Understanding Skincare
Skincare! How confusing is it right? Influencers recommending every product on the market, advice from everyone and more products out there than we know what to do with. You see the most beautiful packaging or a high price tag and automatically we think it has to be good, surely they can’t charge that much if it doesn’t work.
That baby is going to look amazing on my shelf in my bathroom. Marketing is a crazy thing and even us skin professionals get sucked in by a good marketing campaign or that beautiful actress who seems to get better by age and think, I wonder if….. NO, just no stop it right now girl!
Let’s understand the difference.
Cosmetics
These are found everywhere! Supermarkets, chemists, every hair and beauty salon who needs an extra retail product. These products generally have no active ingredients but if they do by chance contain a well-known result driven ingredient, they market it like mad. To be completely honest with you, they won’t contain anywhere near the specific levels needed or the correct delivery system to actually change the skin. So, you spend all this money on a beautiful product, and it will literally sit on the surface of the skin and do nothing.
Well, that’s the best case. Worst case is it has other stuff shoved in there to fill it up and make it smell pretty, that may harm your skin in some ways. It may even mix with those dead cells and act like a glue that locks those dead cells on and makes our skin so much worse! These big companies get us, they know how to sell it to us and we all get sucked in daily! That’s why people can get so confused and think they have tried everything to fix their problematic skin. Really, they have tried all of the WRONG things!
Cosmeceuticals/Paramedical
Ahh the good stuff! These products have the active ingredients, and they must be at the scientifically proven levels of concentration. They must also, now this is VERY important, MUST be in a delivery system that ensures that the active ingredients can be delivered down into the skin correctly. Put all the actives you want in there, but if there is no delivery system, you may as well melt your money down and rub it on your face.
Another thing that should not be overlooked is the quality of the ingredients. Picture this, you go to the supermarket, and you want to buy an avocado (good fats, good for the skin). One is perfectly ripe, organic and fresh. The other is old, soft, probably mouldy and maybe even frozen and defrosted a few times over.
The fresh and organic one costs more but really which one is better to choose? This is the difference in the quality of ingredients sourced from different skincare ranges. Ok maybe they aren’t using mouldy ones, but you catch my drift. Using the quality ingredients and proven delivery systems we can mimic our skins own natural functions and not only improve but restore it.
So what should you expect?
Well first the price difference. Yes, there are some VERY expensive products out there that do nothing. It is frustrating, we can get sucked in because of the marketing, but it will always cost you more for a cosmeceutical product, than what you see at the supermarket.
On the other hand, you use a specific amount of the cosmeceuticals, which tends to be a lot less than cosmetics and achieve the results you will never get from the cosmetics. Cosmeceuticals tend to be prescribed for specific concerns, not a one for all solution.
Now when it comes to using these active ingredients, it is not a quick fix or instantly beautiful skin. What you need to understand is that cosmeceuticals make your skin work, sometimes like it has never worked before, but the goal is to make it function how it is supposed to.
This can sometimes mean purging, redness, dryness and even flaking. This is not a reaction but your skin acting to the changes you are making to it. It is a response. This happens when we are making that skin work. Sometimes you can expect it to get worse before it gets better, but this generally only lasts a week or two and doesn’t happen to everyone.
Self-diagnosis
We are all guilty of a little late night google doctor. We are all skin experts because google and Instagram influencers tell us so. Let’s be clear, some people are genetically blessed.
We have all heard of that one person who used only olive oil on their skin their whole life and still looks 40 at 60, but not everyone can be so lucky. Just because something worked for one person does not mean it will work for you.
Please, if you are looking for a new skincare regime or have a concern, talk to a skin specialist and have a proper skin consultation. Skin therapists have the training to really know skin and they are the best way to truly understand your skin and prescribe the right skincare for you!
Know the difference, research, see a professional and really get to know your skin and your skincare routine.