Unfortunately in cosmetics there are “wolves in sheep’s’ clothing”: They promise you the heaven and the earth, unbelievable results or eternal youth.

A glance at the ingredients is the best way to protect oneself. Compare the contents and the composition of a product with the promises it advertises. You will often be amazed when you assess the ingredients for yourself or get an expert cosmetician to assess them for you.

Here are a range of sales tricks used to sell products which you would not want to buy if you had better background information:

• On a product you find the term “hypoallergenic”, even though in the list of ingredients you find the most common allergy triggers, such as fragrance and chemical preservatives.
• A product claims to be “natural” but contains a range of chemical and synthetic substances. Besides, “natural” is not always skin-friendly and healthy. Even natural substances can trigger the worst allergies and cancer.
• On the packaging an effective promotional ingredient is stressed, even though it is only contained in tiny – and ineffective – concentrations. Instead one finds cheap oils and other substances of dubious value.
• During new cosmetic trends substances are advertised whose benefit for the skin is questionable.
• A product is sold under a well-known brand name at a high price, even though for the most part cheap ingredients have been used.
• A product claims to be free of animal testing and creates the impression of being animal-friendly, yet contains animal ingredients.
• With every new trend cosmetics manufacturers promise a revolution in skincare, although as each trend comes and goes there is no change in the physiology of the skin. The result: you buy the product and everything remains or same, or becomes worse. New trends generate new hope.
• Products are advertised to be “dermatologically tested”, “allergy tested”, “clinically tested”, “medically tested” etc. However there are no legal guidelines as to how these tests should be conducted. The declaration merely says that it has been tested, but does not supply the results.

The same mechanism is always used: Advertising campaigns suggest that you trust in the products, so that a real critical examination is never necessary.

Start off on the right path to find optimal skincare products for your skin: gain insight into the basic principles of skincare and dermatological knowledge about cosmetic ingredients. By means of this webpage we would like to help you in this endeavour.