who selling? fer hw much?
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/sub/asia/story/0,5562,304619,00.htmlMarch 9, 2005
Woman sues SK-II over skin damage
Jiangxi resident claims De-Wrinkle Essence burned her face and made her itch
By Jason Leow
China Bureau Chief
SHANGHAI - SK-II, a popular skincare product in Singapore, is caught in a legal tangle between its sole distributor in China and a woman from eastern Jiangxi province who has sued the brand for false advertising.
Ms Lu Ping, 41, said her face was burnt and her skin itched after she used SK-II De-Wrinkle Essence. SK-II is owned by United States-based Procter & Gamble (P&G).
Ms Lu, an insurance agent for China Life, has not appeared in public, but has asked a friend to be her spokesman.
Mr Tang Wei told The Straits Times yesterday that the People's Court in Donghu district, Nanchang, in Jiangxi province, accepted the case on March 1.
The defendants are Guangzhou Cascade Trading, sole distributor for P&G's imports in China, and Pacific Department Store in Nanchang, where Ms Lu bought her skincare product.
'Ms Lu believes she was a victim of SK-II's false advertising. She also believes she has the right to full information about the product she bought,' Mr Tang said over the phone.
In Singapore, SK-II was the top-selling brand in department stores in 2003.
De-Wrinkle Essence, which is made in the US, promises to reduce wrinkles by 47 per cent and make skin look 12 years younger after 28 days of continuous use, according to local advertising.
But Ms Lu ended up having to go to a dermatologist, said Mr Tang.
Ms Lu also sued SK-II for not fully disclosing the essence's ingredients, which include caustic soda, benzoic acid and polytetrafluoroethylene - better known by the trade name Teflon, commonly used in non-stick pans.
She alleged that the bottle she bought carried a Chinese-language label that did not list these ingredients. Only when she peeled off the label did she find the original Japanese sticker which listed what she claimed were the chemicals that burned her skin.
Caustic soda is common in soap and cosmetics, while benzoic acid is used to preserve food and cosmetics, and can cause skin irritation.
The US-based Cosmetics Ingredients Review Board, a panel that reviews cosmetics safety, says polytetrafluoroethylene has not yet been assessed for safety, although it is used widely in anti-ageing creams and foundations.
Many people have the misconception that SK-II is a Japanese beauty brand.
When asked by The Straits Times if Ms Lu took the case to court partly because she thought SK-II was a Japanese product, Mr Tang said: 'After the essence damaged her skin, she thought: How could Japan make such a product?'
His comment reflects deep-rooted Chinese animosity towards Japan because of the historically tense relationship between the two countries.
SK-II was, in fact, developed in 1980 by a Japanese unit of US-based Max Factor. The company was later acquired in 1991 by P&G.
SK-II was only introduced to the US last year at 11 stores of Saks Fifth Avenue, a leading US department store, as part of P&G's globalisation plan.
On Monday, P&G China released a statement on sina.com, a popular Chinese news website, stating the Chinese Health Ministry's approval for SK-II products.
Mr Feng Jialu, P&G's Guangzhou-based spokesman, also reiterated the same claim to The Straits Times yesterday.
But he was vague about whether SK-II was legally obliged to list the cosmetic ingredients on its product labels.
In 2000, China tightened its regulations on cosmetic labelling, requiring imported cosmetics to list ingredients accurately in Chinese.
Mr Feng would only say: 'We already labelled what we had to label by law.' -- ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY KEVIN HUANG
