Recently, a administrative penalty decision issued by the Shanghai Municipal Administration for Market Regulation revealed that PROFEX Trading (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “PROFEX”) was fined 100,000 yuan by the Pudong New Area Market Regulation Bureau of Shanghai for falsely advertising ordinary cosmetics as “naturally moisturizing and suitable for use during pregnancy/lactation” and “dedicated to maternal care” on the Tmall platform.
This may be the first publicly penalized case this year for claiming “suitable for pregnant women.”
Ordinary cosmetics claiming to be “suitable for pregnant women” fined 100,000 yuan
According to the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System, PROFEX was established in 2007 with a registered capital of 20 million US dollars. According to the official website of PROFEX, the company focuses on the field of skin health and medical aesthetics, cooperating with distributors of brands such as Bio-Oil, CEBELLA, Neostrata, Uriage, as well as hair care brands like Fentian.
According to the administrative penalty decision, starting from December 11, 2023, PROFEX promoted a certain product of Bio-Oil sold in its “PROFEX flagship store” by releasing advertisements containing claims such as “plant-derived lotion for pregnancy stretch marks,” “14 types of natural plant extracts to prevent pregnancy stretch marks,” and “suitable for all skin types,” accompanied by images of pregnant women.
Upon investigation, it was found that the product in question is an imported ordinary cosmetic, registered under the name “Bio-Oil Natural Multi-Nutrient Skincare Oil,” with the registration number of National Cosmetics Net Registration (Shanghai) 2021501361. It does not possess any new efficacy suitable for pregnant women, and there is no evidence to prove its suitability for various skin types or its ability to prevent and improve stretch marks. Furthermore, the product’s advertising also used medical terminology such as “stretch marks.”
Article 4, Paragraph 1 of the Advertising Law of the People’s Republic of China states, “Advertisements shall not contain false or misleading content and shall not deceive or mislead consumers.” In addition, according to Article 17 of the same law, “Except for medical treatment, medicine, and medical device advertisements, it is prohibited for any other advertisements to involve disease treatment functions, and the use of medical terminology or terms that may cause confusion with the promotion of goods, medicines, or medical devices.”
Based on these regulations, the Pudong New Area Market Regulation Bureau of Shanghai determined that PROFEX’s publication of false advertisements violated the above provisions and decided to impose a fine of 100,000 yuan.
Today, CHAILEEDO found through an inquiry at the Bio-Oil Tmall flagship store that the implicated product is still being sold normally, and sales have exceeded 600 units. However, the behavior of using the term “suitable for pregnant women” and medical vocabulary is no longer present in the product description on the page.
CHAILEEDO’s investigation found that in the past three years, PROFEX has been subject to administrative penalties by regulatory authorities six times, with a total fine of approximately 2.7 million yuan, involving brands such as Bio-Oil, Fentian, and Xinsi Cui. The reasons for the penalties include false advertising and the production of cosmetics that do not comply with technical specifications.
Four companies fined within two years
It is worth mentioning that the case of PROFEX is not an isolated incident. According to incomplete statistics by CHAILEEDO, since 2022, four cosmetics companies have been subject to administrative penalties by regulatory authorities for falsely claiming that their ordinary cosmetics are “suitable for pregnant women.”
For example, in August 2022, Tianjin Shengshi Yongye Technology Development Co., Ltd., the parent company of the product “October Angel Blue Lotus Moisturizing Cleansing Milk” and “October Angel Blue Lotus Moisturizing Toner,” was found to have labeled the products as “suitable for pregnant women” when they were actually ordinary cosmetics. As a result, the Tianjin Food and Drug Administration confiscated the related products and packaging materials and imposed a fine of 50,000 yuan.
Similarly, in November of the same year, Shanghai Baimuli Biotechnology Co., Ltd. promoted products such as “Dr.Soins French Maternity Skincare Expert,” “Dr.Soins Maternity Sunscreen Cream,” and “Shiwan Maternity BB Cream” on its “Dr.Soins Tmall flagship store” webpage. However, all the products involved were ordinary cosmetics, and the company was fined 50,000 yuan by the Pudong New Area Market Regulation Bureau of Shanghai.
It is worth noting that PROFEX may be the first publicly penalized case this year for claiming to be “suitable for pregnant women.” According to the new regulations, cosmetics used for hair dyeing, perming, freckle whitening, sun protection, anti-hair loss, and cosmetics claiming new efficacy are considered special cosmetics. Moreover, in the “Classification Rules and Catalogue of Cosmetics,” products claiming to be suitable for pregnant and lactating women are classified as products with new efficacy.
However, specific requirements and regulations for cosmetics targeting pregnant women have not been issued by the country yet. According to the “Evaluation Criteria for Cosmetic Efficacy Claims,” for cosmetics claiming new efficacy, apart from using mandatory national standards and technical specifications, the testing methods should be validated by two or more cosmetics registration and filing inspection agencies. Only if the validation meets the requirements can the evaluation of new efficacy be conducted.
Several cosmetic engineers told CHAILEEDO that there is no unified evaluation method for maternity cosmetics, and it requires the cooperation of 2-3 testing agencies with qualification to conduct the verification, making it relatively difficult to obtain special certification.
Li Jincong, the founder of the Cosmetic Forbidden Words Network, stated, “Currently, there are no registration certificates for maternity cosmetics or similar special cosmetics. This means that products claiming to be suitable for pregnant women sold in China are all falsely labeled products.”
The Technical Guidance Principles for Maternity Cosmetics Urgently Need to Be Introduced
In recent years, the attention towards maternity cosmetics has been increasing rapidly. According to public data, in 2023, the annual sales of skincare/cleansing/stretch mark products for pregnant and postpartum women reached nearly 1 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 106% compared to 2022. Among the various selling points, maternity cosmetics with the “reducing wrinkles” claim had the largest market size in 2023, with sales ranging from 100-250 million yuan. “Maternity-specific” products ranked in the top three, with a market size between 50-75 million yuan and a year-on-year growth of 22.56%.
On Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book), the topic of maternity cosmetics remains highly popular. One of the most popular notes, with over 47,000 likes, emphasizes the need for simplified skincare and strict sun protection principles during pregnancy. It also advises avoiding four ingredients: retinoids, salicylic acid, quinones, and ketones. The note includes a list of recommended cosmetics for pregnancy, mainly from international well-known brands.
Furthermore, when searching for “maternity cosmetics” on e-commerce platforms, keywords such as “maternity makeup” and “maternity BB cream” appear. CHAILEEDO noticed that the claims of “suitable for pregnant women” or “safe for pregnant women” are particularly common on major e-commerce platforms. The product categories include basic skincare such as cleansers, toners, moisturizers, and masks, as well as special products with claims for preventing and repairing stretch marks. However, many of these products are registered as regular cosmetics and do not meet the requirements of the new regulations.
“Some of these claims are baseless and clearly pushing the boundaries, and they will inevitably be targeted by regulatory authorities sooner or later,” said a senior industry expert. Li Jincong believes that this is mainly due to the lack of online regulatory oversight and the fact that the potential profits outweigh the risks, leading many brands and companies to take chances.
Currently, the situation of maternity cosmetics in China is awkward. On one hand, the market for maternity cosmetics is rapidly expanding, but on the other hand, there is currently no approved registration for cosmetics specifically for pregnant and lactating women in the country. Moreover, there are no specific requirements or technical guidance principles for maternity cosmetics. This leaves pregnant women without access to “compliant and legal” cosmetics.
In response to this, several industry experts interviewed by CHAILEEDO stated, “To avoid the risk of penalties, it is best not to make such claims.” At the same time, some industry professionals are not optimistic about maternity cosmetics, stating that “the main issue is the high cost of special certification.”
“Rather than strict prohibition, it is better to regulate appropriately,” said Xu Li, the founder of Suzhou Yumeijian Technology Co., Ltd. “If brands want to continue focusing on the field of maternity cosmetics, the safety verification projects, methods, and approaches should be more stringent. Additionally, fast implementation of industry standards or group standards for maternity cosmetics is needed; otherwise, the market will remain chaotic.”
“Pregnant women are using unapproved exclusive cosmetics every day, and the uncertainty of this risk will persist. It’s just that the regulations shield the risk. Once there is a serious adverse reaction event in society, the regulatory authorities also bear some responsibility,” according to Li Jincong. “Without sufficient scientific reasons, implementing a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach should not be carried out. Even adopting the regulatory approach used for children’s cosmetics would be conservative enough.”
“The skincare needs of pregnant women should not be ignored. The key factors to ensure the safe use of cosmetics by this group include the establishment of regulations, scientific research, consumer education, and industry self-discipline,” said Li Jincong.
