Ever wondered if the typical reader of a face cream review would comprehend the presented information better, if he or she had access to some sort of glossary? Why is it that the online appearance of numerous face cream reviews has not led to the posting of a comprehensive glossary, a glossary of skin care terms?
Perhaps those who have written the various face cream reviews have not really intended to make the reader a more informed consumer of skin care products. Perhaps too much of the present-day web content, at least that content that has been related to skin care, has included a very slanted, very subjective face cream review.
A glossary is not all subjective. A glossary simply defined a list of terms. This article will not attempt to provide readers with a comprehensive glossary, but it will offer a subjective definition of terms that should be familiar to a knowledgeable, a well-read dermatologist.
In medical schools today, students learn a good deal about antioxidants. When skin cells contain antioxidants, then those cells have fewer free radicals. When skin cells contain fewer free radicals, then those “loose molecules” are less able to interfere with vital biochemical processes, processes that take place inside of the cell.
In the absence of antioxidants, skin cells do suffer damage, due to the presence of free radicals. In fact, the changes associated with aging have now been linked to a failure of older skin cells to complete normal biochemical reactions. The aging cells lack the ability to produce vital, cell-strengthening substances.
If medical students take a course on nutrition, then they certainly read literature that mentions “beta carotene.” Orange colored fruits and vegetable contain beta carotene. The endothelial cells that cover the body have the ability to convert beta carotene into Vitamin A. Vitamin A is known to have antioxidant properties.
If a medical student should choose to pursue some biomedical research, and if that student should happen to culture some skin cells, then he or she might well add selenium to the culture medium. That student would have certainly read about the role that selenium plays in completion of a particular enzymatic reaction.
Like most minerals, selenium fits into the “keyhole” that is found in the various body enzymes. When the mineral slips into that “keyhole,” then it gives the enzyme the ability to catalyze a given biochemical reaction. The selenium in well-nourished skin cells helps them to resist possible damage to the skin.
So, “antioxidant,” “free radicals,” “beta-carotene” and “selenium” are all words that might well be mentioned in a good review. Writers of the various face cream reviews might also talk about products that contain “collagen” or “elastin.” Those are proteins that can be found in all healthy skin cells.
Collagen has fiber-like properties. Consider the properties associated with a rope that is made of fibers. That rope is strong and firm. Skin that contains collagen demonstrates the same level of firmness, and the same level of strength.
Yet aging skin cells loose the ability to make collagen. Lacking their normal strength, those cells respond to the effects of gravity; they begin to sag. So, if those cells can be stimulated to make collagen, then are they able to return to their former position on the body?
No they are not, because aging cells also lack elastin. Elastin gives cells added flexibility. Only if a skin care product stimulates production of both collagen and elastin can the cells treated with that product demonstrate the well-toned characteristics that are associated with more youthful cells. So, how’s that for a face cream review?