We are all aware that one moisturizer doesn’t fit all. Every skin type and skin condition deserves different treatment. Let’s look at moisturizers for different skin types and skin conditions.

Moisturizer for sensitive skin

It’s essential to understand that usually people with sensitive skin have a ‘damaged’ stratum corneum which is the visible layer of the skin. Our skin has a natural barrier – this works to prevent moisture loss, and acts as a barrier against penetration of irritants. Aging, sun damage and the use of harsh products can break down the barrier.

So, our aim is to focus on restoring the skin’s barrier function. This is achieved by eliminating as much as possible, water loss that occurs through the skin, especially while the barrier is renewing itself.

This is done through products which contain 2 specific agents. Occlusive ingredients help to ‘trap’ the water already present in the skin, and equally important, humectant (water-loving) ingredients which attract water from the environment into the skin.

Someone with sensitive skin should avoid fragrance ingredients, stimulants, most exfoliants, surfactants, highly acidic or alkaline products, colour agents and formaldehyde-releasing preservatives. One needs to look out for soothing ingredients such as bisabolol, azulene, licorice extract, chamomile or matricaria extract, dipotassium glycyrrhizinate or stearyl glycyrrhetinate, which also have anti-redness and anti-inflammatory properties. In addition, certain antioxidant ingredients, like grapeseed extract and green tea extract, are also anti-inflammatory due to their properties for controlling free radical reactions.

Moisturizer for oily skin / acne prone skin

Moisturizers and hydrating products that are intended for dry skin, usually contain fatty acids and other fatty substances that are excellent for dry skin. However, oily and acne-prone skin already produces enough emollient naturally in the form of sebum. Hence, it certainly does not need more fatty material applied to the skin, which would only flow in the follicles, clogging the sebum and causing ‘blackheads’ to form.

Another misleading term is ‘oil free’. The product might truly be ‘oil-free’, but sometimes they are instead loaded with fatty ingredients, such as fatty esters, fatty acids and other ‘blackheads’-causing agents, which are much worse in terms of their contribution to clogging.

Always look out for products intended for acne-prone or oily skin, which have been properly tested for comedogenicity (not causing clogging and ‘blackheads’). Hydrators intended for problem skin should contain water-binding humectants, such as sodium PCA, hyaluronic acid, glycerine or sorbitol; which help to add moisture into the skin without exposing it to fatty substances. For someone who is acne-prone, but also concerned with aging and sun damage, then look for products which contain good anti-aging ingredients, such as AHAs and antioxidants that have been designed not to clog acne-prone skin. It is good to note that products for oily skin tend to have some mattifying ingredients to control the shine, while products for acne-prone skin which is slightly dry (usually when the acne is hormone-related), tend to have some kind of emollient (‘slip’) added, but emollient which does not cause ‘blackhead’ reactions.

In general, products for acne-prone and oily skin are usually very lightweight – in that the product, when applied, feels wet rather than creamy, because most are fluids and not creams.

Moisturizer for active acne

I intend to write a whole article on acne – what exactly is acne and how it can be treated. However for now, people with active acne should follow some of the advice from the moisturizer for oily and acne prone skin. In addition, adding products with AHA or BHA to help to exfoliate so as not to have a build-up of dead skin cells covering the follicles, and adding Vitamin A (but the fat soluble and not the acid form).

Moisturizer for dry skin

Dry skin is considered to be a skin type, because it is hereditary, not due to environmental influences. Dry skin, and most mature skin, suffers from a lack of sebum (oil) production. To treat dry skin, a similar procedure used for sensitive skin is preferred. Protective emollients – mainly oils, fatty materials such as fatty alcohols or esters – are used to keep natural moisture from escaping from the top layer of the skin, by placing a layer of emollient ingredients over the skin. This technique is called occlusion, where you are basically cutting off any oxygen to the skin and you are trapping moisture into the skin. The emollients – ingredients used – are known as occlusive agents.

Moisturizer for dehydrated skin

Dehydrated skin is a condition in which the skin is suffering from a loss of water and hydration between the skin’s cells. Dehydration is a skin condition, and can affect all skin types (i.e. dry, oily or acne-prone,…). So one can be oily and dehydrated, or dry and dehydrated, or mature and dehydrated. A lot of people tend to suffer from dehydration, and it is usually caused by factors such as environmental, life-style, stress,…

Products, ideal to treat dehydrated skin, are formulas with ingredients that actually attract water to the skin’s surface. They can lock water on the skin, improving the symptoms of dehydration. These ingredients are also known as humectants or hydrophilic (water-loving) agents, and include ingredients such as glycerin, hyaluronic acid (sodium hyaluronate), sodium PCA, sorbitol, butylene and propylene glycol, algae extracts, and seaweed extracts. These special ingredients absorb water from moisture products, and have the ability to attract water from the atmosphere into the skin.

An important fact is that properly hydrated skin definitely functions better than skin lacking moisture. A well-hydrated skin, will absorb and hold beneficial ingredients more. Hence it’s essential to first treat a skin for dehydration, then afterwards to start feeding the skin with other ingredients for say anti-aging properties. I always like to give an example of a grape when all the water is taken out of it, it becomes a shrivelled grape – a raisin. The same happens to the cells – they won’t be well hydrated and plump, if they are dehydrated. The trick is to keep them well-hydrated, plump and juicy, so they will perform at optimum level, and hence they will make the most of a ‘good’ ingredient.

Moisturizer for pigmentation

Again, pigmentation deserves a whole article dedicated to just pigmentation. It is very hard to treat pigmentation with just a product, especially if the pigmentation is hormone related. Usually products just lighten the pigmentation, and sometimes the pigmentation comes more angry and worse when one is exposed to the sun, even if just for a brief amount of time. Whenever using a lightening product, it is a must to apply sunscreen frequently.

Moisturizer for mature skin

Usually people with mature skin tend to have dry skin, so they should go after products as defined for dry skin. And maybe add some anti-oxidants. The ‘miracle’ claims that this product will tighten the skin or lift the skin or eliminate wrinkles or reduce enlarged pores or paralyze muscles, have to all be taken into perspective – no cream will do the job that a plastic surgeon is able to do, or no cream is able to undo the sun damage that there is. So don’t believe exaggerated claims – if they are too-good-to-be-true, then most probably you are wasting your money.

Remember it is much better to prevent than to treat – so make sure to treat your skin well while it is young (hydrate it, don’t use harsh products and stay out of the sun). For those who wish to reverse some of the signs of aging look out for products which contain AHA ingredients, although one still needs to be careful and not to overdo it, as AHA thins the skin out. And as we age, our skin already tends to thin out, so thinning out the skin more tends to lead to more sensitivity. I personally like products which contain Vitamin A and other Vitamins.

Day vs Night Creams, Eye Creams, Neck Creams

We all know that the neck shows the first signs of aging, but does this, together with the eyes, requires a special cream. Well, there are different takes on this. Do the signs of aging occur most obviously first in the neck and eyes, because the skin in these areas is thinner or is it because a lot of movement and expression is done in this area, and over a period of time, because of the repetitive movements, then the skin starts showing expression lines? I am still researching this, but at the moment my views stand that I would use an eye cream, especially if I am using a not-so-rich cream for the face – maybe because I am slightly oily, but my eyes need hydration. The neck cream I don’t really believe in them, although I have some clients who swear that a particular neck cream does ‘miracles’.

Moisturizers with SPF

A next debatable subject is a moisturizer with an SPF – I completely disagree with these, because of a few reasons. First of all, if you have a set of ingredients which are supposed to penetrate the skin to be beneficial, and another set of ingredients which are supposed to sit on top of the skin to protect the skin against UV rays – and these sets of ingredients are mixed together, then what guarantee do you have that the ingredients which are supposed to penetrate are penetrating and the ingredients which are supposed to sit on top of the skin are staying there?! I understand that the molecules would be different – but I much rather have a cream specifically for ‘moisturizing’ my skin, and another cream acting as my sunscreen. Also, a sunscreen (will be dedicating a whole article on sunscreens) is supposed to be reapplied – so it’s better to have the moisturizer applied underneath to do it’s work, and you keep reapplying regularly just the sunscreen. Another important aspect is that most moisturizers with a sunscreen in them, have a very low SPF in them, which does not do much to protect against the sun’s harmful rays (although again in the sunscreen article, I will explain the difference between say an SPF 8 and an SPF 30). And psychologically, if the cream has an SPF, even though it will be a low SPF, people often think that they are covered, and don’t need extra protection.

Moisturizers Part 1: The Benefits of Moisturizers

Moisturizers Part 3: Ingredients to Look For and Ingredients to Avoid