Some merchants claim that customized skin volume cosmetics have "amazing effects", experts point out
Custom cosmetics are both unsafe and illegal
● "Privately customized" "special" brand cosmetics are extremely popular on online shopping platforms and some live broadcast rooms. Sellers use customized solutions, targeted matching ratios and so-called amazing effects to make buyers "passionately" place orders, while As for whether it has obtained the relevant administrative license inspection, many sellers are noncommittal
● Some merchants sell "material packs" for customers to make their own cosmetics to achieve "private customization" effects. The specific operation mode is that merchants sell cosmetic raw materials, production tools and production plans, and customers make them by themselves.
Such behavior is equivalent to selling "semi-finished products" and transferring the production site outside, which is suspected of violating the Product Quality Law.
● Experts suggest improving the level and efficiency of smart supervision. The supervision department should use big data, block chain and other means to keep unsafe products out of the market as much as possible; The intensity of criminal liability investigation for illegal acts in publicity forms a certain deterrent force; consumers should also improve their ability to distinguish advertising information, have awareness of rights protection, pay attention to retaining evidence, and report to the drug supervision and management department when necessary
□ Reporter Han Dandong
□ Our intern Guan Chuyu
"One person, one party, 'customize' your own whitening cream. Solve the problem according to your requirements." On a shopping platform, an anchor introduced the "customized" cosmetics he sold - whitening cream.
The whitening cream promoted by the anchor belongs to "special purpose cosmetics", that is, "special" cosmetics.
Such cosmetics mainly include five categories: whitening, freckle removal, hair dye, perm, and sunscreen. They need to pass the administrative license inspection of relevant departments and obtain the "special" brand name before they can be sold.
However, a recent investigation by a reporter from the "Rule of Law Daily" found that "special" brand cosmetics that claim to be "privately customized" are extremely popular on online shopping platforms and some live broadcast rooms. , so that buyers place orders with "passion", and many sellers are noncommittal as to whether they have obtained relevant administrative license inspections.
Experts interviewed pointed out that untested customized "special" brand cosmetics are not necessarily safe, and it is unknown whether the product ingredients contain hormones and whether the content of heavy metals exceeds the standard.
Some businesses sell homemade cosmetic raw materials, which is equivalent to transferring the production site outside, which is suspected of violating the Product Quality Law.
It is recommended to improve the efficiency of supervision, use big data, blockchain and other means to block unsafe products from the market, and at the same time increase the punishment of violations to form a deterrent force.
The proliferation of private customized products
Questionable quality test results
On a certain shopping platform, the reporter noticed that many shops sell custom-made whitening cream, freckle essence, anti-aging peach blossom cream and other functional special-purpose cosmetics. The prices of these products are mostly around 100 yuan.
Among them, the so-called "advanced repair plan" product, the total price of a set is more than 300 yuan.
The special-purpose cosmetics made by these merchants mainly focus on the promotional effects of "whitening, lightening, anti-wrinkle, anti-aging", etc., and they also have their own set of processes in sales and services.
Taking "a certain freckle repair shop" as an example, the customer service introduced that although the freckle creams it sells have the same outer packaging, the ingredients in each bottle are different.
Merchants can carry out "special ingredient matching" according to the location and time of customers' long spots.
Immediately afterwards, the other party sent a photo of the "matching room". It was already 11 o'clock in the evening.
As for the specific effects, the customer service further explained, such as "improvement of the underlying skin layer" and "avoiding the free deposition of melanin".
When the reporter asked whether they had relevant quality inspection certificates and the approval of the "special" brand of national makeup, the other party sent a "special" brand name filing certificate, but was asked about the "privately customized" whitening cream and the ingredients and production of the products submitted for inspection. When asked whether the craftsmanship is the same, the other party replied vaguely: "Create a bottle, check another bottle, I will definitely be too busy."
It is worth noting that in November this year, the State Drug Administration issued the "Notice on Carrying out the Pilot Work of Cosmetics Personalized Services" to carry out the pilot work of cosmetics personalized services in some areas, clearly pointing out that "special cosmetics" and "children's cosmetics" Do not participate in the pilot.
Experts interviewed pointed out that judging from the content of the notice, cosmetics such as whitening cream and freckle-removing essence are special-purpose cosmetics, and personalized customization services are not allowed.
"The personalized service of the pilot is limited to the ordinary cosmetics of the selected companies. The scope of use cannot be expanded in the name of the pilot." Deng Liqiang, executive director of the China Health Law Society and deputy director of Beijing Huawei Law Firm, said that if a business sells such customization Specialized special-purpose cosmetics will be punished for failing to record the sales of cosmetics.
According to the "Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of Cosmetics", if a merchant sells unregistered cosmetics without authorization, the department in charge of drug supervision and management will confiscate illegal income, cosmetics that are illegally produced and operated, and raw materials, packaging materials, tools, and equipment specially used for illegal production and operation. and other items; if the value of the goods is more than 10,000 yuan, a fine of 15 times to 30 times the value of the goods shall be imposed; if the circumstances are serious, the suspension of production and business shall be ordered, and the filing department shall cancel the filing or the original issuing department shall revoke the cosmetics license, 10 The filing of cosmetics proposed by it or the application for administrative licensing of cosmetics proposed by it will not be accepted within this year.
Homemade raw materials wantonly sold
There are hidden dangers in manual operation
There are also some merchants who sell "material packs", and customers make their own cosmetics to achieve the effect of "private customization". The specific operation mode is that merchants sell cosmetic raw materials, production tools and production plans, and customers make them themselves.
In addition, these merchants will match different raw materials according to the requirements of the remarks, claiming that "the ratio can be matched according to the skin quality of the customer, and it is enough to make it by yourself after receiving the goods, so that customers can feel more at ease."
The reporter's investigation found that many of these cosmetics that can be made by customers belong to the category of "special-purpose cosmetics", such as licorice glabradin whitening cream material pack, whitening spot repair cream material pack, whitening snail water milk raw material pack, etc., with an average price of About 60 yuan, which is half the average price of whitening cream cosmetics customized by merchants.
The low price and novel production method have attracted many customers to buy cosmetic raw material packages.
According to a merchant who sells such raw material packages, these raw materials are all "herbal essences" and even reach the edible level.
There are also businesses that directly provide production licenses, saying it is "absolutely safe."
But can these special-purpose cosmetics that claim to be "guaranteed", "amazingly effective" and "absolutely safe" flow into the market indiscriminately?
"Some merchants claim that their cosmetics are 'natural food-grade materials', and even come up with the gimmick of 'eating' cosmetics, but these cannot be used as proof of sale of qualified cosmetics." Deng Liqiang said that even if the merchants provide a production license, they cannot It means that it can sell self-made cosmetic raw materials, because the cosmetics production license can only prove that it can sell the finished cosmetics produced by itself, and does not include "semi-finished products" or raw material packages. Selling "semi-finished products" is equivalent to displacing the production site. Transferred outside, suspected of violating the Product Quality Law.
In Deng Liqiang's view, there are still many problems in customer-made cosmetics, especially special-purpose cosmetics: cosmetics do not have a sterile processing environment, are easy to deteriorate, and have health risks such as infection and allergies; customers produce manually instead of mechanized, and the proportion of raw materials is mixed. It is difficult to achieve precise control, and the deviation of the operation process will also lead to uneven product quality; even if the ingredients and raw materials are safe, it is difficult to control the various chemical reactions in the production, resulting in the stability of the finished product, microbial indicators, and toxicological safety. Sex etc. can be a problem.
During the investigation, the reporter also found that many "special" cosmetics have exaggerated product effects and false propaganda.
For example, an essential oil wholesale store mainly sells "spot lightening essence", which claims to have miraculous effects, but many buyers in the product review area report that the product has no freckle effect.
According to the merchant, the original name of this essence is "Yurong Mulberry Extract", and its main function is to "improve skin texture and complexion". It only has the effect of brightening the skin tone. If you want to remove freckles, you need to use it with a freckle cream, and the single use of essence 'cannot achieve the effect of lightening spots'".
Regarding this kind of behavior, Deng Liqiang believes that in order to increase sales, businesses use special promotional words such as "freckle removal and lightening" to over exaggerate or even fake the real use effect of the product.
According to the "Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of Cosmetics", the content of cosmetic advertisements should be true and legal.
Cosmetic advertisements must not contain false or misleading content, and must not deceive or mislead consumers.
"Obviously, merchants selling 'Yurong Sang Extract' have false or misleading commercial advertisements for their products." Deng Liqiang said that according to the "Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of Cosmetics", violators may be punished in accordance with the Advertising Law; Those who make false or misleading publicity on cosmetics by means of other methods shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of relevant laws; if a crime is constituted, criminal responsibility shall be investigated according to law.
Improve the level of intelligent supervision
Increase penalties for violations
Why is there frequent chaos in "special" cosmetics?
Wang Yue, a professor of health law at the School of Medical Humanities at Peking University, analyzed that, first of all, in the product sampling system, due to the human and technical limitations of the supervision and inspection department, the vast majority of fish slipped through the net. They not only want to gain attention and sales through "customization", but also want to avoid reporting and quality inspection spot checks; secondly, because product supervision involves multiple departments such as health, market supervision and management, comprehensive administrative law enforcement, etc., multiple supervision often occurs No one cares, resulting in insufficient supervision.
"Current administrative penalties are limited to confiscation, fines, and license revocation, and criminal liability is too 'modesty' at present, resulting in an imbalance between illegal benefits and punishment. In addition, the general public is concerned about the relationship between 'special' brand products and drugs and cosmetics. There is a lack of relevant knowledge for the distinction, and due to information asymmetry, it is easy to make wrong judgments." Wang Yue said.
As for how to regulate the "special" brand cosmetics market, Wang Yue suggested that to improve the level of smart supervision and supervision efficiency, the supervision department should use big data, blockchain and other means to grasp the quality and safety information of products in the first place, and minimize the risk of unsafe products. Products are blocked from the market; it is also necessary to increase the criminal liability investigation for the production, sales and illegal promotion of "special" cosmetics to form a certain deterrent force.
"Consumers should also improve their ability to distinguish advertising information, have a sense of rights protection, pay attention to retaining evidence, and report to the drug supervision and management department when necessary." Wang Yue said that at the same time, it is necessary to improve the public interest litigation under the responsibility of the Consumers Association. mechanisms to address consumers’ unwillingness and inability to defend their rights.
(Rule of Law Daily)