Cosmoceuticals

Cosmoceutical skincare products are my favourite skincare products. Because I had A LOT of problems with my skin growing up, I had the good fortune of seeing a dermatologist from a young age. This has made very aware of the health and issues I have with my skin, but also products which are scientifically proven to work (thanks to tried and tested dermatological grade ingredients). I bet a lot of you are yawning already thanks to my ranting, so let me further entertain you with an interview starring me!

So what the hell does cosmoceutical actually mean?

I did not make this up. I swear. Cosmoceutical basically means the union of cosmetics and pharmaceuticals – to both improve the look of your skin and the condition of your skin. It’s all about treating the signs of ageing in the skin (and other concerns) using a medical approach. Cosmoceutical products are usually tested for longer in the lab for effectiveness and results.

Aren’t all skincare products tested before they hit the shelves?

All skincare products are tested in the lab to make sure that they are not harmful or irritating for the skin, however cosmoceutical products are usually tested for longer and use ingredients which are independently tested for their effectiveness. They also usually contain higher amounts of active ingredients. It’s these ingredients which are documented in dermatological and scientific journals, so you know how they work and why.

Where can you buy cosmoceutical products?

Usually you can only buy cosmoceuticals either at the chemist (either off the shelf or using a prescription) or from selected stockists (such as specialised salons or online). Staff from such places are not only trained in the products they sell, but also in the health of your skin, signs of concern and different skin types. You may also find that these selected stockists also sell cosmoceautical makeup. Cosmoceutical makeup also contains ingredients to help treat and soothe the skin (while making it look awesome at the same time!).

Cosmoceutical skincare reminds me of Poland a lot. Chemists (or pharmacies) there work a little differently to chemists here in Aus and other Western countries. Chemists there do stock comsoceutical skincare and makeup, however you don’t usually pick it up from the shelves yourself. Everything is kept behind the counter. Now days with some bigger chemists you can browse a few shelves of products, but generally you have to ask for someone to get the product for you. That way they can automatically help you with your purchase, making sure you have picked the correct product for your skin concern. It’s pretty fun, it makes the whole experience seem ‘all professional’ 🙂

So now for the fun part – here are some of my favourite cosmoceutical brands and skincare products!

FutureDerm Time-Release Retinol 0.5 

Vitamin A (also called Retinol) is one of the very few ingredients out there that is proven to reverse signs of ageing (wrinkles and sun damage). It also helps regulate oil production (sebum) so when I was younger my dermatologist would often prescribe me a retinol cream. It can irritate your skin a bit, so it’s good to start off with a small percentage of the stuff and work your way up and introduce it into your routine slowly (irritation usually subsides after a few days – and when I say irritation I mean, red skin or some tingling). This retinol is unique because its a gel. It absorbs into your skin instantly and I experience NO irritation when I started using it, which is amazing! I remember that the prescribed retinol creams from the chemist not only used to irritate my skin, but they would often make my skin worse acne wise (this can be a side effect in the early stages of using a retinol) and this would sometimes no subside at all, so some forms of retinol I could not use. You can imagine how annoying that is, using a product that is supposed to eventually make your skin better, but instead irritates it, makes it MUCH worse and then you gotta deal with making it better which takes even longer… It must be the unique formulation of the product as I’ve heard from a few people that they didn’t experience any irritation with it either.

I only use it every second night (under my nightly moisturiser). I don’t use it during the day as retinol can enhance the effects of UV light so your more prone to sunburn and sun damage (not cool!), so make sure that you use a sunscreen during the day even if you only use it at night. Also – don’t use it along with chemical exfoliants (AHA’s and BHA’s) or peroxide acne treatments (or you will end up with red spots all over your face where you used the peroxide cream – trust me I know from experience!).

The earlier you start using this stuff the better! It will protect your skin and help reverse any damage that may have already occurred to your skin. If you can use it every night – awesome! I don’t only because the other nights I use a chemical exfoliant serum on my face, so I alternate between the two.

You can find it here for $54.95 USD monies.

Another awesome FutureDerm product is their Vitamin CE Caffeic Serum. I use it every morning, beneath my moisturiser. It contains 16% vitamin C and 2% vitamin E. It is a powerful antioxidant serum which brightens your skin tone, enhances UVA/UVB protection and helps reduce sun spots. It also contains a silicone base which gives you a smooth surface if you put on makeup. You can find it here  for $89 USD monies.

FutureDerm is a wonderful company, the founder is Nicki Zevola who began by writing a blog reviewing popular skincare products from a scientific point of view (she is a medicine student). She decided to start her own company and produce products that work using scientifically proven ingredients in revolutionary formulations. I highly recommend her blog also!

I also like the Skinceuticals Vitamin CE Ferulic Acid Serum, however it is not only more expensive but I believe the formulation of the Futurederm serum works better after comparing the two (I used to buy mine from here if anyone is interested).

Ultraceuticals Even Skintone Serum

As I mentioned, I use this one every other night under my nightly moisturiser. It is wonderful for sooo many reasons! I’ve gone through at least 4-5 bottles (and they do last a while!). It is a chemical exfoliant using AHAs and BHA’s (as well as some other awesome ingredients) to speed up cell turnover, keep skin CLEAR (awesome!), helps minimise inflammation (something those prone to breakouts and pimples experience unfortunately) and re-texturises your skin. They also have a ‘mild’ version in case you have sensitive skin or if your are starting out with chemical exfoliants for the first time and an even more concentrated version for those that want something hard core 😛 it’s probably best to not get ahead of ourselves and work our way up…

You can buy it here online for $100 AUS monies and you can also find it in selected salons. It really is worth every penny. You can use your regular nightly moisturiser over the top or wrinkle treatment. They have a new serum called the Ultra Brightening Serum which also exfoliates your skin but also targets discolouration and pigmentation. I think I will try that one when my Even Skintone Serum finishes up! Ultraceuticals is an Australian brand created by Dermatologist Dr. Heber. I reckon he would be lovely as he has personally answered some of my questions online (I was asking about product interaction with the medication I was taking at the time for my skin). So they would be happy to answer any of your questions/concerns via email 🙂 Good service is really hard to find these days, and I have never been disappointed with both FutureDerm and Ultraceuticals!

The last product I wanted to tell you about is the Dermalogica Age Reversal Eye Complex. 

I use this eye cream every night. It packs a punch with both Retinol and Vitamin C to help strengthen the skin. It also has Licorice, Soy and Rice Bran extract to help reduce pigmentation and dark circles. It ALSO contains Niacinamide, Bisabolol and Caffeine to help reduce puffiness and again brighten the eye area. It’s quite hydrating without being to heavy. I don’t have wrinkles as such, but my eye area gets quite dry (the skin around your eyes has less glands producing oils – hence being more dry than other areas of the face) and I have a few dehydration lines which this plumps out. I also use it as prevention – that never hurts does it? 😛 Dermalogica is another great Australian brand and I buy this spiffy product from Adore Beauty, a great Australian online beauty store (which now has free shipping on all orders placed within Australia – sorry Greenlanders – all the time, yay!) for $72.25 AUS monies.

You can also buy Dermalogica products from their own website me thinks and selected beauty salons.

That’s all folks (for now!) but let me know if you have tried any of these products, what you thought, or recommend some great cosmoceutical products not mentioned here 🙂 Also, don’t forget to join me on Facebook!

So until next time, stay beautiful 😉

Beauty Bee

P.s I haven’t mentioned any cosmoceutical makeup in this post because ahhh…. I haven’t tried any… so doing so would make a FRAUD. So I hope you understand 🙂

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