How to choose the perfect day cream

A proper day cream is an essential and integral part of your daily skincare routine. Even if you can't see it, your skin needs it enormously, not only to maintain a normal skin condition, but also to ensure its ability to defend itself against environmental damage. After all, skin works in the same way as our body. It uses its available resources of vitamins, minerals, trace elements and amino acids to a greater extent as a result of various stress factors. It also has to defend itself against a number of chemical and physical external influences during the course of the day.

Which active substances and ingredients to pay attention to

If there's only one thing you take home from this article, it's that you should never choose a day cream from an advertisement! Be much more conscious, as it's not your shopping mood, but your skin's daily nutritional needs that you need to meet and help maintain its immunity throughout the day. Antioxidant ingredients that reduce oxidative stress on skin cells during the day and bind free radicals are the best way to do this. Vitamins A, C, E are essential for maintaining healthy skin structure and antioxidant protection. Vitamin A is responsible for the integrity of the skin structure. Vitamin C, in addition to its antioxidant effect, boosts your immune system and is essential for collagen fibres that are broken down and rebuilt during the day. And vitamin E is one of the most powerful antioxidants, protecting the health of skin cells. If you have all of them in your day cream, it's more than a sure thing, but even finding just one of them is a big help.

SPF (Sun Protection Factor) is a must

Not mentioned in the previous chapter, but one of the most important day cream ingredients of the 21st century is the right amount of sun protection factor (SPF). UVA and UVB rays are responsible for a large part of skin ageing, and they can not only cause immediate inflammation on the surface of the skin, but also cause permanent damage from within. Increased exposure to light causes the breakdown of collagen fibres in the skin, which are responsible for skin elasticity, thus the skin loses its elasticity. The permanent inflammation caused by the rays changes the skin's pigment-producing processes and often results in permanent pigment spots that are very difficult to remove. So, there is no question that you need some SPF in your day cream. It's best if this is adjusted to your skin's natural sun protection, but as this is very difficult to determine as a nonexpert, look for SPF 5-15 as recommended by manufacturers' guidelines. This is more than ideal for people with the average lifestyle of time spent in the office and outdoors.

The cream is to be light or thick

We could say that everyone should decide according to her own needs, but the answer is not that simple. You should always choose the quality of the cream you want to use according to your skin type, and the best person to ask for help is your beautician. In the case of dry, dehydrated skin, it is better to use a thicker, oilier cream to lock in precious moisture. But for seborrhoeic or acneic skin, lighter gels and gel creams can help you to avoid overloading already oily skin with increased sebum production. It's also important that if you're going to use make-up after the cream, you should avoid the oilier versions (even if your skin needs it), as they will completely seal the skin's surface and inhibit its ability to breathe.  For a make-up base, try to choose as lightweight a cream as possible and if you're unsure, your beautician will be able to help.

Scented or unscented

For the majority of women, one of the most important factors when choosing a day cream, besides the advertising effect, is the fragrance. If there are a lot of good features and even the fragrance is good, the other aspects are secondary. After all, we have that damn cream on our face all day long, we smell it 8+ hours a day! If you look at the perfume ingredients in lotions from an expert's point of view, most of them are just an added stress factor for the skin. They do not support, but negatively affect the delicate flora of the skin. This is another weakening factor in the all-day battle against environmental stress. All the good ingredients in the INCI list are useless if at the end of it there is an allergenic fragrance. So, if you want to do your skin a conscious favour, the day cream you choose should be as fragrance-free as possible. Avoid intense fragrances and choose allergenic fragrance or simply fragrance-free day creams whenever possible.