Moisturizing 101

The Importance of Moisturizing Your Skin

Applying a daily moisturizer is an important part of any skin care routine. (Read our post on skin care basics if you missed it.) Not only does it leave your skin feeling refreshed, its routine use also provides a number of long and short term health benefits.

After a nice warm shower or face cleanse our skin can often be left feeling dry. Applying a moisturizer can help counter-act this effect, which is important since dry skin is more prone to signs of irritation, redness and blemishes. Over time, it will help your skin retain a younger appearance; areas around the face and neck are exposed to the elements, and the daily loss of skin cells leaves these areas susceptible to dryness and flaking. The routine use of a moisturizer helps to soften these aging forces and studies have shown that regularly moisturized skin accumulates wrinkles at a fraction of the rate compared to those with dry skin.

---

Most moisturizers contain both humectant and occlusive ingredients; meaning it is best to apply them while your skin is still damp (not fully wet) after cleansing. Doing this will help lock in more moisture.

---

How to Select a Moisturizer

We suggest trying a product that is both oil and fragrance free to begin with. Beyond those two basic criteria's, you can look for specific ingredients to address any specific skin issues. Best practice for oily skin is to use a non-comedogenic moisturizer (meaning it will not block pores). Some ingredients to consider in a moisturizer are hyaluronic acid to plump the skin and restore lost hydration, ceramides to improve skin barrier strength and overall health, vitamin C which will provide antioxidant protection and overall skin brightening, and Jojoba Oil to improve the look and feel of hair and skin.

Benefits of Jojoba Oil

Despite the name, the ingredient commonly referred to as Jojoba Oil is actually a liquid wax ester. Its use can be traced back as far as the 18th century, when Native Americans would ground up Jojoba seeds into a salve to use as a skin and hair care aid, and in a medicinal capacity to treat sores, wounds and burns. Scientific developments have since shown that Jojoba Oil (simmondsia chinensis) has a very similar chemical composition to the sebum found in human skin, which helped to explain why it is so effective to help smooth irritation and reduce the appearance of blemishes when used in moisturizers.

Today, Jojoba Oil is often selected as a moisturizer ingredient for its hypoallergenic properties, among other advantages such as its ability to hydrate while cleansing and controlling oil production. It contains many of the vitamins and minerals required to facilitate the growth of healthy skin and hair, and is notable for its ability to reduce the look and feel of irritation and unwanted marks. We feature Jojoba Oil in many of our products such as Exfoliate Me, Lux Cream, and Argan Hair Oil.

Lux Cream by Rayna Self Care

Rayna’s Lux Cream is a luxurious moisturizing cream that offers long lasting moisture protection for even the driest skin types. Infused with Sunflower and Jojoba Oil, this robust moisturizing cream has a rich and silky texture to pamper your skin. It’s balanced pH-optimized blend has been created to be extraordinarily skin friendly, giving you radiant skin that stays nourished all day long.