Re: Cellcosmet?

ElvisShops · ‎03-09-2010

Based on what I'm reading here, it would seem that NOT trying Cellcosmet is NOT a loss.

BellaCarro · ‎10-01-2011

@UMDTerpFan. That is a tough call. It really depends on what you want to achieve. If I'm not formulating my own these days my first go to is still NCN skincare. Nanci, the owner, seems to put a lot of thought and care into the formulas. I wish she she would use packaging that did not allow so much air to hit the product but few do. I also remain an Isomers fan.

A moisturizer should include water to hydrate, oil(s) as emollient, a humectant to pull water to your skin(glycerin, sodium lactate, sodium PCA, hyaluronic acid...) and something to prevent trans epidermal water loss (TEWL). Most proteins are film formers and will do that (wheat, oat proteins, silk amino acids to name just a few). Dimethicone, allantoin, and cocoa butter are the three big occlusives but they can get heavy. Of course, you then get into the additives. Some are great, some are good, some okay, some complete baloney, and some downright a bad idea.

I absolutely am thrilled with results I get from niacinimide and n-acetyl glucosamine mixed with 1% hyaluronic acid solution and sea kelp bioferment. My skin is bright and clear. Niacinimide and n-acetyl glucosamine are in the category of great, IMO. Oh, and the oils! I could go on and on about them. Current favs are hemp, rice bran, babassu, and soy.

Not sure if that helped you at all. I have been amazed to learn how much price has nothing to do with quality of ingredients. o

UMDTerpFan · ‎03-27-2010

@BellaCarro wrote:
@UMDTerpFan. That is a tough call. It really depends on what you want to achieve. If I'm not formulating my own these days my first go to is still NCN skincare. Nanci, the owner, seems to put a lot of thought and care into the formulas. I wish she she would use packaging that did not allow so much air to hit the product but few do. I also remain an Isomers fan.

A moisturizer should include water to hydrate, oil(s) as emollient, a humectant to pull water to your skin(glycerin, sodium lactate, sodium PCA, hyaluronic acid...) and something to prevent trans epidermal water loss (TEWL). Most proteins are film formers and will do that (wheat, oat proteins, silk amino acids to name just a few). Dimethicone, allantoin, and cocoa butter are the three big occlusives but they can get heavy. Of course, you then get into the additives. Some are great, some are good, some okay, some complete baloney, and some downright a bad idea.

I absolutely am thrilled with results I get from niacinimide and n-acetyl glucosamine mixed with 1% hyaluronic acid solution and sea kelp bioferment. My skin is bright and clear. Niacinimide and n-acetyl glucosamine are in the category of great, IMO. Oh, and the oils! I could go on and on about them. Current favs are hemp, rice bran, babassu, and soy.

Not sure if that helped you at all. I have been amazed to learn how much price has nothing to do with quality of ingredients. o

@BellaCarro, I am a fan of NCN. I believe their Multi peptide Matrixyl serum is the best on the market. I usually buy the sample size and use it on my lines and upper eye lids. I've used Isomers Wrinkle Viper and the other matrixyl serum they have, PTR's Unwrinkle Turbo serum along with many others and NCN's remains my favorite and IMHO the most effective. I also like their DNA serum, have purchased it several times as well. I was considering trying their Multiactive Accelerator cream as my daily moisturizer. Just received an order and am trying their Trans Retinol serum for the first time. The only product that I didn't care for was the Vitamin C with Glutathione. For my skin, I thought it was too thick and didn't absorb well plus my skin doesn't seem to like glutathione much. But there is a lot in the line I haven't tried yet.

So do you make your own moisturizer or do you add the actives into a purchased moisturizer? I have bought stuff from SkinActives and added it to moisturizers and I've also bought several SkinActives premade moisturizers & treatments that I liked as well.

QVC lost a lot of my posts too!

BellaCarro · ‎10-01-2011

@UMDTerpFan. I love the Multiactive Accelerator from NCN. Just finished a jar. But, I also like her C serum. I just bought some MAP and am going to try my own.

Yes, I am making my own. What started out as taking a class at a local community art center for body lotions, etc. has morphed into full scale chemistry lessons! Complete with Erlenmeyer flasks, beakers, scales that measure to .001 grams, chemicals, preservatives, additives, oils and butters galore. I even now own a used lab homogenizer and used lab overhead stirrer. My family calls me Mrs. White. My friends call me more often

I'm now signed up for a five month cosmetic chemistry class. There are a few things I just can't seem to master like some clear serums and gels. I get assistance from some cosmetic chemist forums but they are over my head sometimes. Plus, I don't have access to everything they do and I want to be careful not to pester too much. They like you to figure it out yourself and then ask them when it needs tweaking.

If you are adding to a base just be careful. I've learned there are many ingredients that don't play well together. They can cancel out each other, destroy the emulsification, or worse render the preservative system useless. Then nasties will grow and they are nasty and can cause harm before you see or smell anything growing. If you really want to add your own look at LotionCrafters. They have much better prices than SkinActives.

And never, never ever buy anything from anyone that contains water or anything water based that does not have a preservative. Add to the never - never buy sunscreen by a home crafter.