Without a doubt, the single most common subject we are asked about is unlabeled skin care products, often falsely represented as genuine Diana Stalder products. Are they simply a generic version of the products SouthGain is selling? Are they effective? Are they safe? Are they legal? Where do they come from? Why don’t they have any labels (or why do the labels look like something from a fifth-grader’s school project)? What are the ingredients? How do I know what I’m really getting? If they’re illegal, why can’t eBay or Stalder or FDA or someone stop the sale of these products?
We receive questions like these almost every day! The sellers who are pushing these unlabeled products have put forth some, well, let’s say “inventive” answers and explanations. The result has been a great deal of confusion in the marketplace. We’d like to take a few moments here to provide some straight answers.
First, it is illegal to sell unlabeled (or improperly labeled) cosmetics in the United States. The following is an excerpt from the FDA’s cosmetic labeling overview page:
Proper labeling is an important aspect of putting a cosmetic product on the market. FDA regulates cosmetic labeling under the authority of both the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) and the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act(FPLA). These laws and their related regulations are intended to protect consumers from health hazards and deceptive practices and to help consumers make informed decisions regarding product purchase.
It is illegal to introduce a misbranded cosmetic into interstate commerce, and such products are subject to regulatory action. Some of the ways a cosmetic can become misbranded are:
- - its labeling is false or misleading,
- - its label fails to provide required information,
- - its required label information is not properly displayed
We’ve seen sellers of these unlabeled products try to explain away a lot of other things, but when it comes to the legality of their products, they simply avoid the question.
Of course, some buyers might be tempted to look the other way when it comes to the legal issues, especially if the products are safe and effective. But the problem here is that there’s no way to really know what you’re getting when you buy an unlabeled product. In fact, some of the more prominent sellers of these illegal unlabeled products have completely misrepresented the ingredients. One of the more flagrant examples involves a seller on eBay (a self-proclaimed goddess, no less!) who continues to claim that her products do not contain hydroquinone, when in fact, hydroquinone is one of the key ingredients. We know this because we know her real source, and we confirmed the ingredients with them.
So, what are the sources of these unlabeled products? Several of them remain a mystery. We believe one of the sources is in China, and may actually contain mercury or other very harmful ingredients. We suspect some of these products are manufactured in homemade labs. But perhaps the most common source is BCP, which is a sister to the Diana Stalder brand and part of the Stalder Group of companies. BCP products are manufactured for the local Philippine market. They are sold directly to dermatologists who private label the products for sale in their clinics. These products are not supposed to be resold in their unlabeled state or exported for sale outside the Philippines. But some unscrupulous dermatologists’ offices are apparently ignoring the terms of their purchase agreements and diverting some of these BCP products to resellers in the U.S. and elsewhere.
The key thing to remember about these BCP products (besides the fact that they’re illegal in the U.S.!) is that their formulations are completely different from the genuine Diana Stalder products that we sell. Diana Stalder is a premium line, using the best available ingredients to maximize effectiveness. BCP products are squarely targeted at the lower end of the domestic Philippine market, with the emphasis being on low cost. Why would anyone want to pay more for a lower-end product when they can get a more effective premium product for the same or better price?! Also, keep in mind that genuine Diana Stalder products do not contain hydroquinone, while many of the BCP products do. With the other sources, well who knows what you’re actually getting?!
The good news is that you don’t need to be a party to an illegal sale, and you don’t have to take any chances when it comes to safety or effectiveness–you can buy genuine Diana Stalder products directly from an Authorized Distribution Center (ADC), right here in the U.S.! SouthGain is the oldest and largest Diana Stalder ADC outside of the Philippines, and we’d be honored to earn your business.
Now, why can’t someone do something to stop the sale of these illegal, misrepresented products? I guess we’d better save that for the topic of a future blog post. 
Posted by pgesmundo 
