Label Lingo     

When it comes to beauty labels, here’s the secret: They often mean nothing. Just a bunch of carefully curated words, attempting to lure you to the register while delivering very little. So, how does one teich skincare claims?

Here is a list of phony-baloney blurbs (unless the ingredients can back it up):

“Clinically tested,” “dermatologist tested,” or “dermatologist tested and approved”

There’s taking a test, and there’s doing well on that test. Yes, the product was tested, but did it get a high score? Who knows? They aren’t telling you! It means that at most, you shouldn’t break out in hives from it, but as for actually helping your skin concern . . .

“DNA repair”

Repairing your DNA is not exactly something your OTC bottle of cream can do — it’s not CRISPR. Antioxidants and SPF can help prevent and slow down DNA damage, but it can’t repair it.