AvivaLabsUK
Well-Known Member
FAKE TAN TIME BOMB - MYTH OR REALITY?
We hope everyone in the spray tanning business having a good summer despite some of the negative press that our industry has received both in the USA and here in the UK. Tanning professionals and the public alike have been somewhat spooked by these recent scare stories, so we thought now might be good time to provide some accurate information on the issue so you can reassure your clients and staff.
First things first, our industry is not perfect and we do have issues with some products. However, these recent stories really can be categorised as rubbish. Let me briefly describe the legal situation when bringing a product to market in the UK. Many people think that for a product to be on sale here, it must have been physically tested by a government authority. This is not the case.
However, there are very strict and precise rules re the manufacturer and sale of cosmetics in the UK that are laid down in 'The Cosmetic Products (Safety) Regulations 2008'. Failure to comply with these regulations can result in a prison sentence for those that fail to do so. When a product is offered for sale the seller is deemed to be giving an undertaking that the product has been manufactured within the relevant regulations. Products only end up being tested if a problem is identified, but they are not required to be tested before they are put on sale. As a salon owner you could be held responsible for selling a non compliant product.
So when you introduce a new product, tanning or otherwise into your portfolio it is sensible to ask your supplier for an ingredient list that you can keep on file and a written undertaking that the product you are buying does conform to The Cosmetic Products (Safety) Regulations 2008 (Cosmetics Directive 76/768/EEC). This demonstrates that you have taken reasonable steps to protect your clients and staff. Clearly if a supplier is unwilling to provide these documents don't deal with them.
Now to some of the actual issues that have hit the press. I do not intend to deal with all of the chemicals that have been brought into question but these are the most commonly used. Please note I deliberately use the word 'Chemicals' as there is no such thing as a chemical free product. Futher statements like 'Contains only natural ingredients' are meaningless. They imply the igredients have come directly from nature, yes the chemical may occur naturally (most do) but once you get into large scale manufacture they are not available in sufficient quantity and are therefore sythisised in a laboratory. ie. An exact copy of the natural ingredient is created in the lab. I hope the following will help you inform and reassure your clients correctly.
DHA - Is EU approved and deemed to be safe for use in spray tans. (Cosmetics Directive 76/768/EEC). Ok we all know this is the key ingredient in spray tans. DHA has been declared by the EU as being safe and posing no risk to human health for use in cosmetic products. Up to 10% in a cream and up to 14% in a spray. The EUs findings were published in Dec 2010 (SCCS/1347/10). DHA is also approved for use in sprays by the FDA in the USA. DHA is a tanning agent derived from sugar beat/cane. This is the ONLY FDA-approved ingredient for sunless tanning (skin coloration). (Erythrulose is not FDA-approved.)
Parabens (Propylparaben, Methylparaben most commonly used.) - Are EU approved and deemed to be safe for use in spray tans. (Cosmetics Directive 76/768/EEC) The permitted level is 0.4%. or 0.8% in total if more than 1 is used. This is the biggest myth of all. I bet if you are reading this you think Parabens are bad. Nothing could be further from the truth. You're going to love this, they are in fact natures own natural preservatives. They are found in many foods and you eat loads of them every day. (That's how we humans discovered them.) Barley, strawberries, black currants, peaches, carrots, onions, cocoa-beans, I could go on, all contain Parabens. They protect the plants from fungal and bacterial attack. And that's exactly what they do in cosmetics. The whole Paraben issue kicked off in 2004 when Dr Phillippa Darbre published a paper in which she reported finding Parabens in samples of human breast tumour tissues. She claimed they must have come from under arm deodorants. This paper was quickly discredited by the scientific community. There were only 20 samples in the study and it is now accepted that the findings were due to equipment contamination. Just to put this in perspective Parabens are also approved for use in food as a preservative and continue to be widely used in mayonnaise, ice cream, preserved fish, preserved vegetables, including ketchup and mustard, marmalade, fruit and vegetable juices and cider as well as sweets and cakes for example. Not to mention that they are naturally in many foods in any event. They are also used in baby skin care products as they are so safe. The Paraben story can be summed up in one word 'Marketing'. Problem is it has resulted in far worse ingredients being used as preservatives in many products including spray tans.
Diazolidinyl Urea - Is EU approved and deemed to be safe for use in spray tans. (Cosmetics Directive 76/768/EEC) The permitted level is 0.6%. It is a preservative. Urea naturally occurs in urine, this is just a refined version.
Polyglucose - Is EU approved and deemed to be safe for use in spray tans. (Cosmetics Directive 76/768/EEC) It is an emulsifiers and dispersant and is basically sugar (glucose) derived from cornstarch and fatty alcohols (decanol) derived from coconuts.
Isopropyl Myristate - Again this is EU approved and deemed to be safe for use in spray tans. (Cosmetics Directive 76/768/EEC) This ingredient helps with the distribution of active ingredients, is also used in mouth wash products. It is one of the important additives for high-grade cosmetics. It is used as emulsifier and moistening agent in cosmetics. Derived from mostly vegetables, especially from nutmeg and palm seed fats.
Xanthan Gum - Is EU approved and deemed to be safe for use in spray tans. (Cosmetics Directive 76/768/EEC) This is used as a stabiliser ie. it helps to stop the separation of ingredients in the tanning solution. Very commonly used in food as a thickening agent.
Propylene Glycol - Is EU approved and deemed to be safe for use in spray tans. (Cosmetics Directive 76/768/EEC) It is used as a softening agent and a humectant and helps prevent the ingredients from drying out. It is used commonly in breads to keep them spongy and to thicken dairy products and is in foods like soda and salad dressing. Humectants also elevate the hydration of the skin to minimize the dehydrating effect of some active ingredients like DHA.
There are many other ingredients used in our market and some are not so good for the skin like alcohol and fragrance for example but they are still safe and perfectly legal. If you really want to make sure your product complies with the law you can google 'The Cosmetic Products (Safety) Regulations 2008' this will take to Legislation.gov.uk where all banned and approved ingredients are listed.
One ingredient that really should be avoided is Brown HT also known as, Chocolate Brown HT, Brown, Caramel, Food Brown 3, C.I. 20285, E155. A product containing Brown HT which is used in the bronzer (Guide Colour) cannot be lawfully sold and is totally banned in many countries.
One final piece of advice relates basically to cheap white label products. This is a problem area as very often these products are manufactured in China and the white label brand owners here in the UK do not really understand the rules or the chemicals involved. So unfortunately for them and you if you are using such product, they/you can be unknowingly selling illegal and possibly dangerous product to consumers. The problem is that legally speaking saying you didn't know is not a defence in law. The Chinese manufacture does not care as they won't be the ones being prosecuted.
To summarise, in order to ensure you protect yourself, your staff and your clients follow these simple rules with any new product you introduce into your business:-
1. Always obtain an ingredient list and keep it on file.
2. Always get a written undertaking from your supplier that their products comply with Cosmetics Directive 76/768/EEC.
Do these two things and you, your staff and your clients can be confident that everything is safe and legal. Make a point to your clients that this is how you operate and what may appear to be a bit of pain, turns into a powerful marketing tool. Which salon would use, one that operates as described above or one that has no idea what's in their products and no idea whether they conform to EU safety standards?
Bottom line is our industry is very safe and we are providing a great alternative to UV exposure which is demonstrably dangerous and does kill.
If you remain concerned about an ingredient in the product you are using please PM with details of the brand and the problem ingredient and I will endeavour to verify its' status. Please cut me a little slack on speed of response, as we are offering this service to anyone in our industry, not just our customers.
Finally we confirm that all the products in our sunless tanning range conform to EU (Cosmetics Directive 76/768/EEC), UK (The Cosmetic Products (Safety) Regulations 2008) and USA (FD&C Act) saftey regulations and contain only approved and safe ingredients.
