These are two terms found on many cosmetics packages that should be ignored: Dermatologist Tested and Clinically Proven
Dermatologist Tested: This term provides absolutely no indication as to the safety of a cosmetic product yet is used to give credibility to a formula. Even is as much to imply a medical safety that does not actually exist. It actually creates an illusion of some sort of medical testing.
Quite literally all that is needed, in order to make this claim, is for a single dermatologist to apply the finished product to their own skin (the back of their hand is all that is required) or on a single person. If no reaction is documented then the product can carry the label of dermatologist tested. Yep that's it. And note a reaction can happen and the product will still receive the label - the language of the labelling laws says "no reaction documented" - so if one does happen all the dermatologist has to do is not document it and the same labelling as if there was no reaction at all can be applied.
One guess as to who pays the dermatologist for this test—yep the cosmetic company selling the product.
Clinically Proven: This is another misleading term. It gives the illusion that some sort of controlled study was done to prove the results being advertised.
If that is the case where is all the published data of these clinical studies? There is none because "clinically proven" does not mean "clinical trial." It is simply marketing term to imply a level of sophisticated study that was never actually performed.
A clinical trial requires several factors to be scientific:
1. Double Blind Controls—which means both the administrator and the subject are unaware of the desired results of the administered product. Double blind controls help remove any unconscious bias, of the test subjects and the test administrators, thus providing real feedback.
2. Placebo Controls—placebo controls allow for the removal of emotional repossess. It is possible for a subject to report results that do not actually happen simply because they want the results to happen. Placebos allow such errors to be eliminated immediately.
3. Number of Subjects—cosmetics companies are notorious for using very small samples (less than 50 people) to create statistics. However, percentages are determined by volume of participants. They can dramatically drop when spread over large groups of participants. To have an accurate sense of a product's results the test group should be in the thousands. The more participants the more accurate the data.
Peer Review: real trials must be evaluated by independent sources (like a university) where they can recreate the trail and achieve the same results. Without this crucial step a trial is really quite worthless from a scientific perspective.
Recently, I received an e-mail asking me what I do for my skin every day to keep it looking healthy.
After years of writing about what not to do on the skin, it was interesting to be asked about what should be done.
Like exercising, skin care needs to be ongoing and specific if you want to see any real results.
While skin types require different formulations (most of the time), the actual steps are quite similar, regardless of what you are trying to achieve. This guide is designed as a "how to," NOT a "what to use." Formulas should be specific to your actual skin type.
This is my day to day program, and the products that I use:
Every Day
Morning:
1. Rinse the skin with warm water.
2. Apply Daniel Thompson Cosmeceuticals The Moisturizer ($112 for 50mL) all over the face and neck, including the eyes.
3. Apply Coola Baby SPF 50 Mineral Sunscreen ($35 for 100mL), with Daniel Thompson Beauty Tool #160 ($50), all over the face and neck, including the eyes.
4. Apply Daniel Thompson Beauty Mineral Sheer Tint SPF 20 ($62 for 30mL), with Daniel Thompson Beauty Tool #175 ($50), all over the face and neck, including the eyes.
5. Apply Daniel Thompson Beauty Mineral Corrector ($89 for 8g), with Daniel Thompson Beauty Tool #250 ($50), all over face and neck, including the eyes.
6. Apply Daniel Thompson Mineral Powder Foundation SPF 15 ($62 for 11g), with Daniel Thompson Beauty Tool #250, all over face and neck, including the eyes.
7. Apply Daniel Thompson Beauty Absolute Light ($54 for 2.3g) to dark areas under the eyes.
8. Hydrate with Sisley Eau Florale Spray ($120 for 125mL).
Total Time: 8 minutes
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday
Evening:
1. Wash with Daniel Thompson Cosmeceuticals The Cleanser ($84 for 150mL) according to instructions for my skin type, including the eyes.
2. Pat dry with clean towel.
3. Apply Daniel Thompson Cosmeceuticals The Moisturizer ($112 for 50mL) all over the face and neck, including the eyes.
4. Apply Daniel Thompson Cosmeceuticals Mineral Volumizer ($59 for 5.75g) to the lashes.
Total Time: 3 minutes
Wednesday
Evening:
1. Wash with Daniel Thompson Cosmeceuticals The Cleanser ($84 for 150mL) according to instructions for my skin type, including the eyes.
2. Pat dry with clean towel.
3. Exfoliate with Yves Saint Laurent Gommage ($75 for 100mL).
4. Apply a thin layer of Sisley Masque Creme Rose Noire ($175 for 60mL) to the entire face and neck, including the eyes.
5. Overlay Sisley Baume Efficace Gel ($198 for 30 mL) around the eye area.
6. Apply generic collagen eye patches ($13 for 12 patches) over the eye gel.
7. Apply generic collagen facial sheet ($13 for 10 sheets) over the entire face.
8. Leave treatment in place for 30 minutes.
9. Remove collagen sheet—do not rinse the skin with water.
10. Apply Daniel Thompson Cosmeceuticals The Moisturizer ($112 for 50mL) all over the face and neck, including the eyes.
11. Apply Daniel Thompson Cosmeceuticals Mineral Volumizer ($59 for 5.75g) to the lashes.
Total Time: 40 minutes
The latest beauty craze is a new category of make-up removers called micellar water.
While these types of make up removers have been used for years in France they are just now gaining popularity in North America. These make up removers are touted as non irritating cleansers that can remove a whole face of make up without disrupting the natural pH of the skin. Specifically marketed to sensitive skin types these special waters are extremely expensive. Priced anywhere from $20 to $50 a bottle many people are asking the obvious question: What is Micellar Water?
Micelles are actually quite common in nature and are simple crystals that form when specific shaped molecules are added to water. Micelles actually reduce the irritancy of other molecules and the more present they are the less irritating a compound can be.
For example a lot of "do it yourself" researchers often state how irritating sodium lauryl sulfate can be on human skin. And indeed that is true—in very low concentrations (that's right the lower the concentration of SLS the more irritating it will be). That is because at higher concentrations SLS forms micelles which then wrap around the SLS reducing its irritation level. Micelles are great for increasing effectiveness of a cleanser while reducing the risk of irritation.
The downside is micelles can also prevent the important actives from being useful in the skin.
Micelles have a great ability to trap oil in water this creating a great lubricating effect for dry skin types.
Micellar water does indeed work as a great, gentle, non-irritating make-up remover that is safe for the whole face, including the eyes.
At the end of the, though, some of the prices being charged are not warranted. For a product that is 90% water it should really not be over $50 for a cleanser.
I say yes to micellar water being used in cosmetics but shop around for a great formula at under $20.
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