Question of the month April 2011 - Fragrances & Skin Care: Smells like Trouble!

 

Fragrance and Great Skin Care Don't Mix

Door Bryan Barron, medewerker van het team van de cosmeticapolitie

We are all attracted to a pleasing fragrance. In fact, the first thing most every woman does when testing just about any skin-care product is smell it. As nice as it is to have a product with a wonderful aroma, it just doesn't make for good skin care. Whether the fragrance in the product is natural or synthetic, it is almost always a problem for skin.

How Skin Reacts to Fragrance

The way most fragrance ingredients impart scent is through a volatile reaction, which almost always causes irritation and some amount of inflammation. Research has established that fragrances in skin-care products are among the most common cause of sensitizing and allergic reactions.

You might be thinking, well my skin doesn't look irritated or inflamed so the fragrance must not be a problem. In reality, skin on the surface often keeps the fact that it's being irritated a secret with no reaction at all. Below the surface, irritating ingredients can cause collagen to breakdown, get in the way of skin's ability to fight environmental damage, and hamper skin's ability to heal. All of this can be taking place in the lower layers of skin without any obvious signs on the surface! The irritant reaction you don't see or feel is nonetheless hurting your skin's ability to reduce wrinkles, firm skin, or look younger!

For those with sensitive skin, especially when the problem is rosacea or acne, fragrance can be seriously irritating and that will show up on the surface. Fragrance of any kind (including natural fragrant oils) should be avoided at all costs.

How Can Your Nose Know?

Unfortunately, it can't. Some ingredients have a pleasant fragrance but cause no irritation and are great for skin. Other times, the product may have no aroma because the fragrance is included to mask the odor of the real skin-care ingredients, which aren't necessarily pleasant.

Many beneficial skin-care ingredients (antioxidants, for example) have a natural fragrance, and some of them even smell great! Distinguishing potent antioxidants (fighters of free radicals and skin aging) from those that are simply added to make you "shop with your nose" is not easy. Like anything in skin care, the basic information is on the ingredient label, but because those ingredients read like a college chemistry course they are impossible to decipher. The Cosmetics Cop Team can help you decipher what those words mean!

Frequently used fragrance ingredients to avoid are (the names in parentheses are how the ingredient's name will appear on the product):

Fragrance

Parfum/Perfume

Linalool

Citronellol

Cinnamal

Limonene

Geraniol

Eugenol

Lavender oil (Lavandula angustifolia)

Rose flower extract (Rosa damascene)

Bergamot oil (Citrus bergamia)

Ylang-ylang oil (Canaga odorata)

Lemon (Citrus limon)

Lime (Citrus aurantifolia or Citrus medica)

Orange (Citrus sinensis)

Tangerine (Citrus tangerine)

Peppermint (Mentha piperita)

Spearmint (Mentha spicata)

Menthol

Cinnamon (Cinnamomum)

Of course there are lots more, but this is a good overview to help you start being aware of what you are putting on your face that isn't helping your skin be the best it can be.

What about Natural or Organic Products?

Products labeled as being natural or organic are not automatically better for your skin. There are lots of natural ingredients that are problematic for your skin and many of those are fragrances. Read More

For fragrance-free shopping, The Cosmetics Cop Team recommends starting with the following brands (but of course we prefer Paula's Choice):

AlphaHydrox

Boots (Expert Line)

CeraVe

Paula's Choice

Cetaphil

Clinique

Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare

Free & Clear

MD Formulations

Peter Thomas Roth

SkinCeuticals

It isn't easy finding fragrance-free skin care because options are so limited. To make the search easier, you can use Beautypedia.com to see which products got our highest ratings.

As if it isn't bad enough having to battle wrinkles, but having to also struggle with acne is just depressing and confusing. Women don't always outgrow acne, and lots of women who never broke out before can start breaking out in their 20s, 30s, 40s, and older; this is particularly true for women going through menopause.

So how in the world do you treat both? It's actually easier than you think. The issue is that we think dealing with wrinkles is about heavy moisturizers or layers of creams and lotions, but it isn't in the least. Those types of products don't fight wrinkles! What fights wrinkles are specific ingredients such as antioxidants (like green tea or vitamin C), cell-communicating ingredients (like niacinamide or vitamin A), and skin-identical substances (like ceramides or lecithin). The texture of the product (cream or gel) is irrelevant.

Think about it like your diet. Salmon is good for you, but whether you eat it chilled, raw, broiled, stir fried, or poached, you are getting the benefit of the food. "Anti-wrinkle" ingredients can be found in a wide range of consistencies.

For someone struggling with blemishes, the ingredients that give lotions and creams their feel and appearance can clog pores so those types of products should be avoided. Gels, liquids, light serums, or watery lotions are unlikely to cause problems for blemish-prone skin. Every ingredient skin needs to fight wrinkles can be found in those types of products if they are well formulated.

To fight mild to moderate acne, the absolute best option is to start with a product containing 1% to 2% salicylic acid. This not only exfoliates the surface—which is one of the absolute best ways to fight wrinkles—it also has the ability to reduce, and in many instances practically eliminate, breakouts.

If you still need help resolving breakouts you should add a benzoyl peroxide-based product with a 2.5% or 5% concentration once a day, preferably at night. Research has clearly shown that benzoyl peroxide can be as effective, if not better than, prescription options to deal with mild to moderate acne.

Of course you still need a sunscreen because up to 70% of the wrinkles and aging you see on your face is a result of sun damage. Although if you are experiencing breakouts, a moisturizer with SPF in a lotion or cream form is likely to make matters worse by clogging pores. What I strongly suggest is wearing a foundation with SPF 15 or greater and a pressed powder with SPF 15 or greater.

You would also want to use a more emollient moisturizer just around the eyes. The eye area rarely, if ever, has a problem with breakouts and because the skin is drier there it helps to use that kind of moisturizer only around that area. But of course, it absolutely does not have to be labeled as an eye cream; any well-formulated lotion or cream will do.

It takes experimenting with effective products to find out what works for you. Here is what I recommend from Paula's Choice:

Skin Balancing Cleanser (twice a day)

Skin Balancing Toner (once a day, under makeup as your moisturizer)

Skin Balancing Super Antioxidant Concentrate (at night, over dry areas)

2% BHA Liquid (at night, but can be used twice a day)

CLEAR Regular Strength Blemish Fighting Treatment (at night)

Moisture Boost Hydrating Treatment Cream (around the eyes twice a day)

Healthy Finish Pressed Powder SPF 15

Barely There Sheer Matte Tint SPF 20