“Stem cell cosmetics” have once again been exposed as fake. Recently, official media reported that various products are exploiting the concept of “anti-aging” to capture the desire of the elderly to slow down aging, and directly pointed out that “stem cell cosmetics” are a pseudo-concept.
In fact, the Advertisements Supervision Department of the State Administration for Market Regulation clearly stated three years ago that “all claims about the efficacy of stem cells in anti-aging, beauty, and other aspects are false and illegal advertisements.”
Senior industry experts also told CHAILEEDO, “Under various mechanisms or formulations of cosmetics, it is absolutely impossible for stem cells to survive, and most of it is just promotional gimmicks.”
Exposed face mask products are still being sold.
Recently, according to the Beijing Daily, in various product advertisements focusing on “anti-aging,” “stem cells,” as a seemingly high-end concept, are being claimed by many businesses to be added to masks, essences, and lotions, to “awaken cell vitality,” even claiming to have the effect of “non-surgical plastic surgery.”
The report cited two skincare products as examples, directly pointing out the misleading of consumers and exaggerated advertising of “stem cell cosmetics.” The report stated, “A certain business, when introducing a single sheet of nearly a hundred yuan ‘growth factor stem cell peptide’ mask, claimed that the product contains ‘stem cell components,’ and sent illustrative images, pointing out that the product contains peptides and precious ‘human growth factors,’ stimulating cell regeneration and making the skin truly youthful.”
CHAILEEDO found that the “growth factor stem cell peptide” mask product mentioned in the report is still being sold on Taobao platforms. According to a Taobao store’s product page, the “mask product,” sold in a pack of three, is priced at 299 yuan, but the product’s cosmetics filing number is not disclosed. When CHAILEEDO inquired about the filing details of the product with the store’s customer service, they only stated that “the mask is an imported cosmetic, registered with the Hong Kong Department of Health.”
It is worth mentioning that the “Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of Cosmetics” clearly stipulate that imported ordinary cosmetics should be filed with the National Medical Products Administration before importation. Furthermore, imported cosmetics sold in China must indicate the name of the country or region of origin (referring to Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan), with the guiding term “country/region of origin” preceding the name. Therefore, the aforementioned ‘mask product’ is undoubtedly suspected of violating regulations.
In addition, the Beijing Daily also exposed an “apple stem cell” essence, claiming to be extracted from rare Swiss apples, with stem cells possessing extraordinary antioxidant capabilities, able to maintain freshness for several months, and also capable of “preventing early baldness and delaying hair graying.” However, CHAILEEDO found that this product is currently not searchable on various mainstream e-commerce platforms.
However, on a certain mainstream e-commerce platform, when entering the keyword ‘stem cells’ in the search bar, “stem cell essence,” “stem cell mask,” and other related recommended terms pop up, with many businesses selling related products claiming that “stem cell cosmetics” have anti-aging, repairing, and other effects. In response, Shi Changsong, the R&D director of Guangdong Baiya Cosmetics Co., Ltd., told CHAILEEDO, “Stem cell cosmetics have long been banned by the country. Businesses selling them online are actually violating the law, disregarding official warnings.”
A factory owner in Guangdong also told CHAILEEDO that all stem cell skincare products on the market are fake, “because the preservation period of stem cells is only 8-12 hours, and the temperature requirements for preservation are very high. Therefore, all products claiming to be ‘stem cell’ skincare products are just a gimmick.”
“Stem cell cosmetics” is a pseudo-concept
Public information shows that stem cells, commonly known as “universal cells,” are a type of multipotent cells with self-renewal capabilities that can proliferate and differentiate into other types of cells under certain inducing conditions. As early as September 2021, the National Medical Products Administration issued a document to debunk the concept of “stem cell cosmetics” as a pseudo-concept.
Regarding whether cosmetics contain “plant stem cells,” the National Medical Products Administration explained through relevant articles that in the meristematic tissues at the tips of plant stems and roots, there exists a group of special cells. These cells are the source of growth for plant roots, stems, leaves, and flowers, hence commonly referred to as “plant stem cells.” “Plant stem cells” are fundamentally a type of plant cell that can only differentiate into other types of plant cells and cannot differentiate into human cells.
The article also points out that in the revised and published “Catalog of Used Cosmetic Raw Materials” by the National Medical Products Administration in 2021, cosmetic raw materials with the name containing “stem cells” are not included. Currently, the National Medical Products Administration has not registered or filed any cosmetic raw materials related to stem cells.
In the same year, the State Administration for Market Regulation issued the “Work Tips on Strengthening the Supervision of Stem Cell Advertising,” addressing the abundance of advertisements in the market claiming anti-aging, beauty-enhancing, blood sugar control, anti-cancer effects, among others, related to stem cells. The “Tips” explicitly state that “except for mature technical standards for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation therapy for blood system diseases, other stem cell therapies are still in the clinical research stage and have not yet entered the clinical application stage.”
According to previous reports by CHAILEEDO, the concept of stem cells commonly mentioned in cosmetic products is actually active substances extracted from stem cells or stem cell culture media and not genuine stem cells. In fact, stem cells, plant stem cells, and plant stem cell extracts are three distinct concepts. A senior industry professional introduced that stem cells are mainly divided into embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells, “which are human-derived stem cells prohibited by the country.”
Industry experts also stated, “Plant stem cells are not actually stem cells; what is mainly used now is the regenerative tissue cultured from seed cells taken from plant wound healing sites, similar to the principle of microbial fermentation.” However, regardless of the type of stem cell, as early as January 2019, the National Medical Products Administration stated through official documents that claims including “medicated cosmetics,” “EGF” (epidermal growth factor), stem cells, etc., are all considered illegal claims.
This also implies that the efficacy claims related to stem cells in anti-aging, beauty, and other aspects in the current market are false illegal advertisements and may be illegal. Therefore, there are no stem cell cosmetics on the market.”
“Stem cells are a new technology, but not necessarily corresponding to new efficacy.”
“At present, stem cell cosmetics belong to a category under strict supervision. They cannot be filed for use in cosmetics and are suspected of false advertising,” said Chen Laicheng, founder of Guangzhou Mashanghui Biotechnology Co., Ltd., to CHAILEEDO.
CHAILEEDO also noted that shortly after the National Medical Products Administration released relevant popular science articles, some cosmetics companies received fines. In early 2022, Love Orchid Cosmetics Co., Ltd. illegally claimed “stem cells” in a facial mask product, but after investigation by law enforcement officers, it was found that the composition of this facial mask product did not contain stem cells. As a result, the company was fined 300,000 yuan by the Pudong New Area Market Supervision Bureau. In the same year, a Shanghai Information Technology Co., Ltd. was fined 25,500 yuan by the Jing’an District Market Supervision Bureau in Shanghai for claiming that its cosmetics contained “purple algae stem cells.”
Regarding “stem cell cosmetics,” many industry insiders told CHAILEEDO, “Stem cell technology is not yet mature, and many businesses are just stuck at the stage of concept marketing.” Jiang Ligang, Chief Technology Officer of Pechoin Group, said, “From a conceptual perspective, stem cell cosmetics emphasize the concept more than the actual use, after all, there is still a significant difference between plant stem cells and human stem cells.”
Shi Changsong expressed a similar view, believing that stem cells can be understood as an extract, and these extracts may not necessarily have a direct relationship with human metabolism. If they are related to metabolism, genetic evaluation would be necessary.
However, several industry insiders do not deny the innovation of this technology. Xia Leng, General Manager of Guangdong Duocai Biotechnology Co., Ltd., told CHAILEEDO that they had been paying attention to this issue a few years ago. In his opinion, “Once stem cell technology succeeds, it will be a great boon to humanity. However, this is limited to the medical field, and it may not bring substantial impact to the cosmetics industry.”
Zhang Taijun, Director of Research and Development at Quanzhi Skincare Biotechnology Institute, told CHAILEEDO that, taking plant stem cell technology as an example, this new technology can eliminate the processes of planting, harvesting, and deep processing of plants, significantly reducing the extraction cost of active ingredients, improving production efficiency, and raw material yield. In his view, cosmetics will definitely involve the application of many biological and physiological technologies.
However, Zhang Taijun also believes, “New technology does not necessarily mean that products have new efficacy. Cosmetics are closely related to skin health, and some businesses using deceitful methods to introduce exaggerated or false advertising to consumers are absolutely unacceptable.”
