As we age, it’s important to remember to be kind to your skin. Our skin acts differently in various stages of life. Investing in quality products or treatments can elevate the effects aging has on our skin. But how do we know what remedy is right for us?
We all want beautiful, glowing, and healthy skin, so when we are debating between investing our money into skincare or skin treatments, the end goal is the same. Skincare and skin treatments are two of the most popular components of the beauty industry, with influencers sharing photos of high-end products and videos of receiving facials from celebrity dermatologists. However, for many, it can be difficult to decide what is worth the high price tag, and what is not.
The products and services you choose to purchase for your skin ultimately come down to the specific goals you want to achieve. As we age, it’s important to invest in your skin. But with hundreds of skin care products on the market, it can be difficult to know what will be the most effective. Skin treatments can be expensive, and it’s hard to know which service is right for you. Longevity Live Paid Content.
What Does Skincare Do for You?
Skincare is the practice of consistently applying lotions, creams, and cleansers to maintain and improve your skin’s appearance. It can also consist of getting proper nutrients through food and avoiding excessive exposure to the sun. Skincare can be used to treat small problems, but the overall purpose is to protect your skin from damage in the future and maintain your skin’s current status.
Keeping your skin moisturized and protecting the skin barrier can help prevent issues in the future that can increase the appearance of aging. Some issues skin care helps prevent include:
- Skin sensitization
- Sun damage
- Broken capillaries
- Skin cancer
- Hyperpigmentation
- Rosacea
- Redness
- Premature signs of aging
The Limits of Skincare
Unfortunately, skincare cannot perform miracles for our skin. Even prescription-strength skin care products are not going to solve all the issues you have with your skin, and the effects they do have may not be very long-term. If you are looking to get rid of the dark circles under your eyes, pitted acne scars, or sun damage, you may need to look beyond skincare for answers.
What Are Skin Treatments?
While you may be very familiar with skin care, skin treatments are much different and less common. Skin treatments go beyond facials that you can get at any spa or beauty salon, they involve advanced technology and innovative techniques to permanently improve your skin.
Some common skin treatments include:
- Plasma skin rejuvenation
- Microneedling
- Acne scar treatment
- Microdermabrasion
- Chemical peels
- Laser resurfacing
- LED Treatment
Unlike skincare, skin treatments are not something you can, or should, do on your own at home. These procedures should be conducted by a professional esthetician or dermatologist because they treat the skin at a deeper level than skincare can.
What do Skin Treatments Do?
Skin treatments can improve the appearance of skin much more drastically than skincare can, fixing problems like uneven skin tone, texture, hyperpigmentation, fine lines, and wrinkles. Investing in skin treatments can improve the damage our skin develops from years of harmful effects like sun damage and acne.
What Should You Invest in?
If you are wondering which of the two you should invest your money into, the answer lies in what concerns you want to solve. There are a lot of skincare products out there that don’t really do a lot despite their high price. Even products that do work the way they’re advertised are still not going to give you the results you’re looking for if the issues you have are deeper in your skin.
Both skincare and skin treatments are important for achieving your skin goals, however when deciding which one is worth a higher price, skin treatments are probably going to be your best bet. Skincare that gets the job done can be relatively cheap, and as long as you don’t have acne or another skin issue, all you really need is a good cleanser, moisturizer, and SPF.
However, skin treatments are different; they need to be performed by a professional, and because of this they can be expensive. This is also why they can give you more dramatic results than skincare can.
A helpful way to look at the two is to see skincare as maintenance, and skin treatments as a way to improve the appearance of the skin. If you are happy with your skin, invest in your skincare to maintain that glow. As we age, we can become hard on ourselves. Instead of beating yourself up, decide to invest in skin treatments that can change your skin. If you have issues that you think treatments could solve, talk to an esthetician or dermatologist about what treatments could help you.
Who is the author?
Jenn Walker is a freelance writer, blogger, dog enthusiast, and avid beach-goer operating out of Southern New Jersey.
Main photo credit: Shiny Diamond from Pexels