Cosmeceutical skincare – what is it?
There seems to be a buzz happening around the world of cosmeceutical skincare right now. I don’t know why this is or who started it, some marketing company somewhere looking for a new angle for a product I assume, but I have been asked about this ‘new’ type of skincare a good lot lately. The fact is that cosmeceutical skincare is far from new. There have been some great products on the market for years – including Skin Essentials by Mariga!. So, what is it, do you need it and are you already using it?
The difference between a cosmetic skincare product and a cosmeceutical skincare product is simply that ‘cosmetic’ refers to an ingredient that can affect only the surface app
earance of the skin and a ‘cosmeceutical’ ingredient can affect skin function at a cellular level.
It becomes obvious from this that the cosmeceutical product is where the smart money goes.
You may already be using a cosmeceutical product without knowing that it has a fancy scientific name! Check the claims on the advertising. Does it say ‘skin appears smoother’ or ‘skin becomes smoother’, ‘lines seem reduced’ or lines are reduced’? This is the basic difference between the two, one presents a temporary surface change, the other effects an actual change.
If you are unsure about any product, ask your skincare professional if the ingredients are cosmetic or cosmeceutical. But also note – it is not just the presence of great ingredients like epidermal growth factors, peptides, anti-oxidants, vitamin A that makes a products a cosmeceutical, but also the percentage in the overall formula. So while you can’t have a cosmeceutical product without cutting-edge, proven ingredients, you can still have them and not have a cosmeceutical product. We call this ‘label value’ in the business, just including enough of a buzz ingredient to use the name, but not enough to make any difference. This is done for one of the reasons:
- The company is trying to save money, many, though not all, of these leading ingredients are expensive.
- The company wants to mass-market their products and doesn’t want any problems. This is why you should always buy your skincare from a skin therapist. They will have the education, understanding and insurance to recommend stronger actives which can actually make a difference on skin when used correctly. Sometimes this can cause a period of adjustment on the client’s skin or need to be introduced slowly to lessen disruption. Your other products will have to be taken into account too. None of this personalisation is possible with mass-market, off-the-shelf skincare so they are kept dilute to avoid any problems, also meaning they often avoid results too! Skin Essentials by Mariga products are cosmeceuticals, so you can be sure that the money you are spending is for the ingredients that are in your product which will improve your skin, not some faux-scientific advertising campaign to make you think it can. In our webshop you will see some of our products classified with a (U) and some with a (C). The U is for universal and can be used by anyone and with any other product. The C stands for corrective and we recommend guidance on the usage of these ones. Just drop us a line or call us on 053 9145981 if you are unsure about which of our corrective products you need if you haven’t already had recommendations made by our therapists. In Wexford? Just call in to our Selskar Street clinic or book online here.
Not sure what category your skincare falls into? Book a personal or distance skin care analysis with us to have your skin and your products professionally analysed. We will get you on track for great skin – for life!
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