What's The Difference?

Does It Matter?

     Okay Knockouts, it's time to talk. What you use at home matters! Home care makes up 80% of your results. If you are investing in professional treatments you should invest in professional grade home care. There are two main categories of skincare, over the counter (OTC) and professional grade. OTC is anything you buy at the grocery store, department store ((cough, cough, Sephora)), from an MLM catalog ((Avon, Rodan & Fields)), your friend's cousin ((Monat)), etc. Professional grade is, you guessed it, only sold through licensed professionals. Let's see how else the two differ.

Over The Counter (OTC)

• Anyone can sell it. It can be sold anywhere, by anyone. No license required. The person selling you the product isn't required to be trained or have any knowledge of skin function and skin wellness. Why? We'll get into that a little further down.
• Required to be 75% pure. The FDA requires OTC skincare to be at least 75% pure. That means that up to 25% of said product is filler. Fillers are ingredients that alter the products consistency, color, or fragrance and often irritate the skin. These ingredients are also known to sensitize the skin over time.
• Low concentrations of active ingredients. These brands love to use buzz words in skincare. Like, glycolic acid, retinol, vitamin c, yada yada yada. And yes, they may contain these ingredients or forms of them. But it's all about formulation! If a product contains a small amount of an active ingredient that's not formulated to penetrate the epidermis, its worthless! That's why those selling these products are not required to be licensed or trained.
• Pays celebrities to endorse products to gain your trust. You love so and so because she was in your favorite movie! So, of course your going to want to use what she is selling. It's a marketing tactic and they're creating brand loyalty and using you. 
• Low quality ingredients made in large batches. You know how product ingredients are listed in descending order. Well, if an active ingredient that is poorly formulated is listed at the bottom and its made in large batch , there is little chance the product is going to yield the results you want.

      

Professional Grade

• Sold only through licensed professionals. The products we use and retail can only be obtained with an esthetics license. Estheticians are trained in product knowledge and skin health. We have received the education necessary to guide you in properly using active ingredients. 
• Required to be 99% pure. The FDA requires professional grade product to be no less than 99% pure. There is no BS in these products! No excess dyes, fragrance, or lubricants.
• High concentrations of active ingredients. These products are formulated to work! The active ingredients used are of better quality and higher on the ingredients list. This suggests that it is actually formulated to yield benefits and show results!
• Pay for clinical testing and product research. Instead of paying a celebrity millions to tell you a product is awesome, these companies pay for research and product testing! They have actual case studies and evidence of a products efficacy. 
• High quality ingredients made in small batches. The product is well formulated with quality ingredients. Made in small batches the ingredients are more potent opposed to larger productions. 

   As you can see it's well worth it to invest in quality, professional grade skincare. You will not run the risk of compromising your skin's integrity with hash fillers, poor formulations or get duped into buying another product you don't need. Your esthetician is here to guide you on the proper path to skin excellence. Make sure you trust your provider and keep an open line of communication. May good skin be with you.

Need professional help on your skin journey? Reach out to us! Providing virtual consultations to those near and far. knockoutfacials.skincaretherapy.net