How Dermatologists Can Sort Through Skincare and Cosmeceutical Claims

Dermatologists are increasingly positioned as the primary filter for patients navigating an overwhelming skincare market, according to a session presented at the 2026 Fall Clinical Dermatology Conference in Las Vegas. In her talk, titled “So Many Products, How Do I Choose? Sorting Through Skin Care and Cosmeceuticals,” Cheri Frey, MD, offered a practical framework for evaluating skincare products and deciding which to recommend.¹

Frey described the current landscape as one of skincare overload, with patients and consumers bombarded by terminology and marketing claims. Labels such as clean, physician tested, dermatologist tested, and medical grade may sound reassuring, but she noted none defines a recognized US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) category. Under FDA classification, a product is either a drug or a cosmetic, and most skincare products fall into the cosmetic category.

Frey added a positive shift in the field: where skincare was once driven largely by marketing claims, a growing number of products are now supported by clinical studies. Rather than focusing on individual products, she encouraged clinicians to adopt a consistent framework for weighing the evidence behind them.

How Should Dermatologists Evaluate Skincare Evidence?

Frey presented an evidence pyramid adapted for skincare. At its base sits the manufacturer’s own description of what a product does, which she said is only as valuable as the clinician’s trust in the company. The next level asks whether the ingredients offer biologic plausibility for the proposed effect.

Higher tiers include in vitro and ex vivo data, followed by biomarkers and instrumentation, such as corneometry for skin hydration or devices measuring transepidermal water loss. Randomized clinical trials sit near the top, and Frey noted these trials are still conducted for skincare products. The central question, she said, is whether changes in a biomarker or instrument reading translate into a clinically meaningful endpoint, since a visible benefit is what patients ultimately want.

Frey also stressed evaluating each component of a product separately. An ingredient should have a sensible mechanism and adequate potency, but the ingredient is not the same as the formulation. Concentration matters because ingredients work within therapeutic windows: one dose may be effective, another too irritating, and higher doses may yield diminishing returns. Stability, skin penetration, and the packaging of the finished product all influence performance. Because labels rarely disclose exact concentrations and dose response can be nonlinear, she cautioned against judging a product by its ingredient list alone.

What Separates Strong Evidence From Weak Evidence in Skincare?

Frey illustrated the framework with 2 contrasting pigmentation examples. Thiamidol (isobutylamido thiazolyl resorcinol), a human tyrosinase inhibitor, showed greater in vitro potency than other human tyrosinase inhibitors and outperformed hydroquinone and arbutin in preclinical testing. In clinical testing, it produced a statistically significant improvement versus vehicle in patients with moderate-to-severe melasma, with visible results she described as clinically meaningful.

By contrast, an exosome-derived product inhibited intracellular melanin in a dose-dependent manner in vitro. In clinical testing, mexameter readings of melanin improved, but the product produced no clinically apparent brightening or evening of skin tone. Investigators attributed the shortfall to poor penetration, which Frey framed as an example of a promising ingredient failing in its final formulation, given the effectiveness of the stratum corneum as a barrier.

Frey noted packaging can also undermine a product, pointing to L-ascorbic acid and retinol as examples, before the recorded portion of the session ended.

Editor’s note: This summary has been edited for grammar and clarity using artificial intelligence tools.

References

1. Frey C. “So many products, how do I choose?” Sorting through skin care and cosmeceuticals. Presented at: 2026 Fall Clinical Dermatology Conference; October 8-11, 2026; Las Vegas, NV.