Most of us have fallen for skin fads at some point in our lives, those gorgeous bottles and decadent textures and scents, with celebrity or influencer endorsements that seem to pop up all over our Instagram feed. But just like fitness, where a 5-minute-a-day ab machine will never get you impressive results, a trendy “miracle” skin serum won’t serve your ultimate skin goals. Skincare that will really transform and improve your requires commitment, routine, and powerful active ingredients for any kind of visible change and improvement. We’ve put together a list of five things you should look for when choosing active skincare:
Quality Products
When it comes to quality skincare, do your brand research. Many big-name brands create products that don’t do more than simply nourish the skin and offer only a hint of vitamins or peptides. They may allude to quality with fancy packaging and big advertising campaigns with famous celebrities and models (who likely get their skincare from their LA dermatologist!) but not actually contain the potent ingredients to do the job. Choosing active skincare brands from a professional skin clinic means a heavy focus on active ingredients, research, and development and most important of all, proven results. It will also ensure your products are free from the “fluff”, including synthetic fragrances and silicones because cosmedical skin products are made to please a tough customer and drive real, visible results.
Ingredient Integrity with a Tailored Routine
When it comes to skin, one size should never fit all when it comes to ingredients. Not only is our skin unique in what it needs, but it’s also a “moving target” affected by stress, lifestyle, diet, and environmental factors. Potent ingredients mean products can really do their job, whether this is working to combat acne, fine lines, dryness, rosacea, pigmentation, oiliness, or other skin concerns. A proper active skincare line should include a variety of different serums and hydrators with specific ingredients to target unique concerns, not a generic one or two to suit everyone.
No Fillers or Nasties
Many people throw around the words “clean” and “natural” when it comes to skincare, and while some natural ingredients are great (such as botanical oils and antioxidants derived from plants), some proven anti-ageing ingredients such as retinol and hyaluronic acid need to be created in a lab. In addition to this, natural ingredients are often changed with chemical processing anyway (so they don’t go off in a week!). However, there are some chemicals you definitely want to avoid, such as cheap fillers, parabens or synthetic fragrances and silicones which work to make skincare “feel” and “smell” nice, without actually benefiting the skin – and potentially harming it. Your active skincare should contain no “nasties”, only ingredients designed to improve and nourish the skin.
Affinity to Skin
You may have potent ingredients, but you also need to ensure they’re chirally correct, meaning they are effective and molecularly weighted to be useful in the skin. A biomimetic (meaning “imitating life”) base for product solutions means the ingredients can be transported through to deeper layers of the skin to do their job, rather than just sitting on top of the skin. This is what you’ll find in cosmedical skincare.
A Professional Recommendation
With so many products and ingredients around, self-diagnosis can be tricky. Just like visiting a doctor or a nutritionist to get health recommendations, a skin specialist or trained beauty therapist knows skin inside-out and can put you on the fast track to your skin goals. A Skin Analysis is a perfect start, meaning no more wasted time or money trying a bunch of different products that don’t work, don’t mix well or, worst of all, cause a bad reaction. Plus, you’ll learn all about your unique skin, and which actives are going to achieve your dream complexion – no filter required!
