They therefore have a legal as well as a medical determination. Pharmaceutical grade skincare products are basically skincare products that have more and stricter FDA regulations attached to them. This means that the The Food and Drug Administration(FDA) enforces some specific requirements in order to call a product pharmaceutical grade. One such regulation is the requirement that pharmaceutical grade products are 99.9% pure ingredients and that such products must contain 0.1% at most of bacteria.
These being established, you should know that it's also taken quite seriously and no more than 5% of the skin care products available on the market are considered pure enough to be pharmaceutical grade products.
In opposition with pharmaceutical grade skincare, cosmetic grade products are what department, drug and grocery stores sell. This doesn't mean that they are of poorer quality but purchasing them depends on what exactly your needs and expectations are. Basically, the cosmetic grade products involve a lower risk of irritation due to the incompatibility with your skin type though you should still consult a dermatologists before using them. They are usually cheaper but not necesarilly, as they also include big and expensive brands along with the cheaper ones. The FDA has much less severe requirements from these products. For example they allow them to contain up to 30% bacteria, this meaning that under regulations, only 70% from the product has to be really pure. This might not sound very safe to you but “not pure” does in no way mean toxic.
Even so, it is easy to see how pharmaceutical grade products are guaranteed to offer better results and they are also specially formulated to prevent your skin from becoming dry like some cosmetic grade products.
These pharmaceutical grade products are usually prescribed only by physicians and they are supposed to be super-strength products. Such products you might have come across if you've ever been in a dermatologist's office are: Alyria, VivierSkin, Revaleskin and SkinCeuticals. These are brands that are sold for a variety of reasons. Formula strength but also distribution costs are considered in this case. The fact that some products are commercialized through dermatologists doesn't necessarily imply that they are FDA approved as pharmaceutical grade products, but they are still sure to give you good results as they are prescribed by specialists.
There's no need to be paranoid about this being a strategy to make you pay more for a product that has similar results with cheaper ones found in shops. Actually this is not necessarily the case. Similar products would be just as expensive in shops. For example, Alyria ranges from $20 to $115, and Revaléskin costs $40 to $135. That obviously makes them high-priced but we all know prices can run just as high or more for some luxury brands found in stores. The final difference is made by how much you care about medical supervision in your choice for skincare products.