Skin care products are used to cleanse and condition the body and face. These include soaps, bubble baths and shower gels, moisturizing creams and lotions, and a variety of special treatment products like facial masks, blemish control products, and sunscreens.

The earliest skin care products were natural oils and fats applied to soften skin. Galen (circa A.D. 130-200), who is considered to be one of the greatest physicians of antiquity, discovered to how mix oils and water to form the first cold cream emulsion which he called ceratum refrigerans, or cooling ointment. Through the ages, Galen's discovery has been used to create a variety of skin care products. As recently as the 1700s lard, mutton tallow, and white and yellow wax were still key ingredients in pomades and ointments. In the last few hundred years, emulsions and other skin care products have become...