Patch Tested.
You’ll see this on all our products. It means that the product was tested using our patch test protocols. At VMV HYPOALLERGENICS®, this means using standard patch test protocols practiced by your doctor and leading experts and then building on top of them.
This patch testing is on top of the allergen omission required by our published VH-Rating System—the only hypoallergenicity rating system of its kind.
We patch test each ingredient and raw material that goes into every product we make, the final formulation itself, and even things that aren’t in the product but that touch your skin, like puffs, sponges, and brushes.
As much as possible, we also use packaging that does not contain allergens such as rubber or certain metals. If, for the sake of stability, we must use a packaging material with an allergen (such as a colorant), we make sure that it does not the product itself (that it is on the outside of a container, for example). We also test packaging to confirm that its harmful components do not leach into our formulations inside them.
In Vitro and In Vivo
In vitro means testing done in a laboratory. Many of our tests are in vitro, but we’re proud to say that we also do an extensive amount of in vivo testing. In vivo means testing done with human volunteers in actual-use conditions (we have never and do not test on animals). Our Armada sun and light protection products, for example, are subjected to in vivo sunscreen studies to give you protection factors proven in actual-use conditions, not merely in laboratories with simulated skin. We do that, too—in fact, Armada products are usually tested by separate laboratories in different countries to confirm results. But we’re proud to have done continuously in vivo sunscreen studies since the 1980s.
Supporting Research
Our own clinical studies (many published and presented in international dermatology journals and conventions) are further supported by independent published.
Our Re-Everything anti-aging line, for example, features kinetin, a growth hormone that performed (with our unbuffered glycolic acid and other active ingredients) excellently in our own randomized, double-blind clinical study. But we searched for other legitimate studies on kinetin in order to further support our decision to use it in our formulations. Finding a wealth of legitimate, published research on kinetin, combined with our own evidence-based studies, we judged it acceptable for use in Re-Everything.
We do no animal testing. Our standards are so high that we’ve no shortage of volunteers (the human kind) who are eager to try new products.
Plus, we do extensive laboratory (microbial, stability, etc.) testing to ensure both efficacy and safety.
We do Evidence-based Studies
Evidence-based is the most respected protocol for product testing, including randomized, double-blind clinical testing on statistically relevant pools of subjects over a specific time period. In addition, we do post-market surveillance studies for the lifetime of the product to record reactions and to ensure that the product is performing as well over time as it did when first launched.
Click here for more About VMV.
Click here for more about our published clinical studies.
