Read the fine print. You hear that advice all the time, but probably only  follow it when buying a home, signing a lease or negotiating some other major purchase. Pick up the nearest women’s magazine and you’ll learn it applies to skincare products, too.  But, we’re warning you: Prepare to feel duped.

We’re going to conduct this little exercise every so often just to keep you as educated a consumer as possible. We’ll flip through a woman’s magazine and go through the promises, one by one.

First up, a skincare cream from a brand better known for its hair products.

The claim: “Look up to 5 years younger in just weeks.”

The fine print: Based on a consumer perception study, women judged they looked up to 5 years younger starting at 4 weeks.

Notice the word “perception.” Here’s the dictionary definition: the act or faculty of apprehending by means of the senses or of the mind; cognition; understanding. In other words, the results are all in your head.

The real deal: Read between the lines: their clinical studies revealed that if there was measurable improvement — any improvement, any at all — it was negligible.

Next, we have a two-page spread devoted to a youth activating cream serum. This one has three footnotes in fine print, but we’d rather focus on the term “youth activating.” We all know what youth means. This is how the dictionary defines “activating”: to make active; cause to function or act.

The real deal: Notice there’s no specification on exactly WHAT will be acting youthful. A sports car or a trophy wife or an old cheerleader’s uniform could all be justifiably referred to as youth activating. But will they make your skin look younger?

The only asterisk marks you’ll find on ZO Skin Health products are to alert you to the potency of our ingredients. And fine print? We don’t need it. We’re so proud of what we’re doing here, we want to make it as clear as possible.