Many people erroneously believe that skin care products designed to be used on the face can also be used on the body, and vice versa. While such mixing and matching may not cause any harm, however, products won’t deliver their maximum benefit unless they’re used for the purpose they were intended. This is because the skin on the face is quite different from the skin on the body.

For example, the face contains a relatively high density of sebaceous (oil) glands compared with the body. These glands are particularly active in young people, men, and many women with normal skin, causing greasiness in the best cases and acne in the worst. Although the back and chest are also rich in oil glands, the arms and legs are not, so they tend to loose moisture in winter, dry and windy climates. Therefore, products formulated for the face must be less greasy, while those designed for the body should provide greater hydration.

Certain areas of the face also require special treatment. Skin around the eyes is particularly thin and fragile, and ages 5 to 10 times faster than the rest of the face. The most effective products for this area tend to be those with a smooth, oily base. For women with an oily T-zone, products must be non-greasy while still providing moisture to other areas. Dry skin needs especially rich products that will provide intensive therapy and lock in moisture.

There are also other unique problems for facial products. First, most people use several different products on their face. This can include cleansers, toners, moisturizers, masks, specialty products such as blemish removers and hydrators as well as color cosmetics. This creates a kind of giant mixing pot in which the ingredients can interact and potentially cause irritation or other problems. Because of this, skin care products are typically formulated with great care to ensure that components are highly stable and not likely to create undesired side effects when they come in contact with other ingredients.

Also, skin care products are more likely than body care products to contain a sunscreen. This is because, barring climate and cultural variations, the face is far more likely to be exposed to sunlight than the body. Even lip balms now routinely include a sun blocking agent.

Lastly, consumers tend to be most interested in maintaining the youthfulness of the face, so products are increasingly formulated with special ingredients that will enhance tone, texture and vitality.

These factors all add to the price of facial products, making them several times more expensive to create, produce and sell than body care products.

Nonetheless, many people have experienced good results from intermingling facial and body products. For example, Paul Penders senior chemist Dr. Gatot says that some customers have used the company’s Kigelia Lipo and Phyto – Tocotrienol Firmer Curves to tighten the skin on their face. Originally designed for the bust, even men have reported firmer skin around the jaw and cheekbones after using the product.