Body care has come a long way in recent years. As dermatologists, we’d like to explain some of the new developments in this field and address common questions about body care products and treatments.
Body care has evolved significantly in recent years, offering more sophisticated options for those looking to care for their skin comprehensively. From advanced ingredients like PHAs and retinoids to professional treatments like medical needling and focussed ultrasound therapies, there are now numerous ways to address body skin concerns. And remember, body skin care is not just about aesthetics. It’s about maintaining the health of your skin, which is your body’s largest organ.
We are now increasingly seeing skincare ingredients traditionally used in facial products being incorporated into body care products. This trend reflects a growing understanding that the skin on our body deserves the same level of care as facial skin. Advanced skincare ingredients and formulations are now increasingly being developed specifically for use below the neck. However, do we actually need dedicated products for the body?
Is Dedicated Body Skincare Really Necessary?
A common question we encounter is whether specific body skincare is really necessary. To address this, it’s important to appreciate that well-nourished, firm, and smooth skin is part of a beautiful body. It’s also crucial to remember that the skin on your body – especially the lower legs – has fewer and less active oil glands compared to the face. As a result, body skin is often drier than facial skin. Regular moisturizing and exfoliating of body skin helps keep it in good condition.
Because the skin on your body is likely to be drier than on your face, it can have very different needs from facial skin. Body skin may benefit from added moisturization with richer products, while using lipid rich products on the face may make you break out, which is why using dedicated body skincare often makes sense.
Simple body lotions increase skin hydration, which is beneficial for overall skin health. More advanced products can provide additional benefits, such as anti-aging and skin firming effects.
When it comes to active ingredients, using your facial products on the body if you want the most powerful benefits, makes perfect sense in theory. However, this approach may be cost-prohibitive for many, given the large surface area of the body. Also, for certain ingredients such as vitamin A derivatives, legal regulations allow different concentrations of active ingredients in facial skincare compared to body care, in order to keep you safe, as it is thought that there may in theory be significant systemic resorption from whole body application. Whether or not this really is a problem in practice, remains controversial.
Now, let’s look at some active ingredients!
Advanced Skincare Ingredients For The Body
Traditionally, body skincare primarily included AHAs (alpha hydroxy acids) such as glycolic and lactic acid. These ingredients help with exfoliation and keep the skin smooth. However, we are now seeing more advanced hydroxy acids being used in body care products.
One example are PHAs (poly hydroxy acids) such as gluconolactone and lactobionic acid. These innovative ingredients not only provide exfoliation and smooth the skin, but can also help the skin holding water and offer additional benefits such as moisturizing and anti-inflammatory properties, while being gentler compared to AHAs, making them suitable even for sensitive skin types. Some PHAs including gluconolactone and lactobionic acid even have anti-glycation properties, which is very exciting.
Glycation is a reaction where sugar molecules, such as glucose, react with proteins, lipids, or nucleic acids, forming advanced glycation end-products (AGEs). In the skin, glycation primarily affects proteins like collagen and elastin, leading to their cross-linking and the formation of AGEs. This cross-linking process results in the stiffening of the connective tissue, loss of elasticity, and contributes to the ageing appearance of the skin. The anti-glycation PHAs mentioned help prevent the glycation process, thus maintaining skin structure and elasticity better. Specifically, gluconolactone is known for its effectiveness in reducing AGEs and improving skin tone and texture.
Another significant development is the increased use of retinoids in body skincare. Retinoids, which are vitamin A derivatives, are known to not only exfoliate the skin, but also boost collagen production in the dermal matrix. Their use in body care products makes sense, as the skin on our body benefits from matrix stimulation just as much as our facial skin does.
Scented vs. Unscented Body Skincare
The topic of fragrances in body skincare products is an important one. As dermatologists, we generally recommend using fragrance-free skincare formulations. The reason for this is that fragrance is an allergen, and people may develop allergies to it. The more often fragrance is used and the larger the amounts, the higher the cumulative risk of developing an allergy. It’s crucial to understand that once you become allergic to a fragrance, it will likely remain with you for the rest of your life. However, fragrance is difficult to avoid, as many products we come into contact with daily (not just skincare) are fragranced, so you really don’t want a fragrance allergy.
This is why it’s wise to be cautious when it comes to scented body care products. Fragrance provides no skincare benefits as such and is a common cause of allergic reactions, especially for those who are eczema- and allergy prone. Additionally, certain fragrances may make skin more sensitive to sunlight, increasing the risk of sunburn and damage.
For certain groups, such as eczema- and allergy prone individuals, we advise avoiding fragranced skincare products altogether. This is because their risk of developing an allergy is higher than the average population. However, for the rest of you, it’s a personal choice, as long as you are aware of the potential risk.
A word of caution for those trying to avoid fragranced skincare: it’s important to know that you should also avoid linalool and limonene. These terpene derivatives are often used as fragrance replacements by companies (they have a citrusy scent themselves), but they can be as allergenic as synthetic fragrances. So, if you want to be careful, I recommend avoiding not only products with fragrance or perfume on the ingredient list, but also linalool and limonene. It’s worth noting that these compounds can also be naturally present in essential oils.
In-Clinic Body Care Devices
When it comes to in-clinic treatment technology for the body, we’re observing a similar trend. Advanced facial anti-ageing technologies such as Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP), Exokine and Exosome Needling are now being increasingly applied to body skin. Additionally, there are various energy based devices available for the body now, including lasers, LED light, radiofrequency and focused ultrasound like Ultherapy (the latter can stimulate collagen production in the skin without any downtime).
We use various energy based devices here at Eudelo, but are also passionate advocates of advanced forms of medical needling as a very natural form of treatment to help the skin to help itself. Techniques such as PRP, Exokine, or Exosome Needling (where growth factors are infused into the skin via medical needling) can be highly effective on the body to increase collagen production, and improve skin elasticity, and firmness. However, it’s important to clarify that we are referring to deep medical needling performed in a clinical setting, rather than superficial needling done at home. The latter only helps ingredients penetrate the skin, rather than directly stimulating the deeper dermal matrix, where our collagen and elastin live.
In summary, by understanding the unique needs of body skin and the range of products and in-clinic treatments available, you can develop a body care routine that helps you maintain healthy, beautiful skin from head to toe.
If you have questions or concerns relating to body care, allergic reactions to skincare products, or are interested in advanced in-clinic treatments, our highly qualified Eudelo Dermatology team is available to offer expert advice. Contact us today and get the right advice for your body skin care needs and overall skin health.
Whether you have a medical skin condition which needs treatment or simply want to look your very best, our specialised dermatology team will help you achieve the very best result.
