For Your Skin’s Sake – Buy Only USA-Made Skin Care Products
Are you a skin care product consumer? Do you buy anti aging creams, such as wrinkle creams, neck creams, eye creams, or any other application that goes on the skin to treat wrinkles? If you do, listen up. You need to know where your product was made. If it was made outside of the USA, use caution. Even countries that are first world, such as our neighbors to the north, Canada, do not bide by the same regulations as companies who manufacture in the USA. This can be a big health risk and near impossible to treat should you have future issues with the product.
If you follow the news, you may have seen the recall of the popular weight loss diet pill, Hydroxycut. This was an issue that hit home for me as I work out frequently and have cycled the product off and on for years. This was linked to one death and many liver failures, among other health issues. This pill was sold in GNC, for years. Dating back to my days in high school, we used to take these pills for that little extra “kick.” The outrageous before and after photos drew us in, and the effects after taking the supplement were great as well. Who would have known it would be so dangerous to our health? Even worse, it’s made right nearby in Ontario, Canada. So I took the liberty of delving into the regulations and codes that go into making products in Canada and other countries. I was shocked when I found out to my amazement there exists little or no regulation of product quality control in most cases. Yes, even in Canada. Scary.
Many companies manufacture products that use the name “cosmeceuticals.” This is an even more eery subject I won’t go into too much, but I thought I would touch on it. These companies use that term to imply there is a medicinal (prescription) value to the product, when there is only cosmetic value. It’s an issue that has been getting ire from regulators and is sure to draw heat to these companies and certainly could have them explaining their positions to some authorities. You must look into these companies with the utmost due diligence. If the company uses a term like that, you SHOULD be getting some sort of medicinal value to the product. Also, you should need to consult a physician and/or dermatologist as you will probably want to consult someone if you are getting anything of prescription strength without a valid prescription. That said, a recent Forbes article spoke about how many of these offshore companies are little more than a person with a fancy title mixing creams and lotions in buckets under less-than-approved health code conditions. Yikes!
If you buy a product that was made in the USA, you can be assured it was made under strict guidelines and in accordance to State Health Board policies and FDA regulations. These two governing bodies routinely inspect USA-based facilities and make sure they are up to code and that all of their employees are certified to do their assigned jobs. There is a great deal of comfort for me as a consumer knowing that I can look up the license and registration numbers of these companies and check their record with these bodies. It’s public record. Can the company that makes product in Canada and other places, such as China, do that? I have yet to find one that can.
Buyer beware when you shop online. Many people are out there to get that almighty dollar, and could care less about anything or anyone in their way. Be sure to do your due diligence, and take a good look at companies that make products anywhere but the United States.
