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Just found out most of my 'medical grade' skincare was basically overpriced moisturizer
I was reading through the ingredient lists on 6 products from my treatment room after a rep gave me a new brochure, and honestly none of them had any active ingredients above 1%. Tbh I looked up a study from the Derm Institute of Chicago that said most spa-brand serums are just water and glycerin with fancy marketing. Has anyone else actually checked the percentages on their backbar?
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dakota4155mo ago
Wait, @henryp40, aren't you the same guy who was chasing high percentages like a contest last year, though? That purity and delivery system argument sounds good, but my wallet took a hit before I saw any real difference.
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mason_lopez5mo ago
Hold on, hold on. Youre looking at percentages wrong. Most derm grade lines keep actives low on purpose so they dont irritate your skin barrier. The real value is the delivery system and the purity of the ingredients, not just the raw number. A 0.5% retinol from a legit medical brand will be way more effective than a 2% one from the drugstore because the molecules actually get absorbed. Plus those boutique studies are usually funded by the drugstore brands themselves to make the spa stuff look bad.
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henryp405mo ago
Man you used to be totally in the other camp on this. I was all about chasing high percentages like it was a contest or something. But after a buddy of mine who actually formulates stuff explained how bioavailability works it kinda clicked. A cheap drugstore serum with 10% vitamin C isnt going to do squat if the molecule is too big to get through your skin. Plus some of those high percentages just wreck your moisture barrier and then you're spending more money fixing that. It made me rethink everything I thought I knew. Now I actually look at the delivery system stuff and the purity more than the number on the bottle.
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