When caring for your black skin and hair, it’s extremely important to look at the various terms used for a given product. Sometimes, these terms take on funny sounding names, so I thought I’d introduce you to some of them. Some of you might know a lot of them or have an idea of what they can do for your skin and your hair.

If that’s the case this article will serve as a reminder, if not you’ll be introduced to a whole new world when it comes to ingredients in beauty products for African American skin. You see these terms everyday when reading about beauty products, let’s take a look at what some of them and their helpful definitions.

Antioxidants – This is one of the most used terms in the beauty industry. Antioxidants are substances that counter the destructive effects of free radicals in your body, which are a major cause of disease and aging.

Antioxidants protect your tissue against cellular damage by stabilizing free oxygen molecules. Some natural antioxidants are Vitamins A, C and E, alpha lipoic acid and green tea.

Exfoliants – Exfoliants encourage skin cell regeneration by removing dead skin cells. This makes way for new cells underneath your skin to come through. The manual use of ground nuts, meal and jojoba wax beads gently slough away dead skin cells.

Then you have fruit acid exfoliants that dissolve the cellular glue that holds skin cells together to reveal new, fresh cells. Papaya is known as an enzymatic exfoliant, it actually digest dead skin cells and offers the mildest form of exfoliation.

You’ll find these ingredients used in mask, scrubs and cleansing lotions.

Humectants – Humectants are known to promote water retention in hair and skin care products by attracting and binding water to themselves. Vegetable glycerin and sorbitol are probably very familiar to you on ingredient labels.

However, one of the simplest humectants is probably found in your pantry. It’s honey! Honey is full of antioxidants, which is great for slowing down aging. It’s also naturally antibacterial, so it’s great for acne treatments as well as prevention. Honey is extremely moisturizing and soothing , so it helps create a glow to your skin. What better humectant than honey to have in your beauty regimen.

Hydrators – They actually supply water to your hair and skin. Plant liquids are known to be the best source of hydrating agents. You’ll find that aloe vera, vegetable glycerin and deionized water serve as some of the best hydrators.

Tonics – What do tonics have to do with your skin and hair? When you hear the word tonic, you probably think of some herbal blend that doesn’t necessarily taste good, never the less you take it to make you feel better.

Tonics can be an herbal extract that soothes, clarifies, stimulates or otherwise improves the condition of your skin, hair and scalp. You’ll typically find them extracted in vegetable glycerin, water, added to essential oils or in natural grain alcohol.

Horsetail, ginseng, chamomile and nettle are examples of herbal extracts used in tonics for skin and hair care.

This list doesn’t scratch the service when it comes to terms and ingredients that relate to caring for African American skin. From time to time, I’ll update this information and make it available to you.

That’s it for this week, As always …

Dedicated to Your Beauty

Juliette Samuel

Esthetician/Author/Publisher

Nyraju Skin Care