DON'T BELIEVE THE COSMETICS HYPE

by mary schook

Advertisers have been swooning and pitching us with their generally over-inflated and even sometimes deceptive terms since the beginning of time, yet we keep falling for it. The cycle is endless.

For example, your eye catches an ad or review about the latest mascara in the magazine. It's THE best mascara EVER with some new technology voted by some beauty authority. The mascara company has it right this time. You know that you've been burned by these promises before, yet you still fork over (up to) $30 for the holy grail of mascara only to find that your Maybelline Great lash mascara that sells every 1.7 seconds alone in this country (ref NY Times) is still your go-to mascara. It's happened to us all. I had one client mention to me once she finally stopped buying "the best mascara" after eight tubes.

Other terms such as Hypoallergenic, Natural, Lifting, 100 Percent Pure, For Sensitive Skin, Broad-Spectrum, Organic, Water-resistant, Brightening, Clinically Proven, Dermatologist recommended, Firming, Non-comedogenic, Refining and Restructuring are all words you've seen on thousands of beauty care products ads and labels. Consumer Reports exposed why you should ignore a product that makes those claims. You should check out the insightful article HERE.

The real deal according to the FDA is "cosmetic products and ingredients, with the exception of color additives, do not require FDA approval before they go on the market". We are one of the few countries that allows this. Beauty companies are however restricted on the claims that they can make. A company can't say that a product will change the structure of your skin or cure anything. Only a drug can make those claims. Interestingly enough the FDA also does not recognize the word "Cosmeceutical". Cosmeceutical is a work that is used to describe a cosmetic that has drug-like effects.

You should check out more about cosmetic regulations from the FDA site HERE.

At the end of the day the beauty industry is going to test the FDA to see how far they can go on making claims before they get a slap on wrist. I can't necessarily blame beauty companies for over using those terms, because they are limited on what they can claim (especially the bigger companies). Besides, would you use a product that says it "beautifies" your skin as suggested by the FDA? Sounds like something they would have said in the 1950's.