Cleansers and serums and sunscreens -oh my! With countless products out there it can be extremely difficult to find the right skin care regimen for your individual skin. Is there a difference between a moisturizer from a drug store, department store, or doctors office? Let’s break down the differences between a $7 cost-conscious cream and a $200 luxury splurge.
Not Only What but Where
First steps first -your skin is a little bit dry, where do you go to pick up something to keep your skin moisturized? Some of the clues are literally written on the wall. If the lighting and decor are top-shelf, the pricing of the products most likely are as well. However -does a higher price tag guarantee better results? Not necessarily! One of the main differences between products purchased from drug stores or departments stores to those obtained from a medical professional’s office is the strength of the products. “Medical-grade” products can only be sold by a licensed medical professional. The reason being that these products are potent enough that you require someone trained in skin care to advise you how to properly use your products. This does not necessarily mean that they are harmful to your skin, rather they have enough active ingredients that makes them potent enough for real, visible results. One of the biggest surprises our clients encounter is how surprisingly affordable medical grade products can be – a lower price tag and a powerful active punch? Yes, please!
Skincare: It’s Whats on the Inside that Counts
While the front of the bottle is intended to catch your eye – I urge you to stop, drop and roll that package around to the ingredient list on the back. Just as we read the ingredient lists in our food, the ingredients in our skincare are also important. The first ingredient on the list is the item that there is the most of, so if your first or second ingredient is, for instance, SLS (sodium laurel sulfate – – essentially this is a detergent ingredient) – then this is a potentially irritating and drying product. If a products boasts “Vitamin C”, “Retinol” or “Collagen” take a look at where it is on the ingredient list -the lower on the list, the less of that ingredient there is.
Ride or Die Products
When deciding what products to commit to – its all about committing to something you can stick with and make work for your day to day life. If your style is wash n’ go – then take it back to the basics and try these three easy steps :
- Cleanse
- Moisturize
- Sunscreen- an SPF of at least 30 physical block.
For nighttime:
- Cleanse
- Treat
- Moisturize
Stay tuned for our next blog which will go into WHY we recommend the products we do and the latest innovation in skin-analyzing technology – the VISIA Skin Analysis System.
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