The skincare sold at your dermatologist’s office or local med spa looks effective. 

Sleek bottles line the shelves with words like “MD” or “clinical” crisply printed on the bottles. When you pick them up to read more, you see claims like epidermal repair or nutrient activating.

Someone in scrubs may have even come over to tell you about how these are cosmeceuticals and unlike drugstore products full of fillers, medical grade skincare penetrates into your skin.

But what’s the real story behind these so-called “medical grade” products?

This is normally where I would start by defining the topic that we’re discussing. This can be difficult with terms like “clean beauty” or “medical grade” as they’re unregulated and only loosely defined. The definition can change depending on who you ask - and some take more liberties than others. In order to better understand what is being told to consumers and the marketing around medical grade skincare, I’ve compiled a list of the most common claims I’ve come across online.

Medical Grade Skincare claims to:

“penetrate deeper into the skin.”

“use higher concentrations of ingredients than over-the-counter products.”

“use only 99% pure pharmaceutical grade ingredients with no filler.”

“require a prescription” or alternatively, “only be available through a professional.” 

If you’re an educated skincare consumer, the alarm bells may already be going off but hold on - we’ll dissect these claims in a second. But the general idea is that medical grade products claim to utilize more effective concentrations of skincare ingredients that get deeper into the skin. And of course these ultra potent, superior formulas are only retailed through professionals.

Cosmetic or Drug?

When we look at skincare, it’s important to understand that we have two types of ingredients: drugs and cosmetics. 

Drugs can either be found in over-the-counter (OTC) products or in medications that require a prescription from a healthcare provider. Prescription medications include both controlled or non-controlled substances - they’re medications that require medical supervision for the patients taking them.  OTC drugs still have potential risks and side effects but are safe enough to take without being under a doctor’s care. All drugs are approved and regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and intended “for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease.”

Cosmetics don’t require FDA approval or clearance due to their low risk but that doesn’t mean there aren’t regulations in place to protect consumers. Cosmetic products can make claims centered on cleansing the skin, beautifying our appearance, and addressing cosmetic concerns but they cannot claim to treat any disease or influence the structure or function of our skin. That isn’t to say that cosmetic ingredients don’t influence skin structure (studies on ingredients like retinol suggest otherwise) but brands cannot make that claim.

Some skincare products on the market are a hybrid of both of these categories. You’ll often see cosmetic products that have drug labels showing the active ingredient (or OTC drug). This can include acne medications like salicylic and benzoyl peroxide, skin protectants like petrolatum and glycerin, or sunscreens. The drug ingredients in these products are regulated the same as any other drug.

It’s important to make this distinction because skincare ingredients are either drugs or cosmetics, there is no in-between. The FDA has come out and announced that there is no such thing as cosmeceuticals either. This means that if a medical grade product does not contain a drug label, it’s a cosmetic just like other skincare.

Medical Grade: Fact or Fiction

In order to get to the bottom of what medical grade skincare is and whether it’s any more effective than other products on the market, we’ll be analyzing the claims one by one. But first, let’s go to the source and ask someone who actually formulates skincare products.

I reached out to Zachariah Kovac, a cosmetic formulator, to ask if there’s actually anything special in medical grade skincare skincare. “Formulators all have the same access to raw materials for various brands,” says Kovac. “There are no special portals or suppliers that only ‘medical grade’ companies have, we all use the same ones.” You can follow him on Instagram and his website for more information on cosmetic formulation and for contract formulation services.

This means that no, medical grade brands aren’t using “ultra pure” or “smaller molecule” ingredients that other brands don’t have access to.

Claim #1: Medical Grade means the ingredients are all pharmaceutical grade

The chemicals used in pharmaceuticals, research, and in the lab are graded based on quality and purity. “Pharmaceutical grade” would be more accurately described as USP-NF grade, a grade used for ingredients that meet the requirements of the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) and National Formulary (NF). They are manufactured, processed, and stored according to the Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) regulations and are suitable for use in pharmaceuticals. 

Typically, the product label will list any individual ingredients that are USP/NF grade (they are usually OTC drugs). This isn’t specific to medical grade brands - Vaseline contains 100% White Petrolatum, USP listed as a skin protectant on the drug panel. Aside from this though, there is no such thing as “cosmetic grade” vs “pharma grade” in skincare. Manufacturers selling cosmetic ingredients provide reports on quality and purity but don’t grade it unless it’s USP. 

Verdict: false 

Claim #2: Medical-grade products use more effective ingredients and/or higher concentrations

Brands formulate products based on their brand philosophy and target customer. Many medical grade brands are aimed at professionals retailing products while drugstore brands need to work for a wide customer base that may not be educated on skincare and therefore may take a gentler approach. But that isn’t to say that you can’t find the same ingredients in medical grade products elsewhere if you look and all brands have access to the same cosmetic ingredients unless they’re patented. 

Verdict: false 

Claim #3: medical grade products penetrate deeper into the skin

This isn’t a claim brands should make about cosmetics but ultimately, desired penetration varies by ingredient. It’s misleading to tell customers that drugstore products just stay on the surface when many ingredients in moisturizers work best there. Meanwhile, ingredients like retinoids have excellent penetration even without any special formulation considerations.

Delivery systems can be desirable for larger, water soluble ingredients and medical grade brands tend to have more budget. Still, many brands that don’t advertise themselves as medical grade use penetration enhancers and delivery systems - like Stratia Skin’s Interface. And whether an ingredient needs “help” will depend on the ingredient.

Verdict: false  

Claim #4: medical grade products are more researched

All brands that take an evidence based approach to skincare are going to put together the best possible products with evidence backed ingredients. Larger cosmetics companies invest a lot in R&D and manufacturers also conduct testing on their ingredients.

Many medical grade brands fund studies on their finished product and while this isn’t a substitute for independent research, it can tell you if that particular product is likely to be effective - within the parameters they tested. But that is dependent on the study being well designed… and many are not.

Verdict: true, somewhat. 

How to Find Effective Products

So what have we learned? “Medical grade” is just a marketing term like natural or clean. There is nothing in terms of regulations or the ingredients used that make it different from any other retail products out there. Something actually medical grade would be a drug or medical device. Instead, look at the product in front of you and whether you think it’s worth trying.

Here’s what to look for in products instead:

Evidence-backed ingredients. These are ingredients with a large body of quality research showing they work and at what concentration. For some examples from the Stratia line, look at the retinol in Night Shift, Vitamin C in the C+C serum, and the niacinamide on Lipid Gold and Rewind.

Delivery systems and penetration enhancers but only when needed. Not all ingredients need help and there are many ways to tackle this in a formula. Water soluble ingredients can be difficult to get past the skin barrier as well as anything with a large molecular size or negative charge. Penetration enhancers, delivery systems like encapsulation in liposomes, certain emulsion types, and pH level are just a few examples to get them into the skin but it depends on the ingredient. My suggestion is to find brands you trust rather than giving yourself a headache.

Cohesive, well rounded products. It’s not just about adding as much of an ingredient as possible or adding whatever is trending. A product should have an array of beneficial ingredients working together to achieve the goals of a product. That includes “fillers” which are actually essential for product stability, a nice application experience, and more.

Tailor to your needs. Skincare isn’t one size fits all. Your skin is unique to you and you want to select products that are best suited to your skin type, concerns, and goals. Take a moment to identify those before you hit checkout.

Mira is a skincare educator, blogger, and the content creator behind Skin Science by Mira and The Skincare Forum on Facebook. While skincare keeps her busy, she’s also pursuing her degree in Nursing and loves to spend her free time hiking.  As a content writer for Stratia Skin, Mira shares her evidence-based approach to skincare topics and a passion for making science accessible.