The skin care industry is one of the biggest scams in our lifetime. Each year skin care companies tout a new and improved skin care product that is supposed to “reduce your age.” Then on the bottom of the product they have a label that says, “clinically tested” or “dermatologist approved.” Don’t get me wrong I believe that moisturizing your skin is extremely important but saying that a skin care product is so amazing that I can have smooth silky skin like a baby’s butt, is kind of over the top. I love how one of main celebrities that I see advertising lotion is Jennifer Aniston. She is like 45+ years old, but her skin is smooth like butter. I know that the lotion itself isn’t giving her this skin, but others may be easily fooled.
The skin industry is basically creating this pseudoscience where their moisturizing products can prevent psoriasis, eczema, or other skin conditions. When dermatologists themselves are saying that conditions like psoriasis or eczema don’t really have any cures. There are only remedies that can temporarily fix the issue. This is a big ethical issue as it is going against beneficence and non-malfeasance. These companies are telling the consumers that these products are there to help them, but they’re lying in how far a product can help. They are pushing false beneficence where instead of benefiting the consumer it is really benefitting the company. Also, their advertisement and false guarantees are causing harm to these people. They believe that this product is the be all end all, and that whatever harmful condition they are experiencing doesn’t need assistance from an actual dermatologist.
But the biggest problem is that this might affect a relationship that could ever be made with an actual doctor. If a consumer starts believing too much of the skin industries idea’s they might not be willing to accept or listen to the ideas of a trained professional. On a side note, I have seen this many times from patients coming into a dental office. Every now and then a patient would come into the office with tons of cavities and tooth decay but didn’t understand why. They hadn’t come into the office for 5 years and stated that this so and so toothpaste said that if I use this product, I never have to go to the dentist again. And what really sent the message home was that the advertisement said, “approved by 4 out of 5 dentists.” The bigger industries use the titles of doctors to push their own agenda, and unknowingly tarnish these titles in the process. People lose their trust in the doctors when the real doctors had no say in these products.
It’s easy to destroy a relationship, but difficult to hold on to one. The companies have gone against multiple ethical issues, which has caused mistrust in the medical community. They have fabricated ideals from the scientific community to push their own agenda. But this pretty much what you see in any space of the world, can there really be change?
Biased Skin Industry article: https://reillytop10.com/previous-lists/2020-list/the-pseudoscience-of-skincare/
It is unquestionably a scam. Many people that use this collagen cream swear by this product. They would spend thousands of dollars a year, not realizing they are getting scammed. What doesn’t make any logical sense is that how these creams can instantly increase collagen production. Collagen molecules are complex and large. They are long rope like protein fiber structures that form triple helixes. By adding more collagen from these creams to your face, it would just stick to your face with no absorption. The collagen molecules would not be able to penetrate the epidermis of the skin which is made up of dead skin cells. It would not reach the living skin cells that are producing collagen. Essentially, users would just end up washing away the collagen from the creams. Users would benefit more from using UV sunscreen, or just ingesting protein to convert to collagen for your body needs. Since collagen that is applied doesn’t reach circulation, the cream isn’t considered a drug, therefore it is not regulated by the FDA (Neill, 2012). Neill also mentions that the best way to maintain youthful skin is to use sunscreen with titanium dioxide and zinc oxide which blocks the sun’s hurtful UV rays. UV rays can lead to loss of collagen and elastin fibers, making your skin look saggy and wrinkly.
ReplyDeleteNeill U. S. (2012). Skin care in the aging female: myths and truths. The Journal of clinical investigation, 122(2), 473–477. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI61978
The “chase for beauty” is a very real and sad phenomenon. Our society places tremendous importance on physical beauty while altogether neglecting the substance of true and natural beauty that comes from within. Cosmetics, skin products, and plastic surgery are a billion dollar industry. You cannot walk down the street, browse through the internet or glance at a magazine without dozens of subliminal messages of beauty arousing your senses. We were blessed with an aptitude for discerning and enjoying the aesthetics, but I think we often cloud ourselves with an illusion of beauty when we capture it with superficial eyes. Companies take great advantage of people and their vanity as mentioned in the above blog post. Just recently I came across a new product on the market which specializes in promoting natural beauty of the skin, hair and nails. The kick is that it is an ingestible nutritional supplement that manifests results in a couple of months. Are they marketing “Green Products” to target and deceive the green consumers or is it legitimate? I found a study where a clinical trial suggested that participants who were given collagen peptide supplements from pig and fish parts had more naturally hydrated skin, with less aging fragmentation. I'm sorry but even botox would not keep anybody from aging. Besides, whatever happened to aging gracefully or hoping to do so? That is certainly my goal!
ReplyDeleteAsserin J, Lati E, Shioya T, Prawitt J. The effect of oral collagen peptide supplementation on skin moisture and the dermal collagen network: evidence from an ex vivo model and randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials. J Cosmet Dermatol. 2015 Dec;14(4):291-301. doi: 10.1111/jocd.12174. Epub 2015 Sep 12. PMID: 26362110.