What is commonly called "facial vitamin injections" are biorevitalisation treatments. And inside, almost always, vitamins are not the main ingredient. Depending on the protocol, non-cross-linked hyaluronic acid, amino acids, minerals, antioxidants or polynucleotides are injected.
"Vitamin injections" is the common way to call them. Useful for understanding each other, imprecise for choosing.
What's really in those cocktails
Non-cross-linked hyaluronic acid
It is the most widespread. It is not the filler: the filler uses cross-linked hyaluronic acid, denser, which serves to give volume and remains in place. The non-cross-linked one is fluid, distributes itself and works on the deep hydration of the tissues.
Vitamins and antioxidants
Vitamin C, B vitamins, sometimes lipoic acid or glutathione. This is where the popular name of the treatment comes from.
Amino acids and minerals
The bricks with which the skin builds its structural proteins. In the most complete protocols they are present together with vitamins.
Polynucleotides (PDRN)
It is a more recent category and the one that is most talked about now. They are fragments of purified DNA, in most cases obtained from salmon. Compared to vitamin cocktails, they have a different mechanism: they do not nourish, they signal.
Why are they called "vitamin injections" if vitamins are a part
Because the name came from word of mouth, not from information leaflets. It's a reassuring expression: "vitamins" sounds harmless, familiar, almost healthy.
The practical problem is that it doesn't help you choose. Two treatments called the same thing can contain completely different substances, have different costs and different objectives.
The useful question to ask in the office is not "how much does the vitamin injection cost", but: "what exactly is in what you inject me, and why did you choose this one and not another?"
What to expect next
In the first 24-48 hours, small wheals at the injection sites, redness and some swelling are common. Bruises are frequent. These are expected reactions, not complications.
It is a medical procedureion: it must be performed by a doctor, after an assessment of your situation. If it's being offered to you in a non-medical context, it's time to take a step back.
And cosmetics with the same active ingredients?
Many of the ingredients that are injected also exist in topical form: hyaluronic acid, niacinamide, vitamin C, and for some years also PDRN.
They don't do the same thing, and a cosmetic should not be presented as equivalent to an injection. An injection deposits the substance in the dermis; a serum works on the skin surface. The depth changes, the quantity changes, the results that can reasonably be expected change.
What a cosmetic can do is a different job by nature: daily, constant, prolonged over time. It's not a periodic intervention, it's a habit. They are two different logics, and neither replaces the other.
If you're considering both options, the right question isn't "which works better," but: how much am I willing to spend, how often, and am I comfortable with needles?
In summary
- "Vitamin injections" is the popular name for biorevitalisation
- Inside there may be hyaluronic acid, vitamins, amino acids or polynucleotides: they are different things
- It is a medical procedure, and must be treated as such
- The same active ingredients exist in cosmetic form, but with different results — it is not an alternative
In ELAXO formulas
ELAXO formulates cosmetics with PDRN of marine origin, plant exosomes and peptides: the N°1 PDRN Face Serum and the N°2 PDRN Face Cream, also together in the Ritual. They are used at home, every day, and work on the surface of the skin. Our formulas do not contain hyaluronic acid or niacinamide.
Informative content, does not replace the advice of a doctor. ELAXO formulates cosmetics, does not perform aesthetic medicine treatments.
If you're interested in understanding what a PDRN serum can really do — and what it can't do — read our free guide. Two minute read, no inflated promises.
