THE SKINCARE MYTH

Most beauty products don’t work. Here’s what’s worth spending your money on — and what isn’t

MIRACLE creams that “defy aging;” serums that “lift and firm,” masks that “blitz crow’s feet” — according to a recent survey, the average American woman spends around $3,756 per year on beauty products. But dermatologist Dr. Fayne L. Frey says most of these bold claims are bogus — and that all you really need for healthy skin are three things: a good moisturizer, mild cleanser and a sunscreen.

Frey is taking on the trillion-dollar beauty industry with a new book, “Skincare Hoax: How You’re Being Tricked into Buying Lotions, Potions & Wrinkle Cream” (Skyhorse). Frey has always been a self confessed “chemistry nerd” interested in skin-care ingredients. Early in her career, she bought a Corneometer, an instrument which assesses the water content of skin.

While she is careful to point out that beauty companies are not villains, they are obviously in the business to move products. They do this by playing on common fears of getting older — “Feel confident in your own skin and reduce the appearance of your fine lines” — and by using vague, often medical-sounding terms which create an illusion they are backed by science even when they’re not. These include promises to “nourish” or “replenish,” when skin is actually made up of dead skin cells — meaning these claims are medically impossible. Other products say they “detoxify,” when no toxins have been found to accumulate on skin — or “rejuvenate,” when skin does a very good job of doing this on its own. The claim “dermatologist-tested” doesn't really mean anything either, as there are no universal standards established for how the testing was done.

The same applies for the terms “crueltyfree” and “not tested on animals.” The term “hypoallergenic” suggests the product will not cause an allergic reaction — but without proper comparison testing, it means very little.

Strip away the hype, Frey says, and the majority of skin creams are simply moisturizers formulated from the same recipe. And one decent, inexpensive moisturizer is all you need.

Even the most reputable brands sell things that are completely superfluous; Frey cites CeraVe and Neutrogena, saying that both brands produce excellent moisturizers — but also sell unnecessary products such as eye and night creams.

“Remember, this is a consumer driven industry,” she says. “If we stopped buying eye creams, those companies wouldn’t make them.” Here are the five things Frey wants people to keep in mind next time

My hope is [to] empower women around the globe to turn away from ‘I’m not good enough’ marketing. — Dermatologist Dr. Fayne L. Frey

they’re shopping for skin care.

Anti-aging creams won’t banish wrinkles

Anti-aging is a $26 billion market that plays on our insecurities. “But aging is a losing battle,” she says. “We all get old.”

By law, beauty products are classified as products that “promote attractiveness and alter appearance.” If a wrinkle cream was invented that went further than that and changed the structure of the skin, it would have to be classified as a drug by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). That’s why you see creams with vaguely worded promises such as decreasing “the appearance” of fine lines. The closest thing to slowing aging is using a 30 SPF sunscreen (which is defined by the FDA as a drug). Many creams add sunscreens to their formulations to support their anti-aging claims.

Retinoids aren’t worth the pain

The only anti-aging ingredients worthy of closer scrutiny are retinoids (often available with a prescription) and retinol (less potent, over the counter). But, after years of prescribing them to her patients, Frey believes that they deliver little reward against the risk of side effects such as burning and irritation — and only 10% of her patients reported “moderate improvement.”

There’s no such thing as a ‘miracle in a bottle’

Hyaluronic acid and antioxidants such as CoEnzyme Q , Resveratrol, vitamin C are all what Frey calls ‘marketing tool ingredients’ with no significant scientific evidence behind them. Creams containing them simply increase the water content of the skin — which, she says, is just what a well-formulated (and less expensive) moisturizer will also do.

Be aware of repackaging tricks

The beauty industry often repackages the same product and sells it to a different customer base, meaning that the same formulation might be seen on the baby, skin or body aisles. “If the price point stays the same, I’m OK with that,” says Frey. “But what bothers me is when they repackage it in a smaller tube and the price per ounce is higher. I don’t think that’s fair.”

The truth about parabens

Another trick is to use fake problems as a way of shifting products. Take paraben-free moisturizers. Parabens — a k a preservatives — became a target after a poorly designed 2004 study led the media to link them to breast cancer. As the firestorm raged, beauty companies saw dollar signs and a new market segment was born.

Ironically, Frey suggests, alternative preservatives used in paraben-free products could be much worse for skin, although she admits the scientific data on that is sketchy as well.