Getting rid of age spots doesn't have to be challenging or frustrating. There are manufacturers that provide safe, high quality ingredients that are highly effective. Of course, most of what you see on the market is ineffective and many of them will do more harm than good. The label of ingredients is your best friend when it comes to shopping for cosmetics, of all kinds. It may look like a foreign language, at first, but once you get the hang of it, it's pretty easy to judge the safety and even the effectiveness of a product, before you buy it. Here are some pointers.

Most of the products on the market contain artificial preservatives, colors and fragrances. While these were at one time thought to be safe, except in people with allergies or sensitive skin, it is now believed that many of them might contribute to cancer or other health problems. There is no advantage to adding colors or fragrances to cosmetics. Often they are used to mask chemical ingredients that have a strong odor or an unsightly appearance.

There are natural alternative for getting rid of age spots and for other skin issues. There are even a few brands of all-natural makeup on the market that contains the sunscreen zinc oxide, the safest and most effective sunscreen on the market.

There are also natural alternatives for preserving the ingredients in creams, lotions and other cosmetics. Grape seed extract and natural vitamin E are effective preservatives, because of their antioxidant activity. Most products contain mineral oil, which has no antioxidant activity of its own and quickly becomes rancid.

Using an effective sunscreen and a lotion, which contains natural vitamin E, are important for getting rid of age spots and preventing them from reappearing. The spot is actually a clump of melanin, which is produced in response to a sunburn and sometimes, because of hormonal activity. The spot should eventually fade on its own, if you protect your skin from the sun and support the natural reparation processes that go on daily.

The things that the skin's cells need to repair, soften and rejuvenate are nutrients. Even if you were at one time a sun-worshipper, you can make your complexion lighter, soften, firmer and less wrinkled, as well as even out pigmentation, as long as you use nourishing creams on a regular basis.

The skin needs protein, essential fatty acids, minerals and antioxidants. Antioxidants may be one of the keys for getting rid of age spots. We know that vitamin E creams can prevent them. It looks like creams containing coenzyme Q10, a more potent antioxidant, may make them go away.

Another ingredient, known as Extra-pone nut-grass root, inhibits melanin production. It is a safe non-irritating alternative to creams that contain hydroquinone, a probable carcinogen that has been banned by the EU, but not the US.

Specific protein complexes stimulate the production of new cells. If melanin is inhibited and you avoid the sun, those cells will be lighter in color. So, that's really all you need for getting rid of age spots. Nature has all of the answers.