In the first episode of 'Skincare Myth or Truth with Eva Röse', we delve into the topic of 'miracle ingredients' or rather 'story ingredients', which is a well-known concept in the skincare industry. These are ingredients that are mainly added to products to create an exciting story or to give a sense of innovation - it's pure marketing. Some ingredients you might have doubted yourself include diamond powder, gold particles or snail slime - so what about these substances, do they work or are they just a good story? Together with our skin expert Dr. Johanna Gillbro, we'll find out.

Story ingredients lead to new products - but do we need them?

What characterizes these miracle ingredients or story ingredients, is that there must be a news value or something unique/unusual about the topic that allows you to build an interesting story and communication around it. Companies in the skincare industry are constantly looking for new and exciting ingredients that they can build an exciting story around because it gives them a good reason to create another product to sell. These miracle ingredients may differ somewhat from each other but usually the story is based on the fact that the ingredient has been produced in a special way, has been used in traditional medicine, has an origin from in a specific place (usually exotic) or comes from a unique plant for example. Perhaps you have come across products that are marketed with communications such as:

"Diamond powder is the latest research proven to counteract the signs of skin aging"

"Volcanic ash provides a soothing effect and extra energy to the skin surface, making the skin look younger"

"Snail mucus repairs and protects the skin, stimulates collagen production, soothes irritation and provides essential vitamins and minerals".

"24k Gold and colloidal gold have a lifting and firming effect, smoothing, brightening and adding radiance to the skin"

"An advanced, rich face cream that combines bigift and stem cell technology with a nurturing blend of moisturizing ingredients for firm, plump and hydrated skin."

Of course, this may sound tempting and the more unique the story, the more exciting it may seem to us consumers - but is the ingredient there because it has an effect on the skin, or just to sell the product with a unique communication?

How do you know if an ingredient actually has an effect?

In order for an ingredient to be used in a skincare product at all, it must be possible to show that the substance is safe to use on the skin, and this knowledge is obtained through various types of tests*. There are several different tests a substance can undergo, however, it is far from all raw materials that have all the data or even proof that the tests have been done, let alone that the substance has the intended effect on the skin. So many times there is a risk that ingredients with these unique and exciting stories are just that - a good story. But it's certainly difficult to tell if an ingredient is added just for the story or if there is a substantial and beneficial effect. The reason for this is that the amount of data available and the quality of this information varies. For some ingredients, there is publicly available information in the form of scientific articles, but it can often be difficult for consumers to understand and interpret the information. When you take a closer look at ingredients that obviously seem to be so-called miracle ingredients, there is rarely much support to show that the promised effect comes from the miracle ingredient.

In other cases, it may instead be that the concentration used in the final product is so low or the absorption through the skin is minimal that it has been shown to be ineffective in studies. However, what is important to understand as a consumer is that as long as the miracle ingredient is on the ingredient list, it can be used in product communication. Of course, you may still find that the effects promised about the product may well be true, but this is usually because the product contains other ingredients that have similar or the same effects as communicated for the miracle ingredient. For this reason, it is difficult for a consumer to determine whether a specific ingredient does what is being communicated or whether it is just a marketing ploy.

* Tests used to ensure the efficacy and safety of cosmetic ingredients include acute toxicity, long-term toxicity, irritation and sensitization. These tests are important to assess whether the ingredient can cause adverse effects in case of repeated exposure, skin irritation or hypersensitivity in users.

Choose products with good ingredients - our top tips

These are our top tips for avoiding story ingredients and instead choosing products with ingredients that are good for your skin - and (preferably) have a scientifically proven effect.

1. Look at the entire product's communication
When a product is marketed with a focus on highlighting a specific ingredient that the product contains, it may be reasonable to be critical of it. Of course, there are a lot of skincare ingredients that are clearly better than others, but usually these are not new ingredients, but ingredients that have been around for a long time and for which there is therefore scientific support. Having said that, there is of course a lot of innovation and new ingredients with effective properties for the skin are constantly being developed. Our tip is that when choosing skincare products, please look at the entire product's communication, i.e. that the product should have a good and documented effect and not just be highlighted in the communication with a focus on a specific miracle ingredient.

2. Look for skin endogenous ingredients
At Skinome we recommend one category of ingredients in particular - skin endogenous ingredients. These ingredients are substances that the skin itself produces and that we therefore know the skin needs. No miracle ingredient will be better than the substances naturally present in the skin. Examples of skin endogenous ingredients are squalane, glycerine, urea, calcium, ceramides, niacinamide and retinol.

3. for those with a little more time - do research.
For those who have the interest and time to do research themselves, there is a public research database where you can search for different ingredients called https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/. You can search for different ingredients and see how many public studies have been done on the ingredient to get a sense of how well-studied an ingredient actually is. We also recommend that you read some of the studies to get a better picture of the ingredient as, for example, there are a lot of studies on snail mucus that can indicate that it is well studied (and thus good), but when you look a little closer, there are not many studies where the effect has been studied directly on the skin. Instead, these are mechanistic studies where ingredients from snails have been tested for different skin care properties where the aim is to understand the effect of individual extracts or substances in extracts or in different models. It is reasonable to ask what cosmetic effect snail mucus actually has on the skin.