Other “beauty blog” sites

I found an interesting beauty blog website last week — it looked legitimate enough when I first started reading.  There were many different “consumer reviews,” including positive, negative and neutral posts on many different skin care lines — like Obagi, Skin Medica, Epionce, Dermalogica.  But it became quite apparent to me after reading several of the reviews that the website was in fact a sponsored website, obviously skewed in the direction of the sponsored product.

So what I would like to point out to the general public is this: when reading a weblog — do make sure that the “facts” and the “reviews” you are reading are true facts and true reviews, not fabricated “reviews” made up by some busy corporate marketing department.

I clicked on the links on this particular website, to try to find out more information about their touted ingredients, Matrixyl 3000 and Argireline.  I wrote to the company for more information on their “clinical results” and asked these questions:

• May I have information on your clinical studies?
• Were these double-blind, controlled clinical studies?
• What were the parameters tested (ie, fine lines and wrinkles, pigmentation, skin clarity, etc)?
• What was tested, the individual ingredient or the finished formula?  What was it tested against (placebo, regular moisturizer, glycerin, etc)?
• How long were the tests conducted?  How many participants were tested?

So … I eagerly awaited my email response … and recieved a form email which was basically another advertisement for Matrixyl 3000 and Argireline … NO answers whatsoever to any of the specific questions I asked — and “we hope this answers all your questions regarding x-y-z product.  Please feel free to contact us with any other questions or concerns that you may have concerning this product.”  Yeah, WHATEVER — thanks for nothing!!

Here’s a fun fact: Of all the ingredients the FDA tests for cosmetics, only 1 out of 350 ingredients actually have activity in the skin when mixed in a formula — so BUYER BEWARE!  Remember, it’s more than does the product feel good and smell good — does the product actually work?