Cosmeceuticals is a subdivision of the cosmetics market. According to public information, the concept of "cosmeceuticals" was first proposed by the famous American senior dermatologist Albert Kligman in the 1970s, and its definition of "cosmeceuticals" is: products containing pharmaceutical ingredients, between drugs and cosmetics. Chinese consumers have a unique preference for "cosmeceuticals", but there are no cosmeceutical products in the strict sense of the Chinese market, let alone the strict sense of the cosmeceutical brand. At present, the so-called "cosmeceuticals" in the Chinese market mainly exist in the following two forms: one is the well-known foreign cosmeceuticals brand, which uses the international popularity of its cosmeceuticals brand to sell its cosmetics in China, but the products sold in China do not claim or label that the products have specific medical effects, such as Li Ruquan, Equan, Avene, Vicz, etc.; The other is to indirectly convey cosmeceutical or pharmaceutical concepts to consumers through the creation of product packaging style, product composition, product sales channels, product sales environment, and pharmaceutical products, such as Pien Tze Huang, Tongrentang, Appropriate Herbal medicine, Winona, etc., but the products are not claimed or labeled with specific medical effects. Chinese consumers love cosmeceuticals, why is there no cosmeceutical products in the Chinese cosmetics market in a strict sense, and no cosmeceutical brands have grown up in a strict sense?

From the perspective of operation, product, channel and brand are the three core elements of consumer goods development. Cosmetics belong to fast-moving consumer goods, the product life cycle is shorter, the product replacement is faster, the importance of product functional publicity is particularly important. The uniqueness, pertinence and innovation of product efficacy claim directly determine the image of the brand, determine the sales volume of the product, and then determine the success or failure of brand building. What is a cosmetic claim? At present, China's cosmetics laws and regulations are not clear. The European Union's "General Guidelines for the Reasonableness of Cosmetic Claims" defines the concept of cosmetic claims, that is, the express or implied communication of product features or functions of cosmetic products in the form of words, names, trademarks, patterns, numbers or other forms through labels, commercial supply processes and advertising. As can be seen from the above definition of the European Union, cosmetics labels, packaging, instructions, advertisements, spokesperson images, propaganda posters, etc. that explicitly or implicitly convey the product characteristics or functions of cosmetics belong to the category of cosmetics claims. As far as cosmetics business is concerned, whether it is brand promotion, product sales, or channel construction, it is inseparable from the promotion of product characteristics or functions through packaging labels, instructions, advertising, spokesperson images, publicity posters and other forms. Consumers often choose their favorite brands through cosmetics claims, and select products suitable for their needs from a large number of products. Because of this, we will find that whether it is traditional media, or new media, cosmetics advertising exposure is very high. As far as cosmeceuticals are concerned, their biggest selling points are the medical effects such as anti-inflammatory and sterilization. Therefore, both the promotion of cosmeceuticals and the creation of cosmeceuticals brands rely on the publicity of specific medical effects of products to a large extent, and the medical effects of cosmeceuticals need to be transmitted through diversified product claims. The development of mature cosmeceutical brands cannot be separated from the promotion of medical efficacy of products; The shaping of emerging cosmeceutical brands is more inseparable from the claim of medical efficacy of products. In terms of operation, the promotion of the medical efficacy of the product is crucial to the cosmeceutical brand.

As far as industry rules are concerned, China's cosmetic rules clearly prohibit cosmetic claims of pharmaceutical efficacy. Cosmetics regulatory authorities in the world generally believe that cosmetics and drugs are two different concepts, and the confusion of the concepts of cosmetics and drugs should be avoided. Therefore, in addition to drugs and cosmetics, the concept of "cosmeceuticals" does not exist in most countries in the world at the regulatory level. In the categories of drugs or pharmaceutical accessories in some countries, some products also have the purpose of cosmetic use, but such products must first meet the regulatory requirements of drugs or pharmaceutical accessories, and there is no independent product category "cosmeceuticals" that is managed solely in accordance with cosmetics, such as Japan. China adopts a system of classified management of cosmetics and drugs. The Regulations on Hygiene Supervision of Cosmetics, which came into effect on January 1, 1990, provide that "cosmetics refer to daily chemical industrial products that are applied, sprayed or otherwise dispersed on any part of the surface of the human body, such as skin, hair, nails, lips, etc., to achieve the purpose of cleaning, eliminating undesirable odors, skin care, beauty and modification." The analysis of the above concept of cosmetics shows that cosmetics in our country are not aimed at medical efficacy, nor can they be advertised as having medical efficacy. At the same time, the Regulations on Cosmetic Hygiene Supervision also clearly stipulates that cosmetic labels, small packages or instructions shall not be noted with indications, shall not publicize curative effects, shall not use medical terms, and shall not publicize medical effects in advertising. In addition, the Advertising Law also stipulates that, except for advertisements for medical treatment, drugs and medical devices, any other advertisements are prohibited from involving the function of disease treatment, and may not use medical terms or terms that are easy to confuse the marketed goods with drugs and medical devices. On January 1, 2019, in view of the current situation of cosmeceuticals flooding in China's cosmetics market, the State Food and Drug Administration further clarified the problem in the form of "Cosmetics Supervision FAQ (1)" : that is, for products registered or filed in the name of cosmetics, the concept of "cosmeceuticals" such as "cosmeceuticals" and "medical skin care products" is illegal. Therefore, at the legal level, China's cosmetic claims shall not involve the disease treatment function, shall not use medical terms, and shall not use words that are easy to be confused with drugs and medical devices. The State Council has passed and the upcoming "Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of Cosmetics" also continues the direction of classified supervision of drugs and cosmetics. The direction of pharmaceutical classification supervision is consistent, unchanged from the beginning, and will continue. The above rules determine that cosmetics in China shall not claim to have medical efficacy, which has an intransigable impact on the promotion of cosmeceutical products or the building of cosmeceutical brands.

Industry development, rules are the key. In view of the importance of the claim of medical efficacy of cosmetics in cosmeceutical business and the strict classification supervision system of drugs and cosmetics in China, cosmetics operators want to build strict domestic cosmeceutical brands by means of product medical efficacy claim, which is a huge challenge. This is also one of the important reasons that although Chinese consumers are very partial to cosmeceuticals, there has not been a real cosmeceutical brand. In the practice of cosmetics business, some cosmetics brands will indirectly convey the concept of cosmeceuticals through their medicinal ingredients, product and drug sales channels, product and pharmaceutical style, and pharmaceutical factory production, but this does not mean that cosmetics have medical effects, nor does it mean that the corresponding products are cosmeceuticals. In the environment of increasing compliance requirements, business is not compliant, and all performance is temporary. Cosmetic publicity compliance is an important part of cosmetic enterprise business compliance. Product claims are not compliant, on the one hand harm the interests of consumers; On the other hand, it also brings great operational risks to the enterprise. Faced with the red line of rules that cannot be crossed, the current Chinese cosmeceutical market is more suitable for well-known foreign cosmeceutical brands or pharmaceutical companies to use the formed brand awareness to harvest the market, but not suitable for the creation of new cosmeceutical brands.