Are your Beauty Products Worth It?
One thing that I do for patients who are going to have Microneedling is a skin care product review. I need to make certain that nothing will be applied to the treatment area before or after the procedure that may trigger too much inflammation. Inflammation is the enemy of health from a cellular level to a tissue level. Microneedling causes inflammation as a part of the healing response, so the goal is to manage the inflammation in a way that supports long term skin health.
Recently, as I reviewed the products for a patient, she asked me if her products were any good? When it comes to skin product formulations, how do you know if the active ingredients are potent enough to impart the benefits that the research shows it to have?
The skin care industry has a known practice called “Fairy Dusting.” Fairy dusting is when a brand adds just a tiny, basically useless amount of a trendy or “hero” ingredient so they can put it on the label and market the product around it, even though there’s not enough to actually have any benefit. It’s a classic marketing trick to watch out for. But how can you tell when formulations are not made public for the sake of “trade secrets.”
A big hint about whether or not your product has enough active ingredient is given based upon the order that ingredients are listed. If a product says it’s all about a certain ingredient but that ingredient’s way down on the list, it probably doesn’t have enough of it to actually do much. Watch out for marketing hype and those so-called “hero” ingredients. Always check the ingredient list yourself to see if those key ingredients are really up near the top. The order of ingredients on skincare labels isn’t random—it tells you what you’re actually putting on your skin. Knowing this helps you pick products that fit your skincare goals. And don’t forget, everyone’s skin is different, so what works for one person might not work for another. Keeping an eye on the ingredient order is a great way to make smarter choices for your skin.
The ingredients recommended for use after microneedling are definitely “worth it” if you can get them in a potent form:
Niacinamide
Copper Peptides
Hyaluronic Acid
Squalene Oil - derived from plant sources please! It’s better for you and the environment
Aloe Vera
The ingredients that should be avoided for at least 5 days before and after microneedling are:
AHAs (Alpha Hydroxy Acids) like glycolic acid, lactic acid, mandelic acid
BHAs (Beta Hydroxy Acids) like salicylic acid
PHAs (Polyhydroxy Acids) like gluconolactone
Retinoic acid / Retinoids (not technically an acid, but often lumped in and just as irritating)
Ascorbic acid (Vitamin C in its pure acid form—can be irritating)
Azelaic acid
Kojic acid
Trichloroacetic acid (TCA) – often used in deeper peels
Basically, any exfoliating or highly active acid should be avoided 3–5 days before and after microneedling, since your skin barrier will already be compromised by the treatment and more prone to irritation, inflammation, or even scarring.