the 07/23/2008

That cream won't make you look younger - and you know it

OTTAWA — When an over-the-counter skin cream promises to reduce theappearance of fine facial lines and wrinkles, Canadian women maybuy the product - but they don't buy the hype.

A series of focus groups conducted by the Strategic Counsel forHealth Canada has found wide-ranging skepticism about cosmetic claims that, perhaps not surprisingly, increases as women growolder.

Depressing though it may be, there is no fountain of youth - and weknow it.

"In general, participants' expectations of the products were quitelow," says the Strategic Counsel's report, released in March. "Forolder women in particular, their expectations were lower, and intheir minds more realistic than the expectations set by theproduct's claims or advertisements."

Not that we don't wish that a jar of cream could make us look 10years younger. "There is a latent desire or hope that the productwill work as desired," says the report. But pessimism abounds.

The researchers based their findings on the attitudes expressedduring eight focus groups organized last November in Toronto,Halifax, Montreal and Vancouver. Half of the groups were made up ofwomen between the ages of 16 and 24. The other half consisted ofwomen over 30.

Health Canada, which commissioned the study, is responsible forensuring the safety of cosmetics used in Canada.

Women who have not yet had to deal with sagging jaw lines orpermanent bags below their eyes are more willing to be convincedthat the goop they apply to their faces will protect them againstwhat many older women accept as inevitable.

"Younger participants generally held out higher expectations oftheir products and expressed higher optimism/hope that theirproducts would work as advertised," the report says.

But over all there was a feeling of incredulity expressed about theclaims of the skin-care merchants.

Peter Vignjevic, a dermatologist who practises in Hamilton, Ont.,and teaches at McMaster University, says the only chemical provento reduce the effects of aging on skin is vitamin A acid.

It doesn't help with deep wrinkles - nothing will - said Dr.Vignjevic. But it has been clearly documented to reduce freckling,fine lines, early skin changes and mottling and improve overallskin tone.

Vitamin A acid is available only by prescription, but most doctorshave no problem with prescribing it, said Dr. Vignjevic. "You can'thurt yourself with the vitamin A unless you were eating it."

One the plus side, it is relatively cheap at $20 a tube and iscovered by prescription drug plans - though government plans won'tcover it after a patient is 65.

The second best products to counter aging are skin creams thatcontain vitamin C, said Dr. Vignjevic. But they tend to be lessstable, which means they can break down and become useless. Andthey are more expensive.

As for the over-the-counter products, he said, many containvitamin-A-like compounds such as retinol, but they are not the sameas vitamin A. "The prescription stuff is far superior to everythingelse."

When asked what advice he would give to women looking for a skincream, Dr. Jignjevic said to stay away from anything that soundstoo good to be true.

The label may say facelift in a jar. But "if that was the case, whywould anyone be doing facelifts? The cream is going to strip 30years away? Not going to happen."

Still, the makers of over-the-counter skin creams say theirproducts do work.

Darren Praznik, president of the Canadian Cosmetic Toiletry andFragrance Association, says products work differently on differentpeople.

"Claims in this particular area around personal-care products arequite regulated by government and advertising standards Canada. Youcan't just go and put something out there and make a claim ...without it coming under some form of regulation," said Mr. Praznik.

They key for consumers, he said, is to understand the differencebetween a cosmetic and a drug. This is an area in which the membersof the focus groups exhibited much confusion.

If the makers of a skin cream make a therapeutic claim - if theysay it will reverse the effects of aging, or eliminate wrinkles, ordo anything to change the basic physiology of the body - thatproduct will be governed by drug regulations and the claim must beproven, said Mr. Praznik. Those products carry a DrugIdentification Number.

"Cosmetic claims are different because cosmetics are not aboutaltering the physiology of the body. Cosmetics by their nature areabout covering up, masking, enhancing."

A cosmetic claim could be that the product "reduces the effects ofwrinkles" as opposed to the therapeutic claim that the product"reduces wrinkles," he said.

Which is all well and good. Except that your local drug store isbound to have shelf after shelf of skin creams with nary a DIN insight.

Neutrogena Healthy Skin Anti-Wrinkle Cream, which costs about $24,has one. But its package promises only that it "visibly reduces theappearance of fine lines," which sounds like a cosmetic claim.

NeoStrata HQ also has a DIN and sells for about $30. It "enhancesskin appearance, reduces fine lines."

Most products, however, have no number - even those that retail for$200 and up such as Elizabeth Arden's Prevage collection, which"helps ease the look of lines to give skin a smoother, more liftedlook."

In the end, the Strategic Counsel researchers said clearerlabelling to differentiate between cosmetic and pharmaceuticalproducts might be all that is needed to protect consumers. And anyinitiatives should be targeted at younger consumers first.

Because more mature women, says the study, already possess a"healthy degree of skepticism."