In this day and age it is common knowledge that people are reaping the benefits of cosmetic treatments such as lasers, injections, and peels paired with medical grade skincare products. Due to the success and popularity of medical grade skincare the online market for these products has become over saturated to the point of fraud. Unfortunately there are many unauthorized retailers trying to profit from the appeal of “medical grade” products at the expense of your skin and wallet.
Most people don’t know that it is illegal for medical grade skincare to be listed for purchase on mass merchant retail sites. This is because these sites have no medical licensing and are not a physician’s practice or a physician run website (like ours). Sites such as Amazon along with many other unauthorized retailers that do not hold a medical license can only sell you fake or counterfeit “medical-grade” products.
Medical grade skincare is only ever authorized to be sold through a physician’s office or through a Medical Spa website which has up to date medical licensing. This is because medical grade ingredients are formulated in a medical grade FDA-approved laboratory. They are potent, non-diluted, active ingredients, and penetrate deep into the middle layer of the skin. Medical grade ingredients are 99.99% bacteria-free, while non-medical grade ingredients can harbor up to 70% bacteria. Each ingredient is platinum level and is not diluted with filler. Medical grade skincare products have higher concentrations of active ingredients than over-the-counter products. The reason why they can have higher concentrations is because those products are being dispensed and overseen by a doctor or physician. Your care can be maintained under a physician’s supervision and you are educated about the products through a trained professional. Products from a department store are formulated for everyone and anyone, and aren’t being overseen by a doctor, so they can only have small amounts of those active ingredients.
Online discount retailer sites clearly do not have medical license, so how is it they are getting away with selling these so called “medical grade” products? They are able to sell these products to consumers because these mass merchant retail sites are simply the hosting site for products coming from businesses classified as “third parties”. No fault then goes to site itself; rather it is the responsibility of the consumer who must know what is authentic and safe to buy and what isn’t.
Everyone loves a good deal, which makes incredible beauty discounts online hard to resist. But let’s take a moment to consider the risks – The best case scenario with counterfeit skincare products is that they are simply worthless and just “don’t work” (they contain no active ingredients). The worst case scenario, and unfortunately significantly more common, is that many of these counterfeit skincare products have been found to contain dangerous levels of lead, mercury, and cyanide. Too often having been formulated in unsanitary factories, often times out of the country, they also may contain traces of urine and rat feces. Aside from compromised ingredients, in skincare the shelf life of a product is also very important. Buying medical grade skincare products from unauthorized retailers may result in old product inventory that is past its prime. I bet you think you’ve never put products containing the previously listed toxins on your skin; that you’ve never purchased counterfeit skincare. Well, if you’ve purchased skincare, makeup, or fragrance off of sites, or any “discounted beauty supply” sites, chances are its counterfeit and you have been using phony products.
The single easiest way you can be sure you’re getting the real deal and staying safe while shopping for medical grade skincare is to buy your products straight from the brand’s authorized and up to date medical licensed Medi-Spa. You might not get the lowest price, but your health, safety and well-being won’t be compromised.
