Professional vs. Drugstore Skincare: What Actually Differs

The short version: professional products usually carry higher concentrations of the ingredients that do the work, and they come with someone who can tell you which one your skin needs. Drugstore products are made to be safe for almost anyone to pick up without advice, which usually means milder. Neither is always the right answer.

Where professional products earn their price

• Treatment steps. Serums, exfoliating acids and retinol products are where concentration and formulation matter most.
• A specific problem. Breakouts, dark spots or fine lines respond to the right active ingredient at a strength that works.
• Advice. A product chosen for your skin by someone who has looked at it closely beats three products chosen by guessing in an aisle.

Where a drugstore product is fine

• A basic cleanser. It is on your skin for under a minute. Gentle matters more than expensive.
• A plain moisturizer, if your skin is not asking for anything special.
• Sunscreen, as long as it is SPF 30 or higher and you actually wear it every day.

How to decide

Spend where the product stays on your skin and has a job to do. Save where it rinses off. And do not add several strong products at once: if your skin reacts, you will not know which one did it.

The skincare in the Spathetics shop is what Ashley recommends to her clients. If you would like her opinion on what you are using now, bring it up at your next appointment.