What's the best natural skin care cream? The best skin creams actually contain a variety of compounds that moisturize, protect and nourish. To find the most effective one, first look at what you are trying to accomplish.
For body lotion, the best natural skin care cream contains olive oil, jojoba oil, grape seed oil, vitamin E, B 5, Coenzyme Q10, kelp extract, Functional Keratin and honey. That may seem like a lot of ingredients, but each one performs a specific role.
Now, if you are a purist, I should point out that all of these ingredients must be processed in some way. There is no such thing as naturally occurring olive, jojoba or grape seed oils. They must be processed and refined.
If you have the time to gather honey from the comb, you could get some benefit from it, but alone, it is primarily used as an antiseptic. Only specific types are really good for the skin's health.
I know that you are trying to get as close to nature as possible, but you won't get much benefit without a little processing. Manufacturers of the best skin creams use processes that do not rely on harsh ingredients or create by products and residuals that are hazardous.
Keratin, for example, is one of the amino acid proteins that make up the skin's layers. In nature, it is hard, so there is no way to apply it directly. It must be processed. Most companies use a denaturalized form that cannot be easily used by the skin's cells, but Functional Keratin is processed in such a way that the peptide chains remain active.
It has been shown in clinical studies to actually increase the production of new skin cells. Only the best natural skin care cream contains Functional Keratin.
Of all vegetable oils, olive oil most closely resembles the skin's own sebum, so if processed correctly, it is one of the best skin creams for moisturizing. Jojoba oil or wax is very similar in its ability to moisturize, but it also fades stretch marks and scars.
Grape seed oil is relatively new to skincare. It contains antioxidants like resveratrol and vitamin E. Antioxidants are very important to prevent and repair free radical damage. That's what leads to wrinkles and even cancer.
The best natural skin care cream contains a number of antioxidants including Coenzyme Q10, but once again, they must be processed correctly. In this case, only the correct form will actually penetrate through the skin's many layers to destroy free radicals and repair damage. Honey also has antioxidant, as well as antibacterial activity.
An extract from a specific type of Japanese kelp (called Wakame) inhibits an enzymatic process that destroys one of the skin's amino acid proteins, hyaluronic acid. Hyaluronic acid is a common ingredient in lotions and creams, but it seems to work better to allow the levels of the protein to rise naturally by inhibiting its destruction. Only the best skin creams contain Wakame.