Esente Skincare

Short answer: Bacteria, yeast and mold need water to grow, and most creams, lotions, serums and toners contain water. Every time you open a product, hands, air and a steamy bathroom give microbes a way in. Preservatives are there to help keep a product in good condition from the first day you open it to the last. “Preservative-free” is not automatically better: a product without preservatives usually solves the problem another way, such as containing no water, single-use packaging or a shorter life. Good preservation is part of good formulation, and your own habits decide how much work it has to do.

Preservatives are usually listed toward the end of an ingredient list, well below the ingredients a product is known for.

What preservatives are for

A product that contains water is a hospitable place for microorganisms. Once it is opened, it meets hands, air, water from a wet hand and the warmth of a bathroom.

Preservatives are ingredients that keep that microbial growth in check over the life of the product. Preservation is how a water-containing formulation stays usable through weeks or months of ordinary use. Products that contain no water are less hospitable to microbes, although they are not immune to contamination.

What “preservative-free” usually means

A product labeled “preservative-free” still has to stay in good condition once opened. It usually does that another way:

• No water in the formulation. Many balms and oil-based products contain no water.
• Packaging that limits contact. Single-use packaging, or a pump or airless container, can help limit contamination and the formulation’s exposure to air and light. Airless packaging alone does not establish that a water-containing product can safely go without preservatives.
• A shorter life. Some products are made to be used up quickly, or come with storage instructions such as refrigeration.

“Preservative-free” describes one choice about how a product is protected, not a measure of how gentle or how good it is.

The same goes for any “free-from” label naming a particular preservative. “Paraben-free” tells you which preservatives are not in the product. It does not tell you what is used instead, or how well the product is preserved.

Preservatives on an ingredient list

You will usually find preservatives toward the lower part of an ingredient list, because they tend to be used at low levels. Names you may see include phenoxyethanol, sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate.

Seeing a preservative on the list tells you the formulation has one, which is what you would expect of a water-containing product. It is not a warning sign. If you know you react to a particular preservative, check the full ingredient (INCI) list, not only the key ingredients. How to Read a Skincare Ingredient List explains how the list is ordered.

Your part: fewer microbes in, less work for the preservative

Preservatives are designed to handle normal use. They are not designed for unlimited contamination, and your habits make a difference.

Wash your hands first. The FDA advises washing your hands before applying cosmetic products. Apply leave-on products with clean fingertips.

Use a spatula for open jars. Take product out of an open jar with a clean cosmetic spatula, never with your fingers. Use what you take out, and do not put leftover product back. The Spatula Rule covers the habit in detail.

Do not add water. The FDA warns against adding water or saliva to cosmetics such as mascara. It can introduce microorganisms, and it waters down the preservatives meant to keep them from growing.

Close it and store it well. Close containers after use. Store products in a cool, dry place away from direct light and excessive heat or humidity, following the manufacturer’s directions. The Bathroom Is the Worst Place to Store Skincare explains why a warm, steamy room is a poor choice.

Do not share. The FDA advises against sharing cosmetics, because you may be sharing germs.

Packaging does a different job

Preservatives address microbes. Light and air are two further problems with two separate answers. An airless pump principally addresses air. Violet glass principally addresses light. Packaging can help limit contamination and exposure to air and light, but it does not replace preservation in a water-containing formulation. No packaging keeps air out completely once a container has been opened.

Esenté’s Elite line uses Miron violet glass packaging designed to help protect formulations from excessive light exposure. The complete packaging system, including the container and its closure or dispenser, also plays a role in protecting the formulation during storage and use. The Miron violet glass page has more on how that glass works.

When a product has changed

If a product has significantly changed, separated or developed an unusual odor, stop using it or check with the manufacturer. A change does not always mean a product has spoiled, and the absence of a change does not guarantee it has not. A product that still looks and smells fine is not a reason to use it beyond its stated shelf life or period after opening. How Long Skincare Lasts After Opening covers the period-after-opening symbol and what it means.

Victoria’s approach

Victoria Nash, founder of Esenté Skincare, has been a licensed aesthetician since 2003. She also owns and operates Younger You Clinique and is an experienced skincare educator. She draws on her professional experience at Younger You Clinique when evaluating skincare products and their performance. Victoria recommends clean hands, and a clean cosmetic spatula for anything taken from an open jar, as good hygiene practice. She also believes consumers should be able to understand not only what is in a skincare product, but why important ingredients have been included. Esenté’s website gives both the key ingredients and the full INCI list for every product, so you can check for a preservative you know you react to. If you have a question about looking after a product once it is open, the Ask Victoria page will take it.

Frequently asked questions

About the author. Victoria Nash, founder of Esenté Skincare, has been a licensed aesthetician since 2003. She also owns and operates Younger You Clinique and is an experienced skincare educator.

Reviewed by Victoria Nash, licensed aesthetician, founder of Esenté Skincare and owner of Younger You Clinique. This article is educational and is not medical advice. Ask your dermatologist or licensed skincare professional about products appropriate for your own skin and medical history.

Short answer: Essential oils are concentrated aromatic materials taken from plants, usually by steam distillation or, for citrus peel, by pressing. In skincare they are used for their aroma and, in some formulations, for an intended skincare contribution. Being natural makes an essential oil neither automatically gentle nor automatically irritating; what matters is the specific oil, the amount and the complete formulation. One firm rule holds: undiluted essential oils do not belong on your skin.

Lavender and citrus peel are two familiar sources, and each gives a very different oil.

What an essential oil is

An essential oil is the aromatic part of a plant, separated and concentrated. The international standard for the term describes it as a product obtained from plant material by steam distillation, by mechanical processes from the peel of citrus fruits, or by dry distillation. Lavender oil is typically distilled; orange and bergamot oils are typically pressed from the peel.

“Essential” refers to essence, the plant’s characteristic scent, not to anything your skin needs. And most essential oils are not fatty like olive oil. They are mixtures of small compounds that evaporate readily, which is why you smell them.

In the United States there is no regulatory definition of “essential oil,” and a plant ingredient is held to the same cosmetic requirements as any other.

Why formulators use them

Formulators use essential oils for two different reasons. One is aroma: an essential oil can give a product its scent. The other is an intended skincare contribution, where the oil is there for what it is meant to add to the formulation and the aroma comes with it. A brand that explains its key ingredients can tell you which applies. Either way, an aroma from a botanical source is neither automatically gentle nor automatically irritating. What “Natural” and “Clean” Mean on a Skincare Label goes further.

Why skin responses vary

Each essential oil is a mixture of many compounds, and different oils contain different ones.

The specific compounds matter. Aromatic compounds such as linalool and limonene occur in many essential oils. As they react with air over time, they can form oxidized compounds that may sensitize some people.

Sunlight matters for some citrus oils. Whether a citrus oil can make skin react to ultraviolet light depends on its composition and how it was processed. Cold-pressed oils from the peel of some citrus fruits, bergamot among them, can contain compounds called furocoumarins that react with sunlight. Distilled citrus oils, and oils processed to reduce furocoumarins, do not carry the same concern.

The amount and the formulation matter. An essential oil used at a small amount inside a designed formulation is a different thing from the same oil applied on its own.

Your own skin matters. Reactive skin or a known reaction to a specific compound changes the picture. A Routine for Sensitive Skin covers that side of it.

Undiluted oils do not belong on skin

Pure essential oils are highly concentrated, and applied full-strength they can irritate the skin. Some people also have allergic reactions to certain oils. Adding drops of one to a moisturizer or serum you already own changes a formulation that was designed without it. Leave blending to the people who design formulations, and follow each product’s directions.

Reading essential oils on a label

Essential oils usually appear under their plant names, often in Latin with the common name in brackets, such as Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil. Individual compounds such as linalool, limonene or geraniol may also be named, partly because European rules require certain fragrance components to be listed above set levels, and a label written for more than one market may carry them.

In the United States, ingredients used to give a product its scent may also be grouped under the single word “fragrance.” If you have known sensitivities, read the complete ingredient (INCI) list, not only the key ingredients a brand highlights. Key ingredients alone do not show everything in a formulation. For product-specific guidance, ask the brand or your dermatologist. How to Read a Skincare Ingredient List covers the conventions.

Storage, and when you are unsure

Many aromatic compounds change as they react with air, light and heat. Keep products in a cool, dry place away from direct light and excessive heat or humidity, following the manufacturer’s directions. If a product has significantly changed, separated or developed an unusual odor, stop using it or check with the manufacturer.

Informed product selection comes first: know what the product is meant to do, how to use it and what it contains. For particularly reactive skin, a history of sensitivity or concern about a particular formulation, a small test in an area that makes sense for the product’s intended use can be an additional precaution. How to Patch Test a New Product explains how to go about it.

If a product causes persistent redness, itching, burning, swelling or a rash, wash it off, stop using it and speak to a dermatologist if the reaction does not settle.

Victoria’s approach

Victoria Nash, founder of Esenté Skincare, has been a licensed aesthetician since 2003. She also owns and operates Younger You Clinique and is an experienced skincare educator. She draws on her professional experience at Younger You Clinique when evaluating skincare products and their performance. Victoria believes consumers should be able to understand not only what is in a skincare product, but why important ingredients have been included. Esenté’s website gives both the key ingredients and the full INCI list for every product, and explains the intended benefits of key ingredients in straightforward language. Esenté does not add perfume simply to give products a cosmetic fragrance. Some formulations have a natural aroma from botanical ingredients, and certain formulations may use botanical essential oils for their intended skincare contribution, which can also impart aroma. For guidance on a particular Esenté product, or on why an ingredient is in it, use the Ask Victoria page.

Frequently asked questions

About the author. Victoria Nash, founder of Esenté Skincare, has been a licensed aesthetician since 2003. She also owns and operates Younger You Clinique and is an experienced skincare educator.

Reviewed by Victoria Nash, licensed aesthetician, founder of Esenté Skincare and owner of Younger You Clinique. This article is educational and is not medical advice. Ask your dermatologist or licensed skincare professional about products appropriate for your own skin and medical history.

Short answer: Vitamin E is a fat-soluble antioxidant, and on an ingredient list it usually appears as tocopherol or tocopheryl acetate. It turns up in skincare for two reasons. One is the skin: as an antioxidant, it is meant to help defend the surface against everyday environmental stress, and it adds a conditioning feel. The other is the formulation, where it can help protect oils from oxidizing. It complements daily sunscreen and never replaces it.

On a label it can be there for your skin, for the product itself, or for both.

What vitamin E is

“Vitamin E” is the name for a small family of related compounds. The one most studied is alpha-tocopherol. All of them are fat-soluble, which means they dissolve in oils and fats rather than in water.

Your skin already contains some vitamin E, and part of it reaches the surface in the skin’s own oil.

On a label you will most often meet two names. Tocopherol is one form of vitamin E. Tocopheryl acetate is vitamin E joined to a small acetate group, a form that holds up better inside a product. You may also see “mixed tocopherols,” a blend of several members of the family.

Two jobs inside one ingredient

For your skin. Vitamin E is an antioxidant. Sunlight, pollution and ordinary metabolism all produce unstable molecules called free radicals, and an antioxidant is a compound that neutralizes them before they react with something else. Skincare aims to add some of that defense at the surface. Vitamin E also has a conditioning quality.

For the formulation. Oils in a product can oxidize over time. Formulators often include vitamin E to help protect those oils.

Its position on the ingredient list does not tell you which job it is doing in a particular product. A brand that explains its key ingredients and their intended benefits can tell you more. Antioxidants for Your Skin covers the chemistry of the whole ingredient class in more detail.

Why vitamin E is so often paired with vitamin C

Vitamin C dissolves in water and vitamin E dissolves in fat. Skin and most formulations contain both watery and oily parts, so the two vitamins cover different ground.

Laboratory research on animal skin has looked at the two vitamins together, but a result from one tested solution does not stand for every product containing both vitamins. What to check before buying vitamin C looks at vitamin C in more detail.

A complement to sunscreen, never a substitute

Vitamin E is not a sunscreen and is not regulated as one. Daytime sun protection stays in the routine regardless.

Sunscreen filters ultraviolet light before it reaches your skin. Antioxidants are meant to address some of the stress that reaches the skin anyway. Much of the evidence for topical antioxidants comes from laboratory and animal work, and the human evidence for vitamin E on its own is more limited, so count it as a supporting ingredient rather than as protection. Do You Need Sunscreen Every Day? makes the case for the step that does the protecting.

Vitamin E and sensitive skin

Reactions to vitamin E applied to the skin have been reported, as they have for many ingredients. Informed product selection comes first: understand what a product is meant to do, how it should be used and what it contains. If you have known sensitivities, check the complete ingredient list, not only the key ingredients. For particularly reactive skin, a small test in an area that makes sense for the product’s intended use can be an additional precaution. If you notice persistent redness, itching, burning or a rash, stop using the product and speak to a dermatologist if it does not settle. How to Patch Test a New Product explains when a test helps.

Light, air and storage

The property that lets antioxidants neutralize free radicals also lets them react with light and air inside the product. Keep antioxidant products in a cool, dry place away from direct light and excessive heat or humidity, following the manufacturer’s directions. If a product has significantly changed, separated or developed an unusual odor, stop using it or check with the manufacturer.

Light and air are separate problems: an airless pump principally addresses air, and violet glass principally addresses light. Esenté’s Elite line uses Miron violet glass packaging designed to help protect formulations from excessive light exposure. The complete packaging system, including the container and its closure or dispenser, also plays a role in protecting the formulation during storage and use. The Miron violet glass page sets out the details.

Victoria’s approach

Victoria Nash, founder of Esenté Skincare, has been a licensed aesthetician since 2003. She also owns and operates Younger You Clinique and is an experienced skincare educator. She draws on her professional experience at Younger You Clinique when evaluating skincare products and their performance. Victoria believes consumers should be able to understand not only what is in a skincare product, but why important ingredients have been included. With vitamin E, the same name on a label can mean an ingredient chosen for the skin, one chosen to protect the formulation, or both. Esenté’s website gives both the key ingredients and the full ingredient (INCI) list for every product, and explains the intended benefits of key ingredients in straightforward language.

Esenté recommends the Vital Rx – Vitamin C+E Serum morning and night. Its directions place it after cleansing and beneath your moisturizer. A sensible order is cleanse, an appropriate toner or mist, serum, then moisturizer, each applied with clean fingertips according to its directions, with daytime sun protection in the morning. The serum is one example, and other Esenté serums may suit your regimen. Esenté works with boutique manufacturers to develop and select formulations that meet the brand’s ingredient, performance and quality criteria. If you are working out where a serum belongs in your routine, the Ask Victoria page will take the question.

Frequently asked questions

About the author. Victoria Nash, founder of Esenté Skincare, has been a licensed aesthetician since 2003. She also owns and operates Younger You Clinique and is an experienced skincare educator.

Reviewed by Victoria Nash, licensed aesthetician, founder of Esenté Skincare and owner of Younger You Clinique. This article is educational and is not medical advice. Ask your dermatologist or licensed skincare professional about products appropriate for your own skin and medical history.

Short answer: Shea butter is a plant fat taken from the nuts of the shea tree. In skincare it works as an emollient: it softens and smooths dry skin and leaves a light film that helps skin hold on to moisture. Regular use helps maintain softer, smoother-feeling skin where it tends to dry out, such as hands, elbows, shins and heels. On the face, whether a product containing shea suits you depends on the complete formulation and your own skin, not on how rich it feels. Shea is a useful ingredient in the right formulation, and one ingredient is never the whole story.

It can make up most of a body butter or sit among many other ingredients in a face crème.

Where shea butter comes from

The shea tree grows across a broad band of Africa south of the Sahara. Its fruit holds a large nut, and the fat extracted from the kernel of that nut is shea butter. It is solid at room temperature and softens once it meets warm skin.

On an ingredient list you will usually see it as Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, the first two words being an older botanical name for the tree.

What shea does on the skin

Shea is mostly fat, and most of that fat is made up of two fatty acids, stearic acid and oleic acid. That makes it an emollient. Emollients fill the small gaps between dry flakes at the surface, so skin feels softer and looks smoother.

Shea also has occlusive properties. It leaves a thin film that slows the evaporation of water from the surface.

You can see those effects where dryness is the problem: rough patches look smoother and tight skin feels more comfortable. Regular use helps maintain softer, smoother-feeling skin, and an appropriate amount used consistently does more than an occasional thick layer. Humectants, Emollients and Occlusives explains how the three kinds of ingredient share the work in a moisturizer.

Where it fits: body, hands and heels

Many areas of body skin, including the shins and the backs of the hands, have fewer oil glands than the face and tend to dry out more easily. Elbows, knees and heels add pressure and friction.

Apply a body moisturizer to clean skin, following the product’s directions. Use clean fingertips, and take product from an open jar with a clean spatula. Why Hands Can Show Age So Easily covers hand care, and Does Your Body Need a Skincare Routine Too? sets out a simple routine for the rest.

Rough, flaky areas may also benefit from gentle exfoliation, used according to the product’s directions and at an interval that suits your skin. Keep it to intact skin, and skip it on skin that is cracked, irritated or sore. Deep, painful or bleeding cracks, and any foot concerns for people with diabetes or circulation problems, belong with a doctor. Dry Elbows, Knees and Heels goes into those areas in detail.

On the face, the formulation decides

You will often read that shea, or any rich-feeling ingredient, clogs pores. As a rule, that does not hold. Whether a finished product suits your face depends on the complete formulation: which ingredients are in it, in what amounts, and how they have been put together. It also depends on your skin.

A body butter made mostly of shea and a face crème that includes shea among many other ingredients are different products. Richness does not tell you whether a product will leave you congested. If you want shea in your facial routine, look for it in a product designed for the face.

Shea and tree nut allergy

Shea butter comes from the nut of a tree. If you have a tree nut allergy, or any other concern about shea, ask your doctor before using products that contain it.

Any ingredient can bother someone. If you have known sensitivities, check the complete ingredient list of a product, not only its key ingredients. Informed product selection comes first, and for particularly reactive skin a small test in an area that makes sense for the product’s intended use is an additional precaution. How to Patch Test a New Product explains when that helps.

Storing shea products

Plant fats can change over time with heat, light and air. Store shea products in a cool, dry place away from direct light and excessive heat or humidity, following the manufacturer’s directions. If a product has significantly changed, separated or developed an unusual odor, stop using it or check with the manufacturer.

Victoria’s approach

Victoria Nash, founder of Esenté Skincare, has been a licensed aesthetician since 2003. She also owns and operates Younger You Clinique and is an experienced skincare educator. She draws on her professional experience at Younger You Clinique when evaluating skincare products and their performance. Victoria believes consumers should be able to understand not only what is in a skincare product, but why important ingredients have been included. Natural and botanically derived ingredients are an important part of Esenté’s formulation philosophy, but ingredients are selected for their suitability and contribution to the complete formulation rather than for a natural label alone.

For the body, Esenté’s range includes the Shea Butter Ultra Rich Hydra Crème, a body crème, and the Shea Butter Exfoliating Body Polish, a body polish to use according to its directions and only on intact skin. They are examples, and other Esenté formulations may suit dry body skin, depending on your regimen. The Shea Butter Ultra Rich Hydra Crème comes in a jar, so take it out with a clean spatula. Esenté works with boutique manufacturers to develop and select formulations that meet the brand’s ingredient, performance and quality criteria. If you want a view on where shea belongs in your routine, send your question through the Ask Victoria page.

Frequently asked questions

About the author. Victoria Nash, founder of Esenté Skincare, has been a licensed aesthetician since 2003. She also owns and operates Younger You Clinique and is an experienced skincare educator.

Reviewed by Victoria Nash, licensed aesthetician, founder of Esenté Skincare and owner of Younger You Clinique. This article is educational and is not medical advice. Ask your dermatologist or licensed skincare professional about products appropriate for your own skin and medical history.

Short answer: “pH balanced” suggests a product was formulated with your skin’s pH in mind. On its own, the phrase does not tell you the product’s measured pH or how the brand defines “balanced.” Healthy skin is mildly acidic, generally around pH 4.5 to 5.5, so a neutral pH of 7 is not the target. Cleansing, particularly with alkaline products such as traditional soap, can shift the skin’s surface for a time. Read the phrase as a starting point for questions, and judge a cleanser by how your skin feels after you use it.

The phrase sounds technical, yet it rarely comes with a number attached.

The pH scale in plain words

pH measures how acidic or alkaline a water-based solution is. The scale runs from 0 to 14. Seven is neutral, the point pure water sits at. Below 7 is acidic, and above 7 is alkaline.

The scale is not linear. Each whole step is a tenfold difference, so something at pH 5 is ten times more acidic than something at pH 6, and a hundred times more acidic than pure water.

Your skin’s surface is mildly acidic

Healthy skin is mildly acidic, generally around pH 4.5 to 5.5. A neutral pH of 7 is not the target.

That mildly acidic surface is part of how the outer layer of skin normally works. What Is Your Skin Barrier? explains the layer it belongs to.

What cleansing does to it

Traditional soap is alkaline. Washing with an alkaline product can shift the skin’s surface away from its mildly acidic state for a time. That does not mean your skin takes on the pH of whatever you wash with. It means the surface moves, and then tends to settle back.

Plenty of cleansers are formulated differently from traditional soap, and format alone will not tell you which is which. Foaming and non-foaming cleansers can both be gentle or harsh, depending on the complete formulation. What you can notice is how your face feels afterward. Skin that feels tight, squeaky or stings can point to the cleanser, the water temperature or how hard you washed, among other common causes. Why Your Cleanser Matters and Why Does Your Skin Feel Tight After Washing? go further.

What “pH balanced” does and does not tell you

The FDA does not define it. The FDA does not keep a list of approved cosmetic claims, and “pH balanced” has no FDA definition. Like any claim on a cosmetic label, it must be truthful and not misleading. Its meaning depends on what the brand intends.

It does not name a number. Balanced to what? Some people read the phrase as “close to the skin’s mildly acidic surface.” Others take it to mean “pH neutral,” which is 7 and less acidic than skin. “pH balanced” alone does not tell you the product’s measured pH or the brand’s definition, so where it matters to you, look for how the brand explains it.

pH is one property among many. A product formulated at a skin-friendly pH can still disagree with your skin if other ingredients do not suit you. Suitability depends on the complete formulation and on your own skin.

Not every product has a pH in the usual sense. pH describes water-based solutions. A waterless balm or powder does not have a pH in the way a water-based gel or lotion does.

Some products are meant to be acidic

Not every product is aiming for the same place. Exfoliating acid products depend partly on pH: the FDA notes that the extent of exfoliation from an alpha hydroxy acid depends on the acid’s type and concentration, its pH and the other ingredients. For those products, pH is part of the design. What Is Glycolic Acid, and Who Is It For? covers one example.

That is another reason “pH balanced” cannot be a universal badge of quality.

Victoria’s approach

Victoria Nash, founder of Esenté Skincare, has been a licensed aesthetician since 2003. She also owns and operates Younger You Clinique and is an experienced skincare educator. She draws on her professional experience at Younger You Clinique when evaluating skincare products and their performance. Esenté regards the cleanser as a vital step, and Victoria prefers gentle cleansing: a professional facial sponge used gently with an appropriate cleanser, lukewarm water and light pressure. In the evening, she emphasizes removing eye makeup with a dedicated eye makeup remover before facial cleansing, and going to bed with a completely clean face. After a thorough evening cleanse, a morning warm-water rinse may be sufficient for some skin. Cleansing and toning are separate but complementary steps. For most skin, she considers a toner or an appropriate antioxidant mist after cleansing an important step. Whether a particular toner or mist helps support the skin’s normal mildly acidic surface depends on its formulation, so that benefit is specific to the product rather than shared by every toner or mist. Which one, and how often, depends on the individual.

Esenté’s range includes the Orchid Reviving Cleanser, a non-foaming cleanser; the Octet Herbal Toner, which is alcohol-free in the usual sense of containing no ethanol, though its full ingredient list includes glycols and phenoxyethanol; and Hydro Mist, an antioxidant spray. They are examples, and other Esenté formulations may suit your regimen. If you have known sensitivities, check each complete ingredient list on the Esenté website, and follow each product’s directions. Esenté works with boutique manufacturers to develop and select formulations that meet the brand’s ingredient, performance and quality criteria. If a label has left you with more questions than answers, the Ask Victoria page is open.

Frequently asked questions

About the author. Victoria Nash, founder of Esenté Skincare, has been a licensed aesthetician since 2003. She also owns and operates Younger You Clinique and is an experienced skincare educator.

Reviewed by Victoria Nash, licensed aesthetician, founder of Esenté Skincare and owner of Younger You Clinique. This article is educational and is not medical advice. Ask your dermatologist or licensed skincare professional about products appropriate for your own skin and medical history.

Short answer: Most moisturizers combine three kinds of ingredient. Humectants, such as glycerin and hyaluronic acid, attract and hold water. Emollients, such as squalane and fatty alcohols, smooth and soften the surface. Occlusives, such as petrolatum and waxes, form a layer that slows water loss. Plenty of ingredients do more than one of these jobs. The balance between them shapes how a moisturizer feels, and texture is worth noticing, but texture alone does not establish who the product suits. That depends on the complete formulation and on your skin.

Once you know the three jobs, an ingredient list starts to make sense.

Three jobs inside one moisturizer

Your skin loses water to the air all the time. A moisturizer is designed to help the surface hold on to more of it, and to make the skin feel smoother while it does.

It does that with a mix of ingredients working at the skin’s surface layers. Some pull water toward the surface. Some fill the tiny gaps between surface cells so skin feels soft. Some sit on top and slow evaporation. Chemists call these humectants, emollients and occlusives, and most moisturizers use all three in some proportion.

Humectants: drawing water in

A humectant attracts and binds water. Glycerin is a common one. Hyaluronic acid, often listed as sodium hyaluronate, is another, and urea is a third you may see.

A humectant holds water at the surface, which is why skin can look plumper and feel softer soon after you apply one. On its own, though, it cannot stop that water from evaporating again, particularly in dry air. That is one reason humectants usually share a formulation with the other two groups. Hyaluronic Acid Is Not a Moisturizer goes further into that one ingredient.

Emollients: smoothing the surface

An emollient fills the spaces between the cells at the surface, so skin feels smoother and looks less flaky. Squalane, plant butters such as shea butter, esters and fatty alcohols all do this.

“Fatty alcohol” catches people out. Ingredients such as cetyl alcohol and cetearyl alcohol are waxy fatty alcohols. They are a different group from the drying alcohol some people try to avoid in a toner.

Lipids of the kind found in the skin itself, such as ceramides, are often grouped with this family too. What Are Ceramides? explains where they fit.

Occlusives: slowing water loss

An occlusive forms a thin layer on the skin that slows how fast water leaves it. Petrolatum is the classic example. Mineral oil, dimethicone, lanolin and waxes such as beeswax also work this way.

An occlusive does not add water. It slows the loss of water that is already there.

Many ingredients do more than one job

The three groups are a way of understanding a formulation, not three separate boxes. Shea butter is often described as softening the surface while also forming a light layer over it. Dimethicone is often described as both an emollient and an occlusive.

So do not try to score a moisturizer by counting ingredients from each group. A formulator balances them, alongside everything else in the product, for a particular purpose.

Texture matters, but it does not settle suitability

A formulation heavy in occlusives often feels richer. One built mostly on humectants and light emollients often feels lighter. Texture is useful information. It tells you how a product spreads and feels, and a moisturizer you enjoy using is easier to use consistently.

Texture alone does not establish who a product suits. A rich feel does not prove a product will clog pores, and a light feel does not prove it is mild. How a moisturizer suits your skin depends on its complete formulation, the specific ingredients and how they are combined, and on your own skin. A label term such as “non-comedogenic” cannot settle the question for you either. Lotion, Cream, Gel or Balm looks at formats, and Choosing a Moisturizer for Mature Skin covers selection in more depth.

The better starting point is informed selection. Know what the product is intended to do, whether it is appropriate for your skin, how to use it and what it contains.

When and how to apply it

Apply moisturizer to clean skin. A sensible order is to cleanse, then use an appropriate toner or mist, then a serum, then moisturizer, each according to the individual product’s directions. Add daytime sun protection in the morning.

Use clean fingertips. If the moisturizer comes in a jar, take out what you need with a clean spatula rather than dipping your fingers in.

Use the amount the directions suggest. More product, or more frequent use, does not produce faster or better results, and a thick layer can leave skin feeling heavy.

Victoria’s approach

Victoria Nash, founder of Esenté Skincare, has been a licensed aesthetician since 2003. She also owns and operates Younger You Clinique and is an experienced skincare educator. She draws on her professional experience at Younger You Clinique when evaluating skincare products and their performance. She believes informed product selection comes first. Her “less is best” approach is about using the appropriate amount of each product, as often as its directions say. Leave-on products go on with clean fingertips, following each product’s directions.

Esenté’s moisturizers include the Hydra Day Crème, the Hydra-Plus Night Crème and the Hyaluronic Hydration Crème. Each comes in a jar, so use a clean spatula. These are examples, and other Esenté formulations may suit your skin depending on your regimen. This article describes ingredient groups, not the formulations of these products, so if you have known sensitivities, check each product’s complete ingredient list on the Esenté website and follow its directions. Esenté works with boutique manufacturers to develop and select formulations that meet the brand’s ingredient, performance and quality criteria. Not sure which suits you? Ask on the Ask Victoria page.

Frequently asked questions

About the author. Victoria Nash, founder of Esenté Skincare, has been a licensed aesthetician since 2003. She also owns and operates Younger You Clinique and is an experienced skincare educator.

Reviewed by Victoria Nash, licensed aesthetician, founder of Esenté Skincare and owner of Younger You Clinique. This article is educational and is not medical advice. Ask your dermatologist or licensed skincare professional about products appropriate for your own skin and medical history.

Short answer: Ceramides are fatty molecules, or lipids, found between the cells of your skin’s outermost layer. Together with cholesterol and fatty acids, they form the material that helps that layer hold water in and keep irritants out. They appear in moisturizers because a moisturizer’s job is to help skin retain moisture, and ceramides belong to the family of lipids the skin’s surface already uses. Seeing “ceramide” on a label tells you the ingredient is there. It does not tell you whether the finished product suits your skin, which depends on the complete formulation.

On a label they usually appear under names like Ceramide NP, which makes a familiar part of your skin look more technical than it is.

Where ceramides sit in your skin

The outermost layer of your skin, the stratum corneum, is often described as a brick wall. The bricks are flattened cells that form the skin’s outer protective layer. The mortar between them is a mix of fats: ceramides, cholesterol and free fatty acids.

Ceramides are the largest share of that mix. A 2007 review in the Journal of Lipid Research described the lipids of human stratum corneum as roughly half ceramides by weight, with cholesterol and free fatty acids making up most of the rest.

What Is Your Skin Barrier? explains the whole structure.

What the lipids do

The mortar has two jobs. It slows the water inside your skin from evaporating into the air, and it helps keep much of what lands on the outside from getting in.

When the surface is working well, skin feels comfortable and looks even. When it is struggling, you tend to notice tightness, rough patches, flaking and products that sting when they never used to. Those signs have many possible causes, so read them as a reason to be gentler with your skin, not as a diagnosis.

Why ceramides turn up in moisturizers

A moisturizer is a blend of ingredients doing different jobs. Some draw water to the surface, some smooth it, and some form a layer that slows water loss. Ceramides are lipids, so formulators often use them alongside those other ingredients as part of a formulation aimed at supporting the skin’s moisture barrier. Humectants, Emollients and Occlusives breaks those jobs down.

Adding ceramides is a formulation choice, not a guarantee. The same ingredient can sit in a formulation that suits your skin or one that does not, because suitability depends on the complete formulation and on your own skin.

Keep the limits in view too. A moisturizer works on the surface layers of the skin. It helps skin retain moisture and can make dryness and flaking look better over time.

Age, season and dry air

Skin lipids are not fixed. A 1996 study took samples of the outer layer from the face, hands and legs of women in different age groups. It reported significantly lower levels of all the major lipids, ceramides in particular, as age increased. Lipid levels at all three sites were also much lower in winter than in spring and summer.

What matters for your routine is the environment your skin is in, not the month on the calendar. Very dry climates and heated rooms can produce the same tight feeling at any time of year. Winter Skincare covers the practical side.

How to read ceramides on an ingredient list

Ceramides appear under standardized names. The ones you are most likely to see are Ceramide NP, Ceramide AP, Ceramide EOP and Ceramide NS. Older products may use numbered names; Ceramide NP, for example, replaced the name Ceramide 3. The letters describe the chemical structure.

Position on the list is a question, not a verdict. On US cosmetic package labels, ingredients present above 1% appear in descending order, and those at 1% or less may follow in any order. Many ingredients are used at low levels by design, so a ceramide near the end tells you little about the product. How to Read a Skincare Ingredient List explains how that order works.

A missing percentage is not a warning sign. Many brands keep the concentrations in their formulations confidential. The useful question is whether the brand gives you useful information about the formulation, its key ingredients, their intended benefits and how to use the product.

What to look for in a moisturizer

Start with your skin, not the ingredient. Know what the product is intended to do, whether it suits your skin, how to use it and what it contains. A ceramide on the list is one reason to look at a product. How your skin responds is the reason to keep using it.

Apply moisturizer to clean skin with clean fingertips, in the amount its directions suggest. If it comes in an open jar, take it out with a clean spatula so your fingers never go into the jar.

Victoria’s approach

Victoria Nash, founder of Esenté Skincare, has been a licensed aesthetician since 2003. She also owns and operates Younger You Clinique and is an experienced skincare educator. She draws on her professional experience at Younger You Clinique when evaluating skincare products and their performance. Victoria believes consumers should be able to understand not only what is in a skincare product, but why important ingredients have been included. That is the gap an ingredient like ceramides exposes: a name on a list is transparency, and an explanation of why it is there is education. Esenté’s website gives both the key ingredients, with their intended benefits explained in straightforward language, and the complete ingredient list for every product. If you have known sensitivities, check the complete list, not only the key ingredients. If you want to know why a particular ingredient is in a product, ask Victoria through the Ask Victoria page.

Frequently asked questions

About the author. Victoria Nash, founder of Esenté Skincare, has been a licensed aesthetician since 2003. She also owns and operates Younger You Clinique and is an experienced skincare educator.

Reviewed by Victoria Nash, licensed aesthetician, founder of Esenté Skincare and owner of Younger You Clinique. This article is educational and is not medical advice. Ask your dermatologist or licensed skincare professional about products appropriate for your own skin and medical history.

Short answer: AHAs and BHA are both exfoliating acids. Alpha hydroxy acids, such as glycolic and lactic acid, are water-soluble exfoliating acids that help loosen dead cells at the skin’s surface. Beta hydroxy acid, which in skincare usually means salicylic acid, is oil-soluble, so it can also work within the opening of a pore. People often reach for an AHA for rough, dull-looking skin and for BHA where oil and congested-looking pores are the concern, but those are tendencies. The complete formulation, and your own skin, decide what suits you.

The two families often sit side by side on ingredient lists, sometimes inside the same product.

What the two have in common

Both are chemical exfoliants. They loosen the bonds that hold dead cells together at the surface, so those cells shed more evenly. Physical vs Chemical Exfoliation explains the two routes.

Both also depend on the product around them. The FDA notes that how much an AHA exfoliates depends on the type and concentration of the acid, its pH and the other ingredients in the product, and salicylic acid products vary with their formulations too. The acid’s name tells you its family, not its strength.

This article covers cosmetic exfoliation. Products sold to address acne are a different category: in the United States they are regulated as over-the-counter drugs, and salicylic acid is one of the ingredients the FDA permits in them.

AHAs: water-soluble acids that work at the surface

The FDA names glycolic acid and lactic acid as the most common AHAs in cosmetics. They are water-soluble exfoliating acids that help loosen dead cells at the surface. Solubility is part of the picture, not a complete explanation of how they work.

Glycolic acid has the smallest molecule of the group. Lactic acid is larger and is often considered gentler. What Is Glycolic Acid, and Who Is It For? goes into the first of these in detail.

BHA: oil-soluble, reaching into the pore opening

In skincare, “BHA” usually means salicylic acid. Chemically, salicylic acid is not a true beta hydroxy acid, as the FDA itself notes, but the label stuck.

You may also see willow bark extract on ingredient lists. It is a botanical extract, not the equivalent of a formulated salicylic acid ingredient.

The useful property of salicylic acid is that it is oil-soluble. It can mix with the oil on your skin and work within the opening of a pore as well as on the surface. Large Pores covers what can and cannot change about how pores look.

Who tends to reach for which

Skin that feels rough or looks dull. AHAs are often chosen here, because the complaint sits on the surface.

Skin that runs oily, with congested-looking pores. BHA is often chosen here, because oil is part of the picture.

Skin that reacts easily. Suitability depends on the whole formulation, not on the acid’s family. Start with informed selection: know what a product is intended to do, whether it suits your skin, how to use it and what it contains. For particularly reactive skin, a small test in an area that makes sense for the product’s intended use can be an additional precaution.

Skin that is cracked, sore, sunburned or currently irritated should not be exfoliated with either acid until it settles. That is different from skin that is generally sensitive, which may still suit a carefully chosen product.

One product with both acids is not stacking

Many products combine AHAs and BHA in one formulation. That is a formulation decision, made with the complete formulation in mind.

Stacking means something else: layering several separate exfoliating products into one routine, such as an acid toner, an acid serum and a scrub. That is where irritation tends to start, and more exfoliation does not bring faster results. Avoid combining multiple exfoliating products unless their directions or your skincare professional specifically recommend doing so, and follow the directions for each.

If you overdo it, the signs are familiar: tightness, stinging from products that never stung, papery flaking and redness that hangs around. Pause, go back to a gentle cleanse and a moisturizer, then resume less often or less intensely. How Often Should You Exfoliate? covers the timing question.

Sun and other products

Research conducted by the FDA found that skin became more sensitive to UV during regular AHA use, and FDA guidance recommends a sunburn alert on AHA cosmetics. The FDA advises sun protection with BHA products too. Daily broad-spectrum sunscreen is recommended as part of the routine either way.

Combining exfoliating acids and retinoids can increase irritation for some people. Retinol is generally used at night, and the directions for each individual product are the ones to follow.

Victoria’s approach

Victoria Nash, founder of Esenté Skincare, has been a licensed aesthetician since 2003. She also owns and operates Younger You Clinique and is an experienced skincare educator. She draws on her professional experience at Younger You Clinique when evaluating skincare products and their performance. Her view of exfoliation applies to both acid families: there is no universal exfoliation schedule. Victoria considers the individual’s age, skin condition, the method of exfoliation and how the skin is responding, and the aim is to exfoliate when needed rather than because a set number of days has passed.

The Esenté range offers different exfoliating approaches rather than a routine to combine. The Liposome Alpha-Beta Serum is an 8% AHA/BHA serum. The Very Berry Exfoliating Cleanser puts exfoliation inside the cleansing step. Oligo-Peel Exfoliation Crème provides physical exfoliation with aluminum oxide, in a formulation that also includes botanical extracts and skin-conditioning ingredients. Each carries its own directions. These are examples, and other Esenté formulations may suit you depending on your individual regimen. If you have known sensitivities, check each complete ingredient list on the Esenté website. Esenté works with boutique manufacturers to develop and select formulations that meet the brand’s ingredient, performance and quality criteria. Weighing one against another? Ask on the Ask Victoria page.

Frequently asked questions

About the author. Victoria Nash, founder of Esenté Skincare, has been a licensed aesthetician since 2003. She also owns and operates Younger You Clinique and is an experienced skincare educator.

Reviewed by Victoria Nash, licensed aesthetician, founder of Esenté Skincare and owner of Younger You Clinique. This article is educational and is not medical advice. Ask your dermatologist or licensed skincare professional about products appropriate for your own skin and medical history.

Short answer: Glycolic acid is an exfoliating ingredient. It belongs to the alpha hydroxy acid class, or AHA. In skincare it loosens the bonds that hold dead cells together at the skin’s surface so they shed more evenly. People reach for it to improve the look of rough texture, dullness and uneven tone. How strong a product is depends on the concentration, the pH and the rest of the formulation. Whether it suits you depends on the complete formulation and your own skin, and currently irritated skin is the wrong place to start.

Glycolic acid turns up in cleansers, serums and professional peels.

What glycolic acid is

The FDA names glycolic acid and lactic acid as the most common AHA ingredients in cosmetic products. Glycolic acid occurs naturally in sugar cane, lactic acid in sour milk.

Chemically, glycolic acid has the smallest molecule in the AHA class, though size is one factor among several in a finished product. AHAs are water-soluble and work at the skin’s surface, which sets them apart from salicylic acid. AHA vs BHA covers that difference, and What a Lactic Acid Peel Does covers glycolic acid’s closest relative.

What it does on the skin

The top layer of your skin is made of flattened cells that are ready to shed, and they do not always shed evenly. Glycolic acid loosens the bonds between them so they release without being rubbed off. That is chemical exfoliation, as opposed to the physical kind, where a particle or textured tool does the lifting. Physical vs Chemical Exfoliation compares the two.

Any visible change comes from consistent use over time, and the timeline varies with the cause, the product and the person.

Strength belongs to the whole formulation

The FDA’s summary: the extent of exfoliation depends on the type and concentration of the AHA, its pH, and the other ingredients in the product. A percentage alone tells you little.

Format matters too: a rinse-off cleanser and a leave-on serum give the skin different amounts of contact.

You usually cannot judge strength from a label. Many brands keep the concentrations in their proprietary formulations confidential, and a missing percentage is not a sign that anything is wrong. The more useful question is whether the brand tells you about the formulation, its key ingredients, their intended benefits and how to use the product.

Glycolic acid and the sun

In research conducted by the FDA, volunteers’ skin became more sensitive to UV after four weeks of applying an AHA cream, and the effect did not last long after they stopped. FDA guidance recommends that AHA cosmetics carry a sunburn alert advising sunscreen, protective clothing and limited sun exposure while using the product and for a week afterward.

Daily broad-spectrum sunscreen is recommended as part of the routine regardless, and Do You Need Sunscreen Every Day? makes the wider case. If you also use retinol, it is generally used at night; follow the directions for your individual product. Combining exfoliating acids and retinoids can increase irritation for some people, so check the directions for each product you own.

Who tends to reach for it, and who should wait

Glycolic acid tends to appeal to people whose main complaint is texture: skin that feels rough or looks flat in daylight. The formulation and your skin’s response decide the rest.

Start with informed selection. Know what the product is intended to do, whether it suits your skin, how to use it and what it contains. For particularly reactive skin, a small test in an area that makes sense for the product’s intended use can be an additional precaution.

Sensitive is not the same as irritated. Generally sensitive skin may still suit a carefully chosen product. Skin that is cracked, sore, sunburned or currently irritated should not be exfoliated until it settles.

Stop if it objects. Burning, lasting stinging or a rash are reasons to stop, and a reaction that persists belongs with a dermatologist.

Signs you are asking too much of it

More product, or more frequent use than the directions say, does not bring faster results. It tends to bring tightness, stinging from products that never stung, papery flaking and redness that stays between uses.

If that sounds familiar, pause and go back to a gentle cleanse, a moisturizer and daytime sun protection. When you resume, exfoliate less often or less intensely. Simply switching exfoliants without reassessing formulation, strength and frequency may not resolve irritation. Layering several separate exfoliating products invites the same trouble. How Often Should You Exfoliate? goes further.

Professional glycolic peels are a separate class. They are selected and administered by qualified practitioners and differ from home products in formulation, strength, pH and protocol.

Victoria’s approach

Victoria Nash, founder of Esenté Skincare, has been a licensed aesthetician since 2003. She also owns and operates Younger You Clinique and is an experienced skincare educator. She draws on her professional experience at Younger You Clinique when evaluating skincare products and their performance. There is no universal exfoliation schedule. Victoria considers the individual’s age, skin condition, method of exfoliation and how the skin is responding. Skin-cell turnover generally changes with age, so an appropriate interval for one person may be entirely inappropriate for another. The objective is to exfoliate when needed, not simply because a certain number of days has passed.

The Esenté range includes the Liposome Alpha-Beta Serum, an 8% AHA/BHA serum. It is one example, and other Esenté formulations may meet the same need depending on your individual regimen. This article describes glycolic acid as an ingredient, not that serum’s formulation. If you have known sensitivities, check the complete ingredient list on the Esenté website, not only the key ingredients, and follow the directions. Esenté works with boutique manufacturers to develop and select formulations that meet the brand’s ingredient, performance and quality criteria. Unsure whether one belongs in your routine? Ask on the Ask Victoria page.

Frequently asked questions

About the author. Victoria Nash, founder of Esenté Skincare, has been a licensed aesthetician since 2003. She also owns and operates Younger You Clinique and is an experienced skincare educator.

Reviewed by Victoria Nash, licensed aesthetician, founder of Esenté Skincare and owner of Younger You Clinique. This article is educational and is not medical advice. Ask your dermatologist or licensed skincare professional about products appropriate for your own skin and medical history.

Short answer: Sleep affects how skin looks, in modest and specific ways. Skin loses water more readily overnight, and that is the practical argument for a night-time moisturizer. After a poor night you get the look of puffiness, dullness and shadow under the eyes, and other people notice it. Exercise that raises the heart rate supports circulation, including blood flow to the skin. None of this adds up to a transformation, and none of it is a substitute for skincare. Sleep, exercise, hydration, nutrition and sun protection are healthy-living habits that complement a well-designed skincare routine. Neither replaces the other.

Here is what the connection is, without the timetable.

What happens to skin overnight

A study that measured skin every two hours around the clock found a daily rhythm in how much water evaporates through it: highest in the evening and lowest in the morning. That is the practical argument for a moisturizer at night. Skin is not somehow more open after dark, and it does not take in more of what you put on it. It loses water more readily in those hours, and a cream applied then sits undisturbed. Day Cream vs Night Cream covers how the two differ.

What a bad night actually looks like

Three things, and they are all about appearance.

Puffiness. Fluid settles in the face when you lie flat, and it is more noticeable after a short or broken night. It usually eases as the day goes on. Do Eye Creams Work? covers that area honestly.

Dullness. Tired skin looks flat rather than bright. Why Skin Looks Dull explains what is happening at the surface.

Shadow under the eyes. The skin there is thin, so what sits beneath it shows through, and it shows through more when you are tired and pale.

This is not imagined. In one study, observers rated people in photographs as looking more tired and less healthy after a period of sleep deprivation than after a normal night. Notice what that is: a change in how a face reads on that day, and it passes.

Sleep is commonly disrupted around menopause, one of several changes worth understanding together. Menopause and Skin: What Changes covers the rest.

Beauty sleep is real, and modest

The phrase describes something that exists. The research on sleep and skin appearance is not large, and the effects reported are modest and mostly about how a face looks the next day. Sleep is not an anti-aging treatment, and anyone promising that it will transform your skin is overstating the evidence.

There is no number here either. How much sleep a person needs varies, and a figure printed on a skincare page is not advice about your sleep. Adequate sleep matters for your overall health and wellbeing, and that is reason enough to take consistently poor sleep seriously.

Exercise and skin

Exercise raises the heart rate and increases blood flow, including to the skin. The flush afterward is that, and it fades. Exercise also tends to improve how well people sleep, which loops back to the first half of this article.

Two claims are worth pushing back on. Sweating does not clean pores or flush anything out of the skin: sweat is mostly water and salts, and it comes from different glands than the oil on your face. And the direct evidence that exercise changes how skin looks in the long run is limited. That is not a reason to skip it. Regular exercise supports overall wellbeing, and looking after your health and looking after your skin go together.

After a workout

Sweat drying on the skin with sunscreen, makeup and friction from a headband or a tight collar is an irritation some people do not need. A gentle wash after training suits most people. If you cannot wash straight away, cleanse or rinse gently as soon as you are able to.

If you train outside you are getting sun while you do it, so broad-spectrum sunscreen belongs in the kit bag, applied before and reapplied during a long session.

Hydration and nutrition

Appropriate hydration is part of looking after yourself. Drinking excess water has not been established as a simple way to make skin glow, and how hydrated the skin’s surface looks also depends on your skincare routine. The two work together.

Balanced nutrition belongs in the same picture. The research connecting particular foods to how skin looks is mixed, so no single food is a shortcut. Eating well supports your overall health, and it sits alongside a skincare routine rather than replacing it.

When it is not sleep

Most of what a bad night does to a face settles. If a change in your skin persists or you cannot account for it, particularly alongside fatigue or other symptoms, that is a question for an appropriate healthcare professional rather than a jar. This article is not the place to diagnose yourself.

Victoria’s approach

Victoria Nash, founder of Esenté Skincare and Younger You Clinique, has been a licensed aesthetician since 2004 and is an experienced skincare educator. She draws on her professional experience at Younger You Clinique when evaluating skincare products and their performance.

Victoria’s philosophy has always extended beyond what goes into a jar. “Mindful Living, Ageless Skin” reflects her belief that maintaining your best skin over a lifetime involves both appropriate skincare and thoughtful lifestyle habits. Regular exercise, adequate sleep, appropriate hydration, balanced nutrition and sensible sun protection all form part of that broader approach. None replaces a well-designed skincare regimen, and skincare doesn’t replace healthy living. They are complementary parts of caring for yourself as you age.

For the overnight hours, the Esenté range includes the Hydra-Plus Night Crème and the Night Renewal Set. Follow the directions printed on whichever you use. Esenté products are developed collaboratively by our management team and our professional formulation and manufacturing partners, and are manufactured exclusively in the USA.

If you want help building an evening routine, the Ask Victoria page is open.

Frequently asked questions

About the author. Victoria Nash, founder of Esenté Skincare and Younger You Clinique, has been a licensed aesthetician since 2003 and is an experienced skincare educator.

Reviewed by Victoria Nash, licensed aesthetician and founder of Esenté Skincare & Younger You Clinique. This article is educational and is not medical advice. Ask your dermatologist or licensed skincare professional about products appropriate for your own skin and medical history.