Cosmeceutical vs Medical Grade Skincare: Your Definitive Guide

Skincare is without doubt one of the most saturated markets. It feels like every 2 minutes there a new commercial on TV advertising the best anti-ageing product on the market! It’s no surprise that it’s more confusing than ever to decide on what’s right for you.

From scientific jargon, to ingredient percentages, we’re here to help you select the perfect skincare route.

What is Medical Grade Skincare?

Put simply, this refers to prescription medicines. This type of skincare is evidence-based, has undergone lengthy clinical research and contain active ingredients that have sophisticated delivery systems to penetrate the skin.

Medical grade skincare is often designed to target a specific skin condition, such as acne or anti-ageing. You will find a medical skincare for almost any skin concern containing high molecular weight ingredients designed to target that issue.

What is Cosmeceutical Skincare?

When it comes to cosmeceutical skincare, these brands are often recognisable by their more luxury packaging and marketing campaigns. They are often not FDA-approved, and as such do not need to undergo such rigorous testing as medical grade skincare.

They will have a lower concentration of ingredients. This generally means they are sufficient for short term needs but no so effective for long term changes.

What are the differences I need to be aware of?

There are several differences between an experience of using medical-grade and cosmeceutical skincare.

Firstly, the accessibility of medical-grade skincare is often prescribed by an aesthetic skin specialist in clinic. Whilst you can buy it online, you may still receive a call from a skin specialist at the brand to discuss your skincare concerns to check the product is right for you.

Secondly, cosmeceutical skincare brands are not tested or regulated to a medical extent meaning they cannot claim to treat particular skin conditions. So, if you’ve got a particular skin condition you want to address with at-home skincare, then medical may be the way to go.

Here are some more differences to consider:

Medical grade skincare will always contain higher-quality ingredients due to the rigorous testing these products undergo.

Medical grade skin care products have higher concentrations of active ingredients – resulting in faster, more noticeable results in your skin that continue to work hours after application.

You can be assured of the purity and safety of medical-grade skincare by the clinical trials to support each product.

Medical skincare is designed to be delivered deep to the deeper dermis layer of skin – the deeper layer where collagen cells live.

You’ll often need to use less of a medical skincare product as the active ingredient’s concentration is higher, so the products will last you longer and become more affordable.

Like everything in life, there is no one-size fits all solution – particularly when it comes to skincare, but using sufficient tailored skincare designed for your concerns rather than generic products is by far more beneficial. Skin care can be confusing, and many people are unsure as to what skin type, they are, what products they need to be using and even what concerns they may have initially.

As always though, the best thing to do is to book a consultation with us to talk through your skin concerns for a bespoke treatment plan that includes an effective take-home skincare regime too.

When booking a skin care consultation with our skin specialist Sam, we always go that extra mile and place you under our skin analysis machine. This will give you in depth information about your skin including UVA damage, pigmentation, pore analysis, even early wrinkle formation.