Skin Care Articles

The word hypoallergenic is a term that probably most of us have run across. Make-up, moisturizers, shampoos, and even jewelry use it on their labels and in advertisements. A product that causes less or no allergic reactions is what most people think the meaning of hypoallergenic is. But what does the word actually mean?

The term first appeared in the sixties from cosmetics advertisers. It comes from the Grecian prefix hypo, which translates to below or less. Less allergens is the literal translation of the word. Since it's invention the word has been widely adopted and used by companies and advertisers to sell products that say they are gentler on the skin than other products similar to it. But is this really the truth?

The Food and Drug Administration attempted again to control the use of the expression on June 6, 1975 by still requiring manufacturers to do experimental tests but the proceedings for the experiments were changed to reduce the cost to the companies. This still didn't work with the manufacturers who obviously wanted no regulations on the products they were producing. Cosmetic manufacturers challenged the FDA choice in the U.S. Court of Appeals, which judged that the law was invalid. The judges said the definition of hypoallergenic the FDA gave was not fair because of such little evidence that people perceived the word the same as it is described by the organization. The final outcome? Cosmetics producers can continue to advertise and label their products hypoallergenic with no guidelines or laws set up by the government. Consumers have no assurance that a product that says hypoallergenic is any less reactive than other products. So really, a company could put out a product that is hypoallergenic that is loaded with poisons and allergens. The American Food and Drug Administration has said, Hypoallergenic cosmetics are products that producers say create fewer allergic reactions than competing products. Users with oversensitive skin, in addition to consumers with regular skin, may be led to believe that these products will be gentler to their skin than non-hypoallergenic cosmetics. There are no Federal guidelines or terms that govern the use of the term hypoallergenic. A company can make the term mean whatever they want it to. Manufacturers of goods labeled as hypoallergenic are not required to submit substantiation of their hypoallergenicity claims to FDA. The saying hypoallergenic may have a big market value in boosting sales of skin care products to consumers on a retail basis, but doctors say it has very little meaning.

In 1974, the FDA tried again to control products that said they were hypoallergenic. They stated that a product could be deemed as hypoallergenic only if experiments were conducted on patients and it proved to be an obvious lower reaction to allergies than products not making the claim. The FDA then said the companies had to conduct these studies on their own and (most importantly) at their own cost. This obviously caused major problems and manufacturers without hesitation filed suits against the choice, claiming that the experiments would pose an unfair financial hardship on them. The two biggest challengers of this attempt at standardization were Almay and Clinique, two manufacturers of hypoallergenic beauty products.

The lone small triumph that the FDA seems to have had is that at least now manufacturers now have to put the ingredients on the labels of the products so that people can avoid substances that they know they are allergic to or have had problems with in the past. As consumers, we must be aware of ingredients in the products we use because obviously the companies who make them aren't extremely concerned about our lives over their money margins. There is undoubtedly some products out there that claim to be hypoallergenic actually are, but if you are an intelligent customer and concerned for you and your family's well being, you will do some studying yourself and not rely on unfounded companies claims .