Cosmetics and skin care products amount to over $20 billion in sales.
Such sales numbers reflect how shoppers in every demographic have concerns about their skin.
A broad overview of the market includes a tremendous number of buyers.
Mothers want to keep their babies' skin irritation free and want to limit stretch marks.
Teenagers and adults hope to limit the impact of acne and there are a host of products for this that range from over-the-counter medications to prescription medications to TV infomercial kits.
Single bachelors and bachelorettes seek products to make them seem more attractive and younger for the opposite sex.
As we get older we need products for our skin as it gets more dry and sensitive.
Is it any wonder that shoppers have questions about what really works to take care of their skin? Here we examine one of the simplest products, soap, to show just how complex choosing skin products can be.
Even the most simple of tasks - cleaning your skin - can seem complicated because there are so many products on the market.
Most soaps use alkali with oil or fat.
The most common bar soaps are best for getting up dirt off the skin so it can be washed off.
Unfortunately, the bar soaps' active ingredients, surfactants, do not always rinse away and can be irritating to the skin because of their high pH.
Less irritating soaps are created by a process called incomplete saponification.
In this process manufacturers add chemicals to prevent some of the fat or oil from being processed.
This gives the soap more moisture and makes it less irritating to the skin.
Companies like Neutrogena advertise transparent soaps for their gentleness.
These soaps are actually every day bar soaps with added glycerin which is a moisturizer.
Believe it or not, this skin care product can still be very irritating, but the glycerin makes the transparent soap less harsh.
If you have itchy skin or skin eczema, your doctor may recommend Synet bar soap.
This soap is made from oil, fat or petroleum products but are processed without sap pontification.
Dove created the first bar in 1955.
Many doctors recommend Dove for sensitive skin because of a lack of perfumes and harsh oils.
The marketing of soap does very little to inform the consumer of how the soap is made and how the ingredients affect your skin.
Instead, chosen demographics are bombarded with marketing messages to increase consumer spending.
A recent trend involves manufacturing liquid soap for men.
No information is provided in the television commercials as to why this product is particularly helpful for men as opposed to women or what the ingredients are.
Old Spice simply relies on its image of traditional masculinity to send the message that if you are male, this skin care product is for you.
Men, it would seem do not need to think about ingredients; they simply purchase based on simplicity.
Another competitor into the liquid soap market, Nivea, advertises its product as liquid soap for grown up men, but there are no qualifications as to why this product is better for men than women or better for men and boys.
From one commercial it seems the product is just for men who wear sport jackets particularly well.
Therefore, when it comes to purchasing skin care products, do some research, talk to your dermatologist and make an informed decision because buying appropriate skin care products is part of overall good health care.
Such sales numbers reflect how shoppers in every demographic have concerns about their skin.
A broad overview of the market includes a tremendous number of buyers.
Mothers want to keep their babies' skin irritation free and want to limit stretch marks.
Teenagers and adults hope to limit the impact of acne and there are a host of products for this that range from over-the-counter medications to prescription medications to TV infomercial kits.
Single bachelors and bachelorettes seek products to make them seem more attractive and younger for the opposite sex.
As we get older we need products for our skin as it gets more dry and sensitive.
Is it any wonder that shoppers have questions about what really works to take care of their skin? Here we examine one of the simplest products, soap, to show just how complex choosing skin products can be.
Even the most simple of tasks - cleaning your skin - can seem complicated because there are so many products on the market.
Most soaps use alkali with oil or fat.
The most common bar soaps are best for getting up dirt off the skin so it can be washed off.
Unfortunately, the bar soaps' active ingredients, surfactants, do not always rinse away and can be irritating to the skin because of their high pH.
Less irritating soaps are created by a process called incomplete saponification.
In this process manufacturers add chemicals to prevent some of the fat or oil from being processed.
This gives the soap more moisture and makes it less irritating to the skin.
Companies like Neutrogena advertise transparent soaps for their gentleness.
These soaps are actually every day bar soaps with added glycerin which is a moisturizer.
Believe it or not, this skin care product can still be very irritating, but the glycerin makes the transparent soap less harsh.
If you have itchy skin or skin eczema, your doctor may recommend Synet bar soap.
This soap is made from oil, fat or petroleum products but are processed without sap pontification.
Dove created the first bar in 1955.
Many doctors recommend Dove for sensitive skin because of a lack of perfumes and harsh oils.
The marketing of soap does very little to inform the consumer of how the soap is made and how the ingredients affect your skin.
Instead, chosen demographics are bombarded with marketing messages to increase consumer spending.
A recent trend involves manufacturing liquid soap for men.
No information is provided in the television commercials as to why this product is particularly helpful for men as opposed to women or what the ingredients are.
Old Spice simply relies on its image of traditional masculinity to send the message that if you are male, this skin care product is for you.
Men, it would seem do not need to think about ingredients; they simply purchase based on simplicity.
Another competitor into the liquid soap market, Nivea, advertises its product as liquid soap for grown up men, but there are no qualifications as to why this product is better for men than women or better for men and boys.
From one commercial it seems the product is just for men who wear sport jackets particularly well.
Therefore, when it comes to purchasing skin care products, do some research, talk to your dermatologist and make an informed decision because buying appropriate skin care products is part of overall good health care.