• Question: how does moisturiser smooth-en your skin?

    Asked by cheese2000 to Kate, Mark U, Tess, Yue on 15 May 2012.
    • Photo: Tess Newman

      Tess Newman answered on 15 May 2012:

      Posh moisturisers make a lot of scientific claims how they work, but they all have the same basic principle

      Skin is made up of 3 layers, and we are taking about the top one here, as this prevents water loss form the deeper areas of skin. Normally this is about 15% water – when is gets less than this our skin feels dry and flaky. The cells in this layer contain substances that usually prevent this from happening, but some materials – such as detergents and solvents – can wash these away

      A moisturiser is basically just a way of putter water back into this layer, and keeping it there – usually by using something called a humectant. This is then blended with some kind of fat or oil to create a nice cream.

    • Photo: Mark Uphill

      Mark Uphill answered on 18 May 2012:

      Good question cheese2000; i don’t know but there’s an assumption there that it does! The cynic in me, would like to have a look at the data, the funding of the research, and whether any of the “effect” could be attributed to a placebo! Knowledge about science can be useful at times on a daily basis – especially if you’ve the choice between paying £3 or £12 for a moisturising cream!

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