Making cosmetic claims

Abstract

Last month, the Federal Trade Commission, which regulates advertising claims in the U.S., came down hard on five small companies for falsely promoting skin care, shampoos, and sunscreens as “all natural.” Their sin? Each firm listed synthetic ingredients, including phenoxyethanol, dimethicone, and polyethylene, on their product labels. FTC also goes after cosmetic claims that aren’t quite so flagrant. In March, the agency mailed out 10,620 refund checks totaling more than $416,000 to consumers who bought two skin creams marketed by L’Occitane. FTC contends L’Occitane had no science to back up the claim that the creams—Almond Beautiful Shape and Almond Shaping Delight—had “body slimming” capabilities. Other times there’s science behind cosmetic claims, just not enough of it. In June 2014, FTC charged that L’Oréal deceptively advertised its Lancôme Génifique products as “clinically proven” to “boost genes’ activity and stimulate the production of youth proteins” that would cause “visibly younger skin in