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Skincare Hoax
We all want to have young and healthy skin, yet the beauty industry is so mixed in its messages that most consumers have no way to tell which skincare products are helpful and which claims are pure hype. In this book, skincare expert Dr. Fayne Frey explores the essential product categories that are entirely unnecessary, exposes how many well-known skincare ingredients have no scientific basis, and recommends truly effective skincare products and regimens that are easy and affordable. Key points include the -Why an over-the-counter wrinkle cream that removes wrinkles would be in violation of federal law; -The one and only true anti-aging product; -What moisturizers actually do. Reveal the healthiest and most informed choices for your skin with The Skincare Hoax.
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Published November 10, 2022
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March 17, 2023
My first acquaintance with expensive facial creams was as a young teen, when my older sister brought home a pretty pot of Apotheker Scheller for herself. And I, being the curious lass I was, opened it and saw it looked like the baby food for my months-old niece that I used to occasionally filch a bite of (adolescence is weird, don't judge), and smelled just as delicious as the maize & fruit puree the baby and I ate.
Later on, big sis filled her vanity with lots of other creams, not as appetising but just as expensive, and to date she's the one in the family with the best skin, which I always attributed to my mother's genes rather than to the creams she buys and whatever funky facials she gets at the aesthetician's. Proof: the rest of my family look much younger than we really are, and we've never used anything but moisturiser and sunscreen. More out of laziness and not having time for a long skincare routine than scepticism, I should add, because nobody in my family is suspicious of cosmetics. Another of my sisters has such good skin that her hairstylist told her right away that she could tell she didn't use tonnes of make-up products and creams worth a mortgage payment because her skin was the most youthful she'd seen in a woman her age (late 40s).
Well, nobody except my mother, and (much, much later) myself. Initially, whilst still in my teens, I began spending my allowance on beauty products, naïvely thinking I should follow my older sister's example even though my other sisters didn't. She's the prettiest of us all, and who wouldn't want to look like your more glamorous sister who had so many admirers and even did modelling? Especially if you're the youngest and the official ugly duckling who looks more like dad than mum. Fortunately for me, I had to face mum's disapproval and lectures on why all those creams on my kiddie skin weren't going to work precisely because you don't get wrinkles at 14; and also because I was a bookworm and faced with the prospect of choosing between buying books and beauty products, the choice was crystal clear. I wince at the memory of the stuff I was putting on my face back then, and am thankful that my interest in skincare went away with adolescent acne, praise Jesus. When I got into college and there was a science fair in which the chemistry students were promoting some all-natural skincare line they had created in their kitchen, I walked past their stall and went to buy a whole box of books at the stall of the English students instead.
As an adult, I became a regular blog reader and amongst my favourites was a cosmetics exposé one run by an anonymous blogger that claimed to be still working for the industry. It wasn't skincare but make-up products, and the lady wrote harsh but humorous articles revealing just how scammy and fake the claims made by the cosmetics industry are, promises like this mascara will enlarge your four remaining lashes and make four more grow, this lip gloss will rejuvenate your lips and make them so full you'll look like you were making out with a bee, this eyeliner is ophthalmologist-approved and can prevent your eyelids from shrinking like prunes, and so on. By this time, I had lost any interest in the beauty industry at large, but I read this blog (which I sadly can't find again, it must've been deleted or was buried someplace I can't find) because of the exposés on this multi-billion industry that scams women the world over out of their hard-earned money.
It was the memory of that blog that made me pick up Fayne L. Frey's "The Skincare Hoax," who makes arguments so similar to those of the blogger I knew that at first I assumed they might be the same person, maybe? But they aren't, because Frey is a dermatologist and has never worked in the beauty industry in any capacity. She has no strings attached and no horse in this race, which allows her a degree of brutal honesty other beauticians, dermatologists, and magazine editors can't afford, not without losing revenue. A trained professional who knows chemistry inside and out, Frey doesn't hold back in telling you that, long story short, you're wasting your time and money by buying skincare products other than cleansers, mosturisers, and sunscreen, the Holy Trinity of healthy skin, in which sunscreen is the most important of the three.
With my personal story with cosmetics, I didn't need any convincing. I was already very well aware of the scams Dr Frey elaborates on in this book, nothing is new to me, but I'm so glad she wrote this book. She has the authority (she's a professional in dermatology), the experience (over 30 years), and the strength of character (she's lost clients and op-eds in the media for this) to tell the truth about skincare products in a way laypeople will understand. She goes through the basic and most marketed products such as eye creams, night and day creams, rejuvenating creams, etc., and tells you in no uncertain terms that in most cases you're not doing anything better than the Roman matrons with their dung-based facials.
Harsh? Yes, undoubtedly, she's harsh. Not that the industry doesn't deserve it, in any case. But also compassionate, because Dr Frey promotes self-love, self-acceptance, and also cares about the psychology of her clients. The scenes where she describes her clients' reaction to her telling them to look at themselves in her office's mirror and say "Dear me, I am awesome!" were touching. I have been there, too, I'd have burst into tears as a pimply teen if she'd have asked me to do that, especially with my gorgeous sisters right there to contradict the mirror. I really appreciate that Fayne Frey brings a human touch to her practice.
But, knowing women won't stop spending money on unnecessary beauty products and that many of them, especially other professionals that do have a horse in this race and women that simply "feel better" by using these pricey products (placebo effect, anyone?), I am starkly aware that many, many, will scoff at Frey's simple recommendations of cleanse, moisturise, and put sunscreen on. It's too easy, too simple, people want "solutions" and to feel that they're "doing something" to fight the clock, and simplicity doesn't sell. Plus, the industry has had decades and a huuuuuge and overfunded PR and publicity machine, against Frey's and others that think like her simple books and blogs. It's a losing battle, really, but a battle worth fighting, I would say. And, in any case, Frey does make it clear that if women want to keep spending their money on these products in spite of every evidence being against, for psychological or cultural reasons, then she's not going to stop them. She wants women to make an informed choice, even if that choice ends up being not ideal, and that's why she wrote this book.
Perhaps next time I am at my sister's house, I'll stick a finger in her cream and taste it at long last, just to convince myself once and for all that Dr Scheller isn't selling cucumber baby puree...
I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Later on, big sis filled her vanity with lots of other creams, not as appetising but just as expensive, and to date she's the one in the family with the best skin, which I always attributed to my mother's genes rather than to the creams she buys and whatever funky facials she gets at the aesthetician's. Proof: the rest of my family look much younger than we really are, and we've never used anything but moisturiser and sunscreen. More out of laziness and not having time for a long skincare routine than scepticism, I should add, because nobody in my family is suspicious of cosmetics. Another of my sisters has such good skin that her hairstylist told her right away that she could tell she didn't use tonnes of make-up products and creams worth a mortgage payment because her skin was the most youthful she'd seen in a woman her age (late 40s).
Well, nobody except my mother, and (much, much later) myself. Initially, whilst still in my teens, I began spending my allowance on beauty products, naïvely thinking I should follow my older sister's example even though my other sisters didn't. She's the prettiest of us all, and who wouldn't want to look like your more glamorous sister who had so many admirers and even did modelling? Especially if you're the youngest and the official ugly duckling who looks more like dad than mum. Fortunately for me, I had to face mum's disapproval and lectures on why all those creams on my kiddie skin weren't going to work precisely because you don't get wrinkles at 14; and also because I was a bookworm and faced with the prospect of choosing between buying books and beauty products, the choice was crystal clear. I wince at the memory of the stuff I was putting on my face back then, and am thankful that my interest in skincare went away with adolescent acne, praise Jesus. When I got into college and there was a science fair in which the chemistry students were promoting some all-natural skincare line they had created in their kitchen, I walked past their stall and went to buy a whole box of books at the stall of the English students instead.
As an adult, I became a regular blog reader and amongst my favourites was a cosmetics exposé one run by an anonymous blogger that claimed to be still working for the industry. It wasn't skincare but make-up products, and the lady wrote harsh but humorous articles revealing just how scammy and fake the claims made by the cosmetics industry are, promises like this mascara will enlarge your four remaining lashes and make four more grow, this lip gloss will rejuvenate your lips and make them so full you'll look like you were making out with a bee, this eyeliner is ophthalmologist-approved and can prevent your eyelids from shrinking like prunes, and so on. By this time, I had lost any interest in the beauty industry at large, but I read this blog (which I sadly can't find again, it must've been deleted or was buried someplace I can't find) because of the exposés on this multi-billion industry that scams women the world over out of their hard-earned money.
It was the memory of that blog that made me pick up Fayne L. Frey's "The Skincare Hoax," who makes arguments so similar to those of the blogger I knew that at first I assumed they might be the same person, maybe? But they aren't, because Frey is a dermatologist and has never worked in the beauty industry in any capacity. She has no strings attached and no horse in this race, which allows her a degree of brutal honesty other beauticians, dermatologists, and magazine editors can't afford, not without losing revenue. A trained professional who knows chemistry inside and out, Frey doesn't hold back in telling you that, long story short, you're wasting your time and money by buying skincare products other than cleansers, mosturisers, and sunscreen, the Holy Trinity of healthy skin, in which sunscreen is the most important of the three.
With my personal story with cosmetics, I didn't need any convincing. I was already very well aware of the scams Dr Frey elaborates on in this book, nothing is new to me, but I'm so glad she wrote this book. She has the authority (she's a professional in dermatology), the experience (over 30 years), and the strength of character (she's lost clients and op-eds in the media for this) to tell the truth about skincare products in a way laypeople will understand. She goes through the basic and most marketed products such as eye creams, night and day creams, rejuvenating creams, etc., and tells you in no uncertain terms that in most cases you're not doing anything better than the Roman matrons with their dung-based facials.
Harsh? Yes, undoubtedly, she's harsh. Not that the industry doesn't deserve it, in any case. But also compassionate, because Dr Frey promotes self-love, self-acceptance, and also cares about the psychology of her clients. The scenes where she describes her clients' reaction to her telling them to look at themselves in her office's mirror and say "Dear me, I am awesome!" were touching. I have been there, too, I'd have burst into tears as a pimply teen if she'd have asked me to do that, especially with my gorgeous sisters right there to contradict the mirror. I really appreciate that Fayne Frey brings a human touch to her practice.
But, knowing women won't stop spending money on unnecessary beauty products and that many of them, especially other professionals that do have a horse in this race and women that simply "feel better" by using these pricey products (placebo effect, anyone?), I am starkly aware that many, many, will scoff at Frey's simple recommendations of cleanse, moisturise, and put sunscreen on. It's too easy, too simple, people want "solutions" and to feel that they're "doing something" to fight the clock, and simplicity doesn't sell. Plus, the industry has had decades and a huuuuuge and overfunded PR and publicity machine, against Frey's and others that think like her simple books and blogs. It's a losing battle, really, but a battle worth fighting, I would say. And, in any case, Frey does make it clear that if women want to keep spending their money on these products in spite of every evidence being against, for psychological or cultural reasons, then she's not going to stop them. She wants women to make an informed choice, even if that choice ends up being not ideal, and that's why she wrote this book.
Perhaps next time I am at my sister's house, I'll stick a finger in her cream and taste it at long last, just to convince myself once and for all that Dr Scheller isn't selling cucumber baby puree...
I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Currently reading
November 6, 2022Update 2 I was ranting away on The Year One Challenge for Women: Thinner, Leaner, and Stronger Than Ever in 12 Months (by a man) when a discussion came up about Jane Seymour. I went to her site, she sells everything including Creperase cream which has some very exaggerated pictures promoting it. I copy and pasted the first four or five ingredients into Google and so many creams came up and then I found a site that makes creams for anyone, you tell them which cream you want, then they make it and presumably perfume it with your brand perfume, and then you package it!
The Creperase eye cream Jane promotes is $75 ounce, making it $1,200 a pound! Not bad for a cream whose first ingredient is water, second a chemical that makes the cream feel silky and blurs (temporarily) fine lines, third an ingredient Cyclopentasiloxane, a type of silicone banned in the EU as being toxic to reproductive systems and the environment (it accummulates) but allowed in the US, and fourth another silicone dimethicone used in place of petrolatum as it feels silkier and not sticky on the skin.
__________
When a moisturiser for the skin is being tested, the control is .... Vaseline, petrolatum, white petroleum, soft paraffin, whatever you want to call it. It was first discovered and refined in 1859 and hasn't really changed since. When properly refined it has no known health concerns and so it the control, the standard, for testing skin lotions and creams that promise to moisturise.
It's an occlusive, locking moisture into the skin, an emollient - it softens it, but feels very greasy.
Dimethicone is very similar but not so greasy (or so effective). Look at the labels on your moisturisers and body lotions and see how in one formulation or another, one or both of those two ingredients is almost always there.
This book is all about cutting the shit of marketing that makes women feel inadequate, never good enough, always fending off ageing, always thinking that this or that potion will make them look better, feel better, be more acceptable to other people. And that's the whole thing. Moisturising elements that work are cheap. Fragrances, packaging and advertising isn't.
_________
1. The real cost of that potion. A one-ounce not-so-fancy pot of miracle cream from, say, Target, that costs $22.99 really costs $367.94 per pound. Those tiny little tubes of eyecream (just moisturiser) for $17 is really $544 per pound. Neither of them work better than a lot of cheap moisturisers. And that fancy $300 a jar one that all the Hollywood stars are promoting, well that's $4,800 a pound.
And so with this kind of money, it is easy to understand that cosmetics and skin care companies use language to make you believe things that can't possibly be true because they are illegal and they would be sued. A claim that a cream will remove lines, will alter the 'structure of function of the skin' 'must be legally classified as drug and have premarket FDA approval and proof that it is safe and effective.' This kind of testing costs millions. So they claim, legally if not necessarily truthfully, that the product will 'decrease the appearance of fine lines'.
People don't think of the difference between 'remove' and 'decrease' and when it is promoted by some famous person or stunning young model with the most beautiful skin (after the face creams and cosmetics comes photoshop, it really can 'remove fine lines' but sadly not from the skin, only the picture).
The book is written by a dermatologist, a skin cancer specialist who had an interest in chemistry before her present career. She doesn't sell, endorse or is aligned in any way with any brand of skin care. The book is interesting....
I look a lot younger than I am. I have an aunty and her daughter, my first cousin and the three of us look years younger than we are and have great skin. Skipped my mother and anyone else in the family. But I do use suncream being a redhead living in the tropics, and I sometimes use a moisturiser and I use Retin-A every other night. I don't always take my make up off at night. As the author says, it won't cause the wrinkles and bad skin the magazines promise, only dirty pillowcases!
The Creperase eye cream Jane promotes is $75 ounce, making it $1,200 a pound! Not bad for a cream whose first ingredient is water, second a chemical that makes the cream feel silky and blurs (temporarily) fine lines, third an ingredient Cyclopentasiloxane, a type of silicone banned in the EU as being toxic to reproductive systems and the environment (it accummulates) but allowed in the US, and fourth another silicone dimethicone used in place of petrolatum as it feels silkier and not sticky on the skin.
__________
When a moisturiser for the skin is being tested, the control is .... Vaseline, petrolatum, white petroleum, soft paraffin, whatever you want to call it. It was first discovered and refined in 1859 and hasn't really changed since. When properly refined it has no known health concerns and so it the control, the standard, for testing skin lotions and creams that promise to moisturise.
It's an occlusive, locking moisture into the skin, an emollient - it softens it, but feels very greasy.
Dimethicone is very similar but not so greasy (or so effective). Look at the labels on your moisturisers and body lotions and see how in one formulation or another, one or both of those two ingredients is almost always there.
This book is all about cutting the shit of marketing that makes women feel inadequate, never good enough, always fending off ageing, always thinking that this or that potion will make them look better, feel better, be more acceptable to other people. And that's the whole thing. Moisturising elements that work are cheap. Fragrances, packaging and advertising isn't.
_________
1. The real cost of that potion. A one-ounce not-so-fancy pot of miracle cream from, say, Target, that costs $22.99 really costs $367.94 per pound. Those tiny little tubes of eyecream (just moisturiser) for $17 is really $544 per pound. Neither of them work better than a lot of cheap moisturisers. And that fancy $300 a jar one that all the Hollywood stars are promoting, well that's $4,800 a pound.
And so with this kind of money, it is easy to understand that cosmetics and skin care companies use language to make you believe things that can't possibly be true because they are illegal and they would be sued. A claim that a cream will remove lines, will alter the 'structure of function of the skin' 'must be legally classified as drug and have premarket FDA approval and proof that it is safe and effective.' This kind of testing costs millions. So they claim, legally if not necessarily truthfully, that the product will 'decrease the appearance of fine lines'.
People don't think of the difference between 'remove' and 'decrease' and when it is promoted by some famous person or stunning young model with the most beautiful skin (after the face creams and cosmetics comes photoshop, it really can 'remove fine lines' but sadly not from the skin, only the picture).
The book is written by a dermatologist, a skin cancer specialist who had an interest in chemistry before her present career. She doesn't sell, endorse or is aligned in any way with any brand of skin care. The book is interesting....
I look a lot younger than I am. I have an aunty and her daughter, my first cousin and the three of us look years younger than we are and have great skin. Skipped my mother and anyone else in the family. But I do use suncream being a redhead living in the tropics, and I sometimes use a moisturiser and I use Retin-A every other night. I don't always take my make up off at night. As the author says, it won't cause the wrinkles and bad skin the magazines promise, only dirty pillowcases!
August 12, 2022
As a Sephora addict, I was horrified when I saw this and knew I had to get my hands on it immediately. I love skincare and makeup but I’m open-minded and know I spend too much money on it.
At first I thought it was just a dermatologist ranting about work and wondering why we don’t love ourselves, warts and all(pun intended), when fixing it is literally their job. I was pleasantly surprised by a lot of what I read, though.
“Dozens of beliefs we commonly hold true today were made up more than fifty years ago in an ad campaign.” That is so true! That’s what Darren from Bewitched was up to when Samantha was at home doing witchcraft and hijinks. I have always found the tricky languages of ads funny. “Promotes xyz”, “Reduces the appearance of”, “Healthier looking”. A fancy way of saying they can’t guarantee anything, so don’t sue them. Also, “detox” claims annoy me to no end.
As someone with sensitive, oily skin and hormonal adult acne, I know that what you use on your skin is important. So we do disagree on this. If I have smooth, exfoliated skin, my makeup is going to last longer than the crusty oil slick it is when I don’t. We agree on sunscreen! You’re silly if you don’t have that.
Ultimately, they aren’t being judgmental about what we use, they’re encouraging us to make informed decisions and have reasonable expectations. I believe that, more than the promises made by companies, we enjoy the feeling of self-care. As a generation plagued by war, recessions, and viruses, I think it’s one way we pamper ourselves.
This does go through the very interesting origins of the cosmetic industry and how they’ve convinced us we need all of these things to feel beautiful and clean. I was happy to hear about the eye cream because I’ve suspected that so it’s nice to have it confirmed.
“If you work the night shift, should you wear day or night cream?” I disliked this bad faith question. The night cream is before bed and you know that. It means don’t put retinol on and walk directly into the sun.
Also I agree some things can do more harm than good in the wrong hands(looking at you, peel by The Ordinary).
Anyway, it was an interesting and thought-provoking book that I would recommend to other skincare lovers. (Drunk Elephant 🐘 for life)
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the copy to read and review.
At first I thought it was just a dermatologist ranting about work and wondering why we don’t love ourselves, warts and all(pun intended), when fixing it is literally their job. I was pleasantly surprised by a lot of what I read, though.
“Dozens of beliefs we commonly hold true today were made up more than fifty years ago in an ad campaign.” That is so true! That’s what Darren from Bewitched was up to when Samantha was at home doing witchcraft and hijinks. I have always found the tricky languages of ads funny. “Promotes xyz”, “Reduces the appearance of”, “Healthier looking”. A fancy way of saying they can’t guarantee anything, so don’t sue them. Also, “detox” claims annoy me to no end.
As someone with sensitive, oily skin and hormonal adult acne, I know that what you use on your skin is important. So we do disagree on this. If I have smooth, exfoliated skin, my makeup is going to last longer than the crusty oil slick it is when I don’t. We agree on sunscreen! You’re silly if you don’t have that.
Ultimately, they aren’t being judgmental about what we use, they’re encouraging us to make informed decisions and have reasonable expectations. I believe that, more than the promises made by companies, we enjoy the feeling of self-care. As a generation plagued by war, recessions, and viruses, I think it’s one way we pamper ourselves.
This does go through the very interesting origins of the cosmetic industry and how they’ve convinced us we need all of these things to feel beautiful and clean. I was happy to hear about the eye cream because I’ve suspected that so it’s nice to have it confirmed.
“If you work the night shift, should you wear day or night cream?” I disliked this bad faith question. The night cream is before bed and you know that. It means don’t put retinol on and walk directly into the sun.
Also I agree some things can do more harm than good in the wrong hands(looking at you, peel by The Ordinary).
Anyway, it was an interesting and thought-provoking book that I would recommend to other skincare lovers. (Drunk Elephant 🐘 for life)
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the copy to read and review.
September 7, 2022
After reading Marquise's great review, I was intrigued with this book. Dr. Frey brings up concerns many of us have and backs up her statements with valid studies. She is a big proponent of washing your skin with water, using the correct type of moisturizer based on skin type (and other concerns you may have) and the use of a good sunscreen. She goes on further by linking you with her website so you can enter basic information and find the best brands of moisturizers and sunscreens that work for you.
Besides myself, I read this book because I assist an elderly relative whom has issues with her skin. I used her as a guinea pig when I entered information on the website. She has used a number of skin care products recommended by her dermatologist with little relief. Oddly, my daughter who is a nurse gave me a product name and I bought it and she really likes it. Lo and behold, this product was listed as one she should try on Dr. Frey's website.
If education of your skin matters to you, this is a great book to have on hand. You will find out why certain ingredients are found in various products, some that are good and others that are bad. The higher the price does not mean the better the product is. Many thanks to NetGalley, Dr. Frey and Skyhorse Publishing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Besides myself, I read this book because I assist an elderly relative whom has issues with her skin. I used her as a guinea pig when I entered information on the website. She has used a number of skin care products recommended by her dermatologist with little relief. Oddly, my daughter who is a nurse gave me a product name and I bought it and she really likes it. Lo and behold, this product was listed as one she should try on Dr. Frey's website.
If education of your skin matters to you, this is a great book to have on hand. You will find out why certain ingredients are found in various products, some that are good and others that are bad. The higher the price does not mean the better the product is. Many thanks to NetGalley, Dr. Frey and Skyhorse Publishing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
August 14, 2022
The author is a medical conservative who eschews basically everything but sunscreen. Not even retinoids or Vitamin C pass her risk/benefit assessment.
I read this in hopes of finding a science-based approach of separating the wheat from the chaff. (Is EGF proven, or is it problematic? Does any evidence back topical collagen?) Instead, I got a minimalist, condescending, surface-level poo-pooing of showering, shampoo, exfoliation, makeup primer, and more.
I’m not a total maximalist: there are some products that I don’t think are necessary — what is the point of a fancy cleanser with active ingredients that stay on the skin for mere seconds before they’re splashed down the drain? But this book and the philosophy that underpins it discard nearly all products under the argument that aging is natural and therefore we shouldn’t fight it. Happiness and a glow may not live in jars of eye cream or tubes of tretinoin, as Dr. Frey rightly writes, but those potions make me feel good about myself and some do work.
If you want to pare down your regimen or, I guess, scale it up from doing nothing, maybe this book is for you. For someone with a baseline understanding of and interest in skincare, this is a hard pass.
I read this in hopes of finding a science-based approach of separating the wheat from the chaff. (Is EGF proven, or is it problematic? Does any evidence back topical collagen?) Instead, I got a minimalist, condescending, surface-level poo-pooing of showering, shampoo, exfoliation, makeup primer, and more.
I’m not a total maximalist: there are some products that I don’t think are necessary — what is the point of a fancy cleanser with active ingredients that stay on the skin for mere seconds before they’re splashed down the drain? But this book and the philosophy that underpins it discard nearly all products under the argument that aging is natural and therefore we shouldn’t fight it. Happiness and a glow may not live in jars of eye cream or tubes of tretinoin, as Dr. Frey rightly writes, but those potions make me feel good about myself and some do work.
If you want to pare down your regimen or, I guess, scale it up from doing nothing, maybe this book is for you. For someone with a baseline understanding of and interest in skincare, this is a hard pass.
November 6, 2022
It is rare that I largely agree with the message of the book yet am so thoroughly annoyed by the delivery. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was pleasant but though it started off well, it became obnoxiously patronizing pretty quickly.
- The author is dismissive of the cruelty-free status and considers it a marketing gimmick for the bleeding hearts. I reached out to her via email hoping to get more than the pithy dismissal in the book but I just got more of the same. In essence, as the "cruelty-free" and "animal testing" are not legally defined terms, there are a lot of grey areas (testing of final product vs testing of ingredients, testing for sale in some countries but not in others - China famously requires animal testing for any products sold there - as well brands that may change their status over time). Yep, sure. Anyone who's looked into the cruelty-free issue is aware of these problems. Does that mean that we just... don't even try?! Really? There are plenty of brands that choose to not sell in China for this reason and are transparent about their process and supply chain, and there is plenty of info online to identify these, but apparently the author is not interested in deviating from the giants like Neutrogena, Cetophil, Dove, etc.
- I didn't expect a heated defence of parabens. Her rationale seems to be that the alternatives are worse, and she quotes EWG scores for those alternatives, yet EWG have a firm anti-paraben stance due to well documented issues. She does mention that oil-based products could be a way to avoid the whole paraben issue, but then just dismisses those and never really re-visits them.
- She is also very pro mineral oil and petroleum jelly. Eugh. I don't know. It could be a mental thing and I've been brainwashed against the Big Oil, but I just don't want to go down that path, and the argument that petroleum jelly is great because it's been in existence since year Dot doesn't hold much sway with me. I'll go with lanolin instead if I need something of that sort, thanks. As someone with a history of severe teenage acne, I am not keen on the petrolatum based products. Not to mention, their safety depends on how well petrolatum was refined, which... how would you even know?
- She doesn't like exfoliants and considers them ineffective but then it became clear that this was in the context of contributing to "skin health". She never defines skin health and for many people this means different things. Well, I'm not dermatologist but the women I know who exfoliate do so not for some nebulous skin health ideal, but just to have softer, smoother skin that looks better under make up. Does anyone really expect exfoliation to reverse signs of ageing? Yeah, it won't work. But it will make your skin smoother and softer.
- No to Vitamin C, retinoids, serums in general and even ambivalent on hyaluronic acid. Apparently all we need is a good moisturiser and a sunscreen. I wanted a more robust discussion around the science of these ingredients, and also around acids, but no luck. She is dismissive of serums as a class of products yet there is such a huge variation in ingredients, it's not really apples and apples.
- Speaking of sunscreen, it gets its own chapter with a lot of praise to sunscreen but the information is pretty basic (get broad spectrum! re-apply regularly! at least SPF30!) and, annoyingly, USA-centric. USA has very few approved sunscreen active ingredients compared to Europe and Australia, so there's not much of a discussion there. She dismisses some studies around the problems with sunscreen in a way that didn't leave me reassured.
- There are some mixed messages around the role that FDA plays and how much of an assurance of safety of cosmetics we can expect. From my reading of Clean: The New Science of Skin, I know that FDA does sweet FA compared to its equivalents in Europe and Australia and does little to regulate the industry in practice. Which is the main reason I try to avoid US-made skincare and make-up products.
Did I mention it was massively patronizing with cringe-inducing pep talks throughout?
In summary, not enough science (what was there was quite surface-level), the book is written as a rant more than as an explanation or a genuine attempt at education or discussion IMO, the author takes a very old-school, prescriptive, black-and-white approach and allows very few grey areas. Just wash your face with water, use a moisturiser and a sunscreen, give yourself a pep talk in the mirror, and you're done, apparently.
However, I agree that there are too many useless products and outrageous marketing claims out there and we don't need a 12 step daily skincare program, and how our skin looks is largely determined by genetics and unprotected sun exposure. I'll still be exfoliating though.
- The author is dismissive of the cruelty-free status and considers it a marketing gimmick for the bleeding hearts. I reached out to her via email hoping to get more than the pithy dismissal in the book but I just got more of the same. In essence, as the "cruelty-free" and "animal testing" are not legally defined terms, there are a lot of grey areas (testing of final product vs testing of ingredients, testing for sale in some countries but not in others - China famously requires animal testing for any products sold there - as well brands that may change their status over time). Yep, sure. Anyone who's looked into the cruelty-free issue is aware of these problems. Does that mean that we just... don't even try?! Really? There are plenty of brands that choose to not sell in China for this reason and are transparent about their process and supply chain, and there is plenty of info online to identify these, but apparently the author is not interested in deviating from the giants like Neutrogena, Cetophil, Dove, etc.
- I didn't expect a heated defence of parabens. Her rationale seems to be that the alternatives are worse, and she quotes EWG scores for those alternatives, yet EWG have a firm anti-paraben stance due to well documented issues. She does mention that oil-based products could be a way to avoid the whole paraben issue, but then just dismisses those and never really re-visits them.
- She is also very pro mineral oil and petroleum jelly. Eugh. I don't know. It could be a mental thing and I've been brainwashed against the Big Oil, but I just don't want to go down that path, and the argument that petroleum jelly is great because it's been in existence since year Dot doesn't hold much sway with me. I'll go with lanolin instead if I need something of that sort, thanks. As someone with a history of severe teenage acne, I am not keen on the petrolatum based products. Not to mention, their safety depends on how well petrolatum was refined, which... how would you even know?
- She doesn't like exfoliants and considers them ineffective but then it became clear that this was in the context of contributing to "skin health". She never defines skin health and for many people this means different things. Well, I'm not dermatologist but the women I know who exfoliate do so not for some nebulous skin health ideal, but just to have softer, smoother skin that looks better under make up. Does anyone really expect exfoliation to reverse signs of ageing? Yeah, it won't work. But it will make your skin smoother and softer.
- No to Vitamin C, retinoids, serums in general and even ambivalent on hyaluronic acid. Apparently all we need is a good moisturiser and a sunscreen. I wanted a more robust discussion around the science of these ingredients, and also around acids, but no luck. She is dismissive of serums as a class of products yet there is such a huge variation in ingredients, it's not really apples and apples.
- Speaking of sunscreen, it gets its own chapter with a lot of praise to sunscreen but the information is pretty basic (get broad spectrum! re-apply regularly! at least SPF30!) and, annoyingly, USA-centric. USA has very few approved sunscreen active ingredients compared to Europe and Australia, so there's not much of a discussion there. She dismisses some studies around the problems with sunscreen in a way that didn't leave me reassured.
- There are some mixed messages around the role that FDA plays and how much of an assurance of safety of cosmetics we can expect. From my reading of Clean: The New Science of Skin, I know that FDA does sweet FA compared to its equivalents in Europe and Australia and does little to regulate the industry in practice. Which is the main reason I try to avoid US-made skincare and make-up products.
Did I mention it was massively patronizing with cringe-inducing pep talks throughout?
In summary, not enough science (what was there was quite surface-level), the book is written as a rant more than as an explanation or a genuine attempt at education or discussion IMO, the author takes a very old-school, prescriptive, black-and-white approach and allows very few grey areas. Just wash your face with water, use a moisturiser and a sunscreen, give yourself a pep talk in the mirror, and you're done, apparently.
However, I agree that there are too many useless products and outrageous marketing claims out there and we don't need a 12 step daily skincare program, and how our skin looks is largely determined by genetics and unprotected sun exposure. I'll still be exfoliating though.
November 3, 2022
THE SKINCARE HOAX
Fayne L. Frey
WELL CRAP! All that money and all those empty promises I have fallen for in the pursuit of looking younger. The biggest problem is that when I was trying to look younger, I WAS younger and I missed it and failed to enjoy it.
I appreciate the straightforward, realistic, downright truthfulness of this book. If you are buying products to change your cell structure, you are probably not going to get the results you think you will. Frey is a doctor and will lay it all out for you, she did for me. I was riveted! Darn, darn, darn where was this long ago when I spent the $$$$.
This is a 5 star read for all women...
5 Stars
Happy Reading!
Fayne L. Frey
WELL CRAP! All that money and all those empty promises I have fallen for in the pursuit of looking younger. The biggest problem is that when I was trying to look younger, I WAS younger and I missed it and failed to enjoy it.
I appreciate the straightforward, realistic, downright truthfulness of this book. If you are buying products to change your cell structure, you are probably not going to get the results you think you will. Frey is a doctor and will lay it all out for you, she did for me. I was riveted! Darn, darn, darn where was this long ago when I spent the $$$$.
This is a 5 star read for all women...
5 Stars
Happy Reading!
February 13, 2024
While this does contain some helpful info, it's not anything that anyone who's done a little bit of skincare research themselves shouldn't already know. It's particularly aimed at women who are 50+, evident by the number of times she mentions wrinkles and "anti-aging" products.
I can appreciate the message, basically that everyone is beautiful on their own, but I really don't need that shoved down my throat. You writing that I should like my skin how it is will not fix my or anyone's self-esteem issues. And hey, thanks for clarifying that all your advice is for people with "healthy" skin--people such as myself suffering from rosacea need other help. But guess what? When I did seek other help from a dermatologist like you recommended, they sold me a ridiculously expensive skincare regimen, exactly what you say no one needs. But that's okay, right, because my skin isn't "healthy" and therefore not beautiful like everyone else's.
So much time is spent railing against "anti-wrinkle" products and the like, but nothing is said about preventative skincare, which I would argue is a larger market. People in our 30's are concerned with keeping our skin looking as good as possible for as long as possible. So why is there no info about whether these products help prolong that?
The info about the specific ingredients was the most helpful, such as the studies on retinoid products barely improving the skin of 10% of people, but again, it's all about filling wrinkles. Don't bother reading this if you're under 50, unless you want someone to tell you it's okay to not have a 10-step Korean skincare routine and have a laugh at people who do. Because the tone of this book is incredibly sassy. I'm all for sass, but this takes it a little far to the point of being purposefully obtuse to make poor jokes. ("Night cream? How does it know what time it is?" Hahaaaa).
And I'm sorry, but this is a skincare book: don't bring up shampoo and how your grandmother used to use a bar of soap to wash her hair. I don't care. We have progressed beyond bars of soap. Don't attack my haircare situation, no matter how expensive or ridiculous you find it. That's at least one area I'm confident in, don't take that away from me.
I can appreciate the message, basically that everyone is beautiful on their own, but I really don't need that shoved down my throat. You writing that I should like my skin how it is will not fix my or anyone's self-esteem issues. And hey, thanks for clarifying that all your advice is for people with "healthy" skin--people such as myself suffering from rosacea need other help. But guess what? When I did seek other help from a dermatologist like you recommended, they sold me a ridiculously expensive skincare regimen, exactly what you say no one needs. But that's okay, right, because my skin isn't "healthy" and therefore not beautiful like everyone else's.
So much time is spent railing against "anti-wrinkle" products and the like, but nothing is said about preventative skincare, which I would argue is a larger market. People in our 30's are concerned with keeping our skin looking as good as possible for as long as possible. So why is there no info about whether these products help prolong that?
The info about the specific ingredients was the most helpful, such as the studies on retinoid products barely improving the skin of 10% of people, but again, it's all about filling wrinkles. Don't bother reading this if you're under 50, unless you want someone to tell you it's okay to not have a 10-step Korean skincare routine and have a laugh at people who do. Because the tone of this book is incredibly sassy. I'm all for sass, but this takes it a little far to the point of being purposefully obtuse to make poor jokes. ("Night cream? How does it know what time it is?" Hahaaaa).
And I'm sorry, but this is a skincare book: don't bring up shampoo and how your grandmother used to use a bar of soap to wash her hair. I don't care. We have progressed beyond bars of soap. Don't attack my haircare situation, no matter how expensive or ridiculous you find it. That's at least one area I'm confident in, don't take that away from me.
August 6, 2024
Basically her take it that sunscreen, moisturizer and Vaseline are all you need. Skincare is a scam. Have given it a higher rating because I’ve been thinking about it a lot. She goes into how skin can’t be « tightened » or « polished » it’s just lies.
*edit: her focus is on anti aging so she doesn’t go into how useful retinol is for acne (it is) instead stating that it won’t take away lines that someone already has.
*edit: her focus is on anti aging so she doesn’t go into how useful retinol is for acne (it is) instead stating that it won’t take away lines that someone already has.
August 17, 2022
3.5 rounded up
Some interesting ideas and approaches to skincare
Some interesting ideas and approaches to skincare
November 17, 2022
Not scientific & educated enough and far too restrictive. There are promising and supporting scientific studies on the effect of Vitamin C, Niacin, etc. that I would expect the author to know and also give some recommendations. A good book on skincare would also have added some more detailed nutritional advice.
Yes, it is true that we do not need much and certainly also not expensive skin care. But a moisturizer alone together with sun screen is much more minimalistic than it needs to be and also far too restrictive.
Unfortunately, I didn't learn anything new from the book and altogether, it felt like a waste of time. In my opinion, this book is too old school and not timely enough.
Yes, it is true that we do not need much and certainly also not expensive skin care. But a moisturizer alone together with sun screen is much more minimalistic than it needs to be and also far too restrictive.
Unfortunately, I didn't learn anything new from the book and altogether, it felt like a waste of time. In my opinion, this book is too old school and not timely enough.
May 9, 2023
Dermatologist Dr Frey has great things to say about our skin and skincare products. Most importantly, she tells us to look in the mirror and instead of looking at our wrinkles, we should admire how awesome we are as kind, compassionate and caring women.
August 14, 2022
One of the plusses of having a slow work day is that I get to read titles like this. When I tell you I audibly gasped at some of the information written here, it is not an exaggeration. I'm almost 40 and could write an entire blog post on "today I learned" regarding skincare and the industry as a whole. The blatant lies ("natural ingredients") the unneeded products that could actually age you FASTER, just...wow.
A must read for anyone who has ever put any skincare products on their skin. You will be AMAZED at what you learn, I know I was.
A must read for anyone who has ever put any skincare products on their skin. You will be AMAZED at what you learn, I know I was.
October 27, 2022
This book has a lot on information - it does pare down from what all is thrown at us on the market every day to what the bare basics are.
However, this is where it all gets a bit fudged up. There are basics...and then there are basics. Moisturizer and sunscreen, apparently. While there's a 'decent' chapter on sunscreen, I still felt I didn't come out much more informed than going in. We're told what 'works' and what doesn't, apparently, but it is a bit hard to believe that 99.9% of what is being offered in the skincare world is BS - as the author would like us to believe in this book.
The caveat in this one is: 'this' is what you need provided you have 'normal' skin and are not dealing with issues like eczema and such. But what is 'normal' here? Take for example, the statement that you only need warm water at night to wash your face, never mind if you've been inside all day, out in pollution all day (pollution doesn't exist, according to the author - or it doesn't affect your skin/doesn't get on your skin), wearing makeup all day. Or the claim that sleeping without washing your face will only make you end up with a dirty pillowcase.
On these fronts as an example, this was a rather misleading book. If you're going to say you'll only end up with a dirty pillowcase, then at least suggest changing the pillowcase daily because sleeping on something dirty is actually bad for your skin!
No mention of levels of hydration, nutrition, alcohol consumption/smoking not being the best thing for your skin - okay, it is about skincare and the skincare industry, but some balancing of the debate wouldn't have hurt.
There is information to be taken from this book, but it's not the Holy Grail that will answer all your questions, either. Read it for knowledge, maybe, but it's really rather condescending and at times also rude with its 'put you down' tone and know-it-all approach
However, this is where it all gets a bit fudged up. There are basics...and then there are basics. Moisturizer and sunscreen, apparently. While there's a 'decent' chapter on sunscreen, I still felt I didn't come out much more informed than going in. We're told what 'works' and what doesn't, apparently, but it is a bit hard to believe that 99.9% of what is being offered in the skincare world is BS - as the author would like us to believe in this book.
The caveat in this one is: 'this' is what you need provided you have 'normal' skin and are not dealing with issues like eczema and such. But what is 'normal' here? Take for example, the statement that you only need warm water at night to wash your face, never mind if you've been inside all day, out in pollution all day (pollution doesn't exist, according to the author - or it doesn't affect your skin/doesn't get on your skin), wearing makeup all day. Or the claim that sleeping without washing your face will only make you end up with a dirty pillowcase.
On these fronts as an example, this was a rather misleading book. If you're going to say you'll only end up with a dirty pillowcase, then at least suggest changing the pillowcase daily because sleeping on something dirty is actually bad for your skin!
No mention of levels of hydration, nutrition, alcohol consumption/smoking not being the best thing for your skin - okay, it is about skincare and the skincare industry, but some balancing of the debate wouldn't have hurt.
There is information to be taken from this book, but it's not the Holy Grail that will answer all your questions, either. Read it for knowledge, maybe, but it's really rather condescending and at times also rude with its 'put you down' tone and know-it-all approach
July 12, 2023
Because I wish the book had cut to the chase sooner: WEAR SUNSCREEN.
The skincare routine Dr. Frey recommends: wash with warm water, using a gentle cleanser only if desired. Moisturize if needed (if the skin feels dry or in the colder, dryer months). Apply sunscreen liberally and often.
And here are the products she recommends:
SUNSCREEN: La Roche-Posay Anthelios Melt-In Milk Sunscreen or Banana Boat Sport Ultra Sunscreen Stick. She also recommends wearing lip balm with sunscreen.
BODY MOISTURIZERS: Eucerin Advanced Repair, Neutrogena HydroBoost Body Gel Cream, or Vaseline Intensive Care Advanced Repair.
FACE MOISTURIZERS: CeraVe PM, La Roche-Posay Toleriane Double Repair Moisturizer SPF 30, Olay Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Cream.
More thoughts on those recs later. Now the review.
Before reading The Skincare Hoax I felt vaguely guilty that I didn’t have a multi-step, product heavy skincare routine, but now I feel great about it. The book gave me permission to stop worrying about my skin. I see now that the skincare marketing I and every other American woman has been swimming in since childhood convinced me my skin needed multiple products when in fact, my skin is perfectly healthy the way it is.
Dr. Frey explains how skin actually works - a process I now realize skincare marketers intentionally misrepresent. The top 15-20 layers of our skin cells are dead. When our skin is well hydrated, those layers naturally shed until, over the course of about a month, we have an entirely new top 15-20 layers of dead skin cells.
Marketers prey on our dislike of the word “dead” to make us believe we need products to “help” the skin shed skin cells and reveal new skin underneath. Actually that process happens naturally on its own, and layers of dead skin simply means our skin is healthy and working as it should. Those dead layers of skin form a watertight, germ-proof barrier across your whole body. This book made me think that our skin is probably our least appreciated, most overlooked organ.
According to Dr. Frey, exfoliants, toners, essences, masks, and myriad other products are not needed for healthy skin and may even harm skin. Moisturizer works by drawing moisture up through the skin, then locking it in. It doesn’t actually even add moisture to the skin, it just helps our body do what’s it’s supposed to a little more efficiently.
Sunscreen is the big takeaway here. How ironic that skincare ads focus so heavily on all these nonsense products while the real hero is just sitting there in the bottom of our beach bag, expired and forgotten. Our culture has really been at cross purposes with our health here. We talk appreciatively about someone having a “healthy glow,” "sun kissed," who’s “gotten a little sun”or “a nice tan.” Meanwhile pale skin is criticized as “pasty” and we laugh when someone has a farmer’s tan or sock tan.
Actually the person without a tan probably has healthier skin. The Skincare Hoax reminded me that sunscreen is protecting us from literal radiation. It’s one of those things I knew but didn’t really know. The sun is blasting us with cancer-causing radiation every time we step outside and even through some windows inside. Aside from causing cancer, it also deepens all those fine lines and wrinkles. Dr. Frey urges the importance of everyone, no matter how much time they spend outside or what their skin color is, to wear lots of sunscreen every day. Turns out it’s not just for the beach! Biggest takeaway for me: grab some lip balm with sunscreen too because she’s seen lots of people come into her practice with cancer on their lips!
There are some flaws with the book. First of all it’s written for white American middle class to affluent women in their 30s-70s. People of all genders, races, ethnicities, and income levels could definitely benefit from this book. But it’s written for a very specific audience and does betray some assumptions related to that.
Secondly, Dr. Frey does a great job tearing down the marketing myths that companies have presented as facts for decades. I especially love when she rants about the term “nourish.” She says many times that the most important thing is the ingredient list. And also that if you calculate the cost of these products by the pound, you can see how astronomically expensive they are; they just don’t always seem it because they come in tiny bottles.
That being said, she then recommends that La Roche-Posay sunscreen which is quite expensive! Many of her other recommendations are for basic, affordable drug store products, especially the body moisturizers. I don’t think she’s in La Roche-Posay’s pocket or anything. I just wish after harping on the ingredient list so much she had listed the ingredients we should look for in a sunscreen, not a specific brand.
Another quibble: she kind of derides makeup remover as not necessary and says it's actually fine to sleep in makeup. I get her point - if it's on your skin all day it's not going to hurt your skin overnight - but as she points out, it'll get on your pillowcase. She says simply washing your face with warm water is enough. My issue though is, makeup is harder to remove than that! And I hate waking up in the morning with traces of makeup on my face! So I wish there was a better makeup remover recommendation in the book.
Also, her website which she mentions frequently is called fryface.com. What kind of name is that when you’re trying NOT to FRY YOUR FACE with sun exposure? And her name is Frey soooo why fry, exactly?
Those complaints aside I want everyone to read this book. It helped me see how influenced I had been by marketing and unrealistic beauty standards. Much like my choice not to dye my hair even though it’s been graying since my 20s, I’m choosing to no longer buy into the skincare hype. My new skincare plan is moisturizer and way more sunscreen, hats, and shade than I’ve been using, with sunscreen lip balm. As I continue to age I’ll be happy knowing my simple skincare routine is actually the best thing I can do for my skin, and that I’ve been able to devout time and thought to so many better things than an elaborate skincare routine. I’ll view those wrinkles and fine lines just like my gray hairs and stretch marks, a sign of hard-won wisdom and maturity.
If you want to discuss this book with me this summer I’ll be wearing long sleeves under a beach umbrella wearing a sun hat slathered in sunscreen.
The skincare routine Dr. Frey recommends: wash with warm water, using a gentle cleanser only if desired. Moisturize if needed (if the skin feels dry or in the colder, dryer months). Apply sunscreen liberally and often.
And here are the products she recommends:
SUNSCREEN: La Roche-Posay Anthelios Melt-In Milk Sunscreen or Banana Boat Sport Ultra Sunscreen Stick. She also recommends wearing lip balm with sunscreen.
BODY MOISTURIZERS: Eucerin Advanced Repair, Neutrogena HydroBoost Body Gel Cream, or Vaseline Intensive Care Advanced Repair.
FACE MOISTURIZERS: CeraVe PM, La Roche-Posay Toleriane Double Repair Moisturizer SPF 30, Olay Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Cream.
More thoughts on those recs later. Now the review.
Before reading The Skincare Hoax I felt vaguely guilty that I didn’t have a multi-step, product heavy skincare routine, but now I feel great about it. The book gave me permission to stop worrying about my skin. I see now that the skincare marketing I and every other American woman has been swimming in since childhood convinced me my skin needed multiple products when in fact, my skin is perfectly healthy the way it is.
Dr. Frey explains how skin actually works - a process I now realize skincare marketers intentionally misrepresent. The top 15-20 layers of our skin cells are dead. When our skin is well hydrated, those layers naturally shed until, over the course of about a month, we have an entirely new top 15-20 layers of dead skin cells.
Marketers prey on our dislike of the word “dead” to make us believe we need products to “help” the skin shed skin cells and reveal new skin underneath. Actually that process happens naturally on its own, and layers of dead skin simply means our skin is healthy and working as it should. Those dead layers of skin form a watertight, germ-proof barrier across your whole body. This book made me think that our skin is probably our least appreciated, most overlooked organ.
According to Dr. Frey, exfoliants, toners, essences, masks, and myriad other products are not needed for healthy skin and may even harm skin. Moisturizer works by drawing moisture up through the skin, then locking it in. It doesn’t actually even add moisture to the skin, it just helps our body do what’s it’s supposed to a little more efficiently.
Sunscreen is the big takeaway here. How ironic that skincare ads focus so heavily on all these nonsense products while the real hero is just sitting there in the bottom of our beach bag, expired and forgotten. Our culture has really been at cross purposes with our health here. We talk appreciatively about someone having a “healthy glow,” "sun kissed," who’s “gotten a little sun”or “a nice tan.” Meanwhile pale skin is criticized as “pasty” and we laugh when someone has a farmer’s tan or sock tan.
Actually the person without a tan probably has healthier skin. The Skincare Hoax reminded me that sunscreen is protecting us from literal radiation. It’s one of those things I knew but didn’t really know. The sun is blasting us with cancer-causing radiation every time we step outside and even through some windows inside. Aside from causing cancer, it also deepens all those fine lines and wrinkles. Dr. Frey urges the importance of everyone, no matter how much time they spend outside or what their skin color is, to wear lots of sunscreen every day. Turns out it’s not just for the beach! Biggest takeaway for me: grab some lip balm with sunscreen too because she’s seen lots of people come into her practice with cancer on their lips!
There are some flaws with the book. First of all it’s written for white American middle class to affluent women in their 30s-70s. People of all genders, races, ethnicities, and income levels could definitely benefit from this book. But it’s written for a very specific audience and does betray some assumptions related to that.
Secondly, Dr. Frey does a great job tearing down the marketing myths that companies have presented as facts for decades. I especially love when she rants about the term “nourish.” She says many times that the most important thing is the ingredient list. And also that if you calculate the cost of these products by the pound, you can see how astronomically expensive they are; they just don’t always seem it because they come in tiny bottles.
That being said, she then recommends that La Roche-Posay sunscreen which is quite expensive! Many of her other recommendations are for basic, affordable drug store products, especially the body moisturizers. I don’t think she’s in La Roche-Posay’s pocket or anything. I just wish after harping on the ingredient list so much she had listed the ingredients we should look for in a sunscreen, not a specific brand.
Another quibble: she kind of derides makeup remover as not necessary and says it's actually fine to sleep in makeup. I get her point - if it's on your skin all day it's not going to hurt your skin overnight - but as she points out, it'll get on your pillowcase. She says simply washing your face with warm water is enough. My issue though is, makeup is harder to remove than that! And I hate waking up in the morning with traces of makeup on my face! So I wish there was a better makeup remover recommendation in the book.
Also, her website which she mentions frequently is called fryface.com. What kind of name is that when you’re trying NOT to FRY YOUR FACE with sun exposure? And her name is Frey soooo why fry, exactly?
Those complaints aside I want everyone to read this book. It helped me see how influenced I had been by marketing and unrealistic beauty standards. Much like my choice not to dye my hair even though it’s been graying since my 20s, I’m choosing to no longer buy into the skincare hype. My new skincare plan is moisturizer and way more sunscreen, hats, and shade than I’ve been using, with sunscreen lip balm. As I continue to age I’ll be happy knowing my simple skincare routine is actually the best thing I can do for my skin, and that I’ve been able to devout time and thought to so many better things than an elaborate skincare routine. I’ll view those wrinkles and fine lines just like my gray hairs and stretch marks, a sign of hard-won wisdom and maturity.
If you want to discuss this book with me this summer I’ll be wearing long sleeves under a beach umbrella wearing a sun hat slathered in sunscreen.
September 7, 2022
I recieved an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I thought this was gonna be my non fiction for the whole month of september and october but instead I finished it in like five days. Which says more about the book than it says about me.
Just the week before I read this, at 23 years old, I decided to do something about my face. I had applied drugs on it, sure, as I have a type of dermatitis that works in a cycle and breaks out like twice a month, but I had never had a routine. So I grabbed a random moisturiser that I had laying around and started applying it everyday. And then I felt bad bc all of my friends were using toners, day creams, night creams, sunscreen, eye creams, micellar water, primer and like 15 products every single day twice a day and I was just squeezing some cream on my face in the morning. And then I came across this book!
(needless to say I will be buying sunscreen lol)
The author is a dermatologist with no ties to any pharmaceutical and/or cosmetic company, so she just tells it to you like it is. I do have a bit of a background in biology so I honestly don't know if this book can be understood by people who have forgotten high school chemistry, but for me everything was explainded extensively and simply. She's very straight forward in her writing style, and isn't afraid to write "this works, this doesn't work, this is actively harmful" and the reasons why she thinks like that. Said reasons ALWAYS involve extensive research on her part, done independently either on her clinic or reading a ton of research from other people, which I appreciated since I'm an investigator at heart (and also at uni but whatever).
While reading this I became the annoying friend that always cut out a conversation with "hey do you wanna know something I learnt in that skincare book I told you I was reading" and that's because everything was SO interesting to me. Science and medicine can easily be boring, but she makes sure to speak in a way that makes it so everyone can understand where she's coming from, what the effects are for every product, why they're so expensive, etc etc etc.
She also keeps going back to the cultural standards that make us feel bad for having "imperfect" skin, which I appreciated. I've seen my mom and women her age worry and honestly suffer bc their skin isn't the same it was as when they were 20, and it never made sense to me. The author makes it clear in her clinic and her book that aging is not a disease you have to cure, but a privilege that comes with certain markings that no amount of product will make disappear. And that we are all, first and foremost, beautiful just the way we are. Which may sound stupid and basic or whatever, but when you apply 20 things to your face to make you feel not-ugly is a thing worth remembering.
This was an absolute life changer for me and I'm so glad I read it at the time I did! I will fight with every dermatologist I go to from now on lol.
Also if you're curious: just use moisturiser and sunscreen. Maybe a cleanser. You don't need anything else if you don't have a skin condition. And even if you have, what you need isn't day cream night cream eye cream toner primer face mask coconut oil aloe vera yadda yadda yadda.
I thought this was gonna be my non fiction for the whole month of september and october but instead I finished it in like five days. Which says more about the book than it says about me.
Just the week before I read this, at 23 years old, I decided to do something about my face. I had applied drugs on it, sure, as I have a type of dermatitis that works in a cycle and breaks out like twice a month, but I had never had a routine. So I grabbed a random moisturiser that I had laying around and started applying it everyday. And then I felt bad bc all of my friends were using toners, day creams, night creams, sunscreen, eye creams, micellar water, primer and like 15 products every single day twice a day and I was just squeezing some cream on my face in the morning. And then I came across this book!
(needless to say I will be buying sunscreen lol)
The author is a dermatologist with no ties to any pharmaceutical and/or cosmetic company, so she just tells it to you like it is. I do have a bit of a background in biology so I honestly don't know if this book can be understood by people who have forgotten high school chemistry, but for me everything was explainded extensively and simply. She's very straight forward in her writing style, and isn't afraid to write "this works, this doesn't work, this is actively harmful" and the reasons why she thinks like that. Said reasons ALWAYS involve extensive research on her part, done independently either on her clinic or reading a ton of research from other people, which I appreciated since I'm an investigator at heart (and also at uni but whatever).
While reading this I became the annoying friend that always cut out a conversation with "hey do you wanna know something I learnt in that skincare book I told you I was reading" and that's because everything was SO interesting to me. Science and medicine can easily be boring, but she makes sure to speak in a way that makes it so everyone can understand where she's coming from, what the effects are for every product, why they're so expensive, etc etc etc.
She also keeps going back to the cultural standards that make us feel bad for having "imperfect" skin, which I appreciated. I've seen my mom and women her age worry and honestly suffer bc their skin isn't the same it was as when they were 20, and it never made sense to me. The author makes it clear in her clinic and her book that aging is not a disease you have to cure, but a privilege that comes with certain markings that no amount of product will make disappear. And that we are all, first and foremost, beautiful just the way we are. Which may sound stupid and basic or whatever, but when you apply 20 things to your face to make you feel not-ugly is a thing worth remembering.
This was an absolute life changer for me and I'm so glad I read it at the time I did! I will fight with every dermatologist I go to from now on lol.
Also if you're curious: just use moisturiser and sunscreen. Maybe a cleanser. You don't need anything else if you don't have a skin condition. And even if you have, what you need isn't day cream night cream eye cream toner primer face mask coconut oil aloe vera yadda yadda yadda.
October 9, 2022
More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/
This is a tough subject since so much of it is tied up in emotional investments by so many women (and men) who believe they are making their lives better through cosmetics. The book attempts to demystify and also debunk so many myths while also helping consumers understand the marketing and sales angles that make the products so promising and appealing. The author does point to her website in a few places in the book but the website does not have a pay wall and profits from Amazon links are said to be given to charity.With no horse in the race and with a lot of information that is presented palatably, there is a lot for consumers to understand about the cosmetics industry. The book breaks down the terms ('reduces' 'anti aging' 'polishing' etc.) that we so often see on the labels and explains what they do (and do not) mean or perform. Cosmetic labels and ingredients (retinol, hyaluric acid, petrolatum jelly, etc.) are carefully discussed in very plain language so you know what the ingredients are in your cosmetics and why they are there. Everything from toners to eye cream, sunscreens to facial cleansers are discussed.
At the heart of the book are two key points: 1) you don't need these products to be beautiful in your own unique way and 2) you really only need warm water, moisturizer, and a good sunscreen to have healthy and beautiful skin. Everything else is marketing and sales talk. Note that this applies to individuals with normal healthy skin - not those suffering from conditions such as eczema.
The book educates and provides clear examples. You'll never feel drowned by technical info or info overload. At the same time, a lot of the examples may feel too oversimplified or simplistic. The author likes to make comparisons a lot - e.g., comparing the dangers of driving a car being so great compared to any dangers a person could have with a cosmetics product. If you think about it, though, you recognize that we don't NEED a skin care product like we need a car - and we have far more control over the safety of our car than we would with a skin care product whose manufacturing process we have no control over. There are many comparisons like that which, in my opinion, were frustrating or even insulting.
In all, this is a quick and easy read with a lot of really good and much needed information. If you have healthy skin, save yourself a LOT of money and futility/time while also ensuring you have the best cared/looking skin possible by reading this book. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.
September 15, 2022
This is well-written, well-organised, easy to read, informative, and humorous in tone. I don’t think I can say the same about other nonfiction books that I have ever read. This is a pleasure to read!
Readers will learn the hoax, mostly marketing tricks with play on words to confuse and lie to consumers. Readers will discover what they really need, with recommendations of good products that actually do the job. The book lists a few products, but on the author’s website, there are a lot more product recommendations, which is very helpful. Highly recommended to… well, all humans, because if you have skin on your body, you need to have the two (maybe three) products that are truly necessary to keep your skin healthy. :)
Disclosure: I received a free review copy via NetGalley.
Readers will learn the hoax, mostly marketing tricks with play on words to confuse and lie to consumers. Readers will discover what they really need, with recommendations of good products that actually do the job. The book lists a few products, but on the author’s website, there are a lot more product recommendations, which is very helpful. Highly recommended to… well, all humans, because if you have skin on your body, you need to have the two (maybe three) products that are truly necessary to keep your skin healthy. :)
Disclosure: I received a free review copy via NetGalley.
March 19, 2024
A little corny at times ("dear me, I'm awesome!"), but this was EXACTLY what I needed to hear. I've always felt flummoxed by skincare products, and this book convinced me that it's quite simple if you look beyond the marketing. Surgeries, injections and the like are not really discussed; this is about skincare products, and it turns out that most of them are totally unnecessary. I'm glad to hear it, since my instinct has always been to avoid spending money on that stuff. I will use more sunscreen, and worry less about looking as though I'm aging — because I am aging, and there's nothing actually wrong with that.
January 31, 2023
*I’ve got this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
To be absolutely clear with you, I didn’t have high hopes for this book Somehow I was convinced that it would be just a bunch of info dump and nothing useful. But, I will be first to admit, that I was completely wrong.
I think this book is a great starting point for those who wants to learn about and understand skincare. The information in this book is straight to the point, very understandable and easy to follow. There are a lot of suggestions and easy steps to follow.
Even though it is nonfiction it was a page turner and I read it in two days.
I’m so happy that I read it. I definitely recommend giving this one a try.
To be absolutely clear with you, I didn’t have high hopes for this book Somehow I was convinced that it would be just a bunch of info dump and nothing useful. But, I will be first to admit, that I was completely wrong.
I think this book is a great starting point for those who wants to learn about and understand skincare. The information in this book is straight to the point, very understandable and easy to follow. There are a lot of suggestions and easy steps to follow.
Even though it is nonfiction it was a page turner and I read it in two days.
I’m so happy that I read it. I definitely recommend giving this one a try.
July 1, 2025
Thank the heavens me wiping my face with a wet wipe every night is actually ideal 😂😂
I didn’t think this was a well written book & the sources were ehhh. But I think the basic concept of simplicity was good and made me feel better about my water & sunscreen combo that I do purely out of laziness, but now I’m proud 😂🤣
If you’re obsessed with Ulta and fancy facial products though, this book may be really helpful! Definitely had some good reminders about marketing and how much were affected by it!
I didn’t think this was a well written book & the sources were ehhh. But I think the basic concept of simplicity was good and made me feel better about my water & sunscreen combo that I do purely out of laziness, but now I’m proud 😂🤣
If you’re obsessed with Ulta and fancy facial products though, this book may be really helpful! Definitely had some good reminders about marketing and how much were affected by it!
October 16, 2024
"Dozens of beliefs we commonly hold true today were made up more than fifty years ago in an ad campaign."
This is a must-read for anyone who even THINKS about skin care products. The audiobook is less than five hours long.
I did not give this book a five-star rating because the author advises to avoid sunlight and to wear sunscreen every day. That advice is peppered all throughout the book. The more we hear/read something, the more likely we are to believe it.
This is a must-read for anyone who even THINKS about skin care products. The audiobook is less than five hours long.
I did not give this book a five-star rating because the author advises to avoid sunlight and to wear sunscreen every day. That advice is peppered all throughout the book. The more we hear/read something, the more likely we are to believe it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 29, 2022
Not sure whether to believe this any more than the claims it’s arguing against. By the end I was wondering if it was sponsored by major manufacturers.
May 14, 2023
Very informative and easy to understand. I learned a lot from reading this. I appreciate her honesty throughout the book. Would definitely recommend!
Rating a 4 instead of 5 because a lot of concepts within the book felt repetitive.
Rating a 4 instead of 5 because a lot of concepts within the book felt repetitive.
January 3, 2024
Dr. Frey recommends moisturizer and sunscreen. That’s it. And we don’t even need to wash our face with cleanser?
Some useful information. Not sure I agree with all the advice.
Some useful information. Not sure I agree with all the advice.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 29, 2025
Not really a fan of the sensationalized title or writing but had some good info regarding interpreting ingredients and marketing ploys
August 18, 2023
Where was this book 20 years ago when I was poor but spent so much money on skincare??
I’ve learned my lesson now but this book is a good reminder that I don’t need anything beyond the basics.
I’ve learned my lesson now but this book is a good reminder that I don’t need anything beyond the basics.
December 18, 2024
3.75 stars - highly informative about the skincare industry, but could've been a little shorter. I felt like she was really repeating herself towards the end. A good quick read tho!
November 12, 2023
No fuss, no muss, gets right to the point. Excellent and quick read.
August 26, 2022
“The Skincare Hoax” is like what would happen if some of my favorite topics – science, advertising, and skincare – all got together and had a party. As a mid-40s woman overwhelmed by the skincare aisle and generally skeptical of pseudoscience and marketing hype, this book was right up my alley.
Dr. Fayne Frey, a dermatologist with an expertise in skincare, is here to tell it like it really is. Her delivery is accessible, funny, and uplifting. This book is extremely well researched, and Frey backs up her claims with plenty of credible evidence. Don’t worry if you failed organic chemistry (like I did), Frey breaks down complex scientific concepts so they are easily understood by the layperson. Even more interesting to me is her exposure of the way skincare manufacturers utilize misdirection, clever language, and repackaging of the same product in multiple different ways.
The role of cosmetic marketing is fascinating, convincing women they need a lot of products they don’t by making them feel old, inadequate, or otherwise “less than.” Dr. Frey is having none of that nonsense, often reassuring readers that they are wonderful just the way they are. That’s a message the world needs more of!
Ultimately, Dr. Frey is a skincare minimalist who says we only need moisturizer and sunscreen. The science backs her up, but I’m not quite ready to ditch my Vitamin C serum just yet. But I’m digging her overall message and her humorous delivery. Many thanks to NetGalley and Skyhorse Publishing for providing me an advance copy of this book.
Dr. Fayne Frey, a dermatologist with an expertise in skincare, is here to tell it like it really is. Her delivery is accessible, funny, and uplifting. This book is extremely well researched, and Frey backs up her claims with plenty of credible evidence. Don’t worry if you failed organic chemistry (like I did), Frey breaks down complex scientific concepts so they are easily understood by the layperson. Even more interesting to me is her exposure of the way skincare manufacturers utilize misdirection, clever language, and repackaging of the same product in multiple different ways.
The role of cosmetic marketing is fascinating, convincing women they need a lot of products they don’t by making them feel old, inadequate, or otherwise “less than.” Dr. Frey is having none of that nonsense, often reassuring readers that they are wonderful just the way they are. That’s a message the world needs more of!
Ultimately, Dr. Frey is a skincare minimalist who says we only need moisturizer and sunscreen. The science backs her up, but I’m not quite ready to ditch my Vitamin C serum just yet. But I’m digging her overall message and her humorous delivery. Many thanks to NetGalley and Skyhorse Publishing for providing me an advance copy of this book.
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