How To Avoid Being Ripped Off When Purchasing Skin Care Products

    This is the first of several articles I plan to write about buying skin care products.  To have an in-depth knowledge of ingredients and formulations, one needs a thorough understanding of chemistry, natural and synthetic ingredients, and which blends with what. As an esthetician, I don’t profess to scientific expertise, but I know something about ingredients, labeling, and brand names.  In this first installment I’ll start with a broad-brush list of facts for savvy shoppers to keep in mind.
1. Skin care product labels are notoriously vague.  That’s because the FDA does not require the submission of verifiable data or adherence to mandatory guidelines. You see, since the FDA doesn’t have the time or available staff to examine everything used on or in the human body, they focus on drugs and not cosmetics, the category skin care products mistakenly fall under--perhaps because a substandard skin care product, applied topically, is far less likely to pose a serious health threat than a substance (drug) ingested into the body.
2. The FDA does, in fact, prohibit or restrict the use of some ingredients in skin care products.  For a list of those deemed harmful, I recommend investing in a dictionary of cosmetic ingredients, which will include skin care products.  The one I find most user-friendly and objective is A CONSUMER’S DICTIONARY OF COSMETIC INGREDIENTS, by Ruth Winter, M.S., published by Three Rivers Press, a division of Random House.
3. An effective skin care formula should contain at least one active ingredient, i.e. one that acts or causes a desired change, such as stimulating collagen production or moisturizing or exfoliating.  Since the FDA does not require active ingredients to be listed separately from inactive ones, few manufacturers do it (In subsequent “installments,” I’ll link the most common active ingredients to desired results).
4. More important, the active ingredient(s) must be in the proper concentration to be effective.  For instance, L-ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) must be at a concentration of at least 10% to give a desired result.
5. Since active and inactive ingredients are typically lumped together, it’s important to first identify the presence of at least one active ingredient.  The Fair Packaging and Labeling Act dictates that the ingredients list begins with the element present in the greatest concentration (typically water), followed by the next and the next, in descending order, with the ones at the end often being present only in trace amounts.  Don’t expect an active ingredient to be at the top of the list, but if you find it near the end, only a very small amount is present.  A few active ingredients, such as alpha lipoic acid and estrogens, are effective in trace amounts, but to be sure you’re getting your money’s worth, it’s a good idea to call the company and ask for an exact list of ingredient concentrations.
6. An exception to the descending concentration rule is any ingredient classified as a drug, if present, which must be first on the list regardless of its concentration.  An example is Tretinoin, a form of Vitamin A derived from animal fat.

That’s enough for now, so I’ll end this narrative and give you a week or so to let the information sink in.