In this series of posts we explain what the different parts of the label on a cosmetics container are trying to tell you. These posts were sent to our email subscribers before being posted here. They were also posted on our Instagram page. We hope this information will help you be a more educated cosmetics consumer.
Episode 1. Why this brand?
Imagine you are looking for a product for dry skin, a common condition. At your preferred drugstore or grocery store, real life or virtual, there are many options to pick from. Some you may have tried before. Others you haven’t tried but you know the brand. Then there are brands you never heard of. How do you choose?
In this series of posts we will show you how to read a cosmetic product label. We will discuss the information on the label, product claims that a brand may make, the ingredient list, and other criteria that you may use to select one product over another. Understanding what products are communicating on their labels, you will be able to make an informed selection.
The first thing one notices about a product is the container shape, size, and color, as well as the name. All of these are part of the brand identity. Some brands have a unique bottle which is protected with design patents, so competitors can’t copy it. For example, Dove Body Wash has a soft white bottle with a teardrop shape. This communicates softness and gentleness.
The packaging can be beautiful, but you don’t know if you’ll like the product until you try what’s inside. Sometimes there’s a nice scent, but that doesn’t tell you much about the product either. If you like the bottle and the product name, let’s read what else it says on the bottle.
Image from McKernan Packaging
Episode 2. What about the bottle?
Cosmetic bottles are made of glass, plastic, or aluminum. Glass is strong, easily recyclable, and transparent, so the product can be seen inside the bottle. But glass is heavy compared to other materials. It can also break and crack, which can be dangerous, especially for children.
For that reason, Nuthatch Naturals® comes in a plastic bottle. Plastic comes in many types, from soft and flexible HDPE (high density polyethylene) to PET (used in soft drink bottles) and PVC (used for flooring). And there are many other types.
Except for PET, plastic is not easily to recycle, even if it has a recycling symbol on it. Most plastic bottles end up in an incinerator or garbage dump.
The most recyclable material is aluminum, like in aluminum cans. Aluminum bottles are harder, not squeezable, and more expensive. They can be recycled easily in regular recycling bins. For some cosmetic uses, aluminum bottles are a great solution.
Nuthatch Naturals® lotion bottles are made of PET (same as soda bottles) and can be recycled.
Episode 3. Are more expensive products worth it?
Skin care products come in many forms and can be very cheap or very expensive. They can cost as little as 50 cents per ounce for basic lotions or hundreds of dollars per ounce for luxury brands, sold in specialty retailers and department stores. You might wonder what the difference is between these products and if the more expensive ones are worth it. The answer is, it depends!
The price of a skin care product includes the cost to manufacture it, the cost of the ingredients, the cost of the packaging, and the cost of marketing. The manufacturing cost is usually about the same for both cheap and expensive products. However, the ingredient cost can be very different. Cheap products often use low-cost ingredients like mineral oil, parabens, or carbomer. They also use inexpensive fragrances and preservatives.
Fragrances can be very expensive, and all expensive products have other costly ingredients. Sometimes, these ingredients are made through special processes. Brands say that these expensive ingredients give special results.
But we don't always know if pricey products really work better than cheap ones. Big tests that prove medicines work are not used for cosmetics. Many brands don't share what kind of testing they have done. They leave it up to you to decide if you see a difference in your skin.
So, are all expensive products a waste of money? No, if you try a product and like it because of how it feels, smells, or makes your skin look, there's no reason not to keep buying it. If you can afford it and it makes you feel good, then the product is worth it!
The drug facts box for Coppertone Waterbabies SPF50
Episode 4. The drug facts box
In the United States, there are two types of skin care products: OTC and cosmetics. OTC (over-the-counter) products have ingredients that are regulated by the FDA (Food & Drug Administration) as drugs. For example, sunscreens, acne products, and eczema creams are OTC. These products are proven to work because of clinical tests done in the past.
An OTC product must have a special label called the drug facts box. This label shows what active and inactive ingredients are in the product. It also has directions for use, warnings about inappropriate use, and what the product helps with. Only OTC products can make strong claims about what they do. For example, sunscreens can say “decreases the risk of skin cancer” if they are broad spectrum and have an SPF of at least 15. An ointment with petrolatum (a type of mineral oil) can say it “temporarily protects chapped or cracked skin.”
All other skin care products are considered cosmetics. They can only say that they change the look of the skin, not its health or how it looks inside. Brands may say that cosmetic ingredients “are known to” have an anti-aging effect or that “4 out of 5 people say” the product helped them, based on a survey. Stronger claims could be seen as drug claims, and the FDA can make a brand recall products that are not labeled correctly.
Most of the OTC rules were made many years ago, so the allowed ingredients are also old. Newer technologies, like modern sunscreens and biotech ingredients, can only make cosmetic claims. So when a cosmetic product says it builds collagen or reduces redness and dark spots, without a drug facts box, those would be drug claims that are not allowed.
Episode 5. How to decode the front label
So far we have looked at the brand name, product packaging, price, and whether it’s a cosmetic or a drug. There’s a lot more on the front label. It’s the first thing you see when looking at a product, so brands want it to be eye-catching. The front label will have the most important facts about the product, like what it does and how it helps you. It may also have badges or icons for common product claims, like hypoallergenic, cruelty-free, and clinically tested.
Sometimes there is a graphic or illustration on the label that you can recognize right away. This makes it easier to find a product on the shelf. Banana Boat sunscreens have their iconic yellow logo. Nuthatch Naturals® has its friendly bird illustration, showing that it’s a product for kids.
The brand name can also tell you what the product is for, like Coppertone tanning products. And Nuthatch Naturals®, the natural skin care brand for children.
Often there is text on the label that mentions the most important product claims. For moisturizers, this could be hydrating and clinically tested. For sunscreens, this would be the SPF value, broad spectrum, and water resistant. In the United States, sunscreen claims are regulated because they are OTC products. For cosmetics, anything goes as long as they don’t make drug claims. Drug claims are those that say that the product helps change the health of the skin (the structure and function of the skin).
The front label claims can make you feel confident that the product does what you want it to do. However, it’s a good idea to check the fine print to make sure these claims are backed by scientific evidence.
Episode 6. Does this product really do what it says it does?
Skin care products are sold by making claims about what they do. They can’t make drug claims (see Episode 4, The drug facts box), but they can say a lot about what they do for your skin. And they often do, because convincing claims help sell the product.
In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) have rules about what brands can claim. Some states have their own rules, like California which makes companies put cancer warnings on products that have ingredients that may cause cancer. And, all claims must be backed up by science.
Usually, brands don’t tell us much about the science behind their products. For example, CeraVe says that its Moisturizing Cream contains “3 essential ceramides that lock in skin’s moisture and help maintain the skin’s protective barrier.” The ingredient list has the 3 ceramides and the CeraVe website says that it has been clinically tested, but there aren’t any details about the test. We’d like to know more about what kind of test they did and how many people were involved.
Aveeno claims that the Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Body Lotion has clinically proven moisturization that lasts 24 hours. But again, we don’t have any details. How did they measure this? How many people were in the test?
Estee Lauder’s Advanced Night Repair Serum Synchronized Multi-Recovery Complex gives more details. They say it “nourishes & helps replenish the skin’s natural moisture barrier & has proven moisturization that lasts 24 hours.” They list 7 tests on their website with the number of people who were tested. But they don’t say how the tests were done or what the results were. Still, this is more information than most brands share.
On our Nuthatch Naturals FAQ page, we explain that our formula was tested for safety with 50 volunteers. The test was a human repeat insult patch test (HRIPT), which is a standard way to test products. The test showed that our lotion didn’t irritate anyone’s skin. Dermatologists checked the results. You can trust that our product is safe for kids!
Episode 7. Directions for use
Almost all products list directions for how to use them. These are usually pretty simple, but brands include them to make sure people use the products the right way. Over-the-counter (OTC) products, like some medicines, have to list directions in their drug facts boxes using words the FDA tells brands to use. For example, sunscreens must say that they need to be reapplied every 2 hours.
For skin care products, the directions are different for each brand. On Nuthatch Naturals®, we just say to use a dime-size amount of the lotion on clean skin. Other brands might say that the product should be reapplied often and as needed. We’ve also seen products that tell you to shake the bottle before using it, in case the contents separate. Some products even suggest that trying it first on a small patch of skin, to check for irritation.
Since these directions are so simple, and most people already know how to use lotion, do we really need to read them? It’s still a good idea. It’s a helpful reminder to reapply often and to watch for any irritation.
Episode 8. Product certifications, should I trust them?
When you look at the labels on most makeup and skin care products, you might see different symbols. These symbols tell you something about the product. There are lots of them, and each brand seems to have its own. Some of them say things like "fragrance-free," "preservative-free," or "allergen-free." But often, we don’t know what tests were done to prove these things. Sometimes brands explain it on their websites, but not always.
There are two main kinds of seals. The first type is when brands create their own symbols, like the ones on the bottom of the chart above. No one checks these, so they might not mean much.
The second kind of seal is for product certifications. These are given by expert groups, like the Skin Cancer Foundation or the Environmental Working Group. Brands pay a lot of money to use these seals. This can be a problem because the groups make money by giving out the certifications. Small companies, like Nuthatch Naturals®, might not have the money to pay for these seals.
The best certifications come from scientific testing done by an independent lab. These are harder to get because they are based on real tests, not just expert opinions. One of the best is the USDA Biobased certification, which checks how much of the product is made from natural ingredients. Another good one is the National Eczema Association’s Seal of Acceptance, which requires testing for skin irritation.
Sadly, there are no seals for testing skin or eye irritation. At Nuthatch Naturals, we test every product formula carefully to make sure it doesn’t irritate the skin.
We think you should look for seals that require scientific tests first, then check for ones reviewed by experts. Other seals aren’t tested or checked and don’t mean much.
Episode 9. Free from claims
Cosmetic labels often say that a product is “free from” certain chemicals. For example, L’Oréal’s Metal Detox shampoo says it’s sulfate-free. Living Proof® hair care products say that they are not only sulfate-free, but also silicone-free and paraben-free, among others.
These claims have become more common over the past decade. But just because a product says that it is free from something, that doesn’t always mean that the chemical is harmful.
Shampoos used to have sulfates like sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), which can be too harsh for colored hair. That is why people started avoiding it. For regular hair it’s not that damaging. Parabens are preservatives for which some studies say that they may be hazardous. However, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration thinks that there is not yet enough evidence to ban them. Silicones are not hazardous, but they may cause breakouts and they build up in the environment after use.
There are no truly dangerous cosmetics on the market anymore, since the FDA was established in the 1930s. However, the long term effects of some chemicals on the body have not been studied. So it may be a good idea to avoid certain chemicals if you can.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has guidelines about free from claims. For example, products can’t say they’re free of ingredients that no one would put in that kind of product. You can’t claim that a shampoo is free of snake poison. And even if a product says it is “free from” an ingredient, there can still be tiny amounts of that ingredient, if it was not added on purpose.
In summary, free from claims can be useful if you want to avoid an ingredient, but they may unfairly call out ingredients that are not unsafe.
Episode 10. How not to be cruel to animals (and humans)
Most people who buy cosmetics and personal care products do not want those products to be tested on animals. At Nuthatch Naturals, our products are certified cruelty-free by the Leaping Bunny program. This means that we don’t test check safety with animal tests, but also that the suppliers of our ingredients don’t either.
There are other cruelty-free certifications, like the Global Beauty Without Bunnies program at PETA, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. However, Leaping Bunny is the only one that also checks a product’s ingredient suppliers. It is considered the best cruelty-free standard worldwide.
In the past, cosmetics were commonly tested on bunnies, mice, rats, and guinea pigs. This was done to make sure they didn’t irritate the skin or eyes. For new ingredients, companies also wanted to make sure the chemicals did not cause health problems.
Nowadays, irritation testing is done on human volunteers who are paid for their participation in studies. There are also alternatives for animal tests, like computer models and human tissue tests. Those tests are not perfect, so some countries still require animal tests for new chemicals, especially for sunscreens and other drugs, like anti-acne and antiperspirant products.
Episode 11. Packaging Blurbs
Cosmetic packaging can have a lot of space to fill up with text and other information. Brands have to print their logo, the product name, an ingredient list, and a drug facts box if the product contains a drug. That leaves lots of room for other text that brands can use to promote their product.
Some brands add a long marketing message. For example, Aveeno tells users of the Aveeno® Daily Moisturizing Body Wash that its “creamy body wash moisturizes for noticeably healthier looking skin every time you shower”. It goes on to talk about how its formula cleanses and moisturizes. Similarly, Nivea says in its marketing blurb that the Nivea® Shea Nourish lotion moisturizes for 48 hours. On the Nuthatch Naturals® bottle there’s not much space, so we just list the top product properties (biobased, hypoallergenic, and cruelty-free). For more information we direct the user to our website.
The best marketing blurbs start with a hook to get the user to read the rest of the blurb. Then they explain the product benefits and why the user should buy it. If there is space, blurbs can include customer testimonials, certifications, and marketing research results. For example, a brand can do a study with dermatologists and mention in the blurb that 3 out of 4 dermatologists recommend the product, if that is what the study showed.
How effective are these blurbs? Many buyers will not read the whole thing, so they should be brief. The blurb should speak to the buyer and appeal to their concerns. The most successful blurbs also mention the brand’s story and values. As long as there’s extra space on the packaging, brands will fill it with messages!
Nuthatch Naturals® Daily Soothing Lotion is clinically tested by dermatologists, certified animal cruelty-free by the Leaping Bunny program, and USDA Certified 100% Biobased. It is available here and on Amazon.com. Free shipping is available for Amazon Prime members and on the website if you purchase a 3-pack. Let us know how you like it by rating and reviewing our product!
