Cosmetics vs cosmeceuticals… what’s the difference? When doing consultations especially with new clients they are often baffled as why they aren’t getting the result they desire with the products they are using at home.
9 times out of 10 it’s because they are using cosmetic products instead of cosmeceuticals. So rather than wasting your hard earned money buying the wrong types of products let’s get into the difference between the two.
Cosmetics vs Cosmeceuticals
Cosmetics are products that are sold over the counter and are found in supermarkets, chemists and big department stores. Cosmetics cannot penetrate through the epidermis to reach the deeper layers of the skin meaning that they can’t successfully treat a skin condition or concern you may have. These products may smell amazing and feel great on the surface of the skin but unfortunately you will not be able to get long term results as the products aren’t active enough and cant go deep enough.
Cosmeceuticals on the other hand, is when cosmetics and pharmaceuticals come together.
These products cannot be bought over the counter and must be prescribed by a skincare professional. The reason for this is because cosmeceutical products contain highly effective and active ingredients such as Alpha Hydroxy Acids (AHA), Retinol, Beta hydroxy acids (BHA), vitamin C and much more.
These ingredients can penetrate through the epidermis deeper into the skin down towards the dermis, cosmeceutical products also have different delivery systems and ingredients can be encapsulated to achieve structural changes, correct and treat skin conditions and concerns and give the client visual results.
View this post on Instagram
Let’s talk about ingredients: Vitamin C
Vitamins are essential organic compounds that our bodies need to function in a healthy manner. Vitamins are key when it comes to our overall health and they can also have an impact on our skin too.
Vitamin C is definitely a celebrity in the skincare world and rightly so due to its amazing benefits and results we can get for the skin. So let’s get into what Vitamin C is and how it will help your skin.
Also known as L ascorbic acid, it comes in many different forms such as ascorbyl palmitate, magnesium ascorbyl phosphate, sodium ascorabte and many many more. In all its forms is essential for protecting cells and keeping them healthy as well as looking after your connective tissues. Our bodies don’t naturally store this essential vitamin which is why we need to take it through our diet and apply it topically on our skin too.
Shop all the Vitamin C products we recommend for your skincare routine here.
It’s also a powerhouse antioxidant, antioxidants protects our skin from the dreaded free radicals. We can’t hide from free radicals they are everywhere they are triggered by UV rays, cigarette smoke and pollution in the air. Free radicals cause the skin to enter a state of stress which can cause cell damage and lead to premature ageing.
So what can vitamin does Vitamin c do in the skin…. The simple answer is a lot, but let’s get into the main benefits of having vitamin c in your skin routine:
- Vitamin C boosts collagen production it will plump your skin and smooth out fine lines and wrinkles.
- Vitamin C also helps soothe redness and it can even help those who suffer with rosacea, vitamin c helps by supporting the weakened blood vessels in turn calming the inflammation and redness.
- Vitamin C also helps lighten and brighten pigmentation, vitamin c inhibits tyrosinase and reduces melanin production which means it can interrupt the formation of new pigmentation and help reduce the appearance of existing pigmentation.
Here at Temple Skincare & Spa, we truly believe Vitamin C is a hero ingredient that should be in everyone’s skin routine, to put it simply vitamin c in all its forms is key to protecting and maintaining beautiful healthy skin.
Let’s talk about ingredients: Glycolic Acid
Glycolic acid is quite a well known ingredient by skincare lovers. But what actually is glycolic acid and what does it do?
Glycolic acid is a type of alpha Hydroxy acid (AHA) that is derived from sugar cane. It joins other acids in the AHA family such as lactic acid, tartaric acid and Citric acid. But what makes glycolic acid stand out from the rest is that out of all the AHAs glycolic is the simplest in structure and the smallest. It has the smallest molecular weight meaning that it’s easy for this ingredient to penetrate into the skin and be super effective.
Shop all Glycolic acid Skincare here.
So let’s get into what glycolic acid does for the skin?
First and foremost, glycolic acid is an exfoliant, it helps reveal the newer brighter layers underneath by acting on the stratum corneum (the outermost layer of the skin).
Normal and intact stratum corneum consists of tightly packed layers of dead skin cells that are tightly bonded together. Glycolic acid loosens these bonds by dissolving them so those tough, rough layers of dead skin can be eliminated.
Also because glycolic acid is smaller in molecular size it can get deeper into the skin where it can do some serious work. It stimulates the fibroblasts in the dermis to produce increased amounts of collagen, by stimulating collagen production it helps the skin feel firmer and minimises fine lines and wrinkles. Between the superficial action on your stratum corneum and the work it does below by stimulating the fibroblasts will leave your skin looking more radiant, feeling smoother and looking more even toned.
It is a multi purpose ingredient it can treat breakouts, pigmentation, dullness and fine lines and wrinkles, and that’s why us Temple Skin Therapists love it so much!!!
Learn more about other essential skincare ingredients like Salicylic Acid here.
Don’t make the mistake of incorrectly layering products
You might have the most amazing skincare products in the world but if you’re applying them incorrectly in the wrong order you could be wasting your time and money without getting the results you want!
When you don’t follow the correct order to apply your skincare products you can run into three problems:
- The products may not penetrate. This is a problem if you are putting thin or water based products on top of thick creamy or oily products. The thicker richer products will form a barrier on the skin that prevents anything else from penetrating through.
- They will be less effective. If certain products aren’t able to penetrate your skin properly you obviously can’t get the products full benefits and your routine won’t be as effective as it could be.
- You could actually cause harm to the skin. Using products out of order could even create new skin issues, for example applying serums on top of oils could leave your skin dry and dehydrated since not enough water is reaching your skin, or if you are layering your serums, creams and oils on top of your sunscreen would lead to disturbing the coverage and diluting the protection of the sunscreen.
Read more about the 6 Dangerous Sunscreen Mistakes here.
So our two golden rules of product layering are:
- Thinnest to thickest texture always. Move in the direction of light to heavy. Start with your lightest products such as toners and water based serums then move on to the more moisturising ones such as richer serums, creams and oils and if you use any of these richer products during the day sunscreen will always come last.
- Water based before oil based. Oil and water do not mix. Oil can block water from penetrating that means water based products must be applied first, let then absorb into the skin then apply oil based products on top.
Your Temple Skincare & Spa Skin Experts are here to guide and give you personalised advice on your skincare concerns. Phone us on (02) 9634 2411 or email us at salon@templeskincare.com.au for questions. Join us too in our Temple Family Facebook Group and let’s talk skincare there!