In part 1 of this post Scatter Brain blogged on what you need to know about “Angel Dusting” a practice that involves adding very low levels of certain ingredients just to make the product more attractive to consumers. In part 2, she gives you tips on what do do about it.
How to read an ingredient list
So, how do we protect ourselves from paying for ingredients that are listed yet negligible? The answer is not that simple. First, find out if possible the therapeutic amount of the ingredient you want in a product. Then look on the product’s label at the order the ingredients are listed. The Federal Trade Commission mandates that ingredients on cosmetics must be listed in descending order of predominance. The higher on the list, the greater the likelihood the product contains a therapeutic amount of your ingredient.
Not my cup of tea
This issue gets murkier (sorry pun intended) when you start discussing botanical or herbal products that are extracts or infusions. Think about making a cup of tea. You can steep it a second or two and have practically clear liquid though there is “tea” in the liquid, or you can steep it for hours until it’s dark and cloudy. In fact, you might say that this strong infusion is a real tea party. However, even though tea, not water, is the desired ingredient, either cup of tea could be legally listed as an “infusion of tea” on a product label. And to complicate things more, it’s possible that the percentage of liquid not the percentage of actual tea would determine how far up the ingredient list “infusion of tea” would appear but more about “order of ingredients” in a second.
What else you should know
There are just a few exceptions to this rule. If the cosmetic is also a drug, active drug ingredients are listed before cosmetic ingredients. Ingredients present at a concentration not exceeding 1% may be listed in any order after the ingredients that are present at more than 1% in descending order of predominance. Color additives of any concentration may be listed in any order after the listing of the ingredients that are not color additives.
Secret Weapon
And finally, the name of an ingredient accepted by the FDA as a trade secret need not be disclosed on the label. Instead of declaring the name of that ingredient, the phrase “and other ingredients” may be used. This one is a real bummer but necessary I suppose.
Very simply put, a little clever sleuthing about an ingredient and its efficacy and/or therapeutic amount and knowing how the federal government mandates the listing of ingredients on product labels can help keep you from buying something bogus.
Did you find this helpful? How do you feel about Angel Dusting? Let us know at the Beauty Brains.
Scatter Brain is a real-life copywriter for hire. If you’re interested in contacting her with business opportunities, please write to “Scatter Brain” care of thebeautybrains@gmail.com.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I love finding out all sorts of information about ingredients, especially if I think I will save money by just getting the ingredient to make my own blend, rather than paying for packaging and advertising costs!
Great article!
“…a little clever sleuthing about an ingredient and its efficacy and/or therapeutic amount…”
How does one find what a therapeutic amount is? Is there a website? book? that will say how much of what is good?
I vote for a Part 3 here!
In frustration, I did my super-sleuthing in the book that Sarah Bellum recommended to all us last spring: Secrets of the Beauty Insiders. In a chapter called “Skin-Care Specifics”, different so-called “experts” discuss their opinions of necessary product amounts for efficacy in anti-aging products. It was lengthy but I might start a new discussion about what I learned in the Forum of this website. I definitely found information that was useful.
I also found that dermstore.com lists product ingredients for all of their anti-aging products. Not all product websites do that so that is a big plus to keep in mind.
The devil is definitely in the details for this topic!
woops, I read your Angel Dusting post first, and this post just answered my quandary. Thanks!
Jeni
Lauri,
One suggestion would be to check with your dermatologist about the therapeutic amount of legitimate ingredients.
I’m also a big geek about reading drug inserts on any meds I take, so if a cosmetic contains an ingredient that is classed as a drug (remember it will be listed first) then I recommend asking a pharmacist and/or going online to the drug manufacturer’s website. They usually have downloadable drug information.
When all else fails, I do a lot of “googling” on the internet. I can usually find a reputable website that can answer my question.
The other problem not mentioned in the article above, is that many different suppliers of an ingredient may have different specifications and different actives within it.
Let me explain, by taking the example of aloe vera, used a lot in personal care products.
In the ingredients list of a product, you would see “Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice”, but this name covers more than a hundred different ingredients from different parts of the world, some of which are concentrated by removing water (so they may be further down the listing than a more dilute product), some are measured and standardised for their actives while others are just cheap juice.
At the moment, unless you are within the industry and can find out the specific supplier of an ingredient, there is no way to know the quality of an active, other than trusting the manufacturer and (in Europe) being sure that any claims made for the ingredient are supported by tests.
Great point picaloflapjack.
So in other words, the quality of the actual ingredient may be in question, not just whether or not the product contains an efficacious amount? (see, in the marketing world, I’ve never been “privy” to that information) It seems the FDA or the FTC would have some sort of standardization for raw ingredients.
I’m assuming this would apply to herbal supplements as well. You mean the Omega 3s I’ve been taking might be nigh on next to worthless? Shoot…now I have to go geek out and do research. I can’t stand not knowing stuff. [mad face]
{ 2 trackbacks }