Used to work for one of the large beauty retailers and they would tell us to tell customers that the products are medical grade "cosmoceuticals" but it was all fake because there is no entity checking these claims so they get away with charging 2 or 3 times more

Marketing speak always makes me sceptical. So little of the language itself is regulated to mean anything that I get a bit frustrated. Thanks for conveying sometimes complex ideas in an understandable and accessible way.

You are the beacon of truth that we all needed. Your videos are so helpful.

Also what’s the deal with medical “grade” products always having essential oils in them. Like the stank itself is so gross I feel like they haven’t caught up to the rest of the industry that seems to be making more and more essential oil free and fragrance free products to cater to a larger market it’s just so weird to me when a company adds limonene and linalool and citrus oils because I thought those were kinda known to add to some damage when in the sun light? Or cause way more sensitivity.

You are a breath of fresh air. Once again clearing away the cobwebs to expose the truth. Thank you. May you please take care and stay safe.

tbh i put my trust more on huge established drugstore brands than small 'medical grade' brands because i believe there's more research going behind the former with the formulation especially. if i want more efficacy i'll use prescription products e.g. tretinoin, hydroquinone, etc.

This reminds me of food packaging that says "All Natural", it means nothing legally speaking.

So so SO important to know! I fell for Secret’s “Clinical Strength Deodorant” and it turns out that it has the exact same percentage of it’s active ingredient as literally every other deodorant they make. So disappointed to find out I’d been spending an extra 2+ dollars just for marketing.

i got the whole of r/esthetics mad at me when i told them this, it really is hard preaching the truth man

wow THANKS FOR CLARIFYING THIS

True I've tried very expensive medical grade moisturisers and there not as good as my cheap moisturiser for keeping my skin lookn well

Yessssss! I get soooo annoyed with the stuff they come up with just to sell us products🥴

Thank you for cutting through the hype. Saves me money.

Thank you for sharing understanding.

Honestly these fancy sounding non regulated terms are a warning in themselves at this point

I went and bought a stupid 40$ sunscreen because my esthetician convinced me that medical grade is better (from their clinic). Sometimes I question my intelligence and this is embarassing.

Maybe off topic, but I don't understand why some brands like e.g. Eucerin is sold only in pharmacies not in drug stores-cosmetic stores in Austria.

I do like pharmacy brands or derm recommended brands like cerave, cetaphil, avene, la roche posay, bioderma but i have to agree medical grade skincare is kinda bogus.

I would love to hear your thoughts on skinceuticals and those Dr. Barbara Sturm brands that are so $$$ and are always emphasizing their heavy clinical research for their products to justify their price tag.

I believe in South East Asian countries, cosmetic with high concentration of peeling agent and tooth whitening/bleaching products are required to only be sold applied by professionals. So, this term might be accurate for those products here...

I am a little confused with utube dermatologists claiming that their product line is superior because of the 'delivery processes' of the actives that includes encapsulation. Is encapsulated just another term for an extra part added to the molecule that your skin needs to remove so the active can be in a form that skin responds too.

And this is different than prescription skin treatments if course, right. Prescriptions are necessary because those products *do* contain a concentration level that needs to get medically necessary?

Ngl though zo skin and Alsatian have LEGIT changed my skin so I do like them compared to drugstore

So basically SPF is the best anti ager that’s what I’m basically understanding from u and the British dermatologist lady

Im guessing you are talking about skincare only not cosmetic products in general? At least in Spain products sold as professional grade or even higher medical grade arent sold to the public, like lets say a 35% strenght peeling to 50% peeling are sold to estheticians and doctors only, higher percentage to doctors only, same goes to a lot of other products intended to be used for professional treatments

only

Never knew this, realistically our governments should be regulating it more tightly

Then what’s your thoughts on obagi

Can you please do a video of the efficacy comparison and the pros & cons of Tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate (like in Truth Treatments) vs L-ascorbate Vit C (like Timeless)? Thanks so much.

I feel the one that are high standards is prescription. Idk if you saw the paper where they compared the % upon use of different vitA products and the OTC were not stable enough to deliver the promised % when ready to use or a month in. Prescription, I think, has to ensure the % until expiration date/open time, which is ofc more testing

Just because some companies use shady marketing tactics with the term "medical grade" to upgrade their status and justify higher prices, doesn't mean the term means nothing. Medical grade in Europe means there is a bigger percentage of the active ingredient in said products, have research AND extended clinical trials, and can only be prescribed by practicing doctors. And all three must apply for a product to be considered medical grade for personal use. Products that are used in clinics/spa centers are regulated automatically by the center's licence. F.e., here not all spa centers can use medical grade products, because there are levels in licences. The "here" is EU, so all countries within the EU are under the same european law regarding spa licences. There is no need for the term to be regulated specifically since it is already regulated peripherically. Let's say, products with glycolic acid, hydroquinone or retinoids. Over the counter products are regulated to have only up to a certain percentage; medical grade products have higher percentage of the active ingredient. F.e. hydroquinone only up to 2%, the medical grade is around 4%; glycolic acid is up to 20%, medical grade is up to 40%, etc. As for clinical trials, yes some over the counter products do present some sort of clinical trial. However, and not sorry, this --> "Usage test: 20 volunteers. Results: % of satisfaction after one application" and this --> "Usage test: 80 participants. Time period: three weeks. Desired results: X number showed significant improvement, Y number showed mediocre/light/no improvement, X number showed irritation/intolerance" are simply not the same. If anything, spa licences in some countries should be regulated more strictly, not the term. And idk if spa licences is FDA jurisdiction

Wait but how? I'm an esthetician and we do use products that penetrate into the deeper layers - the jessner peel goes all the way into the dermis, as I think does the vipeel. Maybe these brands aren't what you mean when you say "medical grade" as far as regulatory - but there ABSOLUTELY ARE highly potent products that can cause burning and have major contraindications if not properly trained on the protocol. I usually agree w your takes but this one is a little vague

Not sure if this is right but here.....High research standards, purity and safety regulated by the FDA. Medical grade skin care products must have clinical research studies to back up any claims about their benefits.