Skin Care Articles

The term hypoallergenic is a term that probably most of us have heard before. It is used in advertising and placed on product labels of shampoos, moisturizers, make-up, and even jewelry. A product that causes less or no allergic reactions is what the majority of people think the definition of hypoallergenic is. But is this really what it means?

Make-up advertisers originally used the term in the sixties. The expression comes from the Grecian prefix hypo, which translates to below or less. Less allergies is the literal translation of the word. Since it's creation the saying has been commonly accepted and used by marketers and companies to sell products that say they are softer on the skin than other products similar to it. But how true is this actually?

The American Food and Drug Administration has said, Hypoallergenic cosmetics are products that producers say produce less allergic reactions than competing products. Users with sensitive skin, and also those with ordinary skin, may be led to believe that these products will be gentler to their skin than non-hypoallergenic products. There are no Federal standards or definitions that control the use of the word hypoallergenic. A cosmetics producer can make the term mean whatever they want it to. Makers of beauty products proclaimed hypoallergenic are not required to submit substantiation of their hypoallergenic properties to FDA. The word hypoallergenic has little meaning according to dermatologists even though it is a considerable marketing term.

In 1974, the FDA attempted again to control products that claimed to be hypoallergenic. They said that a product could be deemed as hypoallergenic only if tests were conducted on human patients and it showed a significantly lower reaction to allergies than products not making the claim. It then stated the companies had to do these tests on their own and (most importantly) at their own expense. This as usual caused major upsets and companies immediately filed lawsuits opposing the choice, saying that the studies would pose an unjust economic hardship on them. The two biggest opposition of this attempt at regulation were Almay and Clinique, two makers of hypoallergenic products.

The FDA tried again to control the use of the word on June 6, 1975 by still requiring manufacturers to do scientific studies but the proceedings for the studies were altered to reduce the cost to the manufacturers. This still didn't work with the companies who obviously wanted no regulations on the things they were making. Cosmetic companies challenged the FDA choice in the U.S. Court of Appeals, which decided that the standard was not binding. The judges said the definition of hypoallergenic the FDA gave was invalid because of such little evidence that customers perceived the term the same as it is described by the organization. The final result? Manufacturers can continue to advertise and label their products hypoallergenic without any kind of regulation or standard set forth by the government. People have no guarantee that a product that says hypoallergenic is any less harsh than other products. So really, a business could produce a product that is hypoallergenic that is loaded with poisons and allergens.

Requiring a list of ingredients the product has in it on the box seems to be the only victory the FDA had against the cosmetics companies. As customers, we must have a knowledge of ingredients in the goods we consume because apparently the manufacturers who create them aren't very concerned about our well being over their profit margins. There is no doubt that some products that exist 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 be reliant on unfounded companies proclamations Hypoallergenic? How about hypohonest.