Medical grade skincare: 4 Things You Need To Know When Investing

Medical grade skincare. It’s expensive, but is it worth it? The short answer is a resounding “yes”. But here are four things you should know. Then you can start investing in a better type of skincare proven to help you rejuvenate and treat your skin.

Medical grade skincare contains proven ingredients

Possibly the best thing about medical grade skincare products is that it uses ingredients scientifically proven to work. If you take a quick look at the kind of anti-ageing products you could buy in the drugstore or beauty counter and you’ll notice there’s a big focus on “new” or trendy ingredients. Things like gold flakes (a potential allergen) or collagen (topically, all it can do is hydrate) abound. Alas, most of what’s being used don’t have any scientific studies to back up their often deliberately misleading claims. Many products, for example, claim to have “retinol” in them. However, they only contain retinyl palmitate, a very weak version of the retinoid. For the record, retinol is still the most researched wrinkle-reducer on the block. Yes, it’s not new. Yes, it’s not trendy. But it works wonders if you’re wanting to prevent premature ageing. Find it in SkinCeuticals Retinol 0.5.

They use the right concentration

Another plus about medical grade skincare products? They don’t just use the right ingredients, they use them in the right concentration. For example, glycolic acid is a fantastic exfoliant that can help you slough dead skin cells and reveal fresh, radiant-looking skin. It’s a top pick for those dealing with dull, dry skin or wanting to fade superficial pigmentation fast. You’ll find many products in the drugstore contain glycolic acid. But only a tiny handful of them will contain it in a concentration where it can actually do a proper job. (To truly speed your skin’s cellular turnover you’ll want something like NeoStrata Resurface Glycolic Renewal Smoothing Lotion that contains 10% glycolic acid.) The same goes for retinol. A minuscule number of drugstore and beauty counter products would contain it in 0.5 to 1% . This is a potent concentration that sounds like a little, but does a lot.

It’s packaged properly

Many moons ago, marketers discovered that people were more willing to spend more money on creams if they were packed in pretty glass jars. (Extra points if the lid was a luxurious gold!) For this reason, many anti-ageing creams are still packaged in jars. But here’s the downer – this exposes some of the most beneficial ingredients, things like retinol and vitamin C, to air. Immediately, they’ll start to oxidise and lose their potency fast, much like lettuce wilting in the fridge. Also, there’s the hygiene issue. Repeatedly dipping your finger into the jar is the fast track to contaminating your skincare with bacteria. (If you’re currently using any acne product that requires a finger dip, toss it immediately and switch to something like Lamelle’s Clarity Collection.) Happily, those producing medical grade skincare know all this. They’ll only ever use airless packaging unless they know the formulation is 100% stable and won’t degrade should it ever be exposed to air.

You’ll have the help of an expert

Last but not least, possibly one of the biggest plus points about medical grade skincare is that it’s sold at reputable aesthetic clinics where you’ll find doctors or highly skilled skincare therapists. This way, you’ll have someone to guide you when it comes to assessing your skin and pointing you in the direction of what you need. This is a far cry from listening to the marketing pitch the beauty counter salesperson uses to upsell you on as many products as possible. It’s also much better than wandering the drugstore aisles on your own. At worst, you’ll buy the wrong product or, at best, something not very effective.

The bottom line

Ultimately, there are a LOT of reasons to want to buy medical grade skincare and these are just a few of them. Once you make the switch and start to see real results at a rapid pace, you’re never going to want to look back.