The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) classifies anti wrinkle cream products as cosmetics. A cosmetic is defined as any substance which has no medical value. Due to this reason, the FDA does not regulate them strictly like the prescription and OTC drugs. This means that the products do not undergo the same rigorous testing for safety and efficiency that the drugs undergo, before getting FDA approval and proceeding to go on to the market. With respect to the category of creams and lotions, FDA’s main concern is about safety, and not effectiveness. For each anti wrinkle cream that seeks FDA’s approval, FDA focuses on testing the safety factor in using the product with other authorized drugs.
FDA only steps in, when the advertising portraits cosmetics as drugs or when cosmetics contain ingredients that may pose a potential health risk to consumers. Because the FDA does not evaluate cosmetic products for effectiveness, there is no guarantee that the non-prescription products will reduce wrinkles.