How to check if a beauty product is FDA approved

Following an advisory from the FDA on the purchase of unnotified products, 13 lipsticks, mostly from China, have been marked as having no market authorization from the FDA. The agency warns that unnotified lipsticks may contain hazardous ingredients, especially lead.

Any of these look familiar? Better check FDA's advisory here (fda.gov.ph).

So how can we know if the product we are eyeing on is FDA-notified?



1. The product must have its product name written in English. Never mind the fancy packaging, the English labels help with letting you know what you're applying on your skin.

2. The product ingredient list must also be in English. So even if you can read some Hanggul enough to catch cream in a cute tub, you still need to know the components of that cream - better check that ingredient list first even before you try spot testing. It saves that little area from skin from avoidable damage.

3. Labels must also have the net content of your product. This information is especially helpful if you're trying to determine if the product really is cheap or not. (Tip: Find the price per mL or ounce of a product versus another's when doing price comparisons. Total price is not a tell-all.)

4. The packaging must have instructions on using the product. I like Asian beauty products, but some of them fail at this criteria, even those from big name Korean brands. Even if these products are almost always safe in relation to their ingredients, the wrong use of products may do squat on your skin, or worse - it can damage or irritate your skin.

It may be just a sample, but this mask from TheFACEShop
has all of the required FDA labels. Good job!

5. You should also check for the product's batch number. This is useful in case there are product recalls and other safety issues. Reporting a product and its batch number can aid the manufacturer detect its errors and can help in letting the consumers know which batch is unsafe.

6. It must have special precautions related on the use of a product. Most products, especially those for whitening, do not even have such precautions like "use with sunscreen" labels on those whitening products (unless of course, they're ineffective in reducing the melanin).

7. It must bear the country of manufacture / importer. Similar to the batch number, this help with a product's traceability. For me, it is a mark of confidence that the manufacturer and country of origin assumes their responsibility over the quality of a product.

8. It must have an expiration date. No one would want to put product that have gone bad, right?

9. If 1-8 fails, try checking the product with the FDA's website. All you have to do is type a product's name into the search bar.

Don't waste that money on unsafe products and know how to check the labels. Safety first!