Marcie Mom from EczemaBlues.com interviews Laura, CEO of VMV Hypoallergenics, to find out more about product claims and why they’re important when choosing your skin care…particularly if you and/or your child have eczema.
Is it really not a good idea to use different brands? Or is this just a way for companies to keep customers away from the competition?
A: Both 🙂 Companies of course want customers to stay with them. But there are actual risks when using lots of different products from various brands, particularly if you have very sensitive skin.
I read that there is a possibility of cross reactions between different companies’ products. Is there a way for a parent to compare the ingredients and assess if there’s a high likelihood of this?
A: That’s one of the risks, for sure. Even if you could compare ingredients, that may not be enough because while the ingredients may look the same, they may not be exactly the same.
Cross reactants require some knowledge of chemistry. You’d need to know that if you patch tested positive to propolis, you might not be able to use beeswax, for example. Or that while green tea is sometimes categorized under “botanicals,” pure green tea is not a top contact allergen.
Some ingredients contain allergens in the raw material. For example, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil is not an allergen. If you see “Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil” listed as an ingredient, however, this would not tell you if the coconut oil is pure, virgin, or organic, or if it is RBD (Refined, Bleached, Deodorized) coconut oil (which has had reports of allergies to it), or if the oil has trace amounts of fragrance present in the raw material. None of this information is required to be disclosed in the ingredients list. Only the INCI (International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients) name of the ingredient itself is required, not the breakdown of the raw material, its purity, or its quality.
Especially for products made by brands who outsource manufacturing (which many do), it would be close to impossible to find out whether the product was mixed or stored in containers shared with other formulations that contain fragrance or other allergens. Some of these allergens leave residue that can be difficult to fully remove without very strong cleaners and disinfectants…many of which contain allergens or irritants (like chlorine) themselves.
Another reason that using lots of products from different brands can be risky is just the quantity of factors to consider. When a reaction occurs, a dermatologist will ask you for a thorough history. One question that’s sure to be there is “what products are you using”? The more products you list, the harder it is to determine what is actually causing the reaction. And again, just because none of your allergens are listed in the products’ ingredients lists doesn’t mean they’re not hidden in the raw materials or get to the formulation in other ways, like mixing and storage.
We get lots of customers who ask us if they can use one of our products along with a product from another company. We always say that we can’t answer that question. I think it may be irresponsible for us to guess. We do not outsource any of our R&D, research, clinical studies, or manufacturing, so we can answer for our products and processes. We know where we source our ingredients, their raw materials, and their quality. We know how our plant is cleaned and how materials are stored. This is information that we simply would not be able to get from another company. Sticking to one brand (ours or someone else’s) at least gives you the advantage of customer support that is familiar with all the products they offer, everything that went into them, and how they were made…particularly if the brand does not outsource its manufacturing.
This article was originally published in eczemablues.com as one of a multi-part series focused on understanding and using products for sensitive skin. Inspired by her daughter Marcie who had eczema from two weeks old, Mei (aka MarcieMom) started EczemaBlues.com with the mission to turn eczema blues to bliss. In this series of interviews, MarcieMom interviews Laura, CEO of VMV Hypoallergenics, to learn more about product claims when choosing products to care for skin with eczema.