Best Ingredients in Skin Care Products

Sometimes, your skin may be on overload. Life-stress, chemical exposure, UV damage, and many more factors can combine to give skin its own nervous breakdown.

The following list includes some particularly skin-soothing ingredients that you may want to look for when reading cosmetics labels. Remember: the higher up the label the ingredient features, the larger the amount that has been used and, therefore, the greater the skin may benefit from the product.

• Borage oil, taken from the herb, is an important source of Essential Fatty Acids EFAs aid in plumping up skin cells and help them retain moisture.

• Calendula (marigold extract) helps skin regenerate and heal. It also has an anti-inflammatory action that helps ease skin irritations.

• Chamomile has a calming, gentle effect that is good for helping sensitive skin to heal.

• Lecithin is an extract from soybeans. It is used to soothe and moisturize skin, and leaves it feeling smooth. Remember: natural beauty companies reject GM soy, whereas many mainstream companies do not.

• Oatmeal soothes skin and helps relieve itching and inflammation. It also moisturizes skin and leaves it feeling silky.

• Vitamin C helps wounds heal, stimulates collagen, and promotes elastin tissue growth. It also fights free radicals, triggered by sun exposure, pollution, or stress, that can cause damage to skin.

• Vitamin E is an antioxidant that helps skin fight sun and smog damage. Look for it on product labels as d-alpha tocopherol, which is the natural form of vitamin E. Alternatively, you could try breaking open a capsule of vitamin E oil and massaging it directly onto your skin.