Regardless of what may be done to the skin at any given time, the basic idea of removing the damage, helping the living cells rebuild with homeostasis, protecting the work on the skin, and helping the client maintain it for life is a time-honored rule of thumb.

Under that simple four-tiered concept may be many different treatment modalities, but the categories remain the same. Most of the skin conditions professionals encounter are just defense mechanisms of the skin. The actual tissue, such as skin around the areola of the breast, is far younger-looking because it is protected from solar damage due to people wearing clothes all their lives. Exposed skin is always under attack from free radicals.

Ingredients must be biologically active whether they are nutritious, anti-inflammatory, or antioxidant. Plants have frequencies and vibrations and can either be operating at full power or practically inert depending upon where they are grown and how they are harvested, processed, and extracted.

When it comes to the actual manufacturing process, there are a number to questions to consider. For example, is the base the ingredients are blended into transepidermal? Will they still be "alive" when they are taken from the container? For example, peptides are very small amino acid groups and quite fragile when exposed to oxygen – how many actually survive long enough to do their job description in the human tissue?

Are the herb or plant extracts synergistic with each other? Many have features that work wonderfully on their own, but are cancelled out when mixed with another genus of herb or mineral. For example, a formula containing ingredients rich in calcium can absorb all the nutrients from other herbs in the product, rendering them useless.

Many times, simpler formulas with a focus on one or two actives is far better than products crammed with a dozen popular trend ingredients, keratolytics like retinoids, and an SPF!

Many manufacturers think aestheticians will be attracted by a huge list of popular ingredients, so they load up their products; the actual percentage that actually would do anything beneficial is very, very low, however, because no formula can go beyond 100 percent.

Good formulatory to a serious scientist is hard work and a lot of trial and error. They are constantly tweaking and running samples even before test trials –from there, it is often two to three years before actual production! Even before a pilot production run, independent laboratory tests are required if a company intends to stay in business. Challenge and stability tests are a must, but RIPT (allergy testing) is being demanded more and more around the world, especially in the European Union.

All aestheticians have the right to scrutinize the ingredients of the products they use, but the actual usage of the product and the fully explained concept of the company producing it is the most important consideration.

Do research on ingredients when in doubt, but avoid internet descriptions that are tied to skin care bloggers or aesthetic panels – they will offer their view and then suggest products. Look for a boring, scientific assay of the ingredient, then make a decision!