How about UV? sunburn? skin cancer?

You gotta laff at this lot, and the people that buy it.

For years they've been promoting "anti oxidants" for skincare, perhaps with good reason.

But more recently one of the big names, I forget which, has been promoting a skincare potion which "oxygenates" the skin.

What was bad, is good.

Most odd.

It's a real shame most of the world know more about (eg) football than science.

Another outstanding piece of 'made up science' (tm) from the cosmetics industry. Keep 'em coming guys, we need more pro-vitamins, micro-minerals, pro-liposomes, anti-ageing-serums etc, etc, etc to laugh at.

Dammit - here I was thinking that this might be able to put away my tinfoil hat, slap a layer of this stuff on my deforested head and be safe in the knowledge that I'd be protected from the mind-sapping rays of the Lizard Army[tm] and sudden attacks of black helicopters. To say I'm disappointed would be an understatement.

Truth be told, one of the things I miss about TV is not having a bloody good laugh at the pseudo-scientific claims of Clarins, L'Oreal, Garnier etc.etc.

It's not just the cosmetic industry that's trading on pseudo science. Recently, while channel surfing, I came across an advertisement for DNA designed fishing lures. Apparently the lures were designed to appeal to the fish's DNA. How stuff like that works is well beyond my limited intellect. Still though, transcribing DNA into consumer products looks like the way to go career wise.

Every product should be made to carry a warning: "Advertising nonsense from the manufacturer of this product could damage your wealth".

However, it's good to see that on this one rare occasaion, the ASA has actually managed to put its brains in gear and declare the claim to be rubbish.

But I suppose it's too much to ask them to have a look at the dictionary while their brain is still in gear, and look up what "unlimited" means ... no, nobody in ASA has anywhere near sufficient stamina to actually READ what the dictionary says about unlimited AND understand it.

If they tested this against, say, 1500 watts at 2.9GHz, I might start to believe them.

Meanwhile I'm making a new tinfoil hat to protect my brain from my WiFi. And I'm using my Bluetooth headset to avoid putting my phone against my head and getting all those nasty radio waves. The phone will stay securely on my hip. Where I am safe from radiation.

The ASA are actually quite hot of false claims in cosmetics ads, they are consistently complained about, more than any other adverts and the complaints are upheld pretty much all the time. You'll probably notice if you look out for it that many adverts appear once or twice and are never seen of again, whereas some are used for years.

It's just a shame that they don't do the same for IT claims - Unlimited Broadband usage etc.

"""For years they've been promoting "anti oxidants" for skincare, perhaps with good reason.

But more recently one of the big names, I forget which, has been promoting a skincare potion which "oxygenates" the skin.

What was bad, is good."""

Your comment would be right, assuming that an oxidant actually oxygenates things. I believe that 'oxygenates' would mean 'adds oxygen to,' while 'oxidization' merely means that the oxidization numbers of ions and molecules involved are changed - Oxygen isn't even necessarily involved.

It would, therefore, be perfectly possible for a single creame to be an anti-oxidant and to also oxygenate the skin.

Fantastic! If I smear this stuff on my phone, I can be sure I can't be snooped. Then again, I won't be able to make any calls either! Back to the drawing board Clarins.

How about a cream with Pro® Sony® Thermio®, that hides the seven signs of a small bonfire in your laptop case?

If you put your phone er, 'down there', I would suggest some tinfoil underpants might be a sensible precaution.

I think you'll find that's "make-up science" (tm)

I'll get me coat.

While oxidation doesn't require oxygen, oxygen is, naturally enough, an oxidising agent. Particularly because I don't believe they'd be allowed to sell some sort of oxygen-bubble foam without warnigns about flammability the "oxygen" must be some sort of compound which is at best inert and not going to supply free oxygen to the skin or at worst a generator of oxygen free radicals...

albeit briefly. I'm sure next month there will be another Nutrio Pro-Fiction Anti-Terrorism cream that protects you from bomb blasts.

I love the one with the "pentapeptides are the worst kept secret in beauty and make you look all youthful and hot!".

So they go to all the effort of getting that old woman to talk about it, and show the "before" pictures... yet they don't bother to make her use it and show what it (supposedly) does by showing her looking youthful and/or hot.

It's advertising gone mad, is what it is.

I'm off to buy some tampons so I can go inline skating.

I've seen no lizzard army or black helicopters so it must work.

Anyone for Biffidus Digestivum - which could make your digestive system "work better" if you are 300 miles of the martian surface, hanging upside down with a banana sticking out of one ear and an anti-gravity device in the other.......