Salicylic acid is recognized in cosmetics for its anti-imperfection actions.
So we decided NOT to use it. Incomprehensible? Not really.
Learn to read between the lines and discover the two sides of salicylic acid.
We bet you end up agreeing with us?
Go behind the scenes of salicylic acid fame.
Established as the star molecule of anti-blemish ranges, we do not deny that salicylic acid PARTLY deserves its meteoric rise to fame.
Its primary role: to clean up the epidermis (first layer of the skin) by eliminating the outermost cells in order to unclog pores and stimulate cell renewal. Some brands will tell you that it is "keratolytic", a nice word to highlight a science that they often do not master.
The second role for which salicylic acid deserves recognition is its power to destroy bacteria, including the ones that aggravate acne. Let's be honest, salicylic acid is a good anti-microbial.
Where to find salicylic acid at Novexpert?
Within… no range, no product. Don’t waste your time searching every nook and cranny of our site, we have chosen to blacklist it, or to include it on our famous and much-feared blacklist of cosmetic active ingredients. A long list of more than 1600 ingredients that we will NEVER use, no matter how powerful and “trendy” they may be.
You must be thinking that this is completely illogical given what you have just read. But not so much, because the story is not over yet. You have only scratched the surface of the complexity of salicylic acid.
Read on and you'll never reach for salicylic acid again.
You will quickly understand our position and will probably share it very quickly.
In 2019, the European cosmetic regulation (no less) classified it as a “CMR 2 substance” that is to say “suspected of having harmful effects on reproduction” according to the very words of the text of the law. Dark reward. And it’s not over…
For 4 years, salicylic acid has been under study to enter the feared but unfortunately not closed enough group of endocrine disruptors. These molecules of different natures that disrupt our hormonal system, sometimes even in very small quantities (the dose effect is over), and which combine in our body only for the worst (like a bad cocktail). To this day, its safety is still under discussion but for Novexpert, as a precautionary principle, salicylic acid is presumed guilty.
We advocate for your health.
Stop Salicylic Acid: [Pregnant] Women and Children First
It should also be noted that this active ingredient is already banned in certain cosmetics intended for "fragile" audiences. Fortunately, given the data presented. This is particularly the case for products intended for children under 3 years old. For pregnant and breastfeeding women it is STRONGLY not recommended, only... The hormonal system of these women, in these periods as beautiful as they are turbulent, does not need one more disruptor. We therefore STRONGLY advise you not to go near it if you are expecting a happy event or if this one has recently shared your life.
For the rest of the population, know that it is simply (for the moment) limited. So activate your radar all the more to spot it. This will sometimes not be so difficult because new products - especially anti-acne - put it at the top of the bill, a risky marketing strategy given the disputes it has with the authorities.
We too almost fell into the dark side...
We're not going to hide it from you, we also thought about using it in our ranges. We had even formulated a few products. That was several years ago, when the first publications on the potential endocrine disrupting effect of salicylic acid appeared and with them the doubts about its safety. You know our "hardline" (a little too extreme sometimes), our commitment to universal cosmetics (including pregnant women) and our blind (but informed) trust in scientific facts, so you've already guessed the rest of the story. We stopped everything.
To be honest, this decision was also a bit selfish because we wanted to sleep peacefully knowing that we were taking no risks with your future health.
Fighting pimples without salicylic acid is possible (and preferable!)
With this clarification made, you may be wondering if blemished skin is doomed to remain so if it does not want to play with its health. If you are on our site, you know the answer: of course not.
To play on the salicylic acid field, here are some of our secrets that you can find in the Trio-Zinc range:
Antimicrobial active ingredients (= destroy bad bacteria including C. acnes): Totarol, a.lauric, the postbiotic Lactobacillus…
Keratolytic active ingredients (here comes the big word again which means purifying the pores and helping with cell renewal): gluconolactone, lactic acid
And that's not all... with the Trio-Zinc active ingredient, the formulas act on the CAUSES of imperfections for a lasting effect. An example? The zinc trio reduces the amount of IGF-1, a literally pro-acne growth factor that is stimulated when your diet is rich in sugars and/or milk.
And, between us, salicylic acid doesn't do that.
Pioneers, committed, sometimes a little rebellious, we have always imposed the "precautionary principle" on ourselves in the face of chemical pollution of the body and its consequences. As you can see, salicylic acid will not be the exception that proves the rule.
References
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do? uri =OJ:L:2009:342:0059:0209:fr:PDF
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/FR/TXT/PDF/? uri =CELEX:32019R1966& from =FR #:~:text=(1)%20Le%20r%C3%A8glement%20(CE,de%20l'Agence%20europ%C3%A9enne%20des
https://health.ec.europa.eu/scientific-committees/scientific-committee-consumer-safety-sccs_en
