product used by Marilyn Monroe to maintain her ethereal glow. All for under $4
Conclusion
Who knows? Although the expensive brands are likely to have more scientific research and better paid scientists the old classics have a convincing endorsement in the number of years they have survived as best sellers.
The old adage of “the best things in life are free” is perhaps the best advice as all dermatologists consistently recommend that the best way to beautiful skin is a balanced diet, not too much sun, lots of water and lots of sleep.
