Going Professional with Actives

• When it comes to actives, how much is enough?
• How much should I apply?
• When talking results how fast is fast?
• Is it OK to just up-scale my current range or do I have to start again?

Before we answer these questions it is important to note that legally spa products are, unless prescribed by a medical professional in a medi-spa, cosmetic first, professional product second and for that reason the usual laws around safety standards must be adhered to:

• Products should be safe for their intended use which includes parameters such as pH, activity, irritation potential both long and short term, physical form, ingredient wise and microbiologically.
• Products should be packaged and stored in a way that maintains their integrity.
• Products should be applied in accordance to their use instructions to prevent adverse reactions.
• Products used in a spa should be in their tested shelf life period.
• Products and services involving the products should not make false promises about their efficacy.

There are three key differences between the in-spa and at-home setting requiring our consideration.

1. The spa setting is a controlled professional environment and as such the product dose is usually quite uniform between clients and close to optimal (based on either manufacturers instructions or therapist acquired learning).
    
2. The spa has the benefit of a wealth of practical knowledge and documented evidence covering various skin types, treatment plans, management of those with underlying skin and health conditions, potential reactions, comfort levels and speed of results.
    
3. Monitoring of both spa hygiene and conformity and client skin management is both measurable and recorded leaving less room for doubt about what was done and what resulted.

I call this the professional product choice triangle and if you can't tick off all three then I'd strongly suggest that you don't 'go professional' with your skin care!

The fact that the spa environment is controlled, thoughtful and experienced in handling the skin-product interface is the very reason why spa products can push the boundaries more than take-home brands but that doesn't come without limits. These days many spa treatments include the use of machinery and practices that enable products to penetrate deep into the dermis: deep tissue massage, heat, abrasion, lasers and galvanic currents are just some of the more common techniques and also need considering. The fact that these alter the function and integrity of the skin even before a cosmaceutical is used is key in terms of getting the safety right although exploring these goes beyond the scope of this article.

So, given that you have all of the above sorted we should go back to our original musings and think about the products chemistry and how you can be the master of it!

When it comes to actives, how much is enough?

As expected, this depends on the ingredient but in general all ingredients have a practical limit to use and there are some ingredients where more just isn't better. The skin can only take so much before it either gets irritated or saturated, neither of which makes good business sense. Pairing a highly active formula with a semi- invasive procedure may double the activity and the fore double the likelihood of you reaching the above state sooner which is why even if you are using your normal products in a spa setting with added oomph from a machine you may need to do some more efficacy testing!

In general the only real way to know if you have reached the limit in terms of activity or application procedure is to do your research on each individual ingredient and then run some tests to see if your combination works on the skin. Keep in mind that while different actives may work on different skin conditions or at different levels of the skin it is reasonable to expect that the skin has a limit to what it can do in one sitting - think how stressed you would be if you had to stand on your head, rub your tummy and recite happy birthday while holding a pencil between your toes...

For New Directions customer this ingredient information can be found either on our website or by sending an enquiry through to the help desk. Otherwise a general web search can be a good place to start although you do have to look out for evidence that supports both the same form and activity as your ingredient plus how YOU are using it as that does matter.

Secondly it pays to remember that some common actives have been regulated by the European Union in order to keep consumers and operators safe.

Here are some common ones to look out for but remember that these can change at any time so keep an eye out on the EU COSING Web Page for the most current data:

1. AHA, BHA and PHA based products should maintain a safe pH and active level. Some examples are:
    
   • A) Salicylic acid is only allowed at a max of 2% in the EU
   • B) Glycolic acid 4% min pH of 4.8
   • C) Lactic acid 2.5% min pH 5
      
2. Retinol can be highly irritating and shouldn't be used in day creams due to its photo-irritation potential. Be mindful of the form of retinol that you are adding as some are more active than others and some can't be used in cosmetics AT ALL (they are medicines).
    
3. The use of peroxide for skin or teeth bleaching is restricted to 4% in skincare and 3.6% in teeth whitening

How much should I apply?

If you are designing your own professional range this is the point when you have to get out the calculator. Ingredient manufacturers and/or suppliers will be able to give you guidelines on how much to add to your product to get an effect. From there you have to consider how you are using the ingredient and how much of the body the treatment will cover - keeping in mind that a whole-body treatment will be more likely to irritate than one applied just to the face, a leave-on (say, under a hot wrap) more likely to irritate than a rinse off. However, the only real fail-safe way of knowing is to do some efficacy testing on people in a lab setting to ensure that your product/ application combo is working for you.

When talking results how fast is fast?

To be honest this is really a marketing thing as all therapists would know that it will take at least one skin cycle to see real lasting benefits from a new regimen. However, products containing instant firming or plumping agents can leave the skin looking younger right away as can a good massage! Really this is up to you and your honesty to spell out for the client. If you promise too much too soon they will leave you hanging!

And finally, is it OK to just up-scale my current range or do I have to start again?

Well yes and no. If your basic range is quite basic then you may be able to just retrofit it with some fancy actives however, not all ingredients can be added to a pre-manufactured base with ease. Typical examples of difficult 'ingredients' include:

• Anything-in powdered form - you need to pre-wet or disperse before adding or you may get a grainy end product.
• Acids - may react with certain thickeners and either break or gel them. May 'shock' the system and break an emulsion.
• Essential Oils - may thin or break an emulsion especially if used at high levels (in excess of 0.8%)
• Salicylic Acid - This is hard to solubilize and needs pre-treating.

And these are more forgiving:

• Liquid herbal extracts
• Retinyl Palmitate, Vitamin B Liquid, Vitamin C liquid.
• Fruit acid AHA blend (if used as directed)

Otherwise please note:

• The use of perfumes should be limited given the higher potential for irritation of highly active products so doesn't consider up-sizing a really perfumed base.
• Some actives shouldn't be paired together due to incompatibilities that could raise the potential for irritation e.g.: AHA's and proteins, retinol and citrus oils, metals and vitamin C.

While there is a lot to consider, there is much to gain by going professional in a calm and considered way and what better way to get started than with the help of New Directions. Our team is waiting for your call to take your brand to the next level!

Amanda Foxon-Hill

22 January 2013