The Importance of Using Professional Products

So what is the difference between professional skin care brands and those that you can buy at drugstores?
And what is wrong with using the less expensive drugstore brands?

The answer is simple.  "If the price is low, then the quality and percentage of ingredients must also be low in order for the company to make a profit" (McCormick).*  Drugstore brands are less expensive because they don't have enough active ingredients to address the problems that we want to tackle. "...Many clients know about alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) and its exfoliation and antiaging benefits....  The [active] ingredient [may be] in the product, but there's not enough of it to do what the purchaser believes it will.  For example, a product that has less than 5 percent AHA will soften and moisturize the skin, but will usually not exfoliate" (McCormick).*

Professional brands, which seem pricier, have a higher concentration of active ingredients that will actually help the skin.  Also, using a more concentrated product means you can actually use less product.  With a cheaper product, you have to use more, not to mention it doesn't do much to improve the skin. 

So does buying cheaper brands really save you any money in the long run?  No, not really.

*"Retail Resistance" by Janet McCormick.  Skin Deep.  September/October 2011. Pgs. 13-15.

Photo courtesy of ASCP