What is collagen cream? We read about it and see it advertised as an important ingredient in products designed to keep our skin youthful. Before we get into what collagen cream is, it’s important to understand a little bit about collagen and what it is.
Collagen forms around 30% of human proteins and is responsible for the firmness, moisture, suppleness and renewal of skin cells. It’s also an important part of just about every physical system, as well as our organs and tissues. Collagen is the main protein of connective tissue and is the main component of ligaments, tendons, cartilage, bone and teeth. It’s also an important component responsible for the strength and elastic of our skin.
As is true for many things, with age, our bodies lose collagen and the ability to rebuild it. Collagen is created and works on a cellular level. A lack of collagen can cause disorders with our immune systems and that is very damaging to our overall health. Collagen has a very important defensive function and it limits the absorption and spreading of toxins, micro-organisms and cancerous cells. While collagen is basically a simple protein built only from amino acids it’s vital to our survival. The cellular activity and scientific explanation of how collagen works, while interesting is not the conversation I’d like to have with you today. What I would like to talk to you about is my own odyssey in search of a way to stop the hands of time which are currently beating the crap out of me and my face!
We all want to find something that will restore our youthful, dewy complexions, and I’m no exception. I’ve seen the ads and read so many things promoting the use of collagen cream on my skin. My mother used creams on her face, but I didn’t know what brand collagen cream she used or if she used that type of cream at all.
As a young girl, some of my fondest memories are those of me sitting in the bathroom and watching my beautiful mother apply her make-up and hoping that someday I’d be as beautiful as she was. I would also sneak quietly in at night and watch intently as she methodically did her nightly, bedtime routine. She was teaching me everything about how to take care of my skin, even though I was too little to realize it at the time. I’d like to share some of that experience with you.
Years ago, woman would often go to the beauty parlor and have their hair done only once a week. Those hairstyles were expected to last until the next appointment. As a result, it was necessary for women to have a way to preserve the hairdo each night as they slept. My mother’s way was to wrap her hair in toilet paper. As I mentioned, my mother is a beautiful woman but the sight of this beautiful woman with her hair wrapped in toilet tissue was something to see. She was my earliest exposure to a real cone head, but I digress. After she would wrap her hair, she would settle in and begin her nightly facial care routine which began with her opening a jar of cold cream. She always started with cold cream to remove her makeup. Using collagen cream would come at a later point in her routine. She would dip her fingertips into the jar and come up with a mound the size of a heaping tablespoon of mayonnaise. That sight always made me hungry as the cream looked good enough to eat. She would then proceed to smear this all over her face being careful not to get any into her eyes. She would then spend several minutes rubbing the cream into her face to loosen any makeup she’d worn that day. Then she would pull several tissues from the box and use them to wipe away the cream. After this, she would take a large cotton ball and soak it with a clear liquid she got from a bottle she kept in the medicine cabinet. She would methodically begin wiping the cotton ball across her forehead and work her way across her cheeks and down towards her chin, ending at the nap of her neck. She might go through 2 or three large cotton balls before finishing the job. After that task was done she would brush her teeth and after brushing her teeth she would proceed with and complete her nightly routine. She had three more containers she would retrieve whose contents at the time were a mystery to me. All I knew was she used the contents of each bottle on a different part of her face and body. First she had this small bottle from which she would dispense precious drops of liquid that she’d spread around her eyes. She told me later that this was a collagen cream made to hide wrinkles. Then she had a large tube from which she’d squeeze a cream she’d gently dab all over her face and neck. This was a collagen cream designed to prevent skin aging. Finally, there was another tube from which she’d retrieve a heavier cream that she’d rub into her hands, legs and feet. This collagen cream was designed to reverse the signs of aging on exposed skin.
As a small child, I had no idea what was contained in those jars, bottles and tubes and I could have cared less. I didn’t know what collagen cream was. All I knew and all I really cared about was her routine gave me precious moments alone with my mother who worked full time to support us both. Needless to say, it did make an impression on me that my mother sure took a long time and a lot of care into maintaining her appearance. That experience caused me to grow up being extremely cognizant of how important it is to take care of my skin. The products she used were basic and relatively inexpensive, especially by today’s standards. Collagen creams were just starting to become a part of the beauty dialogue.
Needless to say, times have changed. Collagen has become a hot marketing term and collagen creams will forever be part of the billion dollar beauty industry. You see the word collagen used often and in reference to everything from products that are directly injected into your body; to collagen creams, lotions and potions you apply to the skin.
What are collagen creams, and how do they work? Do they work at all? There are hundreds, probably even thousands of collagen creams currently on the market. Not to mention the availability of collagen that can be directly injected into your body.
But, how do collagen creams work, especially if collagen is something created on a cellular level? Is it possible they have a real benefit to your skin?
