ZO Skin Health is a skincare brand that’s been highly-lauded by reviewers, and is founded by a dermatologist named Zein Obagi. The brand has won awards from Cosmopolitan, Reader’s Digest and Good Housekeeping and sells products for everything from skin brightening to anti-aging to acne reduction and more.
But does ZO Skin Health use contain research-backed ingredients for improving skin quality? Does the brand use any unhealthy ingredients? Why do we take issue with some of the clinical claims on the brand's website? And is ZO Skin Health better or worse than popular skincare brands like Dermelect?
In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in two of ZO Skin Health's best-selling products (Exfoliating Polish and Growth Factor Serum) to give our take on whether or not they're likely to be effective, and whether or not they're healthy.
We'll also share our concerns about some of the brand's clinical claims, and compare ZO Skin Health to other popular skincare brands to pick our winners (and losers).
Key takeaways:
- Contains inactive ingredients we consider unhealthy
- Uncited clinical claims on brand's website
- We do not currently recommend ZO Skin Health
Exfoliating Polish | Ingredient Analysis
The ingredients in ZO Skin Health Exfoliating Polish are shown below:
The brand claims that the magnesium oxide crystals “slough away dead skin cells” which has the effect of “leaving skin instantly soft and smooth.”
The brand fails to cite these claims at the time of updating this article, and we can't find any clinical studies suggesting that topical magnesium oxide has any beneficial dermatological effects.
This formulation does have some research-backed active ingredients.
Melaleuca alternifolia (tea tree) leaf oil is an essential oil that may have the ability to improve damaged skin.
A medical review published in the International Journal of Dermatology documented that tea tree oil can be effective at treating acne and seborrheic dermatitis (dandruff) due to its antimicrobial effect.
Our issue with this ingredient listing on ZO Skin Health’s website is that the concentration isn’t published. Tea tree oil, like most essential oils, can be damaging to skin at too high of a concentration.
Glycerin is clinically shown to positively impact skin hydration and skin barrier function.
Tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate is an ester of vitamin C.
ZO Skin Health claims this ingredient “helps to brighten skin,” however, we would disagree with this assessment.
A 2021 medical review on tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate found that this ingredient is ineffective for improving skin quality unless another stabilizing compound is included in the formulation (which ZO Skin Health Exfoliating Polish doesn’t have):
“[Tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate] may itself lack stability within the dermal microenvironment. This study showed that [tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate] has limited oxygen radical absorbance capacity and undergoes rapid degradation when exposed to singlet oxygen…This degradation, however, could be prevented by the addition of acetyl zingerone.”
ZO Skin Health Exfoliating Polish has several ingredients that we recommend consumers avoid for health reasons.
Fragrance provides no dermatological benefits and may be unsafe.
As we discussed at length in our recent review of Nexxus Shampoo, fragrance may be harmful to human health based on some clinical studies.
Green 6 is an artificial dye, and artificial dyes can be absorbed through skin according to medical research, and may be harmful to human health.
The study authors of the above-linked research review state the following: “The consuming public is largely unaware of the perilous truth behind the deceptive allure of artificial color.”
Overall, we consider ZO Skin Health somewhat likely to improve skin quality. However, we can't find any clinical evidence supporting the brand's exfoliation claims.
We don't currently recommend this product due to the inclusion of artificial dye and fragrance.
Questionable Clinical Claims
The ZO Skin Health website has a page titled "Clinical Proof" with claims such as the one below:
The claims are just presented as summaries, with no links to the full studies at the time of updating this article.
We urge ZO Skin Health to either provide proof of these claims of clinical efficacy, or remove them from their website. We consider this to be a red flag about the brand.
We strongly recommend that consumers entirely disregard claims of clinical efficacy made by skincare companies unless their products, or the ingredients in their products, are proven to be effective in clinical trials published in peer-reviewed journals.
This is the gold standard for product research, and this is the type of research we cite on Illuminate Health to form our opinion about the potential efficacy and safety of cosmetics.
Presenting highlights from "clinical studies" without sharing the full studies with potential customers is a highly questionable business practice in our opinion.
Growth Factor Serum Ingredient Analysis
The ingredients in ZO Skin Health Growth Factor Serum are shown below:
The brand claims that this product can reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, which makes it an anti-aging product.
There are some research-backed active ingredients in this formulation.
Hydrolyzed sericin is a novel compound derived from silkworm that's shown in a medical review to reduce wrinkles, improve skin elasticity and improve skin hydration.
Dipeptide diaminobutyroyl benzylamide diacetate was studied in a clinical trial for its effects on facial wrinkles.
86% of participants reported reduced wrinkles around the eyes after three months of treatment with dipeptide diaminobutyroyl benzylamide diacetate, and 71% of participants reported reduced wrinkles around the upper lip.
Tocopherol, more commonly known as vitamin E, is a good choice for an anti-aging because of its photoprotective effects.
As referenced in our Beautycounter reviews article, this ingredient has significant clinical backing for its ability to reduce the damaging effects of UV rays on skin.
There are two inactive ingredients that we consider to be questionable from a health perspective in this serum.
Fragrance is an ingredient we recommend avoiding, for reasons described in the previous Ingredient Analysis section.
Phenoxyethanol is a synthetic preservative shown in a 2020 clinical trial to be toxic to human cells.
Overall, we consider ZO Skin Health Growth Factor Serum likely to be effective for anti-aging, given its multiple effective ingredients. However, we don't currently recommend the product because it contains fragrance and phenoxyethanol.
ZO Skin Health vs. Popular Skincare Brands
Here's how ZO Skin Health compares to other popular skincare brands in terms of potential effectiveness and healthiness, in our opinion:
Instantly Ageless
Contains only one active ingredient we were able to identify, which is clinically shown to have anti-aging effects.
Both brands use unhealthy inactive ingredients, but the ZO Skin Health formulations we analyzed contained multiple research-backed active ingredients, so we give ZO Skin Health the edge from a potential efficacy standpoint.
Winner: ZO Skin Health
Dermelect
Dermelect uses a preservative combination we consider unhealthy, but both products we analyzed from the brand were fragrance-free and synthetic-dye-free.
Dermelect is thus a healthier option.
Winner: Dermelect
JLo Beauty
Contains various research-backed active ingredients along with several of the same unhealthy inactive ingredients we highlighted in this article (fragrance, synthetic preservatives).
Winner: Tie
Our Clean Skincare Pick
MindBodyGreen Best Skin+ is our top anti-aging skin supplement.
It contains orange extract which is clinically shown to increase skin moisturization, skin elasticity and skin radiance.
This supplement also contains astaxanthin which is clinically shown to cause "wrinkle formation reduction."
This supplement is free of ingredients that we consider to be unhealthy.
ZO Skin Health Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Many effective active ingredients
- Likely to have an anti-aging effect
- Uses some novel ingredients not easily sourced elsewhere
Cons:
- Contains fragrance
- At least one product contains artificial dye
- Relatively expensive
- Questionable clinical claims of efficacy
- Growth Factor Serum contains phenoxyethanol
