The Truth about Skincare Products! Pharmaceutical vs. Cosmeceutical

Everyone is SO TIRED of spending money on countless Skincare Products that do not work! With claims like, “Erase scars, tighten your pores, prevent breakouts, and reduce wrinkles, etc.” Blah, Blah, Blah…. All this spending and little results start to make people feel hopeless and sceptical. It also makes us feel like nothing will ever help.

It’s time someone spilt the truth about skincare products | Pharmaceutical vs. Cosmeceutical

It is safe to say, there is no such thing as a miracle cream skincare product that keeps you looking young forever! Skin is something we HAVE TO WORK AT. Just as our bodies to stay in shape! We also know it’s hard to find any skincare products that yield lasting results, if any!

In the skincare industry, we like to call product claims ‘bells and whistles,’. Meaning, “Same Product, New Packaging.” It is also the same false claim! Most products found in department stores are made by one company: ‘Estee Lauder.’. They own almost every brand; MAC, Clinique, GlamGlow, La Mer, Origins, Aveda, Smashbox, Too Faced, Tom Ford Beauty, etc… and the list goes on!

Companies like Estee Lauder put a lot of money into making pretty packaging; instead of spending money developing technology and formulating products. They also constantly change the packaging to give people hope that the newly packaged product is the next best thing. In reality, however, they are using the same formulas as before! Resulting in a vicious cycle of false hopes and promises!

The small print…

There is a reason why you can buy a huge bottle of cleanser for as cheap as £5.00 at Boots. The company will state it has “Green Tea,”. However, the bottle has 1 drop of Green Tea; the rest is filled with emulsions, thickening agents, detergents and chemicals. In addition, these ingredients are not good for the skin and also yield NO RESULTS!

This is why you want to be conscious and aware of the ingredients you are using on your skin. If you also want to know if the ingredients are good for your skin; turn the bottle over. Screenshot the ingredients, then google the words you see on that list; then learn their long term side effects!

​Now that you have a little more insight into the “skincare industry,” here’s what you need to know! ‘Pharmaceutical vs. Cosmeceutical’ products.

Any skincare products bought in a grocery store, salon/spa, the department store is considered ‘Cosmeceutical,’. Meaning it is a beauty product intended to enhance your skin, and NOT CORRECT IT! In order to see a CHANGE in your skin, you have to use a ‘Pharmaceutical’ grade product. Meaning “medical/medicine” grade, which actually changes the composition of your skin on a cellular level.

These are required by law, to be sold in a Doctor’s Office or Medical Spa with a doctor on staff; because these products actually have FDA approval to treat the skin. With these ‘Pharmaceutical” products you WILL SEE AN ACTUAL DIFFERENCE. Namely in skin texture, pore size, brown spots, hyperpigmentation, acne scars, acne, wrinkle reduction and fine lines. If you are looking for a product that actually corrects, it has to be medical, not a beauty product. Side note, just because it is medical does not make it super expensive either!

Read what Wikipedia has to say about Cosmeceutical:

Consumers are willing to pay a premium for skin and hair care products that they perceive as high-performance. The term “cosmeceutical” is often used in cosmetic advertising and may be misleading to the consumer. If the consumer interprets a cosmeceutical to be similar to a pharmaceutical product; he or she may conclude that cosmeceuticals are required to undergo the same testing for efficacy and quality control as required for medication. This may allow the retailer to charge the consumer more for a product that may actually be less effective and/or of poorer quality than perceived.

Generally speaking, it is to the financial benefit of the cosmeceutical manufacturer that their products are not regulated by the FDA as drugs. Because the FDA review process for drugs can be very costly and may not yield a legally marketable product if the FDA denies approval of the product. However, as mentioned above, the reputation of the product may be falsely enhanced if the consumer incorrectly believes that a “cosmeceutical” is held to the same FDA standards as a drug.