Does Home Care Matter?

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A question we so often get is “Does home care matter?”

The short answer is … YES. The long answer is … YES

An effective home care routine will not only compliment your treatments but also enhance them. All my clients have heard me use the same analogy: In clinic treatments are your “Spin Class”: Intensive, sometimes uncomfortable, and results driven. Therefore you can consider your home care as diet and exercise: It helps condition you, it helps with recovery and it maintains the results!

When we perform an intensive treatment in clinic, we are effectively causing a controlled injury to the skin. In order to maintain control and achieve the desired results we need to be confident the skin is reacting and functioning optimally. This is where home care fits in.

How will skin care enhance my treatments?

First and foremost, effective skincare can protect you from adverse reactions post treatment. For example, we may recommend pigment blockers to avoid post inflammatory pigmentation; or if the skins barrier is impaired, you may find your treatment more uncomfortable and the downtime may be longer as healing may be delayed. Therefore if you are using skincare, which ensures that the barrier is functioning optimally, you will find your healing and downtime to be more consistent, and are less likely to experience an adverse reaction.

Also your skin care can target your skin concerns daily! Whereas in clinic,we may only see you once or twice a month. If your concern is pigmentation, we are utilising skin cell turnover to achieve results, therefore a product that not only regulates but accelerates this process is going to enhance those results.  Or acne, a chronic condition that is exacerbated by bacteria, oil, hormones, and diet … the list goes on. The point is that the causes and aggravators of acne will continue after you leave the clinic, and therefore your treatment should too.

Supermarket brands, department store brands, and clinical skincare and prescribed medication… what is the difference?

Supermarket and often department store products are what we consider “cosmetics”. Cosmetics can be sold over the counter, with little or no guidance, and contain minimal active ingredients. Generally speaking they are designed to treat the surface layer of the skin and not penetrate any deeper. They can make the skin feel great, and often feel very luxurious and lovely themselves.  Often cosmetic products will have great claims about efficacy and even have similar ingredients to cosmeceutical (clinical) products. For example many super market brands will contain Vitamin A. However the percentage, type and delivery of that Vitamin A will differ very greatly to those in cosmeceutical’s.

Cosmeceutical products are the bridge between pharmaceutical and cosmetic products. Whilst the concentration may often be lower than that of a prescription or pharmaceutical product, often the delivery and blend can make them just as, if not in some cases more, effective. Cosmeceutical products are sold under the guidance of a skin care professional, and will have clinical studies and data to back up the efficacy. Cosmeceuticals are designed to penetrate the epidermis and effect not just the superficial feel of the skin but also the function. It is the active and high-quality ingredients, extensive science and precise formulation that is behind the cost of these products, and not the packaging or branding as with some cosmetics.

At Southern Cosmetics we often incorporate pharmaceutical prescriptions where suitable, as we want to get the best results for each client and have the benefit of working with physicians with an extensive knowledge of the skin. Your treatment will not be limited to a singular brand or product, we will create a bespoke treatment plan for each client and their skin.

Author: Nela Plecic, Dermal Therapist