Red marks, acne, dark circles under eyes, wrinkles… nobody likes them. Me neither, therefore I decided to take up some action. I’ve introduced into my life something which is called camouflaging makeup. Also, I started delivering anti-age action to my skin.

I’m going to tell you about all of these today. I’d like to approach this topic in a very detailed way therefore I’m going to tell you what the origin of wrinkles is and how to fight them back. Moreover, you’re going to learn how camouflaging makeup looks like and whether it is the one which delivers the effect of ‘mask’.

My fine lines…

… appeared out of nowhere!

Lately, I’ve been a little bit shocked to discover that mature skin is the one which turned 25. In other words, before turning 30, there are some processes that activate. Inevitably they bring us closer to become an elderly woman, and this means that:

• sebum production is reduced, which is a substance that protects our skin in a natural way,
• collagen and elasticin production is reduced, which are substances responsible for maintaining skin elasticity,
• melanin (pigment) level is reduced, which causes discolorations.

Let’s say that before I realised that I’m not the youngest woman on the planet any more, I had been treating my skin with wrong (mismatching) cosmetics. I was convinced that my skin was still young so I was supposed to reach for cosmetics designed for, let’s say, teenagers. Sadly, that was a mistake. I should have applied anti-age products.

Although my face doesn’t feature a lot of wrinkles yet (except a few expression lines), it’d be better for me to reach for products containing collagen and coenzyme Q10 just for the prophylaxis’ sake. After all, it’s all logical – it’s better to prevent wrinkles rather than struggle with reducing their visibility or camouflaging them, once they emerge of course.

Where do wrinkles come from in particular?

As I have already mentioned above, once you turned a particular age, your skin gradually starts producing less collagen and elasticin, two protein which are one of the main building blocks of our skin. Also, hydration level decreases so skin starts lacking water.

All of these make our skin keep losing its elasticity, become less smooth and more wrinkled. What is a wrinkle? In plain English, this is a crease that deepens with time. We don’t like wrinkles, therefore I’m declaring a tiny war to them!

Ways of dealing with wrinkles. Anti-age cosmetics

We aren’t able to smooth out and, in a some miraculous way, stretch skin without the achievements of aesthetic medicine (although there are some anti-age cosmetics nicknamed ‘irons’). So what we are left with? It shouldn’t pose a problem for us to:

• improve skin hydration,
• improve skin elasticity,
• protect our skin from the sun and toxins,
• slow down skin ageing processes.

In order to achieve this goal, we need to use anti-age cosmetics, also known as anti-wrinkle or mature skin creams. The name isn’t that important because what matters are the ingredients a particular product contains.

What should a good anti-age cream be made from?

Task that anti-age cosmetics are supposed to accomplish requires well-selected composition. I suggest you to look for information placed on the back of a cosmetic and don’t be fooled by what is written in bold on the front label. Sadly, producer’s promises are far from being realistic. On the other hand, the list of ingredients (INCI) has to be credible so this makes it a good source of information concerning the features a particular product has. What should we look for?

A good anti-age cream should contain:

• reinforcing vitamin A, frequently in the form of retinol,
• vitamin C which is good at highlighting complexion,
• a source of anti-oxidants, which is vitamin E (vitamin of youth),
• lipoic acid, an anti-oxidant that stimulates cell self-renewal processes,
• fruity acids that exfoliate, smooth and highlight skin,
• phytohormones which protect skin from free radicals,
• proteins which lack of is easy to notice, and these are collagen and elasticin,
• as well as coenzyme Q10 that accelerates metabolic rate of skin cells.

You can be sure that you will choose a good anti-age cosmetic if you know what to look for in the list of ingredients, instead of paying attention to the front label. Actually, I can also tell you that the best anti-age creams contain moisturising substances such as hyaluronic acid or panthenol. Owning to these ingredients, skin self-renewal substances are stimulated and moisturisation level is maintained.

Bear in mind to apply this type of creams every day, morning and evening. Of course, use lightweight products in the morning and treat your skin with more concentrated creams at bedtime. Regular skin care is a recipe for success!

Camouflaging makeup. How to apply it?

Mind you, there is no cream that can remove wrinkles, discolorations and acne after just one use therefore I’d like to tell you my ways of dealing with fine lines. The very first thing that comes to my mind is: camouflaging makeup. If you haven’t managed to regenerate and rejuvenate your skin yet, you can consider this type of makeup as a way of masking your skin imperfections.

There are a few easy-to-follow rules which have to be borne in mind:

• if you consider your skin imperfections being mild, you can go for BB cream,
• if your skin imperfections are more severe, you can go for a good foundation and a powder,
• the core of camouflaging makeup is a good concealer (e.g. colour concealers),
• it’s the quality of cosmetics that matters, not the amount of them – overuse of these products might cause strange effects,
• all the products designed for mature skin should contain moisturising substances,
• a foundation should be lightweight (it neither dehydrates skin nor gathers in creases).

It’s worth realizing that camouflaging makeup is an additional way of minimising visibility of wrinkles. Thanks to this technique, we are able to hide fine lines therefore it shouldn’t be treated as an alternative to proper skin care. I suggest you to apply anti-age creams either way.