Comments on: Sneaky Marketing? The Inkey List Succinic Acid Acne Treatment

By: PollyQ

PollyQ — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 22:24:04 +0000

Thank you so much for a great, well-written, important piece! (Thank you also for calling it a “blog post” rather than a “blog” — that usage drives me up the wall.) And on a side note, I sure hope when a company calls something a “mineral sunscreen” they’re not also adding chemical sunscreens, because I’m allergic, dang it, and they’re hard enough to avoid as it it.

By: Kim nguyen

Kim nguyen — Fri, 19 Mar 2021 20:34:21 +0000

Thank you for making us better consumers.

By: Rod

Rod — Wed, 17 Mar 2021 00:19:20 +0000

After I ordered the three new products. I also think the direction they are going is feeling a bit desperate, i almost feel that I was coerced to order, to then find out the star ingredients have no real background info or are not actives. The live uber-influencer launch marathon was a desperate misguided disaster. The spot treatment is actually fine. The fluvic facewash feels good, but I have not really noticed a difference. The starbright – or whatever it is called – moisturiser is more creamy than gel-like. They have some great products, mostly with terrible screw top packaging that leaks everywhere, and some real duds like the dreadful apple cider vinegar peel. It is great that they are launching new products, but us commited customers really don’t deserve how false this last marketing campaign was executed. Love from Barcelona!

By: Sophie

Sophie — Mon, 08 Mar 2021 21:57:23 +0000

100% that some company right is having a meeting right now on how to make this Raspberry Sunscreen happen

By: KC

KC — Sat, 06 Mar 2021 15:05:40 +0000

The INKEY List has been pseudo. I remember their Retinol Serum is 1% RetiStar (which should be calculated about 0.05% retinol) but they market it as 1% retinol. Not sure about the background of the two founders, perhaps not chemist, without the heart for skin, merely want to fly with the trend of The Ordinary and earn alongside.

By: Cass

Cass — Sat, 06 Mar 2021 07:00:58 +0000

Thank you for acknowledging that putting ingredients that don’t necessarily have a lot of studies done on them isn’t really a bad thing in general. There are so many skincare people (for lack of a better word) that just throws out any ingredient that doesn’t have a hundred peer reviewed articles backing it. I understand the temptation and I’m all for being smart with ingredients/products but I also do think that it’s fun to have less studied ingredients in products. I like the novelty factor and maybe it’s because I used to work in a natural product chemistry lab but the idea of a new promising compound is always exciting to me!

Also, I’m starting to find that the online skincare community is becoming a bit dull and an echo chamber because there are only like 5 products and ingredients that are “approved”. Idk. It’s not as fun anymore.

By: Anne

Anne — Thu, 04 Mar 2021 13:21:08 +0000

How dare they indeed – they were my favorite brand out of all of them.

By: ac

ac — Wed, 03 Mar 2021 19:32:40 +0000

You know, I was absolutely willing to give this a try (you never know! different things work for different skin!) despite the obvious BS and despite the fact that I’ve never had impressive results with any kind of salicylic acid formulation … until I saw stearic acid in the ingredients, which is a major MAAAAJOR cystic breakout trigger for me. :/

Thanks so much for picking all of this apart. Skincare companies need to know that we are ON to their doublespeak garbage, and that just putting actives front and center is not the same as “simplicity and transparency.”

By: Miki

Miki — Tue, 02 Mar 2021 16:59:23 +0000

Welp. They had me fooled! Thanks for bringing this to light.
I think I like the product tho. I do wonder though if it’s ok to use it on a daily basis, I guess so? I’m just trying hard not to disrupt my skin too much. I want it to help with breakouts, but I don’t want it to cause them either by disrupting my PH or too much exfoliation or drying it out … if that makes sense. I’m trying to combat maskne.

By: Elena

Elena — Tue, 02 Mar 2021 16:40:45 +0000

Thank you VERY MUCH for bringing this issue out!
This was the very thing that made me suspicious of succinic acid being a “real” active.
Unfortunately, I don’t think that this was an unintentional action: I personally see the same issues with their Tranexamic acid night treatment and their new “brightening” cleanser.