Retinol Anti Aging and Anti Wrinkle Ingredients
Retinol is a Vitamin A antioxidant precursor found in beta-carotene. Why is retinol important? It’s one of the only anti aging ingredients proven in clinical studies to positively impact the production of collagen and counteract the breakdown of collagen in skin. In short, this means that it improves skin firmness and reduces the appearance of lines and wrinkles. Retinol comes in many derivative forms, so you’ll want to become familiar with its many formats. Murad has a number of anti wrinkle products with retinol ingredients to help minimize the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles and restore youthful-looking skin.

Antioxidants: A Key Anti Aging Skin Care Ingredient
One of the main causes of aging skin, when it comes to degraded collagen and elastin, are free radicals. Free radicals are oxygen molecules that form in your system with only one electron instead of two as the result of UV damage (and, in some cases, exposure to environmental pollutants and toxins). The deformed oxygen molecules then attack other molecules in the body in order to “steal” the extra electron they need. The cycle repeats and the ultimate victim is your skin, in the form of weakened health and an older-looking appearance. Antioxidants combat the free radicals in your system, so for healthy and youthful-looking skin you’ll want to maximize your intake of antioxidants. While an antioxidant-rich diet is important, anti aging skin care products with antioxidants will also jump-start your skin’s rejuvenation.

Hydroquinone: Age Spot and Sun Spot Fading Ingredient
As we age, most of us will develop age spots and sun spots as a result of years of exposure to pigment-damaging UV radiation from the sun. Hydroquinone is the strongest skin-lightening agent to fade age spots and sun spots available without a prescription. It is also the primary ingredient in Murad Rapid Age Spot and Pigment Lightening Serum. If you’re experiencing the development of age spots or sun spots, this anti aging skin care ingredient should be at the top of your list.

Of course, you should be aware of a number of ingredients used in anti aging skin care products, and an Inclusive Health® approach to anti aging skin care is just as important as what you put on your skin. This information will give you a head start in knowing what ingredients to look for in anti aging and anti wrinkle products.

Gravity: An Unavoidable Cause of Wrinkles on Your Face
There is never a moment in your life when gravity is not trying to push your skin down. It’s simply the law of physics, and you won’t be able to avoid it unless you’re living in an anti-gravity chamber! During your youth, your skin is incredibly firm with a strong layer of collagen, and it supports itself against the downward pull of gravity. However, as collagen breaks down and weakens with age, the skin can no longer support itself against a lifetime of pressure from gravity. As the skin loosens and the impact of gravity pushes it downward, wrinkles form due to the “sagging” skin. Fortunately, there are many anti wrinkle creams and products that can improve the production of collagen in your skin on a daily basis to keep it firmer and wrinkle-free.

Repetitive Facial Movements: An Unavoidable Cause of Wrinkles on Your Face
Nobody, no matter how stress-free they may be, maintains an entirely smooth face all day long. During our youth, strong elastin fibers in the skin pull the skin back to a smooth state after frowning, laughing, smiling, squinting, blinking or laughing. However, as we grow older, elastin becomes weakened and the creases on our face caused by everyday facial movements can become permanent lines and wrinkles. While a healthy anti aging diet and regularly using sun protection can help increase elastin strength over time, once you begin to develop the common signs that elastin is weakening (crow’s feet, laugh lines and forehead wrinkles), you’ll want to look for an anti aging product that increases skin’s firmness and fullness through hydration to decrease the appearance of lines and wrinkles due to repetitive facial movements.

Menopause: An Unavoidable Cause of Wrinkles for Women
For women, the years leading up to and immediately following menopause also mean the unavoidable onset of Hormonal Aging. Hormonal Aging manifests primarily as a significant reduction in the amount of collagen produced by the body. Because the face is an area with an exceptionally high number of collagen receptors, the lines and wrinkles that form as a result of Hormonal Aging can be sudden and significant. An ideal anti aging skin care solution for the overall loosening of the skin due to Hormonal Aging is Murad Resurgence®. Murad Resurgence skin care products were created by Dr. Murad specifically to utilize The Science of Cellular Water™ to combat the impact of Hormonal Aging. While menopause will certainly result in a change of skin structure that leads to the appearance of wrinkles, the right skin care regimen can restore firm, youthful skin.

It’s important to try to prevent the signs of aging on your skin with a proper diet, sun protection, skin care products and lifestyle choices. However, when the unpreventable wrinkles caused by time and the environment do begin to appear, an effective skin care regimen can help smooth the effects of time.

Skin Care Resolution for Acne-Prone Skin
If your skin type is oily or acne-prone and you use acne treatment products, your skin care resolution is simple: Don’t “pick” or “pop” your existing blemishes! It’s a common habit of many acne sufferers, but the damage you can do to your skin from squeezing, picking or popping blemishes is far worse than the blemish itself. In addition to potentially irritating the skin around the inflamed acne breakout which can create more breakouts, you can cause long-lasting post-acne marks and acne scars. No matter how tempting it is to pick, pop or squeeze, you ultimately risk having to find an acne scar treatment to undo the damage you’ve done to your skin.

Skin Care Resolution for Aging Skin
If your skin requires an anti wrinkle treatment to combat the signs of aging in the form of fine lines and wrinkles, your skin care resolution is to “eat” your water as described in Dr. Murad’s best-selling book, The Water Secret. The more effectively your skin is hydrated, the firmer and fuller it will be. Due to its cellular makeup, the water in fruits and vegetables is absorbed by your system in such a way that it more effectively increases skin firmness while keeping you hydrated even longer than drinking a glass of water. Increase your hydration this year, but more importantly, increase it by learning to “eat” as well as drink your water.

Skin Care Resolution for All Skin Types
If you have more normal or combination skin, your skin care resolution is to increase your use of antioxidants, both internally and through skin care products. Eat a diet rich in fruits and dark green vegetables. Incorporate green tea into your daily beverage choices. Take a skin care vitamin supplement that enhances the number of antioxidants in your system. Then, explore skin care products such as the Murad Vitalic® or Murad Environmental Shield® lines, which are infused with topical antioxidants to improve your skin’s health, clarity and texture.

New Year—new you—new skin care resolutions to keep you looking beautiful and revealing healthy skin all year and beyond.

Fight Wrinkles from the Inside Out
Healthy, younger-looking skin doesn’t just come from the outside. It starts on the inside with a healthy anti aging diet that’s rich in antioxidants and foods that help you “eat” your water. The presence of free radicals (oxygen molecules with only one electron) in your system contributes dramatically to the breakdown of collagen that leads to wrinkles. Antioxidants combat free radicals to help repair and prevent skin damage. While drinking your water is important, you also want your diet to maximize the hydration of your skin for maximum firmness. The best anti aging treatment is to eat fruits and vegetables. Not only are they full of antioxidants, but the molecular structure of water in fruits and vegetables is absorbed into your body in a way that keeps your skin hydrated and firmer for longer periods of time. You can learn more about “eating” your water in Dr. Murad’s best-selling book, The Water Secret.

Eye Wrinkles Require Different Products from Face Wrinkles
Most likely, the first place you’ll start seeing wrinkles on your face is around your eyes in the form of both under-eye wrinkles and crow’s feet. The skin around the eyes doesn’t produce its own moisture like the rest of the face, so wrinkles tend to appear sooner and more dramatically in this area. However, because the skin around your eyes is more sensitive than the rest of your face, you want to treat it with a specific anti wrinkle eye cream rather than your usual face cream. An anti wrinkle treatment that is too strong for the eye area can be irritating and uncomfortable.

Don’t Stress!
Not only does stress age your skin in the long term, but it can result in the deepening of lines on your forehead and around your eyes in the short term. As elastin weakens with age, the skin’s ability to snap back into place from a stressed-out frown decreases, and frown lines can become permanent wrinkles. The less you stress, the more you contribute to maintaining a smooth face.

Of course, using great anti aging and anti wrinkle skin care products to improve firmness and repair collagen can help as well! However, keep in mind that wrinkle-free skin is about more than just choosing great anti wrinkle products. It’s also about the lifestyle and health choices you make every day.

Focus on Antioxidant-Rich Foods
Whether your skin care regimen includes anti aging and anti wrinkle treatments or acne treatment products to get clear skin, antioxidants can help you get healthier skin that has a youthful glow for many years to come. In the summer, a diet rich in fresh fruits and salads will supply plenty of antioxidants. However, the typical winter diet is more meat- and carbohydrate-centered. Supplement your meals with dark green vegetables or rich fruit garnishes to get your daily dose of antioxidants. Though most vegetables lose some degree of nutrients in the cooking process, they are still healthier than no vegetables at all! A healthy intake of antioxidants is the most important part of maintaining a healthy skin diet throughout the winter. You may also want to consider supplementing your diet with a healthy skin vitamin supplement or topical antioxidants in an infusing home facial or face mask.

Maintain a Workout Routine
Many of us allow our workout and fitness routines to slip during the busy winter months (when it’s also harder to exercise outdoors). However, maintaining a healthy workout routine will help encourage your body to crave the types of nutritious, healthy foods that are so good for your skin (and your body). Even if you don’t work out with the same intensity and dedication in the winter that you do in the summer, remaining active will help you maintain your healthy skin diet. You’ll also have less work to do in the spring to get into “bikini shape.”

Add a Touch of Lemon to Your Water
Hopefully, you’re maintaining your healthy skin habit of drinking and “eating” an ample amount of water each day to keep your skin hydrated. By adding a touch of lemon, lime or orange to your water bottle or glass during the day, you’ll take in extra Vitamin C, which is essential to healthy skin during the winter. Even if you’re taking a Vitamin C supplement, the nutrients from fresh fruits and juices are absorbed into your system more intensely and thoroughly. While you’re drinking your water throughout the day, why not add some Vitamin C and some flavor with a dash of citrus fruit?

A healthy skin diet is a great way to ensure winter doesn’t take its toll on your skin. The extra benefit is you’ll also feel better and be healthier overall!

Bundle Up! The most basic thing you can do to help preserve your skin from winter redness is to limit how much you expose your skin to the weather conditions. No, we don’t want you to put on a ski mask and trap oil and dirt against your skin the entire time you’re outside. However, use scarves and other winter accessories to shield your skin from the elements and reduce the signs of weather damage on your face.

Moisturize Day and Night: Much of the roughness and irritation your skin may experience during the winter months is due to dehydration from the drier air. Use a lightweight moisturizer during the day and an intensely hydrating nighttime moisturizer to replenish your skin and heal and soothe dryness. You may also want to consider a nourishing home facial or face mask to help restore skin’s natural balance.

Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate: Moisturizing your skin doesn’t mean just from the outside; it means from the inside as well. Both drink and “eat” your water as described in Dr. Murad’s best-selling book, The Water Secret. Internal hydration will keep your skin soft and healthy not only through the winter, but all year long.

Check for Gentle Ingredients That Also Soothe Skin: The weather is already harsh on your skin; don’t let your skin care products be harsh as well. Make sure that, no matter what your skin type, your winter skin care products include gentle ingredients that will reduce skin dryness and soothe existing areas of redness and irritation. Look for products with calming aloe or tea tree oil.

Use Skin Care Products for Red and Irritated Skin: If your winter skin irritation is extreme, select skin care products that are specifically formulated to heal and soothe irritated and dry skin while also reducing redness. Murad’s Redness Therapy® regimen was developed in Dr. Murad’s Los Angeles dermatology office specifically to meet the needs of dry, rough, red, irritated skin by utilizing The Science of Cellular Water™.

Winter can feel endless, and if your skin tends to dry out and become sensitive in the winter, it can seem even longer! Use these tips to keep your skin feeling soft, smooth, supple and healthy all winter long.

½ cup pomegranate juice (unsweetened)
½ cup soy milk
½ cup blueberries (fresh or unsweetened frozen)
1 tablespoon lecithin granules
1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
2 tablespoons dried goji berries
3 to 4 ice cubes or crushed ice (optional)
Splenda (sucralose) or Stevia extract (optional)

Place all ingredients in a blender and liquefy.

Straight from the Dr: For a healthy breakfast that fights cellulite, round out your meal with the following:

1/2 cup oatmeal with cinnamon and fat-free milk or soy milk
1/3 medium or 1 cup cubed cantaloupe
decaffeinated coffee or caffeine-free herbal or green tea

Fact: Adult Acne Forms Just Like Teenage Acne
While the causes that lead to acne in adults may be different than the causes of acne in teens, the actual acne blemishes are formed in the same way and are due to the same biological processes. Excess skin cells are formed within a hair follicle, and then clog the pore that houses the follicle. Once the pore is clogged, the oil and dirt trapped inside lead to the buildup of acne-causing bacteria. This causes inflammatory acne (visible blemishes) to form on your skin. While it’s true that a small percentage of acne breakouts will be caused by reactions to skin care or makeup products (acne cosmetica), the vast majority of breakouts in all ages result from excess skin cells in hair follicles. Fortunately, because the formation of acne is the same across all ages, the same acne medications are effective. Salicylic Acid, which is the key ingredient in Murad Acne Complex® products, works both to slough away dead skin cells beneath the surface of the skin and to fight acne-causing bacteria.

Fact: Adult Acne Is Typically Hormonal Acne
Whether you’re thirteen or thirty-five, the majority of acne breakouts are still related to hormones. Hormones control the glands that cause the increase in skin cells in hair follicles that leads to clogged pores. As an adult, you may experience hormonal shifts similar to those you experienced as a teenager that can lead to facial acne as well as back and body acne. This is especially true for women, particularly during the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, and the approach of menopause. However, many of the lifestyle choices we make as adults can also trigger hormonal reactions. Cultural Stress, the overuse of caffeine, anxiety and sleep deprivation have all been linked to stimulation of the adrenal gland. The adrenal gland is responsible for producing androgens, the hormones directly linked to excess skin cell production. The causes of hormonal imbalance may be different from what we experience during puberty or the teenage years; however, the link between hormone activity and acne breakouts remains.

Fact: Adult Acne Treatment Does Not Need to Exclude Anti Aging Skin Care Needs
The signs of aging begin to form beneath and on the surface of your skin as early as the mid-thirties. While you’re treating adult acne breakouts, it’s important to also consider the anti aging skin care needs of your face. Select acne products that are not too harsh, that include antioxidants, Alpha Hydroxy Acids and Beta Hydroxy Acids (AHAs and BHAs), and that also hydrate and moisturize your skin to diminish the appearance of any fine lines and wrinkles that may be forming. Murad’s Anti-Aging Acne Regimen combines acne-fighting ingredients and anti wrinkle ingredients to meet the complex skin care needs of adult acne sufferers.

In some ways, adult acne is very similar to the acne you may have experienced in your teenage years. In other ways, it requires slightly different treatments and approaches. At every age, Murad has effective acne treatments that are perfect for you. Learn more about the Murad acne treatment solutions.

Problem: Drier Winter Air Can Mean More Clogged Pores
Acne Treatment Solution: Be Sure to Exfoliate!
When the air is dry, your skin is dry as well. You may not notice this if you have acne-prone skin because your skin will remain oily and soft. However, in reality there’s an unavoidable increase in dead and dry skin cells on the surface of your skin. Combined with the extra skin cells in your hair follicles that already cause blemishes, this extra-dry and often irritated skin can lead to breakouts. How can you minimize this winter acne issue? Use an acne skin cleanser that also exfoliates. Because your skin is acne-prone, it’s important that you use a cleanser that relies on Alpha Hydroxy Acids and Beta Hydroxy Acids (AHAs and BHAs) to exfoliate both on the surface and beneath the surface of your skin. A textured exfoliating cleanser may irritate your already dry skin or even clog pores for more acne breakouts.

Problem: Winter Diets Are Not Always Healthy
Acne Treatment Solution: Adopt an Acne Diet Plan
What you eat and drink absolutely has an impact on the health of your skin. In addition to spending less time being active, the holiday season means an influx of unhealthy foods into our diet. While it’s a myth that eating French fries or a chocolate bar will cause an instant acne breakout, eating an unhealthy diet makes your body less healthy. Because your skin is your body’s biggest organ, when your body is unhealthy your skin is unhealthy. Making responsible decisions about keeping a diet rich in fruits and vegetables throughout the winter as well as both eating and drinking your water daily can help ensure that your skin (and your body) stays healthy until spring arrives.

Problem: Sweaters and Winter Clothes Can Create Back Acne Breakouts
Solution: Adopt a Back Acne Treatment Regimen
In the summer when it’s warm, most of us adopt clothing that allows the skin on our back to breathe. However, in the winter, heavy sweaters and layers of clothing can trap dirt and oil against the skin of your back. This can lead to an increase in back acne breakouts. Whether winter means the first appearance of back acne or a worsening of occasional breakouts on your back, a back acne treatment plan can keep your skin clear no matter how many layers of clothing you’re wearing. Murad Acne Body Wash and Murad Clarifying Body Spray can exfoliate away dead, dry cells as well as dirt and oil that will clog pores. The powerful acne medication Salicylic Acid increases cell turnover beneath the surface and fights acne-causing bacteria. Don’t let winter clothing mean back and body acne breakouts.

Winter can be hard on your skin. It’s often overlooked that winter weather can increase acne breakouts as well. However, using acne products and making better diet and lifestyle choices can keep your skin healthy in any season.

Tip One: Add an Acne Face Mask to Get Healthy, Acne-Free Skin
One step you can take to get clear skin in the New Year is to add not only an acne face mask to your treatment regimen, but also an at-home facial kit that will improve your overall skin tone and complexion. Face masks and at-home facials are a great way to boost your skin care regimen for increased results. For acne-prone skin, you’ll certainly want to add a weekly application of Murad Clarifying Mask. Murad Clarifying Mask uses rare earth clays to draw toxins to the surface and purify your skin for a reduction in acne breakouts. For the best, healthiest skin possible, it’s also recommended that you use an exfoliating face mask or antioxidant-rich face mask. Murad Pomegranate Exfoliating Mask is a weekly face mask that uses the antioxidants found in pomegranate to improve cell turnover and give skin an overall even, balanced glow.

Tip Two: Don’t Skimp on the Anti Aging Skin Care Products
You’re never too young to begin the best practice of incorporating anti aging skin care products into your skin care regimen. This is true even if your skin breaks out with acne blemishes regularly. While you could use a mix of anti aging and acne treatment products, there may be a simpler solution to help to heal your acne breakouts today as well as delay and diminish wrinkles tomorrow. Murad’s Anti-Aging Acne Regimen combines the power of acne-fighting ingredients like Salicylic Acid with the hydrating treatments Murad Acne & Wrinkle Reducer and Murad Anti-Aging Moisturizer SPF 20. You’ll get the benefit of healthy, clear skin in the present and younger-looking skin in the future.

Tip Three: Get a Jump on Post Acne Marks
Even while you’re choosing the right acne treatment products to control your breakouts, you can get a jump on finding a post-acne mark and acne scar treatment. Acne scars, which can change the texture of your skin, require the treatment of a licensed dermatologist. However, post-acne marks can be treated and faded while you’re still healing your acne breakouts. A post-acne mark is an area of hyperpigmentation left after a blemish heals. Murad Post-Acne Spot Lightening Gel uses Hydroquinone, the strongest skin lightening agent available without a prescription, to fade these spots. Even as you’re healing and treating your existing acne breakouts, the spots left by older blemishes can be fading away. When you’ve cleared your breakouts, you won’t have to deal with the added pressure of having to clear away your post-acne marks. Instead, you’ll have entirely clear, blemish-free skin.

This year can be an acne-free for you from start to finish! With a complete acne treatment regimen and the bonus tips above, you can enjoy clear skin all year long.