Check your ingredients

How many times have you turned over your skin care products and read through their reverse labels? Often individuals get lured by the ’adspeek’ mentioned in the advertisements of skin care products and buy them often without even bothering to look if they are actually getting what is promised. The ingredients list is where you can get to see what you product is comprised of.

Here are some of things you should review on the ingredients lists, as choosing the best mosturiser for psoriasis can be a real challenge because of the adverse effects of certain ingrediants on this very difficult to manage skin condition.

The ingredients listed first have higher concentration

The ingredients of a skin care product are listed in descending order, starting from the highest to the lowest concentrations. This means that the ingredient present in the maximum concentration would be listed first followed by rest of them. Therefore, if a product promises to contain a unique ingredient but it is listed only in the latter part of the list, you should know that there is just a hint of it. In fact, this is a rather common marketing ploy used by skin care companies.

Also, make a note of the first ingredient in the list. If it is something like sodium lauryl sulfatethen you should know that the product would be pretty harsh on the skin. However, in case the product contains certain drugs like Retin A, it is listed before all other ingredients irrespective of its concentration.

Toxic ingredients in a product maybe insignificant

Parabens, fragrances and other chemical elements are often shunned and people generally prefer to use skin care products that don’t contain any of them. However, certain skin care products may contain very little amounts of these, so little that they don’t cause any harm to the skin. You can judge the concentration of these elements by looking at their placement in the list. The ingredients that are listed last on the skin care label are often referred to as ‘trace elements’. And if parabens are listed as methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben and butylparaben appear towards the latter part of the list, there should not be anything to worry about.These are used to stabalize ingredients, eliminating the risk of bacterial contamination, and acting as a preservative.

The top 33% of the ingredients are most important

Personal healthcare companies will advise us that about 90% of the skin care product is made from the top 33% of the ingredients. This means that the ingredients listed after 33% are probably just trace elements. Therefore, while selecting skin care products pay attention to the top slots of the skin care labels. If it contains potent ingredients that will help you with your requirements, go ahead and just buy it!

Active Ingredients should have the highest concentration

While reading through skin care labels, make sure you understand the kind of ingredients that the product is comprised of, what concentrations of the ingredients are present and whether it is enough to address your skin concerns, particularly when used as a moisturiser for psoriasis or eczema.

Here are some common examples.

If you are purchasing a mineral sunscreen, then look for products that have ingredients such as zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. listed in the top slots of the label or mentioned separately as ‘active ingredients’. For the record, they should at least have a concentration of 7% for the product to be really effective.
If you are looking for a Vitamin C based serum, then make sure that there should be at least 10% concentration of L-Ascorbic acid if the product has to be effective.
If you need anti-aging skin care products with skin regenerative properties and reverse the aging products, look for products that contain powerful antioxidant ingredients as the primary ones.

Ingredients that are spelled similarly, are Not the Same, check the spelling!

There are several ingredients that are spelled similarly. But don’t to be confused because they aren’t the same. Here are some common examples.

Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate (SLS) & Sodium Lauryl Sulfate – SLS is a derived from plants and is a n effective cleansing agent much more skin-friendly than the latter, which is added to skin care products as a foaming agent.

Whenever you are buying skin care products, make sure that you browse through the ingredients listed in the products’ label and make sure it is a good choice for you.

We recommend you review the list of ingrediants in the Dermasalve range the only skin products which have ‘no known sensitisers’ under the EU Cosmetics Directive