This miraculous moisturiser is a crucial ingredient in any skincare routine. From foot creams to face creams, urea is a popular ingredient in most skincare products.
Understanding Urea: What Does It Do?
Look through the ingredients list of your favorite skincare products: urea is often on the list. If you’re wondering how to incorporate it into your everyday routine, you’ve probably already used it. However, being a little more thoughtful about how we use urea can deliver more beneficial results.
So, what is it? Urea is a chemical compound that’s naturally produced as a by-product of metabolic processes. It’s part of a group of chemicals called the natural moisturising factors (NMFs), which keep the skin plump and hydrated.
Urea acts as a humectant, attracting water from the air and deep in the skin into the upper layers. It’s what gives the skin its hydrated appearance. It also breaks down keratin that builds up in the skin, shedding those rough layers of dead skin cells. The result? Smooth, unblemished skin.
Uses of Urea in Skincare
Unlike other moisturisers, urea finds its way into lots of different skincare products. It’s used in general moisturisers and skin softeners. Here are some examples:
- Foot Cream with Urea: Softens rough, calloused skin on heels and soles, providing deep hydration and smoothing out hardened areas.
- Urea Face Cream: Hydrates and gently exfoliates, helping to reduce dryness and improve texture for a smoother, more supple complexion.
- Hand Cream with Urea: Relieves dry, cracked hands, restoring moisture and softening rough patches for a more comfortable, healthy feel.
- Body Lotion with Urea: Provides full-body hydration, targeting areas prone to dryness, such as elbows, knees, and legs.
- Urea Scalp Treatment: Reduces flakiness and dryness, soothing and hydrating the scalp for a healthier base.
Some of these products might be even more case-specific. Foot cream with urea, for example, could be designed to treat dry, cracked heels. The heel is a common area for a build-up of dry skin due to the friction with certain shoes. Dermal Therapy’s Heel Balm Platinum contains 30% urea and is highly effective at softening and repairing rough, dry, and cracked heels.
Choosing the Right Urea Products for Your Skin Type
Incorporating urea into your skincare routine depends on your skin type and its specific needs. There are two options:
1. Use urea to treat a specific patch of rough or dry skin. Examples include hand calluses, cracked heels, or a dry scalp.
2. Add urea into your everyday skincare routine to prevent the build-up of dry skin. Examples include urea face cream or urea hand creams.
Of course, your skincare type will affect your decision here. If option 2 is appealing, you’ll need to consider the concentration of urea within your skincare products.
For dry and flaky skin, choose a urea product with a moderate concentration (around 5-15%) that will successfully hydrate and gently exfoliate your skin without causing too much irritation. This concentration is perfect for general-use foot creams or hand creams with urea.
If you have severely dry or thickened skin, high concentrations (20-30%) are necessary. Do not use these creams for general usage. Only apply on a small area to relieve problematic, stubborn, dry skin, then switch to a lower concentration for persistent use.
For sensitive skin, go for a much lower urea concentration (around 5%). This is especially true for urea face creams where irritation is most likely. It will hydrate your skin without causing any damage.
Is Urea Right for Your Skincare Routine?
People with sensitive skin may be wary of trying it out. We recommend performing a patch test first to see how you get on. If you don’t notice any redness or irritation, you can then use it where it’s needed. Usually, you won’t have any problems with highly calloused areas. But it’s important to perform a patch test before using a urea face cream.
Does Urea Have Any Side Effects?
Almost all skincare products cause side effects in some people. Urea is no different. However, because it’s a natural component of your body, it’s unlikely to cause any serious reactions. Your response to urea will depend on where you are applying the urea and it’s concentration, for example the skin on our feet is less sensitive and thicker than that of our face, and can handle higher concentrations of urea.
Potential side effects of Urea include:
- Mild Irritation: Redness, itching, or stinging, especially with high concentrations.
- Sensitivity Reactions: Increased sensitivity in delicate areas like the face.
- Allergic Reactions: Rare, but possible in sensitive individuals.
- Over-Exfoliation: Dryness or peeling if used too frequently or in high concentrations.
Dermal Therapy’s carefully balanced formulations are designed to avoid these side effects, offering effective hydration and exfoliation without the harshness of many acid-based products.
Urea is a powerful and versatile skincare ingredient that hydrates, exfoliates, and softens skin. With a wide range of applications, from foot creams to face creams, it’s a must-have for anyone looking to improve their skincare routine.
Ready to find the perfect urea product for your needs? Explore Dermal Therapy’s full range of urea-based skincare solutions.
