Cosmetics are generally understood to be a whole range of care and cleaning products. Roughly, cosmetic products can be divided into.
Body cleansing and care products (for example soap, shower gels, body lotion, hand cream, but also shaving cream and the like)
Hair cleansing and conditioning products (i.e. shampoo, conditioners, hair dye)
Dental care products (especially toothpaste, mouthwash)
deodorants and perfumes
Decorative cosmetics (inter alia: Make-up, powders, concealers, eye shadow, mascara, lipstick).
Skin protection (sunscreen, insect repellent).
What does medical cosmetics include?
Medical cosmetics also includes all these areas. However, a clear definition is not possible. The terms here are fluid and cannot be sharply separated. Medical cosmetics are generally only available in pharmacies. The so-called pharmacy cosmetics developed from the demand for care products for problematic skin. For example, it was about allergies, neurodermatitis, psoriasis, couperose and the like.
There are, for example, shower gels for people with fungal skin diseases, which then contain medicinally active substances, or certain toothpastes that contain active substances against periodontitis. In this case, however, it is more of a medical product, whereas cosmetics by definition (strictly speaking according to the EU Directive) are not a medical product.
Medical cosmetics have few ingredients
Medical cosmetics try to reconcile the demand for cosmetic products for problem skin and the care of this skin without being a medical treatment. Therefore, medical cosmetics use as few ingredients as possible. This is particularly helpful for allergy sufferers. There is a focus on natural ingredients. But it is also important to avoid certain ingredients. For example, fragrances in deodorants are considered particularly allergenic. Tolerance is increased by avoiding such substances. Experts also recommend that skin creams should be free of emulsifiers because emulsifiers are suspected of triggering neurodermatitis.
The great advantage of medical cosmetics is that they are developed taking into account the latest results from medical research, such as dermatology. Treatment with medical cosmetics can also be carried out under medical supervision, for example to treat skin problems such as acne or eczema.
Who is medical cosmetics suitable for?
Medical cosmetics are available for every age group. For babies, for example, the risk of neurodermatitis can be reduced by the right choice of skin care products or the disease can be alleviated by appropriate skin care creams. Sensitive baby skin is protected by particularly effective medical sunscreen. For teenagers, there are medical cosmetics for the treatment of acne or flaky scalp. Of course, there is also an extensive range for mature problem skin or care products whose effectiveness has been proven in scientific tests.
