Are you confused AF with the plethora of skincare products out there? How does one calm the wild sea of sponsored posts conveniently splattered across ones instagram feed? They all promise great skin. Ahh, what to do, who to believe?
Yep, skincare brands are breeding like rabbits. In the past 10 years the global skincare market has grown by over 60%. With this rapid growth we’ve seen the birth of many fantastic skincare brands that have positively changed people's skin and lives for the better. On the other end of the stick we’ve witnessed unfortunate skin aftermaths of products that have desensitized and made a real mess of skin barriers. Yikes!
It’s important to be confident in knowing that what you put on your skin is encouraging your skin cells to be strong, young and healthy.
So what’s the difference between drugstore, cosmetic grade cosmeceuticals and cosmeceutical grade skin care other than the price tag?
Drugstore skincare often uses low grade ingredients that don't have any direct contact with the lower layers of our skin cells...which sucks because these guys are the ones that need the most loving! The ingredients just netflix and chill on the surface layer of the skin. Lazy right?
There’s often lots of cheap filler ingredients to help with shelf life, texture, colour and scent which over time can cause skin sensitivity, dryness, reactions, redness and contact dermatitis.. ekk!
Cosmetic grade cosmeceuticals are the new kids on the block. These brands keep popping up and appear to have the same ingredients your skin therapist has been chatting to you about, but are like...half the price! Don’t pat yourself on the back for being a savvy shopper yet. Yes, these products may have active ingredients such as niacinamide, salicylic acid and vitamin a. Yes, they have super cute packaging and their instagram pages are aesthetically pleasing. Yes, they have like a zillion followers and all the flawless skinned influencers can’t stop raving about them.
So, what’s the difference? These products are mass produced and in order to ship worldwide they must meet each country's cosmetic regulations. To avoid reformulating their products for each country (as that would be time consuming and costly) they only use a small percentage and often a low grade quality of the active ingredient so it can travel worldwide with no dramas.
Cosmeceutical grade skin care is the good stuff! It’s what you see on the shelves when you visit your local beauty salon or skin clinic. It’s only supplied to qualified skin professionals who have had in depth training of the products and know how your skin functions. A skin therapist will consult with you, look at your skin, touch your skin and prescribe you products based on your skin concerns. Cosmeceutical grade skin care uses a high level of active ingredients with impressive delivery systems to travel deep into skin cell land, where your cells need it the most. Cosmeceutical grade skin care focuses on the science and research behind all the ingredients.
So how can you tell the difference between a cosmetic grade cosmeceuticals and cosmeceutical grade skincare? Check out their website. A Cosmetic grade cosmeceuticals website will put a lot of time, money and effort into their marketing whereas a cosmeceutical company puts a lot of time, money and effort into research. Another helpful hint is to check where the active ingredients sit on the ingredient list. The higher up, the better!
What do you value most when choosing your skincare? If you’re looking for the holy grail to fix your skin concerns, the choice is easy. Choose Cosmeceuticals.