How Do You Know if a Wrinkle Prevention Cream is Working?

In the past few years, beauty companies have been shifting their focus.  Instead of marketing their anti-aging products to women in their 50s and up, they are focusing on women as young as 20 with products promising to prevent future wrinkles.  So far, their efforts have been incredibly successful with large boosts in sales from the 20-30 age group.  But many young women are left with a good question: if you don’t have wrinkles yet, how can you know whether an anti-wrinkle cream is working?

Understanding the Skin Aging Process

Since wrinkle prevention creams can cost over $100 for a month’s supply, you want to make sure you are getting a product which will really work.  While there is no way to prove whether a cream is effective (at least until we see some clear studies which track the wrinkling of skin on a product’s users), you can educate yourself about the process of aging and find creams which work against this.

Skin aging occurs primarily occurs because of these reasons:

• Connective tissues weaken leading to wrinkles and saggy skin
• The amount of melanocyte cells (cells with pigment) decreases and the remaining melanocytes become larger, thus causing age spots and thin-looking skin.
• Skin produces less oil with age, leading to dry skin.

Some of these changes cannot be completely avoided since cells will become weaker and more prone to damage with age. Unavoidable hormonal changes will also affect the skin.  However, you can avoid a lot of skin aging problems simply by avoiding damage to your skin, particularly from UV rays.

How Wrinkles Prevention Creams Work

Most of the wrinkle prevention creams contain plant extracts which are high in antioxidants.  The idea is that the antioxidants will fight damage to your skin cells, thus postponing signs of aging like wrinkles and age spots.  A good wrinkle prevention cream meant to be worn during the day will also have UV protection.

A very popular method for treating and preventing wrinkles is using hyaluronic acid – whether in creams or through devices which infuse it with electrodes into the skin. The hyaluronic acid is purported to fill in wrinkles by keeping skin cells lubricated and cushioned.

Retinol, which is made from Vitamin A, is one of the most common wrinkle prevention creams.  It supports collagen in the skin to prevent breakdown which leads to wrinkles and saggy skin.

One of the most promising anti-wrinkle products is based out of algae.  A certain algae extract (alguronic acid) has been proven to boost cell regeneration, decrease inflammation, and also fight UV damages. The algae extract is sold under the brand name of Solazyme and costs $90 for a jar which should last about 2 months.

You don’t necessarily have to use complex anti-wrinkle formulations to avoid getting aged skin in the future though.  By avoiding UV rays (wear sun block!), eating a healthy diet high in fruits and veggies, not smoking, exercising regularly, and keeping your body hydrated, you can continue to look – and feel – young.