Home Skincare Vs Specialist Treatments: What’s the Difference?

Skincare routines are easily shaped and hard to forget, but there is always a difference between a home skincare regimen and the services you receive at a specialist appointment. If you have never used both in tandem or haven’t been able to see the difference, let’s discuss what they both entail. We will also cover why both have substantial benefits and deserve a place in any routine.

Skincare centres and specialist treatments

If you have not been to a skincare centre or had a specialist treatment before it might seem a little bit daunting. Skincare centres like Liberty Belle Skin Centre will typically have trained professionals who administer specialist treatments to address or approve areas of concern. These treatments might be invasive or they could be a minimally invasive procedure, but they can have a big impact on your skin.

The desired outcome

The outcome you are expecting is really going to govern whether a home or in-treatment option is best for you. If you are expecting to treat concerns like sun damage or pigmentation, then a treatment skincare centre is going to be the way to go. If you want a little more brightness or a deep exfoliation, then a home treatment might be more than enough. Get clear on what you want to achieve before choosing the right format.

Reputation matters

When choosing a skincare centre or a product to use in your home, reputation really matters. You want to know what kind of ingredients are being used in a clinical environment and in the products we put on our faces as they will have a significant impact on our performance and potentially our health. Just because two products appear to have the same active ingredients, does not mean they are used in the same volume and sometimes the added ingredients can have a great variance in quality.

Before you head into your skin care centre for treatment ask them what sort of products they use so you are aware of what is to come. Any good clinician or beauty therapist will enquire about your skin routine and any allergies or skin sensitivities before they apply a product but it is important that you take on some of this responsibility.

The treatment itself

Let’s look at a facemask as an example. If you are getting a facial done in a skincare centre they are going to have the appropriate hot towel, Call steam technology, the right application tools and the advantage of applying all these products to your clean face while you relax. A facemask in a packet, while still effective will be in no way comparable to end in clinic facial. As a result of this contrast, you can expect to see a huge variance in the price of a home treatment compared to treatment in the chair at a clinic.

If you are pursuing a treatment that is invasive, you can try and do this at home but it might be a risk that is simply not worth it. You can buy derma rollers to use on your skin, but this will not be as effective as having a dermabrasion treatment in a clinic. The same goes for laser and light therapy – you want to have a trained and experienced professional conducting this treatment.

Understand your commitment and frequency

Another factor to consider when comparing in-clinic and at-home treatments is what your commitment is in terms of frequency. If you are looking to treat acne scarring, pigmentation, sun damage or any concern of that nature – there is often more than one treatment required to see the impact. If the cost of one and more treatments is not realistic for you, then a series of at-home treatments might be a better option.

If possible, try and book in for an initial consultation with your skincare centre of choice and find out what treatment plan they suggest. If the initial consultation highlights that you might require three to four treatments to see results, then you may want to regroup! Although it cannot be understated just how effective these treatments are.

~

We hope that you are feeling more informed about the difference between an at-home treatment and a skincare clinic treatment. In an ideal world, you will be using a combination of the two so explore the right home products for daily use and book in for those clinic treatments at regular intervals to maintain your complexion.