# How do face creams work

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-face-creams-work/496667>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 16, 2009, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-face-creams-work/496667 "2009-05-16T18:14:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-face-creams-work/496667/1 "2009-05-16T18:14:23Z")

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I had always learned that skin is waterproof yet I see these commercials that show the active ingredients getting through the epidemis down into the dermis.

How does it do that? (or does it?)

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**Author:** ![Claire\_Beauchamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@Claire\_Beauchamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claire_Beauchamp)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-face-creams-work/496667/2 "2009-05-16T18:57:29Z")

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First, realize that 99% of what you hear/read in any cosmetic advertising is obfuscation, marketing spin, and chock full of weasel words. What does “may reduce the appearance of fine lines” mean? Nothing provable.

Having said that, skin can absorb materials, and moisturizers and other creams CAN have a real effect. How do you think medical patches work? Nicotene patches, birth control patches, and other pharmaceutical patches deliver medication gradually through the skin.

> [@](#):
>
> “Penetrates deeply into the layers of the skin”  
> “Penetrates” is another very impressive, though imprecise, word. Almost any cosmetic ingredient, if its molecules are small enough, will penetrate the skin, but the molecules of many cosmetic ingredients are too large to penetrate the skin. When cosmetic ingredients are able to penetrate the skin, the word “layers” is frequently added to confound you. Layers of skin are so microscopically small they are negligible. A cream can penetrate many layers of skin and still not have traveled anywhere.

[http://www.cosmeticscop.com/skin-care-facts-misleadin-ads-cosmetics.aspx](http://www.cosmeticscop.com/skin-care-facts-misleadin-ads-cosmetics.aspx)

> [@](#):
>
> In actuality, regardless of the name or claim, “moisturizers,” whether they are in cream, lotion, serum, or even liquid form, must supply the skin with ingredients that maintain its structure, reduce free-radical damage (environmental assaults on the skin from sun, pollution, and air), and help cells function more normally. When moisturizers contain the well-researched, effective groups of ingredients that can do these things, they are as close to “anti-aging” and repairing as any skin-care product can get.  
> …
> 
> All skin types will benefit from daily, topical application of antioxidants, anti-irritants, and water-binding agents that work to mimic the structure and function of healthy skin. Aside from antioxidants, cell-communicating ingredients, and ingredients that mimic skin structure, dry skin also needs emollients such as oils (non-fragrant, ranging from olive or evening primrose to borage or sunflower), triglycerides, and fatty acids (lipids such as cholesterol, lecithin, and linoleic acid).

[http://www.cosmeticscop.com/skin-care-facts-moisturizers-state-of-the-art-quality-ingredients.aspx](http://www.cosmeticscop.com/skin-care-facts-moisturizers-state-of-the-art-quality-ingredients.aspx)