What are the best products to use after in-office skincare treatments?
This may sound harsh, but the esthetician who did the treatment should have told you.
However, I’ll be quick and get straight to the point with these general guidelines:
Stick with a gentle, non-medicated cleanser. I prefer an oil cleanser because it’s also nourishing. My favorite oil cleansers:
Next priority is a thick, nourishing moisturizer.
Epionce Enriched Firming Mask - This can be left on overnight as a moisturizer when your skin needs some extra love to thrive.
For Deeper Treatments: Alastin Regenerating Skin Nectar is actual gold. I use this silky nectar after my favorite in-office treatment: microneedling. It's great for deeper lasers as well. The texture is the most unique and truly luxurious. It’s pricey, but one will last you a year and you’ll think it’s 100% worth it after certain treatments.
Drugstore emollients like Aquaphor or Cetaphil healing ointment are also always a great option to help decrease transepidermal water loss and restore the skin barrier.
Okay, now we have that out of the way, let’s talk about the “WHY”…
Why you need certain products after in-office treatments.
Using the right products can enhance treatment results and improve the overall experience by decreasing discomfort and eliciting quicker skin healing.
- These treatments are like an intense workout for your skin.
- Treatments can temporarily disrupt the skin's barrier making even unexpected products cause an uncomfortable sensation
- Your skin needs nourishing repair in the healing process as the skin returns to an improved state post-treatment. Think gentle and thick at every step.
Common Post-Treatment Skin Concerns
Common concerns after treatments are…
- redness, sensitivity, dryness, etc.
- Some in-office treatments convert skin into a sensitized condition
- This means products can cause discomfort,like burning and stinging, even in skin that is not typically reactive.
Ingredients to Look for in Post-Treatment Products
While all of our skin is unique in the way it reacts we generally know that other than good old-fashioned emollients like aquaphor, medical-grade products are best after a procedure.
Sticking with medical-grade products won’t mean you don’t have any issues with discomfort though. The general benefits of using medical-grade products is due to:
- higher quality and efficacy due to superior sourcing and formulation
- specific research of these products after certain treatments
Product texture is so important to consider so that’s why drugstore emollients like Aquaphor or Cetaphil healing ointment can also be a great option in addition to medical-grade products.
Ingredients to Avoid Post-Treatment
It’s very important to avoid active ingredients after a treatment. These can be like throwing water on a grease fire.
- The number one ingredient to avoid is any type of retinoid. General guidelines are to stop 7 days before a treatment and restart 7 days after the treatment, and the esthetician should counsel you.
- Also avoid exfoliants/strong acids
- The skin is in a slightly injured state in order to improve- think of the workout metaphor here. So adding active ingredients can exacerbate post-treatment sensitivity… talk about adding insult to injury.
Need help creating a personalized post-treatment routine?
I got you!
There truly is an art to listening to your skin. Especially when you’re getting started I recommend:
- a personalized consult with experienced skin professionals
- Investing in post-treatment care can maximize their investment.
- Having a daily skincare routine in place to protect the investment you make in your skin with these treatments (the good ones aren’t cheap!)
- Remembering that every individual's skin is unique, and the right products can take trial and error.