Cosmeceuticals vs. Natural skin care – “Should I feel guilty about using skin care products that contain non-natural ingredients?”

Skin care is a very expansive field. Walk down the health and beauty aisle at any drug or department store and you are likely to be bombarded with moisturizers, night creams, eye creams, butt creams, everything you can think of! The average lady (or gent) perusing the aisles is likely to become overwhelmed. I mean, exactly what is an AHA? Why does that foot cream have so many ingredients? You really need to be armed with a slew of information in order to get the most of your visit.

Lately, there has been a big shift in buying to natural products. Many people (including myself) have chosen to educate themselves about their skin care and decided to make some changes. Many of the traditional products found on the shelves at your local department store contain ingredients that could wash away battery corrosion (okay, that is an exaggeration, but you catch my drift). Because of this, thankfully, consumers are becoming more informed and letting cosmetic manufacturers know “We’re not gonna take it!”. 

Ok, so just what is a cosmetic? In the simplest of terms, a cosmetic is any product that cleanses or beautifies the skin, hair or nails. So then, what is a cosmeceutical? This funny looking word is a combination of “cosmetics” and “pharmaceuticals” (or drugs – legal ones). It’s used to describe products that both beautify (the cosmetic) and treat/prevent (the pharmaceutical). Some examples are dandruff shampoo, antiperspirant deodorants, or a moisturizer that contains alpha hydroxy acid (or AHA). These product both cleanse or beautify and provide a treatment as well. A cosmeceutical will always have an active ingredient. Think about a tube of toothpaste. It always says “Active ingredient: Fluoride”, then it lists the other ingredients.

Sample cosmeceutical ingredient list

In recent times, a big debate concerns the use of natural products versus using products formulated with synthetic ingredients. It took me a while to figure out my position on this topic. I mean I have a natural skin care line. So I should be all natural, all the time, right?

Wrong.

Anyone who follows me on YouTube or knows me knows of my struggle with my skin. They know all about my acne issues. And I mean serious acne issues – cystic acne – that can not be treated by applying Tea Tree Oil (trust me, I tired it all). I finally accepted what I knew as fact: cystic acne forms and lives in the dermis (2^nd layer of skin) and nothing that is not a drug is able to penetrate down to the dermis. Nothing. I came to the conclusion that I had to visit a dermatologist. I visited the derm, and was prescribed a retinol-based, topical gel called Ziana. I was at a crossroad because this product is chocked full of preservatives and fillers. The same preservatives and fillers I was trying to get away from. But, I took a good look in the mirror at the speckled face staring back at me and knew I had to use it.

I began applying the gel very lightly every night, then switched to every other night, using a Vitamin E cream on the nights I didn’t use the gel. Wow! What an improvement I saw in my skin in about 6-8 weeks. I still maintain my “as-natural-as-possible” routine and am very pleased with the results.

The moral of the story is: Don’t be so attached to one specific thing that you don’t get a chance to do what’s right for you. My philosophy has now become that some synthetic ingredients are possible to make a product do a specific thing. I, personally, do not believe that everything can be cured or treated the natural way. I am very thankful, however, that consumers are becoming more aware and expressing an opinion in their skin care formulations.

What do you think? Do you follow an all-natural skin care routine? How do you feel about some of the ingredients that are in your products? Let us know!