5 SKINCARE INGREDIENTS YOU DIDN’T KNOW YOU NEEDED – DR DRAY

Dermatologist Dr. Dray discloses 5 skincare ingredients that you need in your skincare routine. Some of these ingredients are quite popular but you may not be using them to their full potential. Dr. Dray talks about these and some of the best products containing these skincare ingredients that you can choose from.

Note: The inserted images from amazon are for your benefit and mine. They give you a better idea of the products I talk about; and if you use my link to make any purchase, I make a small commission from Amazon as part of their Amazon Affiliates Program.

FIVE KEY SKINCARE INGREDIENTS YOU NEED

SKINCARE INGREDIENT NUMBER 1 – BENZOYL PEROXIDE

Benefits of Benzoyl Peroxide

1. Reduces Acne
2. Reduces Body Odor
3. Reduces Ingrown Hairs
4. Exfoliates the skin.
5. Helps reduce skin bumps.
6. Helps with Impetigo – A skin condition caused by using gym equipment or participating in team/contact sports.

Benzoyl Peroxide is a popular skincare ingredient that you have probably heard of in terms of acne. Yes, this ingredient is helpful when treating acne, but did you know that Benzoyl Peroxide has other benefits as well? Benzoyl Peroxide can be incredibly beneficial when it comes to body odor as well. Who knew!

Especially useful in the summer, if you sweat a lot in the armpits, consider a benzoyl peroxide wash. Lather it around your armpits, let it sit on the skin for a few minutes and wash it off. This helps cut down on bacteria that would otherwise result in sweat.

Benzoyl Peroxide is an anti-bacterial ingredient, the difference between other anti-bacterial ingredients and benzoyl peroxide is that the bacteria that live under the skin does not build resistant to benzoyl peroxide. This skincare ingredient is also anti inflammatory so if you deal with ingrown hairs, try a benzoyl peroxide wash in that area. It exfoliates, thus cuts down the chances of ingrown hairs.

This skincare ingredient is also useful for people who have smelly feet, just lather the product containing this skincare ingredient, let it sit for a few minutes and rinse it out.

Dr. Dray Recommended Products with Benzoyl Peroxide

• Panoxyl Acne Foaming Wash, 4% benzoyl peroxide
• CeraVe Acne Foaming Cream Cleanser, 4% benzoyl peroxide

Click here for The Best Skincare Products of 2020 – Recommended by Dr. Dray

SKINCARE INGREDIENT NUMBER 2 – RETINOID

Benefits of Retinoids

1. Reduces Acne
2. Reduces Hyperpigmentation
3. Reduces Sun Damage
4. It has anti-aging properties, reduces age Spots.
5. Reduces Wrinkles
6. Reduces Freckles
7. Helps reduce enlarged Oil Glands.
8. Reduces Milia.

Retinoids are forms of Vitamin A that for the most part are helpful for acne and anti-aging purposes. Mostly retinoids are a prescription only skincare ingredients, but they are available over the counter in some cases as well. Adapalene is a form of retinoid available in stores, this skincare ingredient is useful for acne. It can also be used in improving the appearance of sun damage.

There is scientific proof that Adapalene can be useful in reducing sunspots, age spots, freckles, wrinkles. This skincare ingredient is not just for the face, you can use it on your body as well. It gently exfoliates the skin and helps with enlarged oil glands on the skin, which is a common skin condition.

Retinoids are also beneficial when dealing with milia, which is a skin condition when you develop tiny bumps on the skin. Hyperpigmentation is another area that can benefit from using adapalene, or other retinoids.

Dr. Dray Recommended Products with Retinoids

• Differin gel with Adapalene

Looking for more information about retinoids and retinols and product recommendations? I have a blog post up about that. Click here for Top 6 Retinol Recommendations by Dr. Dray.

SKINCARE INGREDIENT NUMBER 3 – PETROLATUM OR PETROLEUM GELLY

Benefits of Petrolatum

1. Heals cuts.
2. Helps first degree burns.
3. Helps with dry, crusty eyelids.
4. Heals chapped lips.
5. Reduces chafing.

This skincare ingredient is a skin protectant, it reduces water reduction and keeps the skin hydrated and healthy. It provides a seal to the skin and facilitates healing if you cut your skin or suffer from first degree burns.

The most common product with this skincare ingredient is good old Vaseline. Petrolatum is the only skincare ingredient in Vaseline, which is why Vaseline is dermatologist Dr. Dray’s favorite when it comes to this skincare ingredient. However, there are some other brands that include this skincare ingredient in their products.

Aquaphor Healing Ointment is another Petrolatum based ingredient, it does have a few other ingredients, which could lead to allergies, in case you are sensitive to those ingredients. Vaseline does not have that issue since it is 100% Petrolatum. CeraVe Healing Ointment is another Petrolatum Dr. Dray favorite. This contains ceramides and hyaluronic acid which provides a skin barrier to the skin and adds more moisture to the skin.

Dr. Dray Recommended Products with Petrolatum

• Vaseline
• Aquaphor Healing Ointment
• CeraVe Healing Ointment

SKINCARE INGREDIENT NUMBER 4 – UREA

Benefits of Urea

1. Great for addressing dry skin – helps retain moisture.
2. Improves skin barrier.
3. Great for nail health – helps with nail fungus.
4. Helps with dry, crusty feet – You will not need a pedicure!
5. Psoriasis – It will help soften the scales away.
6. Exfoliates skin and helps with skin discoloring and evens out skin tone.

Nobody talks about this ingredient, maybe because the name sounds like urine, and it does not sound too appealing to advertisers. However, this skincare ingredient is a gem and a must have for everybody to have in their skincare cabinet.

Dr. Dray Recommended Products with Urea

• Eucerin Roughness Relief Cream
• Kerasil Foot Ointment

SKINCARE INGREDIENT NUMER 5 – SPF

This one is a no brainer, people in general know that sunscreen is a must and the most important skincare ingredient. The reason why this skincare ingredient has been included here is because people sometimes forget to put SPF in certain parts of the body, or simply do not bother putting it on certain areas.

A study was conducted to find out which areas are the most neglected areas that people forget to put sunscreen, and here is the list of the findings.

Click here for the Best Sunscreen recommendations by Dr. Dray

The most neglected body parts as far as SPF is concerned are:

1. Eyelids – The skin around the eyes is very delicate and the sun can do a lot of damage to your eyelids, cancer around this area is also getting more and more common, skin discoloration, hyperpigmentation around the eyes is an issue as well, that can be reduced by applying SPF around your eyelids, also wearing sunglasses is important.

2. Lips – Another common area where people forget to use SPF are the lips. Lips are skin, lips are delicate, lips are exposed to the sun as much as the rest of the face. Our lips need some SPF love as well, especially because lips do not have the pigment that the rest of our skin has to fight some of that UV radiation. Regular sunscreen can be used to the lips, but they can be drying. Since sunscreen is easily rubbed off from the lips, it can be useful to have a lip balm with SPF.

• Vanicream Lip SPF 30 – Can be used to protect your lips, as well as to the skin around the eyes. This will not burn your eyes and is safe to be used around the eyes.

 

3. Ears – the front and the back of the ears need to be protected from the sun as well.

4. Hands – Sun damage is not just for the face; the sun does not discriminate and can do as much damage to the rest of your body as well. Dr. Dray protects her arms by wearing driving gloves, and that would be the best way to protect your hands from the sun. The same sunscreen can be used on your face and hands.

5. Feet – Sun damage to your feet is not uncommon. We have all been there, tan lines across the feet are not new. I am not sure how, but even during lockdown and after being quarantined at home for months, I still managed to get sun damage on my feet. It is time to start using SPF on every exposed body part, for sure! Especially during the summers when we love wearing sandals and flip flops.

• Eucerin Daily Hydration Moisturizer with SPF is a good body moisturizer for feet, hands, and rest of your exposed body parts.

6. Scalp – This is not going to be an everyday occurrence, but it is good to know the importance of scalp protection from the sun as well. Consider putting the sunscreen on your scalp, especially if you have dealt with sunburn on the scalp. Skin cancers on the scalp are quite common, if you have a lot of hair protecting your scalp, you can probably skip this one; but if you are someone with thinning hair, or if you are rocking a bald head look, a sunscreen to the scalp is something you should consider.

Regular sunscreen will do, but if you do have some hair on your head, a regular sunscreen will make it greasy, frizzy, unmanageable, brittle, and difficult to wear.

The best protection for the scalp is a hat, but if you are by the pool or in the water, Dr. Dray highly recommends:

• Banana Boat’s Hair Scalp Sunscreen, SPF 30. Just part your hair and spray it directly on your scalp, and massage it in. This is more for days that you will be spending in the sun, and it is not an everyday product.

WRAPPING UP

So, there it is, five key skincare ingredients that Dermatologist Dr. Dray recommends you include in your skincare cabinet. You need to be consistent with your skincare products for them to start showing results. Skincare ingredients are not magic, do not expect to use a product once and find all your skin solutions the next morning. Stick to them, it usually takes a couple of weeks to see any results, but you can do it!

Cheers to a calmer mind and skin!