No, that skin cream cannot reverse aging. It can’t repair DNA damage and it can’t cure rosacea.
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RunPhoto / Getty Images
The FDA's taken on five cosmetic companies in the past five months,
telling them to stop makingmedical claims for wrinkle creams.
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One product at a time, the Food and Drug Administration is taking on
the beauty industry and some of the over-the-top claims being made for
some of the products. Five warnings have gone out since November.
The
latest warning letter went out to Strivectin, whose wrinkle creams are
sold at retailers that range from Costco to Nordstrom.
The language FDA objects to?
- “Clinically proven to change the anatomy of a wrinkle”
- “This superb age-fighting serum is super charged with …potent elastin stimulating peptides”
- “Potent elastin-stimulating peptides help enhance skin structure”
“The
claims on your website indicate that the products are intended to
affect the structure or any function of the human body, rendering them
drugs under the (Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic) Act,” FDA says in a
warning letter sent to the company.
And when Strivectin says its
“Advanced Tightening Neck Cream,” can “restore the elastin fiber
architecture, providing noticeable lift and improving resistance to
gravity”, it’s actually claiming that product is a drug— and it’s one
that hasn’t been through the FDA’s review process, the agency said in
its letter.
In response, Strivectin has changed the wording on its
website. “Over time, the visible effects of gravity appear reversed for
even more refined and toned definition of the neck line, profile, and
décolleté,” it now says.
There’s no more mention of “restoring” elastin fiber.
“We
stand by the efficacy of our products which is proven by scientific
testing and clinical trials,”
Emmy Brooks, vice president for beauty at
Strivectin, said by e-mail. “We are doing everything in our power to
ensure that our communication to the public complies with the Federal
Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act, per the Food & Drug Administration’s
request.”
Wrinkle creams really don’t do much besides temporarily
add moisture to the skin. “There are no wrinkle creams that are going to
get rid of wrinkles,” says Bryan Barron, co-author of “The Original
Beauty Bible” and consultant to the beauty mythbusting website
Paula’s Choice.
“The
companies may want you to think it is about exotic plant extracts
harvested at 3 a.m. off the coast of Brittany,” Barron says. So-called
tightening ingredients are nothing secret or special, he adds. “There
are cosmetic ingredients that you can put on your skin that will make it
feel tighter,” he said. But it’s just perception— and they’re mundane
ingredients such as polyvinyl alcohol or even egg whites (which may show
up on a label as “serum albumin”).
New York-based dermatologist
Dr. Fayne Frey says “anti-aging” agents are pretty much bogus. “If you
are looking for ‘the fountain of youth’ in a bottle, you will not find
it in over-the-counter skin care products,” Frey
advises on her website that tries to rebut some of the claims.
“The
‘workhorse’ of any over-the counter anti-wrinkle cream is its ability
to hydrate the skin. As moisturizers, these products increase the water
content in the most superficial layers of skin temporarily improving the
appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.”
FDA says it will continue to do what it can, but it doesn’t have much authority.
“The
law doesn’t require cosmetic firms to register with FDA or to submit
their products, ingredients, labeling or claims to FDA for approval
before the products go on the market (with the exception of color
additives, which must be approved by FDA),” an FDA spokesperson said by
e-mail.
All the agency can do is look for when a cosmetic maker goes over the line in making a claim.
Other
recent warnings have gone to L’Oreal USA, taken to task for saying its
“Rosaliac AR Intense” can reduce redness or rosacea, and for saying
Mela-D Pigment Control can lighten dark spots.
Chaga Mountain
was asked to stop claiming the mushroom extracts in its products could
fight cancer and the AIDS virus. Cell Vitals appears to have taken down
its website after FDA noticed its claims about human stem cells and
chemicals that the company suggested might act in ways similar to Botox
in stopping wrinkles.
And although they may register with the FDA, they don’t submit non-medical products for review.
“Consumers
should be aware that, although companies are making drug claims for
these products, they are being sold to consumers as cosmetics and
therefore FDA has not evaluated them for safety and effectiveness,” FDA
says.
There's only one true anti-aging ingredient, and that's
sunscreen, Barron says. And it only works to prevent skin aging, not to
cure it.
