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Welcome to Skincarma.

These are the musings of Carmine Montalto, NYC-based writer, skincare junkie and brand guru. The former copywriter at Kiehl’s, Carmine has more than 25 years of experience in beauty. Through the Skincarma Blog, he puts all of his product wisdom to work demystifying the ever-evolving world of skin care. 

You can change your skin’s destiny.™

PRODUCT REVIEW: FIRST AID BEAUTY ULTRA REPAIR FIRMING COLLAGEN CREAM – BEST FACE CREAM FOR SENSITIVE SKIN, BEST SENSITIVE SKIN MOISTURIZER

FIRST AID BEAUTY | ULTRA REPAIR FIRMING COLLAGEN CREAM

This product review was originally part of my blog article titled, Seasonal Skincare Transitioning: Moisturizers I Love that Make Me Excited for Cold Weather - Part One – Best Hydrating Moisturizers, Best Face Creams for Dry Skin. You can catch the full piece here.

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As I do each fall, I’m publishing my two-part series of what I consider to be among the best moisturizers for colder weather. That is, face creams ideal for dry, dehydrated skin no matter the skin type. Contrary to commonly held beliefs, even oily skin needs extra moisture during periods of low-humidity. When the air around us is very dry, it drains the water (and the life!) out of our face.

Around this same time last year, I kicked off my FW20 series of my top ten cold weather face creams in a blog article titled, Winter Moisturizers Part I – Some of the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin and All Skin Types in Cold Weather. If you missed it, by chance, you can read it here.

Then, a couple of weeks later, I published Winter Moisturizers Part 2, which you can read here. The second in the series happened to feature two richer face creams that I still love using a year later.

WINTER MOISTURIZERS PART 2 – SOME OF THE BEST FACE CREAMS FOR DRY SKIN AND ALL SKIN TYPES IN COLD WEATHER

The first of the two is Youth to the People’s Adaptogen Deep Moisture Cream. It not only comforts dry, dehydrated skin but it can help calm skin that’s become sensitized and raw from the harsh, cold air. I’ve been there and I know first hand how the cold can compromise the health of your skin.

The Adaptogen Deep Moisture Cream is a rich blend of nourishing and replenishing plant oils, antioxidant botanical extracts and skin-calming adaptogens. Among its moisturizing oils are Sunflower Oil, at ingredient number two, Squalane, Jojoba Seed Oil and Shea Butter. In the cold, that’s exactly what skin needs. But the star actives, as indicated in the product name, are two adaptogens, Ashwagandha Extract and Reishi Mushroom Extract, which can help to calm overactive, stressed-out skin.

PRODUCT REVIEW: YOUTH TO THE PEOPLE ADAPTOGEN DEEP MOISTURE CREAM – BEST MOISTURIZER FOR IRRITATED SKIN

To this day, I consider Youth to the People’s Adaptogen Deep Moisture Cream the best moisturizer with adaptogens to calm irritated skin. There’s nothing else like it.

The second notable stand-out from my FW20 series is the Jaxon Lane’s Relax and Repair moisturizer. The brand behind the popular Bro Mask, the Jaxon Lane Relax and Repair comes in a tube (which I love!) and is infused with beneficial, pro-skin health, anti-aging actives like Niacinamide, Hyaluronic Acid, collagen and ceramides.

It’s one of the best face creams for men — at least one that’s marketed for men. I don’t have much faith in products made for men; skin is skin. And all skin needs the same things — many of them in Jaxon Lane’s fantastic face cream.

PRODUCT REVIEW: JAXON LANE RELAX AND REPAIR – BEST FACE CREAM FOR DRY SKIN, BEST FACE CREAM FOR MEN


What’s the Difference between Dry Skin and Dehydrated Skin?

Many people confuse the two. They’re not the same thing. Dry skin is a skin type. Dehydrated skin is a skin condition, just as being thirsty is a sign that your body is dehydrated. Dehydrated skin lacks water and any skin type, no matter its level of dryness or oiliness can be dehydrated.

In particular, dehydration is something that’s common to all of us in the cold as the low-humidity air around us draws water through the skin barrier and out of our skin. This process is referred to as trans-epidermal water loss, or TEWL. (More on TEWL in my review of the Skinfix Barrier+ Triple Lipid-Boost 360° Eye Cream below.)

As the cold weather kicks in, I think it’s helpful to understand the difference between dry skin and dehydrated skin in order to protect your skin health in the weeks ahead. For insights, I turned to the experts on the Paula’s Choice Research Team. There’s a superb piece on the Paula’s Choice site titled, What is Dehydrated Skin & How to Choose the Best Products.

Here is an excerpt:

Dehydrated skin often looks and feels like dry skin all over your face, but there's a major difference between the two: dehydrated skin is usually a temporary concern (with various surprising causes) and dry skin typically doesn't change over time. If you have dehydrated skin, your skin may also produce a normal or even excessive amount of oil on its surface.

"Dehydrated skin" is something we’re asked about frequently. It seems there’s a lot of confusion about what this skin concern is about. A major part of the confusion is that the term "dehydrated skin" is often used interchangeably with "dry skin" or "combination skin" but they are not the same! Dehydrated skin can occur in all skin types and is not exclusive to those with dry skin or combination skin.

The Difference Between Dry Skin and Dehydrated Skin

Having classically dry skin is easy to recognize. Dry skin frequently feels tight and dry, with no oil anywhere to be seen. This situation rarely fluctuates; skin feels dry all year long. The dryness might get worse depending on the climate, season, or activity, but regardless of those things, without great skin care products, the uncomfortable dry, tight feeling will persist.

As mentioned above, dehydrated skin can look and feel similar, but there’s a major difference: Dehydrated skin tends to come and go, it does not persist.


MY FAVORITE HUMECTANT SERUMS FROM PAULA'S CHOICE, THE INKEY LIST AND MORE - BEST HYALURONIC ACID SERUMS

The Skincarma “Lock and Block” Prevents Dehydration

To start, preventing dehydration in the first place requires drinking enough water. That differs for each of us based on our weight, the foods we eat, and the climate we live in. It’s even more important during colder periods.

A good rule is to drink one ounce of water each day for every pound of body weight. So, if you weigh 150 lbs., you’ll need to drink 150 ounces of water each and every day to keep your body and your skin optimally hydrated.

Then, employing skincare to treat and prevent dehydration requires what I refer to as a “lock and block” strategy.

It begins with a dedicated humectant serum applied to the skin in both your AM and PM routines that helps to lock water in. Follow with a moisturizer composed of a healthy balance of both humectants and oils to block and prevent the trans-epidermal water loss that can lead to dehydration.


WATCH MY VIDEO REVIEW OF

MY FAVORITE HUMECTANT SERUMS FROM PAULA'S CHOICE, THE INKEY LIST, GHOST DEMOCRACY AND MORE

ON MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL HERE


The moisturizers I’ve selected below all deliver a lock and block effect by locking hydration into the skin with humectants and blocking TEWL with effective levels of non-fragrant plant oils and/or lipids — essentially fats in the skin.

Today I’m presenting the first part of my FW21 series on cold weather face creams, a collection that includes some of the best moisturizers for combatting dry, dehydrated skin — no matter the skin type.

This year, I’ve selected four distinct moisturizers and designated the unique skin type that I believe it’s best for — one in each of the main categories. In the title, you’ll see new designations for DRY SKIN, OILY / BLEMISH PRONE SKIN, SENSITIVE SKIN and ALL SKIN TYPES.

Additionally, at the end of each review, you’ll find a new section that breaks down what I like and don’t about the product as well as a deeper explanation of who I think it’s best for based on the formula make-up, texture and my own experience with it.

Among my selections in part one below is a face cream that I featured on the blog several times throughout 2020, the Skinfix Barrier+ Triple Lipid-Peptide Face Cream. It’s a really smart, well-formulated product and simply among the best face creams for dry skin. In the last year, Triple Lipid-Peptide Face Cream, or TLPC for short, has catapulted to the top of Sephora’s nearly endless collection of moisturizers. As I write this, it’s the number one face cream in the moisturizer category on the Sephora website.

Peace Out’s Repairing Moisturizer is formulated specifically for oily and blemish prone skin year-round, but I found it worked great on my own skin throughout much of the year and I’ve been eager to share it.

My favorite skincare brand for sensitive skin, First Aid Beauty introduced its rich, luxurious, thick-whipped Ultra Repair Firming Collagen Cream several months ago. If you have dry, sensitive skin, this one is for you.

One of my favorite brand experiences of 2021, Replenix offers clinical skincare formulated with what the brand describes as “medical grade ingredients”. And the brand’s Glycolic Acid 20% Resurfacing Cream is exceptional. With a 20% Glycolic Acid complex, I was terrified to use it at first; I’m now a convert.

I’m also including one of my favorite eye creams, the Skinfix Barrier+ Triple Lipid-Boost 360° Eye Cream. It’s one which I think every skin type can and will benefit from.

Let’s have a look at one of my FW21 face cream picks, which I consider ideal for cold weather in part one of the series…


BEST FOR SENSITIVE SKIN:

First Aid Beauty | Ultra Repair Firming Collagen Cream

Over the course of my two-decade long copywriting career, I’ve had the honor to write for some really cool clinical skincare brands — some of them industry icons. Since the early 2000s, I’ve written for Kiehl’s, SkinCeuticals, Dr. Dennis Gross and Skinfix, to name a few.

On the blog, you may have noticed that science-based, dermatologist and clinical brands are my favorites! I would love to work on The Inkey List, Deciem’s high-science NIOD brand, Drunk Elephant…and First Aid Beauty! In the meantime, I’ll just have to keep writing about them, rather than for them.

I published a deep-dive into First Aid Beauty nearly two years ago now in an article titled, Brands I Love: First Aid Beauty And The Best Facial Skincare For Sensitive Skin, which you can read here.

BRANDS I LOVE: FIRST AID BEAUTY AND THE BEST FACIAL SKINCARE FOR SENSITIVE SKIN

As I shared in the article, First Aid Beauty was created for sensitive skin, by someone with sensitive skin. It was founded by Lilli Gordon, a mother, grandmother, and entrepreneur with a background in beauty who, like so many, struggled with sensitivity.

In the years since I first experienced First Aid Beauty, it has become my go-to skincare brand for anyone with occasionally or chronically sensitive skin. FAB’s products are formulated to calm skin down, prevent irritation — and deliver nothing that could antagonize the skin, particularly sensitive skin.

With tried-and-true, soothing ingredients like Colloidal Oatmeal, Oat Kernel Extract, Shea Butter, Feverfew Extract, even honey at active levels, First Aid Beauty is the best facial skincare for sensitive skin types. Just as important as what’s in the FAB formulas is what’s not. Nary a drop of denatured alcohol, fragrance or fragrant plant oils.

They really nail it for sensitive and reactive skin.

FAB’s “Ingredients with Integrity”:

“At First Aid Beauty, we provide everyday essentials and targeted skincare solutions that deliver immediate relief, lasting results and feel-good textures. Our products are formulated with only clean, skin-loving ingredients. We carefully select our ingredients so you don’t have to worry about what’s in (and not in) your skincare products. There are over 1,300 ingredients on FAB’s no-no list, including Artificial Colorants and Artificial Fragrances, Parabens, Ethanol, Ethyl Alcohol, Denatured Alcohol, Methanol, N-Butyl Alcohol, Isopropyl Alcohol, SD Alcohol, Lanolin, Propylene Glycol, Phthalates, Mineral Oil, Petrolatum, Formaldehydes, Oxybenzone, Coal Tar, Hydroquinone, Triclosan, Triclocarban, Talc and Sulfates.”

One of my favorite hydrating toners ever is the First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Wild Oat Hydrating Toner. It’s a superbly hydrating and soothing treatment for all skins, but particularly dry skin — or skin that’s experiencing seasonal dryness and sensitivity, as mine does in the colder months. If that sounds like you, be sure to catch my full review of the Ultra Repair Wild Oat Hydrating Toner on the blog here.

PRODUCT REVIEW: FIRST AID BEAUTY ULTRA REPAIR WILD OAT HYDRATING TONER – ONE OF THE BEST TONERS FOR DRY SKIN

First Aid Beauty also has a superb collection of moisturizers. The brand’s Ultra Repair Oil-Control Moisturizer is among the best face creams for oily skin and especially oily skin that also tends to be sensitive, something that’s not all that common but is a vexing concern for those with oily, sensitive skin.

And, the First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream is among the top selling moisturizers for all skin types, but especially sensitive skins. I’ve included it on the blog in various features and you can catch my review of it here.

This year, First Aid Beauty introduced a richer face cream, I believe their richest — the Ultra Repair Firming Collagen Cream. With an unexpectedly thick texture that’s more like heavy pudding than a heavy moisturizer, it’s ideal for normal, normal to dry and dry skin types but especially for sensitive skins in the cold.

First Aid Beauty’s Ultra Repair Firming Collagen Cream is, as the name indicates, infused with collagen. While that sounds like it can replenish the skin’s depleted collagen content, it is unlikely to have that effect or significantly impact collagen loss. The jury is still out on the benefits of topical collagen. But what a collagen-rich cream like Ultra Repair Firming Collagen Cream certainly does do is to comfort dry skin.

Collagen plays an important, in fact a vital role in the healthy appearance of the skin. It’s the substance that plumps up a baby’s cheeks — and a lack of collagen later in the life is the reason our faces take on a hollowed out, sunken appearance.

As we age, collagen levels decline at about one percent annually. The decline in skin’s collagen content actually begins in our late 20s or early 30s. Like most of what we do for our skin, it’s best to prevent the loss of collagen than to try to correct it later on. Effective daily sunscreen use is the best weapon you have in your arsenal for preventing collagen degradation.


What Is Collagen in Skin and How Can I Rebuild Collagen in My Face?

There’s a concerted debate about whether or not collagen applied to the skin, as with First Aid Beauty’s Ultra Repair Firming Collagen Cream, has any effect the skin’s collagen content.

In truth, the most effective way to boost collagen in your skin and restore its youthful plumpness is to regularly apply either a well-formulated Vitamin C serum and/or a Retinol treatment, AM and PM. At high concentrations, both Vitamin C and Vitamin A (Retinol is a derivative) are proven to stimulate skin’s collagen production over time to plump out the skin and diminish the appearance of lines and wrinkles in the complexion.

There’s a superb article on the important role collagen plays in the body and in the skin on the Healthline website titled, Collagen — What Is It and What Is It Good For?

An excerpt from the article:

Collagen is the most plentiful protein in your body.

It has various important roles, including providing structure to your skin and helping your blood clot.

In recent years, it has gained popularity as a nutritional supplement and ingredient in shampoos and body lotions.

Still, you may wonder what collagen is, as well as what it’s good for. This article gives you a thorough overview of this important protein.

What is collagen?

Collagen is the most abundant protein in your body, accounting for about one-third of its protein composition.

It’s one of the major building blocks of bones, skin, muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Collagen is also found in many other body parts, including blood vessels, corneas, and teeth.

You can think of it as the “glue” that holds all these things together. In fact, the word comes from the Greek word “kólla,” which means glue.

What does it do in your body?

There are at least 16 types of collagen. The four main types are type I, II, III, and IV (1Trusted Source).

Here’s a closer look at the four main types of collagen and their roles in your body:

  • Type I. This type accounts for 90% of your body’s collagen and is made of densely packed fibers. It provides structure to skin, bones, tendons, fibrous cartilage, connective tissue, and teeth.

  • Type II. This type is made of more loosely packed fibers and found in elastic cartilage, which cushions your joints.

  • Type III. This type supports the structure of muscles, organs, and arteries.

  • Type IV. This type helps with filtration and is found in the layers of your skin.

As you age, your body produces less and lower quality collagen.

One of the visible signs of this is in your skin, which becomes less firm and supple. Cartilage also weakens with age.


In addition to its collagen content, the Ultra Repair Firming Collagen Cream formula is infused with multiple pro-skin health actives, including peptides, ceramides and Glycerin. Notably, there is a relatively high concentration of brightening, antioxidant Niacinamide at ingredient number four.

There’s also a slew of skin soothers, including Panthenol, Colloidal Oatmeal, Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea) Leaf Extract and Allantoin — a naturally occurring substance that soothes, moisturizes and “helps mitigate skin’s response to more active ingredients,” according to the expert on the Paula’s Choice Research Team.


What I like about it: The First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Firming Collagen Cream is a superb face cream for dry, sensitive skin. I love its complex of proven skin soothers than can help to calm skin irritated by dry, cold air. That’s me in January!

What I don’t like about it: I get the appeal of collagen among consumers and the eagerness of skincare marketers to ride the wave. But there’s just no evidence that, when applied topically, collagen can penetrate the skin barrier to replenish lost collagen. I’d prefer that reputable brands like First Aid Beauty focus on the very real benefits of the pro-skin health actives in a formula like Ultra Repair Firming Collagen Cream rather than the false perception consumers have about collagen. *sighs*

Who it’s for: Dry skin types year round and all skin types in the severe cold (except for oily and blemish prone skins).

SHOP THE BLOG: Purchase the First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Firming Collagen Cream for $42 here.


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The Ingredient List of the Skinfix Barrier+ Triple Lipid-Peptide Face Cream:


The Ingredient List of the Peace Out Repairing Moisturizer:


The Ingredient List of the First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Firming Collagen Cream:

Aqua/Water/Eau solv, Stearic Acid emo|vc 0 2-3, Glycerin sii|h 0 0, Niacinamide cci|sb|aacne|h, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate emo|amic, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride emo, Glyceryl Stearate SE emu 2 3, Glyceryl Stearate emo|emu 0 1-2, Dimethicone emo 0 1, Cetearyl Alcohol emo|vc|emu|surf 1 2, Panthenol so|h 0 0, Colloidal Oatmeal so|aox|emo|abrasive/scrub, Squalane sii|emo 0 1, Phenoxyethanol pres, Soluble Collagen h, Caprylyl Glycol h|emo, Polymethylsilsesquioxane, Propanediol solv|h, Sodium Hydroxide buff, Xanthan Gum vc, Disodium EDTA chel, Allantoin so 0 0, Chrysanthemum Parthenium Extract, Glycyrrhiza Glabra Root Extract so|sb, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract aox|so, Ceramide NP sii, Sodium Benzoate pres, Diamond Powder abrasive/scrub, Tetrasodium EDTA chel, Butyrospermum Parkii Butter emo|vc, Pentapeptide-34 Trifluoroacetate emo
Hover the mouse over an ingredient for short explanation. Read more on INCIDecoder.


The Ingredient List of the Replenix Glycolic Acid 20% Resurfacing Cream:

Purified Water, Glycolic Acid, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Cyclopentasiloxane, Ammonium Hydroxide, Cetearyl Alcohol, Glyceryl Stearate, Polyacrylamide, C13-14 Isoparaffin, Dimethicone, Squalane, Tocopheryl Acetate, Green Tea Polyphenols, Chlorella Protothecoides (Algae) Extract, Curcuma Longa (Plant Stem Cells) Callus Extract, Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea) Leaf Extract, Ubiquinone (Coenzyme Q-10), Hydrolyzed Glycosaminoglycans, Phospholipids, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Cetearyl Glucoside, PEG-100 Stearate, Xanthan Gum, Laureth-7, Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Sorbate, Phenoxyethanol, Disodium EDTA.


The Ingredient List of the Skinfix Barrier+ Triple Lipid-Boost 360° Eye Cream:



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