The real truth behind cream based moisturisers.
Cream based moisturisers have been around for years - they’re a big part of what’s available on the shelves. Many of us are conditioned to believe that the way to moisturise is with a cream. But what many people don’t know, is this suits the big manufacturers and is not what suits our skin.
Creams are a water based formulation, which means they have a water component. Water is cheap for manufacturers to use in formulations, requires preservatives to avoid mould growth, a binder and emulsifier to keep the water bound in the mixture - so it doesn’t separate.
All this means that its smart business for large manufacturers - cheaper formulations mean a greater return on the sale of their products.
Commercially made creams are designed to coat your skin. The ingredients are bound together, often with a fragrance. People typically buy a product based on the fragrance and the feel of the smooth cream going onto their skin. It becomes a habit, reaching for the moisturiser when your skin is dry, although this is actually adding another layer of coating on your skin - giving you the feel of the cream and the aroma of the fragrance. It all adds up to you using the product and a lot of it.
Also important are the ingredients used in the formulation. We'll save this for another blog as it's a whole other discussion.
Is an expensive cream better than a cheaper cream? Not really. The basic formulation of commercial creams are the same. There may be different ingredients, and the more expensive creams may have a patented ingredient (you’ll see this in the ingredient list with a capital letter and sometimes a trademark after it). It doesn’t mean it’s a 'super' ingredient, but that a lot of money was spent on making it look that way. This adds to the cost of the formulation. Large manufacturers have a greater spend on their packaging, marketing, overheads, and their profit expectation, and this is what costs you.
That’s honest skincare.