AisleDash

Whenever people learn that I used to work in the beauty industry they usually want to know if anti-aging creams actually work.

The answer? Sometimes - it depends on what's in them.

First, the bad news: There are no miracle creams that will stop the aging process - it's natural and we're all headed down that path, I'm afraid. But there are ingredients that are known to prevent and decrease the unnecessary damage we cause to our skin - and that damage is what prevents us from, ahem, maturing gracefully.

These ingredients can be found both in expensive department store creams and inexpensive drugstore brands. Sometimes, the reason one cream is more expensive than the other is that the department store brand has more of the active ingredient than the drugstore brand; other times, it's nothing more than marketing - we want to believe that something that costs more is better. It's hard to tell from the packaging, and cosmetics companies closely guard their formulations as trade secrets so you have to try different brands and see what works for you. Just know that expensive isn't always more effective.

What ingredients should you look for? Every day this week I'll reveal one of these powerful ingredients - check back tomorrow when I'll tell you which ingredient is so effective that beauty junkies were forced to sneak it into the US illegally until the FDA approved it two years ago!