I was lying in bed after putting lotion on my face, the same I have done almost every night for 10 years or so and it occurred to me that I don't really know if it does anything, I am just presuming that it does because everyone says it does. I started thinking, "what if lotion doesn't actually do anything?"
I have always wondered about the dubious claims on bottles of lotions and I became more suspicious when I moved to Thailand and all the lotions were advertised as "whitening" They would suggest through graphics and funny cartoons that over time and continual usage the lotion would actually change the tone of your skin several "shades."
For one thing, what the hell is a "shade?" and I'm pretty sure that you can't just change the color of you skin unless you undertake some Michael Jackson type stuff.
The claims that some of these companies make are also intentionally very vaguely worded for example the package and / or commercial might say something along the lines of something I saw the other day where it was claimed that the lotions would "revitalize and refresh skin cells and assist in the reduction of fine lines".... Think about it..... what does that even mean?
As it turns out, most countries forbid manufacturers from making claims without peer-reviewed science to back it up. Since the scientific community (the real one) doesn't really have an agenda outside of seeking the truth, no such study is ever attempted because it would quickly be debunked. The few studies that do exist are not really studies at all and make very small claims using complicated language that doesn't even mean anything to the average person.
However, there are some countries (such as the one that I live in) where there are no such regulations. The other day I saw a product that made the following claim
(said products will) ..." smooth the cutaneous microrelief leading to a 10 percent wrinkle reduction being observed after only 4 weeks. Additional tests have shown that skin moisturisation improved by 30 percent. "
It provided a website that didn't actually work and I could find no study to back up the claims on this container.
What does "younger-looking" actually mean? It isn't something that can be measured after-all. If manufacturers use soft ambiguous words and avoid using definitive ones such as "prevent, diagnose, cure, or alleviate" they don't actually have to provide any science to back up their claims. They introduce new magic chemicals to various salves and through the magic of advertising manage to convince the masses that they will be able to look like they 20 again and that simply isn't true.
Most actual scientists will agree that the only "proven" claim on any over-the-counter lotion is the ones that contain SPF. It is generally accepted that limiting exposure to the sun's UV rays is pretty much the only truthful claim made by any player in this $80 billion per year industry.
Wow.
For me, i will still continue to use lotion because sometimes I don't like the way that my skin feels dry. However, I think I am done believing the claims that these products make and simply accept the fact that as i get older, I am simply going to look older and this is fine.
