Skincare ‘dusting’
We all love a new skincare product or three! Running out of serum, eye cream and moisturiser is a green light for a treat and we simply cannot get enough!
We’re more switched on than ever before when it comes to tailoring to our skin’s needs. We carefully consider our age, hormonal changes, environmental factors and essentially, what we actually want our new products to deliver. We don’t want much, we just want to GLOW!
For all of our best intentions, when researching which new ‘key ingredient’ holds the answer to our prayers we need to approach with caution and a touch of scepticism. Product ‘dusting’ is a powerful sales tool and it’s everywhere!
The term ‘dusting’ or ‘angel dusting’ refers to the careful (and clever) use of marketing language, to promote the apparent benefits, properties and ingredients of a product. For example; we could sell you a ‘natural, nutritious vitamin enriched protein smoothie with no added sugars’…except it’s actually orange juice concentrate with half a kale leaf, a teaspoon of lowest grade whey powder and a pinch of beetroot powder. It IS natural, it IS ‘enriched’ by the kale leaf, it DOES have added whey protein, it doesn’t need sugar because the orange juice is packed with it and thanks to the (natural) beetroot powder, it looks like it jumped straight off of instagram. It won’t do anything miraculous because the quality and quantity of the added ingredients are insignificant. It’s just a glass of orange juice. But, as long as we list the true ingredients in order of volume, we’re completely within the law.
When we apply this to skincare, we can begin to break down ingredients lists and see what we’re really paying for.
Ingredients must be listed in order, starting with the highest content and so on. The ‘magic’ ingredients need to be carried in a usable base product; a cream, serum or oil, and so it’s reasonable to expect the first couple of ingredients to be water (aqua) based with some sort of thickening agent. Glycerin is a popular addition due to its moisturising qualities. They also often need to be bound with other ingredients to increase their absorption and effectiveness. But, you know what’s coming..the good stuff shouldn’t be way down the list. Many of these extras simply include light reflective particles and short term ‘plumping’ agents to give a temporary illusion.
Let’s use the example of Retinol, one of the most googled ingredients in recent years. Retinol comes in various forms and from various origins. They’re not all equally as effective and they’re not all readily absorbed by the skin, but they can all be listed simply as ‘retinol’. When comparing similar ‘pure’ retinol products from 5 top selling UK skincare brands, we found the retinol to be the 4th, 7th, 11th, 12th and 27th on the ingredients list. Only 1 of these were able to provide information on the percentage of retinol used, and none could provide information on the quality of the added ingredients used. For all we know, it could be as useful as half a kale leaf!
How then, do we secure ourselves a well justified mid-month spend and get one step closer to our dewy skin goals?
Firstly, read between the lines!! Statements like ‘improves the APPEARANCE of fine lines/ageing/dullness’ or ‘skin FEELS hydrated’ are actually very vague!
Without doubt, the safest way to guarantee the best bang for your buck is to book an appointment with a specialist. Any reputable dermatologist or therapist will be able to discuss what your skin needs and tell you exactly what ingredients to incorporate, how much, and when. But most of all, they’ll have access to pharmacy grade, lab tested and approved ingredients. The very best of the best. Each product formula is carefully created to ensure active ingredients are maximised and truly effective.
The skincare industry is forever growing, science is advancing and we continue to learn. It’s easy to go for the quick cheap option but your skincare regime is an investment. You deserve real, long-term results and you deserve to glow! Be wary of ‘too good to be true’ claims, of false economies, and of fancy pink orange juice.
By Bea
