If you are like me, you have a cream for your face or eyes in a small container and use a separate larger bottle of lotion to spread on your hands or the rest of your body.
Additionally each summer, I use a “for faces only” sunscreen as a moisturizer/sun block for my face and then spread lotion from another bottle by the exact same company everywhere else. In a pinch, I use the body sun block on my face but why are there two lotions?
Can’t you just use the same lotion on your eyes, face and the rest of your body?
First, a quick review of the three main layers of the skin: the epidermis, the dermis and the subcutaneous tissue. The epidermis is less than one millimeter thick and protects us from exposure to the outside world. It is primarily made of keratinocyte cells (protein cells) that slough off and are renewed every three to five weeks. This is the layer that holds in moisture and makes us appear fresh.
The dermis is the middle layer, made up of collagen and elastin, providing the structural support of our skin. Capillaries, sebaceous glands, sweat glands and hair follicles are present here. Too little oil from sebaceous glands dries out our skin and wrinkles can form. If too much oil is produced, acne erupts.
The subcutaneous layer contains mostly fat, insulates us from shock and from heat or cold. Loss of the fat in this layer as we age contributes to wrinkles.
Facial skin is thinner than on the rest of the body and has numerous sebaceous glands making it more susceptible to blackheads and acne which usually don’t appear on the hands or many other places of the body. Facial moisturizers need to be lighter, noncomedogenic and may have additives to tighten skin to reduce the appearance of wrinkles in addition to UV block.
According to smartskincare.com, the skin around your eyes is even more sensitive than the skin on the rest of your face. The eye area has minimal sebaceous glands, is thinner than elsewhere on the face, has very little fat but has numerous capillaries making it more susceptible to puffiness. Eye skin is also constantly under stress from eye movement blinking and squinting.
Eye skin needs even more moisture replenished than the face and can take a heavier (not greasier) cream since the lack of sebaceous glands won’t lead to skin break out. Using an additional separate night time eye cream can help re-moisturize. Care must also be taken using face cream near the eyes if it has a fragrance as it may cause eye irritation. Using hemorrhoid cream has been suggested to reduce eye puffiness, however if there are steroids in the cream it will contribute to more eye skin thinning.
Hands are washed numerous times a day, so are exposed to more drying than the face and need a thicker lotion to replenish lost oil and prevents cracks in the epidermis that could lead to further damage. Hand lotions are more similar to body lotions and can be used interchangeably. Extra rich hand creams are useful if one has excessive dryness and switching to a more moisturizing soap may help especially during winter.
Occasionally using body sunscreen lotions the face won’t contribute to an acne break out, but since we repeatedly apply sunscreen through out the day, sticking with a face only product is probably a good idea. Making sure the area around our eyes gets good coverage will help reduce risk of skin cancer and wrinkles.
sources:
www.smartskincare.com/infopacks/infopack4.html
http://thebeautybrains.com/2010/01/31/beauty-q-a-are-hand-and-face-moisturizers-the-same/
Michele is an R.N. freelance writer with a special interest in woman’s healthcare and quality of care issues. Other articles by Michele can be read at http://www.helium.com/users/487540/show_articles