Mature skin reacts best with a gentle touch. As we age, our skin becomes thinner and weaker which means it also becomes increasingly sensitive to the ingredients found in traditional skin care creams.

A great treatment for mature skin is using natural skin care products. Choosing the right, natural skin cream may be quite a chore. The reason for this is not all natural skin care products contain what we consider "natural".

Ingredients such as petrolatum and propylene glycol are by-products of petroleum and are, therefore, considered natural. Nevertheless, they can be irritating to mature skin. Here is a list of products that you should avoid if you want to use the most natural products.

Ingredients to Avoid when purchasing a Skin Cream

Alcohol is one of the main ingredients you should avoid especially in face creams (cetyl alcohol and stearyl alcohol are ok). It is notorious for dehydrating the skin. If the product you are looking at contains alcohol in the first five ingredients, it is best to choose another one.

Many natural skin creams contain parabens because parabens are used to suppress microbial proliferation. However, they can lead to irritation and have been linked to more severe issues such as cancer.

Synthetic colors and unnatural fragrances are usually known as coal-tars that can lead to cancer. Synthetic fragrances can also alter hormonal production which means you should always look for products that are fragrance-free and not unscented. Don't be fooled by products saying that they are unscented because this only means that they have used other components to mask the smell of the product's ingredients.

Another ingredient you should keep an eye out for are ureas. Both imidazolidinyl and diazolidinyl urea are inexpensive and used in several skin care products, however, they can cause inflammation in some people.

Ingredients You'll Want in Your Natural Cream

Once you've found a product that contains few or none of the previous ingredients, you should make sure that it does contain the following ingredients. Keep in mind that it isn't vital for these ingredients to appear in your skin cream, but having them is helpful, especially when trying to soothe sensitive skin.

*Licorice Root

Licorice root extract can be soothing to the skin. Some products may list is as glycyrrhizin. If you do decide to use products containing this ingredient, do a patch test before you try using it on larger areas of skin.

*Rose Hip Seed Oil

This vegetable oil is infamous for treating dry skin and scar tissue. It has a low viscosity, which allows it to absorb quickly into the skin. This makes it possible to apply this ingredient in its oil form or in skin care products.

Rose hip seed oil is another natural oil that helps soothe irritated skin and helps moisturize dry skin. In fact, it is a great addition to any skin cream for aging skin.