eBayer, Beware

At eBay, you can get everything from Doritos® that look like the Pope’s Hat, to slightly

used grilled cheese sandwiches. Sometimes you can get great buys. Sometimes you

can get big rip-offs. Sometimes it’s hard to know which is which. So let’s face the facts.

When you’re shopping on eBay, here are a few things to look out for:

• Samples. Lots of skincare companies give away free samples. ZO Skin HealthTM supplied 25,000 free samples of OclipseTM Sunscreen to Nordstrom’s best customers. They were little samples—very little—in fact. Only 4ml—a full size is 30 ml—so only about 13% of the full size. But some people took those free samples, and listed them on eBay. They conveniently failed to mention that they were just free samples. And they sold! Well-intentioned people paid close to $70 for the little, mini-sample (with a market value of all about $5). That’s unscrupulous, of course, but for those of us who can’t make quick conversions between milliliters and ounces, it’s an understandable (albeit costly) mistake. Highest bid price: $67.82 … for a free sample!

• Contaminated Product. I saw one on eBay today. A jar of OssentialTM Growth Factor Serum had been opened to show the contents. The only problem with that is certain kinds of retinol will degrade when exposed to the sunlight. So the active ingredients are deactivated. Current bid price: $56.37.  OUCH! That’s the equivalent of paying for a firecracker, and getting a dud.

• Something’s ajar. And it may be the jar. A lot of people take empty skincare jars, and refill them with something entirely different, then hawk them on eBay. If you’re unfamiliar with the product, of course you will be totally unsuspecting. Imagine buying what you think is LaMer®, and then finding out it was Eucerin® that you just paid $200 for. Pumps and tubes are much less likely to be tampered with.

• Only Slightly Used. Some people buy a product, use it a little, then change their mind about it. Retailers aren’t lenient with their return and exchange policies any  more. What to do with it? Sell it on eBay!! Generally, there’s no way of knowing if some product has been dispensed from a tube, pump or airless jar. You buy it, never knowing if the product was previously used.  Of course, like used car dealers, you can say that it wasn’t really used–it’s just “previously owned”.

• Expired shelf life. The shelf life of many skincare products is about two years. They may well last longer than that, but insufficient testing is done to warrant that the product will remain stable beyond that period. Retailers are generally vigilant to assure that the product that they buy has a long shelf life. So the product you buy in the department store is “fresh”. But eBay of course, doesn’t have those same standards. The product you buy may well have expired.

Of course, you can report unethical business practices on eBay, but most people, I suspect, don’t. And many people never know the difference.

At ZO Skin HealthTM, we have batch code information printed on the bottom of every product—so we can track where it was originally sold. If you have doubts, contact our Customer Service Department at smunz@zoskinhealth.com—we’ll check it out for you.

Enjoy shopping on the world’s largest auction site, but when it comes to skincare, eBayer, beware.

Zein Obagi, MD

Doctor Who??

“Dermatologist-approved”; “dermatologist-tested”; “dermatologist-recommended”; “preferred by more dermatologists”; “listed by the American Academy of Dermatology”, “doctor-brands”–what does it all mean? A lot of companies are using those words, and I want you to be smart, educated consumers, so let’s face the facts.

A skincare product that is labeled “dermatologist-approved” (or tested, or recommended) only means that at least one dermatologist says that he likes it. Not the majority of physicians, not the best ones, not licensed ones; not independent ones, not even a panel.  Just one. Of course, some dermatologists are more than willing to accept the generous checks proffered by unscrupulous skin care companies to “test” their products. They like to euphemistically call it an “honorarium”, in fact, sometimes it’s nothing more than payola.

I was offered $25,000 recently by a skincare company who wanted me to “approve” their new product. They didn’t want me to study, review, or test it. Just approve it. I not-so-graciously declined.

Even some of the biggest and best pharmaceutical companies can be unethical and deceptive. Case in point: just a few months ago Pfizer featured Robert Jarvik, the inventor of the Jarvik artificial heart, on their ads for Lipitor. You surely saw their commercial— Pfizer spent more than $200 million promoting their blockbuster cholesterol drug. Dr. Jarvik is neither a cardiologist nor a licensed medical doctor, and he can’t prescribe pharmaceuticals. He was shown in the ads vigorously rowing across a mountain lake— but they used a body double—Dr. Jarvik  doesn’t actually row. Due to criticism from Congress, Pfizer pulled the ads in February. Pfizer admitted that they were deceptive.

Another anecdote—remember when Johnson & Johnson claimed that “more hospitals trust Tylenol”.  That’s because they had massive give-aways to hospitals. All the hospitals gave out Tylenol because they had so many free samples. J&J knew that people would be more likely to buy Tylenol if it was dispensed by the hospital. And of course they were right. But does it mean that hospitals trust Tylenol? Maybe. I think it means that hospitals give out free samples.

Be wary of all of the claims about skincare products that purport to be backed by a doctor. You need to make decisions for yourself. Skincare products are complicated, and their marketing is pretty slick. Ask questions about the safety, effectiveness and potential side effects. Read labels. It’s a little bit harder that way, but it’s a better decision-making process.

Zein Obagi, MD

The Skin Care Conspiracy

The 20th century retailing tycoon, John Wanamaker, said “half of my advertising doesn’t work. I just don’t know which half.”

The odds are even worse in skin care products–the creams and lotions that claim to clear, lift, firm, tighten, and correct your complexion. Less than 50% of the products you put on your face actually help you look younger. Fewer than that are worth what you pay for them.

Why are skin care products so confusing? Why is there so little brand loyalty? Part of the problem is that the last 20 years have brought a tsunami of new skin care products, new ads, new claims. The splashy advertising, the celebrities and the offers combine to produce instant hype. Every new product promises a new “advance” or “technology” or “significant improvement”. Because this revolution is so new, everyone–retailers, consumers, dermatologists, editors–are struggling to figure it out.

Some cosmetics companies like it that way. They invent funny names for molecules. They retouch the living daylights out of those unretouched ads. They cleverly (yet legally) manipulate the copy. These deceptive practices are called “smoke and mirrors”– the metaphor for deceptive or fraudulent practices. The term was first invented to describe the way in which magicians could make objects appear or disappear by using mirrors amid a sudden burst of smoke. It’s clever, but also deceptive.

It works for magicians, and it works for the skin care industry. So women, the willing and unknowing, plunk down big bucks because they want to believe in magic. It’s a national addiction. People everywhere want to fight aging and are looking for solutions.

If you’re going to spend money on skin care products, spend it advisedly. Make sure that you’re not being conned. Make informed decisions. Invest in products that really work. Discriminate. Know how the channel of distribution affects the quality of the merchandise, and the price that you pay. Understand how ads are delicately written and carefully crafted.

Zein Obagi, MD