Skin hydration & Moisturizers

Keeping my skin healthy by hydrating it, seems to help in preventing skin irritation (like bumps, acne, redness) and maybe also oozing lesions.

Skin hydration currently is my only treatment since about 2 months. The oozing lesions were already very low before I started with focussing on skin hydratation, possibly fully eliminated by Sudocrem ( Sudocrem saved me! - #8 by Tso ) although it could also be chance. But it does seem to reduce bumps, acne and redness, which were possibly also somewhere related to oozing lesions.

Dehydrated skin makes the skin less protected against cold/warm environments and microorganisms such as bacteria by causing cracks in the skin, which makes it easier for bacteria to penetrate it.

The skin can by hydrated in two ways:

  • Keeping your living environment hydrated by monitoring it using a hygrometer and by using a humidifier.
  • Using a topical moisturizer
  • By drinking enough water

As a skin moisturizer, I’m using Cetaphil Moisturising Cream, 100g tube:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cetaphil-100-g-Moisturising-Cream/dp/B009AX3HLC/

(Note that Cetaphil has multiple moisturizers, which may differ in ingredients. The available products differ per country. I also avoid jars instead of tube, because you have to put your fingers in the jar, which can easily transfer bacteria, which may then multiply/populate in the jar.)

Also note that this cream is the basis of Soolantra:
https://www.soolantra.com/hcp/mechanism-of-action

Soolantra Cream combats inflammatory lesions of rosacea with a formulation designed for tolerability, utilizing Cetaphil® Moisturizing Cream as the basis for the vehicle.

(I have previously also used CeraVe Moisturizing Facial Lotion PM, which scores pretty good at Amazon, but I found it giving a chemical smell and my skin felt somewhat irritated after applying it.)

TODO: I’ll add more info to this post later.

It’s a bit difficult to track Cetaphil product because the product names differ per country and not all products seem are available in every country, the packing may differ and also the intended purpose may differ. For example, in one country they may sell it as a “body” cream whereas the same product is used for “face & body” in another country.

In this post I list some product from Cetaphil/Galderma to compare the ingredients.

Cetaphil “Hydraterende creme” or “Creme Hydratante”:

  • Aqua
  • Glycerin
  • Paraffinum liquidum
  • Dicaprylyl ether
  • Glyceryl
  • Stearate
  • Dimethicone
  • Prunus Amygdalus dulcis oil
  • Cetyl Alcohol
  • Peg-30 stearate
  • Benzyl Alcohol
  • Acrylates/C10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer
  • Dimethiconol
  • Disodium Edta
  • Glyceryl acrylate / acrylic acid copolymer
  • Methylparaben
  • Propylene glycol
  • Propylparaben
  • Sodium hydroxide
  • Tocopherol
  • Tocopheryl Acetate

Galderma Soolantra:

  • 10mg of ivermectin per 1gr of cream
  • Glycerol
  • Isopropyl palmitate
  • Carbomer copolymer
  • Dimeticone
  • Disodium edetate
  • Citric acid monohydrate
  • Cetyl alcohol
  • Stearyl alcohol
  • Macrogol cetostearyl ether
  • Sorbitan stearate
  • Methyl parahydroxybenzoate (E218)
  • Propyl parahydroxybenzoate (E216)
  • Phenoxyethanol
  • Propylene glycol
  • Oleyl alcohol
  • Sodium hydroxide
  • Purified water

Cetaphil “Moisturizing Cream”
For “Body” on “Dry, sensitive skin”:

  • https://www.cetaphil.com/moisturizing-cream
  • Water
  • Glycerin
  • Petrolatum
  • Dicaprylyl Ether
  • Dimethicone
  • Glyceryl Stearate
  • Cetyl Alcohol
  • Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil
  • PEG-30 Stearate
  • Tocopheryl Acetate
  • Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer
  • Dimethiconol
  • Benzyl Alcohol
  • Phenoxyethanol
  • Glyceryl Acrylate/Acrylic Acid Copolymer
  • Propylene Glycol
  • Disodium EDTA
  • Sodium Hydroxide

Cetaphil “Hydraterende creme” and “Moisturizing Cream” seem to be the same, although the names of ingredients differ slightly and the order of ingredients. (The order is normally listed in predominance, with the ingredients used in the greatest amount first, followed in descending order by those in smaller amounts.)