For Over 40 - Facial wrinkles and am confused with all these products.?

Sephora says I should spend $280 on one product! Advice on products or what ingredients to look for in products to help wrinkles around eyes, mouth, on cheeks, and smile lines next to mouth. Am 43 and have sort of dry skin.For Over 40 - Facial wrinkles and am confused with all these products.?
No no no no no! you don't need to spend a fortune on skin care products, not when so many drug store products work better than expensive ones! There are a limited number of ingredients and expensive ones often have the same as the cheaper ones. In some instances, the cheaper products have more! First and foremost you should be wearing a sunscreen every day. Nothing ages and damages the skin faster than sun exposure. At 40+ your basic daily moisturizer should have a sunscreen in it. At our age we need more protection because hormones are making the skin slightly thinner than when we were 20. Some drug store brands such as Nuetrogena, Almay, Alpha-Hydrox and especially Olay are some of the best lines out there. All have skin care products that have integral sunscreens, plenty of good for skin ingredients and the price is hundreds lower than Sephora and department store brands. Olay's regenerist and total effects are two of the finest lines anywhere and usually beat out products costing hundreds of dollars more in consumer and scientific testing.





You need to become acquainted with the writings of cosmetics industry expert Paula Begoun. She's called the Cosmetics Cop and she has several excellent books, including ';don't go the cosmetics counter without me'; she sorts through the hype and tells it like it is, what works, what doesn't what's worth the money and what's a waste. Here's her website, I've linked to the page with the article links, there's lots of great information here: http://www.cosmeticscop.com/learn-skin-c鈥?/a>For Over 40 - Facial wrinkles and am confused with all these products.?
That's crazy paying that much for one product!





I would look out for the following ingredients:





L-Ascorbic Acid aka pure vitamin C. You can get this in a serum and it works to stimulate collagen and elastin and also as an antioxident to prevent further damage. It brightens the complexion and reduces disoclorations.





Retin A aka Tretinoin - This is a prescription product although you can purchase it from some online pharmacies. It works to increase cell turnover and stimulate collagen and elastin production in the skin. Also has the ability to increase skin hydration by increasing the GAG (water holding) cells in the dermis. It also works to prevent further damage to the skin.





Alpha Hyroxy Acids aka Lactic, Salycic and Glyoclic Acid - These products work to remove the very top layer of skin to reveal a smoother, clearer skin underneath. They can reduce fine lines and rought skin texture as well as evening out uneven pigmentation. They will also help the active ingredients like tretinoin and l-ascorbic acid penetrate much more efficiently into the deeper layers of the skin.





Jojoba Oil - This is a natural oil with excellent pentrating and hydrating ability. You can use it for your whole face or just dry areas like lips and eyes. It keeps the skin hydrated for hours and acts as a protectant against free radical damage.





Sunblock - This is VERY important. It should be broad spectrum UVB/UVA protection. I'd recommend zinc oxide which you can get in a micronized form so it is less white and pasty. Some even come tinted to give you a nice glowing complexion.





Hope this helps!
I wholeheartedly agree with Linda S!





I personally use Neutrogena's Healthy Skin Anti-Wrinkle Cream and I really like it. I have been thinking about trying Alpha-Hydrox but haven't gotten around to buying any just yet ( I am not unhappy with Neutrogena, I just want to know if there is something better.)





Make sure you wear sunscreen daily even if it is cloudy outside and I would go higher than the typical SPF that you find in cosmetics. Also, keep in mind that if you layer sunscreens, you dilute them. What I mean is if you put on a foundation with SPF 20 and a moisturizer that is SPF 30, you have an SPF level of 25 not SPF 50. The sun is one of the biggest agers that we are up against! Sunscreen will also help prevent brown spots (don't forget the tops of your hands!)





Also, I have noticed that my lines are less pronounced when I eat more healthfully and stay hydrated. When ever I eat poorly, it shows on my face. :(
Although I love Sephora, you don't need to spend $280 on a face cream. For that price it better come with a facialist to apply it every day for you! You can get some great products at drug stores at much cheaper prices. In your 40's you are most likely dealing with age spots, redness, small wrinkles/fine lines and dry skin.





Cleansing- You will want something gentle that won't dry your skin (usually a cream cleanser instead of a foaming one). I personally like the dove sensitive skin bar. The most beneficial anti-aging ingredient in a cleanser is going to be glycolic acid. Most everything else gets rinsed away and is a waste of your money. Glycolic acid (also listed as AHA) helps exfoliate surface dullness and dark spots. Sephora sells a bunch of cleansers with glycolic acid, as does amazon.com. 8-10% is a good starting concentration. Start by using it once a day and move up to two if you desire. Too much at once will dry your skin out. I would also use an exfoliator a few times a week with microbeads. Those at home microdermabrasion kits are pretty effective. If you want to save money you can get just as good of results by mixing baking soda with water until it makes a paste and rubbing that in circles around your face and then rinsing it off.





The only ingredients clinically proven to reduce wrinkles are vitamin E, vitaminc C, and retinol. Vitamin C is the anit-aging wonder vitamin. I have had better results with a vitamin C serum than any other product. You can get some ';high end'; onces that are over $100. Avon makes an ok one for about $10. I would aim for somewhere in the middle. Usually 10-20% vitamic c should work well. Vitamin C is unstable in heat, air and light so look for a package that is a pump bottle and is made of opaque plastic or dark colored glass. I keep mine in the fridge.





Antioxidants (vitamins, A,C,E,B5, green tea, fruit extracts etc.) will all help reverse the signs of past sun damage and prevent new damage from happening. A sun screen is also a must. To combat dry skin you will want to look for ingedients that pull in moisture to your skin like hyaluronic acid, and acitve copper.





Higher end products sometimes contain more advanced and researched ingredients than cheaper products. One line that i think is worth the extra money is Dermadoctor. The wrinkle revenge line is great. It would be helpful to you to do some research into what types of ingredients are beneficial. You can get a good start at www.cosmeticcop.com however I will caution you that ';paula'; the writer of the website does pretty much bash every product on the market except those from her own skincare line. She provides some background info as to what each ingredient means and some that may have potential for irritation. I tried her moisutizers and was far less than impressed.





to sum it up- you need a gentle cleanser, a moisturizer with sunscreen for day, and an antioxidant serum with a moistuirzer over top for night. Exfoliate regularly. If you want to make a better use of your $280, see a dermatologist and get some prescription strength reitnols.





Here are some lines I like: Mario Badescu, Olay, Dermadoctor, John Masters Organics (just to name a few). You can get consumer product reviews of skincare at www.totalbeauty.com, sephora.com, and amazon.com. Totalbeauty is my favorite and seems unbiased. They also cover products in all price ranges.





I hope this was helpful, I tried to sum it up to be short!