For thousands of years our ancestors used oils for improving the health of their skin. But the cosmetic industry started to spread the idea that oils were bad for the skin around 1920, and began encouraging the use of oil in water mixed with detergent as moisturizing creams. This marketing scheme had similarities to the confusing campaigns that tried to get women to replace breast feeding their babies with artificial infant formulas that could be sold for a profit. In the Asian cultures oils are still preferred for skin health.

Cosmetic cream or serum moisturizers are most often made from various low-cost oils and water-soluble chemicals. They humidify and loosen the skin’s layer of external defensive proteins. At the same time they saturate the skin with fats that block the skin for a while and thus impede water loss. These creams moisturize dry skin for a short period of time but have the side effect of affecting the skin’s ability to defend itself against bacteria and viruses. Such moisturizing creams are a combination of oil and water plus stabilizers, preservatives, emulsifiers and other chemicals.

How To Prevent Dry Skin

Because of the chemical content, most of these products trouble the healing of irritated skin. They actually make the situation worse by inhibiting healthy skin repair, elevating skin inflammation and thus damaging the skin in ways similar to skin irritants.

The best skin treatment is one that protects the skin surface and heals the skin from within. While healing from the inside, the skin is provided the necessary nutrients and an environment in which natural skin repair can take place.

Almost all skin moisturizers offered by the large skin care companies have high levels of detergents and detergent-like chemicals. This despite forty years of scientific evidence of the negative effects these components have on the skin, like degrading the skin’s innate defensive and protective functions. Also, many of the colors and optical diffusers used in cosmetics to give the appearance of healthy natural skin are very damaging to the skin.

Research and Biological Treatment Benefits

Another mistake commonly made is to add to the skin creams certain lipids that appear naturally in the skin such as ceramides (especial amine fatty acid molecules), free fatty acids (fatty acids not in triglyceride or phospholipid form), and cholesterol, hoping that this will better the health of the skin. However, research has demonstrated that natural skin fats and lipids in skin creams cause a diminution in the skin’s innate biosynthesis of skin fats and lipids. This leads to that in a few weeks the skin is in a worse condition than before.

Dry skin is caused by two problems:

(1) damage to the skin’s protective barrier that causes excessive water loss through the skin, and

(2) diminution in the proportions of the dermal water-holding sugars and proteins: the proteoglycans and glycosaminoglycans (GAGs).

Proteoglycans (PGs) are proteins linked to glucose chains called glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). These GAGs are vital elements of connective tissues. They regulate the structure and control the functions of the skin.

When the proteoglycans (PGs) are renewed the production and differentiation of cells are influenced. Wound healing also depends on the level of PGs. If the level isn´t adequate this leads to abnormal scars, and thus the PGs play a crucial role in preventing keloids and hypertrophic scars.

Biological Ingredients Moisturize Your Skin

When the skin loses glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) the skin on the face and the body becomes flaccid. GAGs hold water and make up most of the intercellular space between collagen & elastin proteins. They play the critical role of acting as shock absorbents and provide binding, hydrating and swelling pressure to the tissues of the cell. In doing so, they enable the skin to handle compression forces and prevent scarring on the deep layers of the skin during times when it is under more pressure.

For the best skin care you should use products that help repair the skin barrier and promote the synthesis of proteoglycans and GAGs.