Personal care products excluding colour cosmetics have become a necessity in our life. Serving the dual-functions of personal hygiene as well as protection against bacteria and environment stressors, they are widely offered by pharmacies, retailers and e-commerce platforms. A single personal care item can appear in multiple formats such as liquid (cream or gel) or solid, and in a variety of packaging thanks to ongoing innovation and market demand for uniqueness.
Under the same category of personal care, a small sub-segment of personal care is slowly but surely making waves in the market, i.e. personal care products which are recommended by physicians. Although still used for daily maintenance of personal hygiene and protection, this category of products has very distinctive characteristics compared to the mass-market personal care products you commonly see. The biggest difference between physician-recommended and mass-market products is that the former is often advocated for specific conditions by physicians to complement medical treatment(s) a patient is currently receiving. A main factor for such recommendation is that the products do not include any known controversial ingredients which have been reported to trigger specific concerns / reactions, making them a safe choice to not interfere with ongoing treatments or create additional adverse responses. The versatility of the products in having more than one recommended function also gives the physicians greater flexibility in catering to the needs of patients with similar conditions.
Secondly, while both categories of mass-market and physician-recommended personal care products tend to the latest research and market demands by including specific ‘in-trend’ natural or synthetic ingredients, the philosophy behind the inclusion of the ingredients cannot be further apart. Mass-market products often fall back onto references to historical data and traditional uses for their functional claims, sometimes even employing a misleading marketing practice called ‘angel dusting’, in which a minuscule amount of an active ingredient is included to imply a function but in fact insufficient to produce any measurable benefits. In contrast, physician-recommended products only choose to include active compounds that have undergone in vitro, in vivo and clinical testing, with well characterised mode of action, safety and efficacy profiles that support the intended product claims. Furthermore, the active ingredients are always included at amounts proven to be efficacious, hence ensuring that these products can be used in medical settings with specific and concise medical claim(s).
Have you encountered any of the items mentioned above and wondered about their differences? Perhaps now is a good time to do an evaluation of your personal care items.