There are only 56 items that cosmetics can state

Have you ever looked at cosmetics packaging or advertising and wondered, “Why doesn’t this product clearly state its effects?”

The reason is that they cannot write them.

The limit of 56 items

In Japan, the range of efficacy claims that cosmetics can display is defined by a notification from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

That number is 56 items. Anything not on this list cannot be written, no matter how good the product may be.

For example, it includes claims such as these.

• Conditioning the skin
• Providing moisture to the skin
• Making the skin smooth
• Tightening the skin
• Preventing skin dryness

On the other hand, claims such as “dark spots disappear,” “wrinkles are eliminated,” or “whitening” cannot be written for ordinary cosmetics. These are areas that require approval as quasi-drugs.

The day the 56th item was added

On July 21, 2011, the Director-General of the Pharmaceutical and Food Safety Bureau of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare issued “Partial Revision to the Scope of Efficacy Claims for Cosmetics” (PFSB Notification No. 0721-1).

Through this notification, in Appended Table 1, “Make fine lines caused by dryness less noticeable” was added as Item 56 as a new claim.

What had previously been 55 items became 56. It was the addition of just one line, but for the industry it was a major event.

However, not everyone can write this

This is the important point.

The efficacy claim in Item 56 is limited to cases where testing and other evaluations have been conducted based on the Japanese Cosmetic Science Society’s “Guidelines for Evaluation of Cosmetic Functions,” and the results have been confirmed under the rules.

In other words, Cosmetics that state “make fine lines caused by dryness less noticeable” are only products for which that testing has been conducted.

In other words, products that do not state this have not undergone that testing. It does not mean they do not work. It only means they have not been verified.

Advertising also has separate rules

Separate from the range of efficacy claims, there are the “Guidelines for Proper Advertising of Cosmetics and Related Products” by the Japan Cosmetic Industry Association. These are the industry’s voluntary standards.

These guidelines define even the fine details of wording. This is why you often see notes such as “*up to the stratum corneum” or “*due to dryness.”

So what should you look at when choosing?

There are limits to comparing products by their efficacy descriptions. As long as only 56 items can be written, every product ends up saying similar things.

Instead, please look at the full ingredient list on the back of the package.

For the full ingredient list, to be listed in descending order of amount used the order is fixed. The seller cannot change this order.

• Whether the ingredient being highlighted appears close to the beginning
• or whether it is simply listed in small print near the end

this is a verifiable fact. It says far more than a catchphrase.

Why we write this way

On Value Village product pages, “what ingredient appears in what position in the full ingredient list” is something we try to write as much as possible.

We cannot write “it works.” But we can line up facts whose presentation cannot be changed. After that, we believe it is up to the reader to decide.

References: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, “Partial Revision to the Scope of Efficacy Claims for Cosmetics” (July 21, 2011, PFSB Notification No. 0721-1); “Handling of the Partial Revision to the Scope of Efficacy Claims for Cosmetics” (PFSB/ELD Notification No. 0721-1 and PFSB/CND Notification No. 0721-1); Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, “Cosmetics and Quasi-Drugs Website”; Japan Cosmetic Industry Association, “Guidelines for Proper Advertising of Cosmetics and Related Products”

—The Value Village Editorial Team