Recently, a discussion storm on "Olive Extract" by Douyin evaluation blogger @大虎课代表发起的 not only attracted a number of beauty bloggers and formulators in the industry, but also aroused widespread attention from consumers and the industry.
Behind this "scientific discussion" about oleocanthal, not only did the lack of research on the core active ingredients of some plant extracts and raw materials be exposed, but the problem of beauty science communication reflected in the incident is also worth pondering.
On February 24, @大虎课代表发布了一则名为 "Ask for an Explanation, Olive ** (above)", directly pointed out that a brand was suspected of violating laws and regulations.
The reason for the incident is that the blogger bought 6 popular "olive" products on the market (a*** olive extract, Xi ** olive extract, Ou * olive extract, An** olive extract, Pu * olive extract, Shen *** olive extract), and sent them to the laboratory for testing, of which 4 products contain olivoside and hydroxytyrosol content is not high. Moreover, one of the olive extracts of C in the United States, oleuropein and hydroxytyrosol were not detected.
Subsequently, the blogger sent the product to the Central Inspection Department (Beijing) Cosmetics Technology *** for testing at his own expense, and obtained the same result.
That is to say, this C so-and-so olive product did not put oleocanthal". The representative of the big tiger class summarized and said that according to China's protection of consumer rights and interests, as well as the filing requirements of the cosmetics industry, the product seems to be illegal.
At the end of **, @大虎课代表还四 "asks" the brand: "1. Do you admit that there is a problem with your product?" 2. What will be done with the existing products in the hands of consumers? 3. The products that are still on sale will not be replied to continue to be sold, or will they be removed from the shelves for improvement? 4. What are the selection criteria for the top anchors who sell the product? Do you want to stand up and give an explanation to the fans who trust you? ”
The blogger also linked olive products with the skin care formula that has been popular in the skin care circle in the past two years, believing that "since two years ago, the skin care circle has fallen into a spell, as long as a new skin care concept is launched, it will quickly become popular, and then use fast and powerful keywords to induce fans, buy the strong effect products you recommend, resulting in a bad face, and then sell repair products, a good consumption closed loop." ”
With the fermentation of the incident, two anchors with goods were pushed to the forefront: one is Luo Wangyu, who is still selling C Moumou's product in the live broadcast room, and the product has been removed from the window on February 25; Another person who was named was blogger Huamei, who recommended the product in 2022 and brought the goods in her daily live broadcast. But after discovering that there were bad reviews from fans, I didn't cooperate after doing after-sales. Huamei also said that no matter whether the product is used up or broken, as long as you provide a screenshot of the order record at Huamei, you can get a refund after verification.
It is worth noting that Luo Wangyu also replied to the incident when he removed the product from the shelves, which focused on olive extract. He said that oleocanthal extract contains dozens of active substances, oleuropein and hydroxytyrosol are only two of them, and the absence of these two does not mean that it is not an oleocanthal extract. It was also pointed out that it was not accurate to judge whether it was oleocanthal extract based on these two active substances. In addition, it is possible that the chemical formulas of the two components of the product may change, and it is not impossible for one ingredient to disappear.
At 9 a.m. on February 26, @大虎课代表再次发布标题为 "The response is coming, oleocanthal** (middle)", and put forward eleven responses and questions about Luo Wangyu's response, including "whether oleuropein and hydroxytyrosol can be called olea europaea extract", "whether chemical modification is legal", "if it does not contain two active ingredients, which ingredient is working" and other questions.
In this **, @大虎课代表还专门放出品牌官方2023年7月在小红书平台上的品宣截图, it is clearly marked that its olive extract contains high oleuropein, and there is more than one similar screenshot.
As of press time, @大虎课代表的油橄榄系列** has a total of 5 likes on the Douyin platform50,000 and nearly 7,000 comments.
The controversial brand in this incident was also picked up by consumers as the North American efficacy skin care brand CSS (Cosmetic Skin Solutions), known in Chinese as "Xi Yan Cui", in 2021, the whole online Tmall overseas *** official store, CSS olive essence is priced at 326 yuan 30ml, and 30,000+ have been sold.
At present, the brand has not given an official reply.
It can be seen that the bullet of the "olive essence" incident has not yet landed. However, before the brand issued an official statement to explain, "Fbeauty Future Traces" noticed that for this hot topic, a group of formulators and beauty bloggers have taken the lead in analyzing the incident from different angles.
First of all, @大虎课代表出示的检测报告是否严谨?
Meng Qijin, the head of science communication at the Chaogui Research Institute and the chief writer of science popularization in the field of Zhihu beauty, told "Fbeauty Future Traces" that there is no clear standard for the detection of oleuropein and hydroxytyrosol. "He used liquid-phase HPLC to test the samples, but oleocanthal extract is a formulated product that belongs to the field of analytical chemistry. What kind of formula is in the product, whether there are some similar structures will affect the final test results. "Because we didn't see the specific test method, and the entire sample processing process, the rigor of the test results could not be easily judged.
Beauty blogger Huang Zhengxian also released yesterday** saying that the chromatogram measured by Eurol BT, the raw material group of the internationally well-known olive leaf extract, is not completely consistent with the oleuropein chromatography of the standard olive leaf extract. Therefore, whether the calibration method needs to be controlled variables will have a certain impact on the product testing results, and the detection method that can be unified can continue to "eat melons".
Secondly, the reason why oleuropein and hydroxytyrosol were not detected in "olea europaea extract" is complicated.
Rex, a well-known blogger and formulator, said on Weibo that there are many variables in plant ingredients such as olea europaea extract, and the core oleuropein and hydroxytyrosol are not very stable. "Other brands have tested CSS before, and the sudden failure to detect may be due to batches, or it may be due to poor stability, or it is due to a change of ** supplier. ”
Munchkin also said that hydroxyl itself is indeed not very stable, and oleuropein is also easy to be broken down under certain conditions. "But in any case, brands should do stability testing when developing these two formulation standards to protect the product from the design process, packaging, and storage environment, and ensure that the active ingredient is still effective when the product reaches the consumer within the shelf life. ”
According to the analysis of beauty bloggers, the structural formula of oleuropein is mostly hydroxyl group and ester group structure, which has strong reducing and weak acidity, and is sensitive to temperature and alkaline conditions. In the reductive detection of oleuropein, metal ions are usually used to induce oxidation, and a large amount of zinc ions will be added to the formula, which is easy to change when there is no other reducing agent to protect it.
Finally, since CSS has claimed that a higher concentration of oleuropein has been added to the product, it is imperative that the brand come forward and "prove its innocence" with the data that can be obtained.
Now that consumers are skeptical, brands should come up with strong data, such as test data, testing methods, and how to do quality control. Manchkin said that the COA (Certificate of Analysis) tested in each batch of testing by the Ingredient Merchant will have a corresponding test method to ensure that the olive oil extract is a mixture of multiple active ingredients.
Huang Zhengxian also believes that at this moment, the brand should jointly present evidence with the raw material supplier, publish the raw material information of the raw material supplier, the brand's own product information, product testing, and raw material testing, and use a unified calibration method to conduct testing, so as to ensure high credibility.
So, jumping out of the "olive incident" itself, if the "olea europaea extract" does not contain oleuropein and hydroxytyrosol, can it still be called "olea europaea extract"?
It's like having no wife in a wife's. ”
According to Manchkin, the so-called plant extract is a combination of chemicals extracted from plants through extraction or other systematic methods, through different processes, and does not necessarily contain certain components. "It can only be said that the main active ingredient in oleocanthal extract is oleuropein, and there is no official standard for the level ratio of the active ingredient, and it is only worth referring to the data of some international leading companies. ”
But in the future, the country and the industry may be able to form a unified standard. He said.
In the face of the "olive" incident, which continues to be hotly discussed, some bloggers also said that "the olive itself is a traffic carnival".
Skincare blogger Miamaja said, "No matter what the ingredient is, it is a tool to make a product, and no matter what the product is, it is just a tool to help the best become better, and it should not be constantly packaged and hyped." ”
If we do not focus on a certain ingredient or plant-based noun "god-making", we should solidly publicize the use method, scenario, group-oriented, and specific problems that can be solved according to the efficacy of the product. "But some of the products that do this have quietly died, and the brands that can catch the popularity of popular ingredients can still survive. The doctor believes.
In the process of product promotion, the brand will inevitably make some market-oriented language modifications for the product. Manchkin also believes that when consumers choose products, they should look at the stability, safety and efficacy of the overall formula, rather than pursuing a single ingredient. "The efficacy of raw materials does not represent the efficacy of the formula, and conversely, the efficacy of a formula requires a combination of many ingredients to achieve, which is a reasonable perception in the process of product development, but many consumers lack this knowledge. ”
For example, in this incident, many netizens said, "It's so strange, I think it's inexplicably easy to use, but there are no ingredients." ”
At the level of brand communication, in order to facilitate the reach of consumers, they have a certain impression of the product in the short term, and often tend to derive the entire publicity chain from a certain ingredient, which is easier to help consumers understand. For example, some beauty brands have successfully tied themselves to popular ingredients and established a strong identity for themselves.
In the past few years, in the context of beauty companies' "roll up technology", this kind of science communication style seems to have become commonplace.
This incident is a reminder of the simple, crude and even cunning 'inert' science communication of brands in the past. An unnamed R&D personnel in the industry commented.
Of course, the evolving industry needs more scrutiny, and the truth becomes clearer the more it is argued. From another point of view, this incident also serves as a wake-up call for brands, influencers and consumers.
First of all, when a brand focuses on an active ingredient, it needs to have a sufficient chain of evidence to ensure the effectiveness of the ingredient, and be cautious in its words and actions. Secondly, the communication between the brand and the talent should be more in place and in-depth to avoid the deviation of the product publicity or sales process, and it is necessary to ensure the consistency of scientific communication; Finally, in the selection of products, the talent also needs to establish a more scientific selection mechanism, and to publish it, which is conducive to cooperation and builds a more transparent and orderly information ecology.
In the context of the industry of "volume" technology and "volume" research and development, the corresponding scientific communication of the brand has obviously not kept up, and it is easy to detonate the first field because of the lack of details, and the "backlash" of the brand or even a category appears. In 2024, how to take the compulsory course of science communication is a big test for brands.
Written by Lin Yu.
Proofread by Li Lin.