I know exactly what you mean! And by the way - I am sure everyone knows this anyway - but it really annoys me - you know those ads for L'oreal or Garnier (I always get them confused)....they say they are endorsed by the British Skincare Foundation or something.
Guess who is behind the 'British Skincare Foundation'?
They are!
We took our team of therapists training in Germany earlier this year and spent a long time at the research and development facility of one of our suppliers - Babor (amazing products by the way).
We were all asking lots of questions about SPFs, ingredients, parabens, preservatives, dermatological testing, proven results etc etc etc and were disgusted to discover that these massive companies actually validate a lot of their own 'proof' and 'statistics' by manipulating the figures to their advantage. To then create a 'Foundation' that supports their research and sounds independant when in fact it isn't, is about as low as you can go!
Actually - I am sure they could get lower - but it's all about marketing the products without technically lying and creating the best image possible!
You then have much smaller companies struggling to cope with all the 'red tape' whilst doing everything in their power to keep the ingredients as natural as possible whilst ensuring they do what they say on the tin.
Apparantly there are various associations and standards organisations that you have to belong to or get approved by to market these sorts of products and they are like the advertising standards authority....but if the small companies try to complain about the claims or marketing methods of the big companies, they are conveniently overlooked as the companies are so big, they seem to be above reproach by any of the various bodies that police the industry.
It's all very unfair :-(
Esque - beauty treatments and skin treatments