As professional skin therapists, we often hear these common questions from our clients: What is the difference between a “professional” skin care cosmeceutical vs. a brand you can find “over-the-counter” at a supermarket or pharmacy store? Is there really a difference, or is it all a bunch of fancy marketing talk and pretty pictures? Can you get nice results with cosmetic brands, or will your results be better with professional cosmeceuticals? Too often, consumers fall under the spell of cosmetic company marketing and advertising claims, and will spend a lot of money on expensive over-the-counter cosmetics that really don’t work in the skin.
Because many consumers “self-diagnose” when choosing a skin care product to try from a supermarket or pharmacy store, these products must be made safely, meaning, big cosmetic companies cannot afford to have masses of consumers with issues from using very active products — so, that skin care product may feel good and smell good, but it likely won’t have a lot of activity in the formulation. These products are packed with almost as many preservatives as “active” ingredients! In addition, many over-the-counter cosmetics simply do not penetrate the skin barrier, where the ingredient formula would only have a therapeutic benefit to the health of the skin. Remember too, it’s not just about one really fabulous ingredient — it’s the mixture of the right amounts of active ingredients working synergistically together that work best in the skin, similar to how oral multivitamins work internally in our bodies with a mixture of vitamins and minerals for best absorption.
It is important to note that many single ingredients that test very well in in-vitro testing actually have no function in human skin when mixed into a formulation — yet, we still believe the “clinical study” claims from in-vitro studies.
Cosmeceuticals that are professionally recommended by a professional skin therapist or physician have a much higher amount of active ingredients with proven and safe formulations, and offer delivery systems that reach targeted cells in the skin to give noticeable results. Don’t waste your money on something that just sits on the surface and has no function to improve your skins health.
