Anti-aging wrinkle cream is a facial beauty product, primarily used by women to reduce the appearance of wrinkles and sagging in aging skin. Such a cream will often contain antioxidant ingredients to enhance its effectiveness. Although women should begin using wrinkle cream before wrinkles appear, most women do not start until after they notice the first signs of aging.
Anti-aging wrinkle cream cannot reverse aging. For this reason, dermatologists recommend prevention as the best way to reduce wrinkles. This means avoiding too much sun and wearing sunscreen with SPF 15 or greater every day. Such prevention can help women look younger for longer, delaying the need for anti-aging wrinkle cream.
Special ingredients are included in anti-aging cream with the intention of slowing the aging process and improving the appearance of skin. Some ingredients fill deep grooves in wrinkles to make them less noticeable. Others lighten skin tone with acidic ingredients designed to remove a thin layer of the outermost skin cells.
Antioxidants like vitamins A, C, D, and E are often included in wrinkle cream. They are generally accepted as effective in reducing the damage caused excessive UV rays. These nutrients often work to lighten skin through acidic properties or to fight free-radicals which cause inflammation and reddened skin. Vitamins like selenium and zinc are often included to fight such inflammation.
Herbal ingredients can also be helpful in an anti-aging wrinkle cream. They can provide the same antioxidant properties of isolated vitamins. Aloe vera, sea kelp and other natural ingredients are thought to be more beneficial than vitamins alone by healing dry skin and increasing natural proteins.
Including collagen in wrinkle cream may help improve skin firmness, but evidence is insufficient to make strong claims to this effect. Collagen is a protein occurring naturally in younger skin. As we age, collagen connections deteriorate, resulting in sagging skin. Creams containing collagen claim to deliver higher levels of collagen to the skin, but collagen particles are quite large compared with the minuscule holes that allow ingredients to enter the skin. When collagen particles only rest on top of the skin, there can be no benefit.
Another questionable ingredient in many anti aging wrinkle creams is Coenzyme Q10. This is a natural and necessary enzyme found in all body cells. The level of Coenzyme Q10 falls as we age. There is no solid evidence to show that increased levels of Coenzyme Q10 will make a person appear younger.
