Brushing sour face "disfigured", we tested 37 products to find the reason
The Paper Journalist Yu Yan
The hot acid brush of the whole network was recently named by the State Food and Drug Administration!
The State Food and Drug Administration issued a document on August 11 to remind consumers to scientifically understand the beauty of brushing acid. The treatment of brushing acid should be performed by trained professionals in a medically qualified hospital or clinic. The acid used is not cosmetics.
How popular is acid brushing?
The Paper (www.thepaper.cn) searched for the keyword "brush acid" on a certain platform, and 230,000+ related notes would pop up.
The concept of "brushing acid" has ignited 20 online celebrity brands such as The Ordinary and Drwu.
Many Internet celebrity bloggers mentioned that there are many benefits of brushing acid: smoothing fine lines, improving closed mouth, diminishing acne marks... Will the skin effect after brushing acid be so good?
In order to prevent consumers from blindly brushing acid, the Shanghai Consumer Protection Commission and The Paper recently jointly evaluated 37 common acid brushing products on the market, including some celebrities endorsed acid brushing products.
At present, no corresponding standards have been issued for acid-brushing products, and they are generally managed in accordance with pharmaceutical equipment or cosmetics.
This comparative test does not involve pharmaceutical products, and is tested in accordance with the "Cosmetics Safety Technical Specifications (2015 Edition)".
The test results found that many acid brushing products have too high acid concentration, exceeding the above-mentioned specification of 6% (in terms of acid) concentration, and some products have low pH values.
What is acid cleaning?
The State Food and Drug Administration pointed out in an article published on August 11 that the so-called acid brushing is actually a chemical peeling technique, also known as chemical peeling technique, which involves applying chemical agents to the skin surface, causing controllable damage to the skin. Promote new skin regeneration.
The type, concentration, and residence time of chemical agents on the skin can all affect the depth of peeling.
Depending on the depth of action of chemical peels, it can be divided into superficial peels, middle peels, and deep peels.
The deeper the skin peeling effect, the more obvious the effect, and the greater the probability of adverse reactions.
The so-called acid scavenging on social media can be divided into two categories.
One is the medical beauty brushing acid, such as the medical beauty project-fruit acid rejuvenation, that is, using high concentration of fruit acid, the epidermal layer is completely peeled off from the dermis, which has the effect of chemical peeling.
Another home-operated method is called daily maintenance and brushing acid, which mainly uses skin care products with low concentration of acid to exfoliate, which is a superficial and middle-level chemical peel.
In order to protect the safety of consumers, my country strictly limits the acid concentration, pH value and precautions of acid-brushing products.
Among the common ingredients of brush acid products, such as tartaric acid, glycolic acid, malic acid, lactic acid, citric acid, etc., are α-hydroxy acids.
This comparison test simulates the consumer’s habit of buying “acid brushing” products, such as searching for “acid brushing”, “fruit acid peeling”, “acne removal”, “blackhead removal” and other product terms or effects online, searching for celebrities, Internet celebrity bloggers recommended items and purchased 37 samples containing "acid" through supermarkets, drugstores, e-commerce platforms and other channels, of which 16 were acid-containing cosmetics with makeup font size (11 were made in China, 5 were imported) , 21 acid-containing products (including 12 overseas online shopping and 9 samples collected from common platforms) that have not been marked with a cosmetics license.
The brand covers domestic and foreign brands such as Stridex, Boleda, Drwu, and Fuqing Key that have high sales, including 5 products recommended by celebrities.
The price is between 68 yuan and 765 yuan.
This comparison This comparison test plan is based on the "Cosmetics Safety Technical Specifications (2015 Edition)", the acid content and pH value of the samples were tested, and the product labels and web pages of the samples were checked.
The overall condition of 16 samples with 37 acid-brushing products marked with makeup font size is relatively good.
At present, there are two main types of acid-containing products that consumers can buy from the market. One is acid-containing cosmetics marked with makeup brand names, and the other is acid-containing products (non-cosmetics).
For acid-containing cosmetics, it must meet the requirements of relevant Chinese regulations and standards.
According to the requirements of "Cosmetics Safety Technical Specification", the maximum allowable concentration of α-hydroxy acid and its salts and esters (commonly including fruit acid, glycolic acid, lactic acid, etc.) is 6%, and β-hydroxy acid (mainly salicylic acid) The maximum allowable concentration is 2%; α-hydroxy acid and its salts and ester products require pH value ≥ 3.5 (Table 1).
The acid content test results found that among the 16 samples with makeup font size, except for one sample with an α-hydroxy acid content of 9.13%, the other 15 samples were all less than 6% (β-hydroxy acid content was less than 2%). meet the standards.
Of the 37 acid-brushing products tested in this comparative test, 21 were non-cosmetic acid-containing products.
The acid content test results showed that the lowest acid content of 21 samples was only 0.25%, and the highest sample was Axuviskin 75% Glycolic Acid Rejuvenating Peeil purchased from Jingdong Baizi Light Color Personal Care Specialty Store. The acid content was as high as 44.80%, followed by Purchased from ASDM BEVERLY HILLS 50% GLYCOLIC ACID CHEMICAL PEEL from Taobao ASDM Beverly Hills Drugstore, the acid content is also as high as 42.47%.
Among the 21 samples, 6 samples have an α-hydroxy acid content of less than 6%, 8 samples are between 6% and 30%, 6 samples exceed 30%, and another sample has a β-hydroxy acid content of more than 20%.
The pH test results found that the lowest pH of 21 samples was 0.6 and the highest was 4.4. Among them, the pH of 11 α-hydroxy acid samples was less than 3.5.
The higher the acid content of acid-brushing products, the better the effect of acid-brushing?
Many netizens and bloggers share their own experiences of "bad face" on social platforms such as Xiaohongshu, Weibo, and Douban.
In this regard, the Shanghai Municipal Consumer Protection Commission reminded consumers that “brushing acid” does not mean that the higher the acid concentration, the better.
The acid content of "Brush Acid" products is too high, which exceeds the capacity of the skin, which may cause skin sensitivity, redness, and damage to the skin barrier.
In addition, this test also found that some samples clearly contained acid content or content that did not match the actual measurement. For example, the Xia Xiaonuan Mandelic Acid Rejuvenating Essence commissioned by Dongguan Xia Xiao Nuan Electronic Commerce Co., Ltd. was found to be unmarked. Ingredients: Salicylic acid 0.31%.
Among the 37 acid-brushing products tested, the pH value test results found that the highest pH value of 21 samples without a cosmetic license was 4.4 and the lowest was only 0.6. Among them, the pH value of 11 α-hydroxy acid samples was less than 3.5.
The Shanghai Municipal Consumer Protection Committee reminded that too low pH is still dangerous, and it is more harmful to the skin.
Individual celebrities have verbally exaggerated the use effect of the promotion product during the live broadcast, etc.
The Paper noted that the "Administrative Regulations on Cosmetics Labeling" stipulate that cosmetics are prohibited from expressing or implying that they have medical effects, and to avoid improper claims such as "resurfacing".
After verification, 7 sample packages or web pages claimed to have words such as "brushing acid" and "replacement".
In addition, the Shanghai Municipal Consumer Protection Committee found that on the sales pages of samples that did not have cosmetics licenses, many sample webpages advertised the words "brushing acid" and "fruit acid peeling", but did not remind consumers of product requirements. Operation under the guidance of professional institutions, and the use of sunscreen products at the same time.
To this end, the Shanghai Consumer Protection Commission conducted unannounced visits to platform shops selling high-concentration and low-pH samples on the issue of whether consumers can brush acid at home.
It turned out that individual store customer service said that consumers can use it at home.
In addition, according to the requirements of the "Cosmetics Safety Technical Specification", non-sunscreen cosmetics with a declared or actual content of ≥3% α-hydroxy acid should be indicated for use with sunscreen cosmetics.
After verification, the two samples with cosmetic licenses did not indicate the above-mentioned precautions in accordance with the requirements of the standard.
The test also found that 9 samples collected from third-party stores on the platform (non-haitao) only had English labels and did not have a cosmetics license.
In this comparative test, some celebrities on several mainstream webcasting platforms were also surveyed. The results found that some celebrities verbally exaggerated the effect of promoting the use of products during the live broadcast, as well as the use of "acid" taboos. Make relevant risk warnings.
Consumers must correctly understand "acid brushing" and pay attention to sunscreen after acid brushing
What are the most important things consumers need to pay attention to when trying to brush acid?
The Shanghai Municipal Consumer Protection Committee reminds consumers that the first correct understanding of "smearing acid".
First of all, we must distinguish between "brushing acid" and acid-containing cosmetics.
"Brush acid" is a chemical peeling technique that needs to be carried out in medical institutions. It is a diagnosis and treatment behavior. It needs to be professionally diagnosed by a doctor and use an appropriate solution and concentration according to the actual situation. Although there are some cosmetics in our daily life. "Acid", but mainly for the purpose of cleaning, protecting, beautifying, and modifying, it has no medical effect.
For products that claim to be “acid-washing” circulating on the market, especially products that exceed the maximum allowable use concentration specified in my country’s "Cosmetics Safety Technical Specifications", the Shanghai Consumer Protection Commission reminds consumers to be vigilant about these acid concentrations. The higher "acid brushing" products should have been provided to professional institutions. If consumers use them on their faces, they may cause serious skin problems.
The second judgment is whether it is suitable for "brushing acid".
Not all skins are suitable for acid cleaning.
Generally speaking, skin with rough skin, large pores, blackheads, and acne-prone skin are more suitable for acid cleaning.
Dry skin, sensitive skin, thin stratum corneum, pregnant women, and breastfeeding are not recommended to brush acid.
The third choice is the appropriate acid.
The Shanghai Municipal Consumer Protection Commission reminded consumers that “acid brushing” does not mean that the higher the acid concentration, the better the effect.
Because if the pH value is relatively high and the free acid concentration is low, it will not play its due role.
When choosing the concentration, you should proceed step by step, starting with a low concentration.
It is recommended to use it locally first, and see the applicability of the skin to slowly build tolerance.
Consumers should not use excessively high concentrations of acid in a large area at the beginning to prevent skin damage.
How to repair after brushing?
The Shanghai Municipal Consumer Protection Committee reminded that it is necessary to avoid ultraviolet radiation and do a good job of sun protection.
At the same time, pay attention to moisturizing the skin, do not use whitening, anti-aging and other functional skin care products for the time being.
The Shanghai Municipal Consumer Protection Committee finally suggested that the operators of cosmetics e-commerce platforms should bear the management responsibilities of the cosmetics operators on the platform in accordance with the law, supervise the operators on the platform to regulate and publicize products containing "acid", and truthfully inform consumers of possible safety risks. , Propaganda to standardize product efficacy, etc.
Operators on the platform shall bear corresponding responsibilities for the products involved.