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In the corporate sphere of designing effective barrier cream and moisturising products, considerable time and expenditure is undergone to create a unique formulation that meets the demands of a particular skin ailment such as eczema.

It is unfortunate then that not many people realise the amount of product development and effort that is undertaken prior to producing these products.

For, most people believe that one barrier cream is just the same as all the others.  Or, that all moisturisers perform a similar role in a similar way.

Barrier creams and moisturisers vary a good deal from brand to brand. It is impossible to manufacture a moisturiser that is equally beneficial for all circumstances and all skin types. There is simply not a “one size fits all” solution in the sphere of skin care.

People come in all shapes, sizes and ethnic origin. What may be best suited for one person will invariably not be the most appropriate for someone else with a different background or genetic makeup.

Further, each one of us has our own unique health circumstances. 

Treating contact dermatitis is just one common skin condition.

Types of employment will differ from person to person. One person employed in an industrial factory with dusty, dry air will have greatly different skin moisturising requirements to another person who sees most of their working day surrounded by plants in an outside environment.

Even the changing seasons that naturally cycles from spring to summer and then from autumn to winter will effect the efficacy of different moisturising products. A moisturising barrier cream that is appropriate for the Spring or Summer is probably not the most suited moisturiser to employ during the colder winter months.

When selecting to purchase a moisturising product you need to understand that they are loosely segregated into three main groupings Namely, creams, lotions and the newer innovation of the mousse based products. So what are the characteristics of these three main groupings?

Cream based formulations are dominated by their main ingredient, which is petroleum jelly.

The origins of petroleum jelly, or Vaseline as it is also known, is in fact the oil industry. This is made from the unwanted waste by-product, rod wax, that gathers around the top of the pump rods in traditionally constructed oil wells, hindering their efficiency. This rod wax is the chief ingredient of a barrier cream that was first patented by chemist Robert Chesebrough in 1872. The name Vaseline was adopted because, in the course of his experimentation with rod wax, Robert Chesebrough use to store each test formulations in common household vases. Hence, “vase – line” – “elaion” is the etymological Greek root for “oil”.

It is this petroleum jelly that causes the majority of moisturising creams to be thick and greasy. Whilst giving a thick protecting layer for your skin, creams may not be convenient to use, particularly on the hands, as they tend to leave your skin slippery. Heavy, thick moisturising barrier creams can have the undesired side-effecting of clogging the pores or your skin. This renders them mostly unsuitable to apply on the face if you have acne. Thick, sticky barrier creams may also, in addition, cause other problems.  For instances when spread on the hands for jobs that require donning gloves for an extended period.  In these cases, the glove material can work the barrier cream residue into clumps around your finger joints.

Thick, sticky, heavy and greasy moisturising creams are widely believed to be more appropriate for winter use when dry skin is the most pressing concern.

In contrast, lotions have much less petroleum jelly, or none at all, in their formulation. Thus, they are normally not so heavy as barrier creams and tend to spread more easier and are therefore easier to apply. Apart from water, or aqua as it is often listed as, their main constituents will commonly be an oil such as Olive oil or the oil of the Sunflower. Indeed, ancient manuscripts detail that the use of Olive oil associated with skin care dates back approximately 6,000 years. The Egyptians, Greeks and Romans all used Olive oil in various guises to improve and enhance their skin.

Perhaps the chief downside of using a lotion is that, after application, a general feeling of stickiness often persists for a prolonged time. This can attract ambient dust particles. In addition, many people already have naturally oily skin and these people are often reluctant to use a product that adds to the oiliness of their skin’s surface.

Hence, moisturising barrier lotions are widely regarded as more suited during the warmer months of the year.  See this skin care video for information on skin conditions.

Mousse based products are a recent innovation in the sphere of skin care and moisturisers. Many people hold the opinion that mousse based products have superseded traditional creams and lotions. Certainly, a mousse product will be naturally very light and easy to apply. Resulting directly from this, mousse based products usually spread more smoothly and consistently over the epidermis. For this reason, much less is needed per application. This will allow your epidermis to breathe and perspire normally. People with dry skin, or skin that is sore or chapped may also find that a mousse is less painful to apply as it does not need vigorous rubbing in.

On the negative side, most mousses come as aerosols which has traditionally received a bad press as they were associated with environmentally harmful CFC chemicals – this, however, ceased to be a problem with technological advances that were implemented some 10 years ago. Further, aerosols usually employ Butane as a delivery agent and this has been connected to the issue of teenage substance abuse.

Mousse moisturising formulations have been found to be suitable for all year use.

Whichever moisturising product you finally choose, never forget to apply it regularly. Your skin will love you for it.