What are Cosmeceuticals

I recently came across a new word, well new to me, & that word is Cosmeceuticals. Of course this was all thanks to Susan's Blog called SwiftCraftyMonkey. I wanted to share the definition of this word and my thoughts with you all, because I think it is important to know.

The definition of Cosmeceuticals is the following "a cosmetic that has or is claimed to have medicinal properties, especially anti-aging ones." I also found this on the FDA's website; "The term "cosmeceutical" has no meaning under the law. While the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) does not recognize the term "cosmeceutical," the cosmetic industry uses this word to refer to cosmetic products that have medicinal or drug-like benefits. A product can be a drug, a cosmetic or both. The FD&C Act defines drugs as those products that cure, treat, mitigate or prevent disease or that affect the structure or function of the human body, if a product makes such claims it will be regulated as a drug. Cosmetics are intended to beautify, promote attractiveness, alter appearance or cleanse; they are not approved by FDA for sale nor are they intended to effect structure or function of the body. " I found this info HERE

So according to the FDA they don't acknowledge the term Cosmeceutical. They either call a product a cosmetic, a drug or both. If you didn't know a cosmetic can also be a drug, well then listen up :) If a cosmetic claims to treat any disease, this can be as simple as treating acne, dandruff, eczema, etc. then it is also a drug. So if you are not having your products approved by the FDA then you can not claim your face wash fights acne. You could say it's good for oily/acne prone skin, but not that it will cure it. Just watch how you word things ;) If you want to know more about this topic then watch my video here.

So, why do I want to talk about Cosmeceuticals again? Because apparently this is a word used in the skincare community and I want to understand it and share the term with you all. (Even though I can barely even pronounce it. lol)

So not every product is a Cosmeceutical, it's basically just products that include "active ingredients" that can have benefits to the skin like anti-aging, exfoliating, firming, brightening, etc. (I'll give examples of Cosmeceutical ingredients soon)

A typical product that isn't considered a Cosmeceutical will just moisturize, hydrate, or make you smell nice. So uhhmmm, I guess now a days almost every product is a Cosmeceutical. Except for like body wash and maybe some face washes. Typically rinse off products won't contain a cosmeceutical ingredient, since the product is washed off the skin, and it is just a waste of an ingredient.

So here are examples of some "cosmeceutical ingredients." I like to call these "Active Ingredients" (I'm not sure if "active ingredient" is the correct term, so correct me if I'm wrong, this is just how I like to think of these ingredients.)

- - - Niacinamide, Alpha Arbutin, Fruit Enzymes, DMAE, Peptides, Panthenol, Allantoin, Retinol, Botanical Extracts, Vitamin C, Salicylic Acid, Lactic Acid, Co Enzyme Q10, Etc. This is really only a few of them, the list could go on for so long! But I hope you get the idea of what a cosmeceutical ingredient is now.

Now as I said, I only just learned of this word, so if you know any more information or need to correct me on anything, feel free! :) I'm always open to constructive criticism. Also keep in mind since Cosmeceutical isn't technically a "regulated" term by the FDA it could have many meanings depending on the person defining it. Kinda like the word "Natural"

We have worked with some cosmeceuticals on my channel is the past (ex. Retinol, CoQ10, Panthenol, Niacinamide, Allantoin, & AHA's) A lot of Cosmeceutical ingredients can be tricky to work with. It's not as simple as adding the ingredient in and calling it done. A lot of cosmeceutical ingredients are heat sensitive, ph sensitive, not active with other ingredients, Etc. So keep that in mind when working with these "Cosmeceutical ingredients", or "Active Ingredients"

Btw, this blog won't have a youtube video to go along with it. This is an exclusive patreon only post. I'm trying to make some exclusive content here on my patreon for you all when I have some free time :)

What are Cosmeceuticals.pdf

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