As a French pharmacy brand, a Vichy skincare product is hypoallergenic. More than 2000 women each year test the tolerance of our products on their skin.
And during these tests if a single reaction occurs, we return to the formulation stage. Since Vichy was created to meet a multitude of skin needs, we’re naturally committed to your skin’s tolerance and to minimizing potential allergy risk for every ingredient and therefore for the final formula.
What does hypoallergenic mean?
A skincare term often misinterpreted, hypoallergenic means a product has a lower likelihood of triggering an allergic reaction - although it does not guarantee total absence.
Although allergic reactions are highly individual, certain ingredients in food, certain elements in the air and in our daily lives prove more allergenic than others. There are also highly rare allergies – such as to beetroot for example. Formulating a hypoallergenic product means that first Vichy avoids those ingredients known to trigger allergies and that secondly: finished products are tested to make sure this is the case.
At Vichy every ingredient must be hypoallergenic
Hypoallergenic: from ingredients to final product
At Vichy every ingredient must be hypoallergenic. For this, each of our raw materials, from active ingredients to fragrances, oil, wax, surfactants., must qualify as hypoallergenic. Both at the dose used in the formula and according to the level of exposure (how a product will be used) and the following criteria:
- 6 months of market step-back minimum – that is, every ingredient must not have caused an allergic reaction since its arrival on the market.
- Prohibitions of certain families of active ingredients.
- No alert in preclinical and clinical studies.
- No alert in the available scientific literature.
- Cosmetovigilance (+/- 6 months of market step-back)
*among the ingredient available in the group.
Hypoallergenic including fragrances
Our choice to offer hypoallergenic skincare means Vichy excludes certain families of active ingredients. In fragrances – together with the 26 known allergens listed under European regulations – Vichy excludes potentially allergenic ingredients such as Polycyclic musks or Majantol. Vichy also doesn’t use essential oils, absolutes and resinoids, linked to skin allergies.
Each verified hypoallergenic ingredient is one ingredient closer to hypoallergenic certification for the final formula, our choice as a brand.
Hypoallergenic: 0 reactions in 100 on final formula
Vichy then carries out, on at least 100 subjects, specific testing protocols on the final formula to evaluate tolerance. More than 2000 women each year test how well their skin tolerates our products.
After this strict evaluation, if no reaction is observed, the product is certified hypoallergenic, formulated to minimize allergic reactions, our Vichy promise. If not, we reformulate.
Understanding cosmetovigilance: the global alert system
In one further step for skin tolerance, cosmeto-vigilance is at the consumer’s service to globally coordinate and track safety alerts arising from the use of cosmetic products once on the market. This worldwide system enables skincare makers and consumers to be alerted in the event of an allergic reaction to a product.