A few days ago, #Xiehe Doctor said that spray toner does not hydrate # topped the hot search.
Looking at the various skin care products purchased in a treasure on Double 11, whose heart "chuckled" for a while, I didn't say.
Then I saw a blogger's serial punishment.
"You don't have to buy all the eye creams. ”
"You don't have to buy all the essences. ”
"Masks don't work. ”
Zun Du fake doo?
At first glance, he is a professor at the School of Physics at ShanghaiTech University.
Source: Weibo blogger Lin Skinny Cat
Indeed, cosmetics belong to the category of chemical industry products, and the profession is still a matter of leaving it to the professional person.
I saw this documentary and wanted to share it with everyone.
But to be clear, all the data and conclusions only indicate the position of the documentary.
Maybe it will shock your cognition, and as for believe it or not, you decide for yourself.
"The Truth About Beauty"
One The Truth About Looking Good
2018.1.9
Crazy weeding
In 2018, a BBC documentary called "The Truth About Beauty" was born.
There is only one purpose: to pull weeds.
The film mentions that in the UK, the annual purchase of cosmetics costs 9 billion pounds (about 80 billion yuan).
And this data in China is 340 billion yuan in 2020 and 393.6 billion yuan in 2022.
"Special Effects Makeup Artist Showdown"
Macro market data aside, just look at individuals.
The Kardashian family, Kim sister, Kelly Jenner, launched her own beauty brand at the age of 17.
With a total global sales of $420 million a year, he became the youngest billionaire.
The prosperity of the cosmetics industry is obvious, it is the cash flow of Internet celebrities, and it is the endorsement fee of celebrities.
Kylie Jenner
But in the huge cosmetics market.
How many promises are marketing, and how many are based on science and facts?
Everyone who has ever spent money on it should not be kept in the dark.
Based on this, the documentary seeks independent scientists to collaborate and test the claimed efficacy of various everyday cosmetics.
Blessed are the constituent parties.
The first one is – moisturizing cream.
This kind of product will always use certain professional terms to attract the ingredient party, such as bee venom, sheep placenta, 24k pure gold, etc.
It will also use some verbs to attract the hand party, such as lifting, firming, moisturizing, etc.
Marketing methods emerge one after another, and consumers are almost wiped out.
But what about the facts?
In this regard, the documentary raises the following two questions.
1. Do I need to use moisturizer for healthy skin?
2. Does the moisturizer have a long-term moisturizing effect?
The documentary enlisted 25 volunteers to conduct a scientific test of the moisturizer.
Before the test began, the scientists tested the volunteers on the hydration content and health of the skin (barrier function) using specialized equipment.
Three best-selling moisturizers at different price points were selected according to the best-selling degree and divided into groups A, B, and C.
Volunteers were asked to use it 2 times a day on one side of the face and not on the other, and test again after 21 days.
The results show that-
After using the moisturizer, the instantaneous moisture in the skin does increase.
But the big surprise, but not the most expensive, works best.
Let's make the most important points:
The most common humectant in moisturizers is glycerin, and the higher it is in the product formulation, the better the moisturizing effect.
Therefore, you can ignore the list price and buy according to the formula.
Of course, there are some creams that use other moisturizers, which are not experimented with in the tablets.
There is one more important point.
Based on a three-week controlled study, scientists did not test any changes in the surface of the volunteers' skin or how healthy they were.
That is, a basic moisturizing cream does not improve the health of the skin, and the moisturizing effect is only immediate.
In the face of data, we may have to admit that the advertising slogans we want and believe are not true.
The documentary takes the opportunity to raise the second research question - how to fight aging?
The presenter of the documentary found a female bus driver who had been driving for 40 years, and for 40 years, the right side of her face was exposed to the sun.
As a result, the right side of the face has more wrinkles than the left side of the face.
Through the final word of Chris Griffiths, one of the UK's top dermatologists:
Sunlight exposure is a key factor in wrinkles, accounting for about 75%.
Therefore, the first step in anti-aging is to do a good job of sun protection.
Physical sunscreen is the best way to fight aging, followed by sunscreen.
When choosing a sunscreen, you can't just look at the SPF value, but look at two data, SPF and PA.
SPF (Sun Protection Factor) is the sun protection factor, which protects against ultraviolet B rays and sunburn.
PA (Protection Grade of UVA) is the ability to defend against long-wave ultraviolet A rays to prevent skin darkening and aging.
Ultraviolet A (UVA) is able to penetrate glass, but it is UVB that is reduced in winter, and UVA maintains the same power on the surface of the earth almost all year round.
Therefore, in winter and summer, sunny and cloudy days, as long as you are exposed to the outdoors, you should wear sunscreen.
The third question is how to get rid of existing wrinkles?
In addition to medical aesthetics, only retinoids are effective and can improve wrinkles, age spots, and pigmentation.
However, there are also significant side effects, which may cause redness, irritation, irritation, and burning.
This product is a prescription medication and should only be prescribed through a hospital and should be used as directed by a doctor.
There is also a type of rosin oil, which is an alternative to tretinoin, but it is used to build tolerance.
Next, the documentary also shows the pros and cons of makeup at different prices and the effect of cellulite products.
There are experimental control groups, and the results also prove -
It's not expensive to be good, there are good products at affordable prices, and many of them are IQ taxes.
Of course, the experimental results are only for the products mentioned in this documentary, and the sample is not large enough, which is not a foolproof conclusion, but it still gives us a lot of data to refer to.
The Consumerism Trap
We always have a blind trust in skincare products, thinking that when the money is well spent, it will resist time.
The richer the efficacy bar, the more obscure the patented ingredients are, and the more credible the effect is.
But how much of these terms are added with water?
The documentary features cosmetics expert Colin Saunders, who is also a manufacturer insider, to uncover the inside scoop of the terminology.
For example, "medical certification".
The first reaction of consumers is that products with the "medical certification" mark should go through a large number of medical experiments and have obvious effects before they can be labeled.
But in fact, experts say that as long as a product can achieve a very small effect, it can be considered medically certified.
Even this effect does not change significantly on the face.
Another example is "dermatology certification".
It can only be said that the product has been tried on the skin, and theoretically only one person has tried it.
So through dermatological verification, it cannot prove whether the product is safe for your skin or not.
So why do we pay for these "IQ taxes" so easily?
The philosopher Baudrillard said-
"In the consumer society, people no longer simply pursue the use value of commodities, but begin to pursue the symbolic value of commodities. ”
A small experiment is laid out in the documentary.
Place the same facial cleanser in a shopping mall with different packaging and different salespeople.
One group is a sales assistant in a simple package and dressed in casual clothes.
The second group is a sales assistant in a lab coat with expensive packaging.
The results showed that in the same amount of time, 3 people in the first group were willing to buy, and 8 people in the second group.
This is an interesting theory in psychology called "self-difference".
People will have a "real self" and an "ideal self" at the same time, and sometimes there is a gap between the two, and people will unconsciously want to close the gap.
Buying a richly packaged product can cause uneasiness, and the uneasy realization of illusory satisfaction with wealth, beauty, and status can be achieved.
And there is another kind of anxiety, which is the anxiety of appearance.
We want to be beautiful through cosmetics, but in fact, we are not confident in our appearance, partly because of our self-esteem.
Or, it's marketed as a fear of aging.
A medical aesthetic advertisement
In fact, in the eyes of others, we are much more beautiful than we think we are.
A set of experiments was done in the documentary.
Set up 7 photos of the same person, some original, some beautified, and some ugly.
After talking for a while, the volunteers were asked to enter the room alone and choose the most suitable photo from 7 photos, including the photo himself.
The end result was unexpected.
In psychology, this is called the halo effect.
The pressure to be beautiful will cause people to focus only on the shortcomings of their own face, but others will add personal quality characteristics to the facial features.
Perhaps, as the saying goes, "physiognomy".
The documentary "The Truth About Beauty" only focuses on the inside story behind the cosmetics industry, which is enough to make people break through the cognition.
And about the pitfalls of consumerism, there's more.
The documentary "The Culprit of Uncontrolled Consumption" is an existence that will be taken out and revisited over and over again.
Through interview records and data in the film, we can get a glimpse of the hand behind consumption.
"The Culprit of Uncontrolled Consumption"
There is deliberate manipulation.
For example, the light bulb was originally developed to have a lifespan of 2,500 hours, but the electrical monopoly shortened it to 1,000 hours, which is called "planned obsolescence".
For example, the printer cartridge has a built-in counter, and if you fill 50,000 sheets, it will prompt that the ink is used up, and it can be used again after the actual reset.
There is trafficking anxiety.
For example, SUVs have been claimed by manufacturers for many years, making many people pay for their sense of security.
But according to the documentary, SUVs have a rollover rate twice as high as regular cars.
There are also many dumbfounded marketing methods and product insiders in the film, which will not be repeated here.
Interested friends can watch it on their own.
Of course, today's article is not intended to deny consumption.
I hope that everyone will not be coerced by consumerism, and do not simply believe that buying things equals happiness.
Instead, return to rationality, understand the marketing methods and the essence of the product, and then choose whether to consume.
After all, money is too hard to make right now!