Today I bought the Canmake Mermaid Skin Gel 01 in person. When I opened the box I discovered there was no indicator for SPF50+•PA++++ protection as what I’m usually used to (Pic 1 for comparison). On the back, the only difference between the two is that the new product on the left claims to be a “Makeup Base” while the old bottle on the right is a “Sunscreen-Makeup Base” (Pic 2).
I looked up the product on Canmake USA’s official website and they claim the rebrand was necessary because “In the United States, regulations stipulate that packaging cannot explicitly claim to offer SPF or UV protection benefits” (Pic 3). They also stated that “the ingredients and legal status of the Mermaid Skin Gel 01 remain the same” (Pic 4).
I checked the ingredients online as well as swatch tested the new and old bottle and they are definitely the same product (Pic 5). However, on the product’s page Canmake USA is selling other variations of the Mermaid Skin Gel product that claim to provide SPF50+•PA++++, which makes me believe they were dishonest about 01’s ability to protect skin in the first place if this was the only product they had to alter packaging for to fit the US’s sun protection stipulations (Pics 6 and 7). I could be wrong about this if they are also planning on updating the packaging of those other profits later, but I haven’t seen anything on their website about that.
In addition I’d also like to know why this is correct for Canmake to do because I feel as though they should have discontinued this design if they weren’t going to promote this as a sunscreen product anymore. The packaging is identical aside from very minuscule changes. In person, I couldn’t see that they were no longer offering SPF protection because the bottle was inside of a translucent box (Pic 8). I can tell now that the product states it’s a makeup base in the back of the box (Pic 9), but since it was being sold as a dual sunscreen/makeup base product for years (I’ve been using this since around 2018) it didn’t even cross my mind to look at the back.
Overall, I’d like to know if this should still be considered a sunscreen product despite the rebranding.
I tried looking up discussions for this but I haven’t seen anything of it which is why I decided to post this, so my apologies in advance if this has already been talked about. If so, please redirect me towards those threads. Thank you!
by bonerubber22
2 Comments
Here’s the [Mermaid Skin Gel product page](https://canmakeusa.com/products/canmake-mermaid-skin-gel-uv). Rebranding information can be found under the Notes section.
This is a common occurrence because of the FDA in America. Is 01 a “clear” shade, so no pigment? If so that would be why this is the only rebranded one, because it’s the most universal and can be used as a primer.