Are claims about beauty creams only skin deep?
Gold – not just for jewelry! Green tea – not just for a caffeine buzz! Caviar – not just for impressing dinner guests! All three of those are ingredients in beauty products available to consumers willing to spend hundreds of dollars for an ounce of face cream that might keep their skin looking young. “Ninety-eight percent of the ‘cosmeceutical’ industry is all about marketing,” says Eric Finzi, a dermatologic surgeon with offices in Maryland. “If you buy a $1,000 cream, there’s no reason to expect that it’s better than the $50 cream. It might be worse. The answer is, ‘We don’t know.’ ” These high-priced creams are considered cosmetics, not drugs, so they haven’t been through the rigorous clinical trials necessary to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Finzi has seen over-the-counter creams make a great difference in his patients’ skin, particularly creams that contain retinoids or alpha hydroxy acid. Skinceuticals makes a retinol cream that costs about $50 per ounce; NeoSt
