We, as professionals in Skin, Hair or Nails should be giving "professional" Product Recommendations not over the counter product recommendations? What do you all feel about this?

It's important that all of us as Pro's in this industry stick together and...

#1. offer pro products in our salons.
And
#2. offer professional product recommendations here in our perspective fields.

What do you think ya'all.

I most definitely agree re professional product recommendation

We are the ones who are trained, we are the ones who can prescribe a course of treatment if it's needed and we're also the ones who know that the products we recommend to our clients work and do what they say they'll do.
Having said that... we have to believe in our product line to be able to retail it

This is posted as a sticky by The Geek. Thought maybe it needs to be reviewed again.

When you find a range wether it be skincare,hair care or nail care,if you as a professional believe in it shout it from the rooftops!!!!!!!

I know ive said it before about OTC products but professional products WILL deliver more of a result,therefore client goes home happy,comes back and repurchases.

Aclient will not purchase a product if you have no belief in that product and it will show.

Professional Products -vs- Over The Counter Products.

Over-the-counter products (OTC's) are one of the largest industries in the world. Companies like Estee Lauder, Lancome, Clinique, Chanel, not to mention, Wella (Proctor & Gamble), Loreal, Clairol...OTC Products are making a killing on these products. The question is, is it all hype and glitz or is that eye cream at $90 for a 1/2 ounce jar or that cheep shampoo really that good???


OTC Skin Care companies produce products containing all the latest ingredients such as alpha-hydroxy acids and anti-oxidants such as Vitamin C...so whats the problem??

Here are some of the problems with some OTC's;

1.) They don't disclose the percentages of the active ingredients.

2.) These products must be benign enough for the average user to tolerate. They must not cause irritation in the most sensitive of skin types. If a consumer purchases a glycolic acid product in a department store, they may or may not be instructed on its proper use. They may or may not be assessed as to the correct product for their skin type. Or they may or may not be told about the proper use of AHA products and sun exposure.

3.) OTC mass produced products are buffered down to a neutrality level that a newborn baby could tolerate. Therefore many products are not even functional.

4.) These products are mass produced, literally thousands of a single cream can sit in a warehouse for a year or more before it reaches the retail shelf and is sold to the retail consumer.
**The consumer then takes the cream home and keeps it for 6 months to a year or longer.

**This adds up to the fact that most products you purchase over-the-counter are aged, neutralized, heavily preserved and, as a result, stand a good chance of being less effective than professional products.

5.) OTC's are not required to list product efficacy (i.e. 10% AHA glycolic at 3.4 pH) which to a professional would tell them qualitatively its' effectiveness, not quantitatively. The label just reads, "XYZ Moisturizer with Alpha Hydroxy." Just how good is it? It's anyone's guess.

6.) OTC's, especially those found in better department stores are far more expensive than professional "cosmeceuticals". The fancy packaging, primetime television advertising, magazine full page ads and high rent has to be recuperated somehow by these companies.

7.) Most Professional lines...Hair Skin or Nails...will also exchange a product for another one until we find the right product for you, if purchased in a salon.

8.) Many still contain ingredients like Parabens, Petrolatum, Lanolin (non-organic)
Persulfate salts
Synthetic Dyes
Synthetic Fragrance
PABAs
Acrylates
Mysterates
Mineral Oil
Formaldehyde...the following ingredients break down and release formaldehyde:

*diazolidinyl urea (or 3-diol diazolidinyl urea)
*2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1 (or bronopol)
*DMDM hydantoin
*imidazolidinyl urea
*quaternium-15

I will qualify by stating that not all OTC products are bad products.

Well i agree to an extent but there are also a heck of a lot of threads on here that dont actually do that. So are we really being that unprofessional.An example is bio oil you can get it in superdrug.I believe in it so do a heck of a lot of other professionals, its been recommended on here many times,for lots of things even wrinkles.
I have no qualms personally recommending something that can be bought over the counter if i feel it works.
Dont forget many professional brands can now be purchased in the high street.
Not everyone can afford expensive skincare purchased from a salon.

One of the things I'm talking about is a non-professional or someone out of their area of expertise offering advise. I'm not qualified to go to the Nail Forum and give advise on the best service options for anyone or the products they should use. So in turn we should try to respect each others areas.

Maybe the thinking on this is different here in the states? IDK

So what do you think about an Esthetician offering their expertise on a particular product OTC or otherwise? What do you think of people out of their Field giving advise on a pro forum?
If you recommend Bio Oil you are a skin specialist and you've hopefully studied up on the product.


Edited for clarity.

Your original post and this follow up post seem to have conflicting opinions.... The first post tends towards your thinking that professionals should endorse professional-only products, and your follow-up seems to back track and say it's okay for pros to recommend any product they believe in, but average joes cannot.

To be honest, I totally agree with Gillian. If I believe in something and I know what it's about, I will recommend it no matter what 'category' it's in - pro or OTC (as you put it).

Speaking from a professional point of view, I also have no problem with non-pros recommending/mentioning a product that is widely available to all. I will quite happily give my views on it, positive or otherwise, as I am sure all other skin geeks would. All I would be bothered about is the respect for professional opinion and advice.

I do feel that Professional should support and recommend Professional products. In fact where I work we are very serious about it.

I'm trying to understand and respect a different pov. Sorry if I'm not being clear. I don't know what feelings on this subject are in the UK or on this site. I guess that's why I started the thread.

No, sorry Sophie, but you're not being too clear!

The way you replied to Gillian's post made me think you were still referring to your own opinion (albeit a changed one!) rather than exploring Gillian's view point.

This should be an interesting thread for everyone to discuss their ideas on

Wow you guys are tough. I think my last post was pretty clear at least I
tried to clear up where I personally stand.

I've have posted many reasons to back up my opinion...is this not of any interest? Let's talk.

yeah, surely thats what this while site is about?! recommending to each other!! So its basically saying that As long as non-pro's can access the site then that means we cant share valuable information with each other!

Is everyone talking in riddles or is it me .
Yes it is a professional site but anyone is allowed to look and to post.Everyone is allowed an opinion and everyone is allowed to reply to that opinion.
You will find everytime that if someone is recommending something that the true professionals on here do not agree with they will say and also explain why something should not be used or why something is not the best product etc etc.Surely this is of benefit to everyone
If we were only recommending professional products it would end up like a hardsale forum as people would only be recommending what they actually use and have knowledge about.
I know nothing about the ins and outs and scientifics of australian bodycare products but i still recommend them to people as i do certain clarins products.I recommend bodyshop eyemake up remover and bio oil.All these things can be bought over counter and i dont use them in my work i use Eve Taylor,but im only small and dont stock retail and i dont want to be or feel restricted to selling and recommending one company.
I think there is a lot of snobbery in skincare and a heck of a lot of rubbish in promotion. At the end of the day we also as professionals get the hard sell from the companies selling to us and they are very good at it and a lot of what they say is Botulox.