Comment by simonmesmith | Hacker News Reader

Comment by simonmesmith | Hacker News Reader

Looks like the soap uses salicylic acid, glycolic acid, and tretinoin: https://www.washingtonian.com/2023/10/11/a-ninth-grader-from...

Those ingredients looked familiar to me from work I’ve done with skin health products. They’re cosmetic product ingredients. A quick ChatGPT check:

- Salicylic acid is a beta-hydroxy acid commonly used in acne treatments and exfoliating products. It penetrates oil glands to unclog pores and has anti-inflammatory properties.

- Glycolic acid is an alpha-hydroxy acid mainly used for skin exfoliation and anti-aging. It helps remove dead skin cells and can improve the appearance of fine lines.

- Tretinoin is a prescription-strength retinoid used for treating acne and signs of aging. It promotes skin cell turnover and boosts collagen production.

So, if this $0.50 soap bar gets to market, I assume it will quickly be snapped up by people looking to generally keep their skin young and healthy, because that’s a hell of a lot cheaper than other products containing those ingredients.

Talked to my friend who is an actual dermatologist (to clarify, I am not his patient, he is a friend of mine through unrelated means, but we have been friends for many years irl; also has a couple published papers on skin cancer from the past few years, though the papers are about carcinomas), and he blasted this whole thing as a massive grift, and I am inclined to believe him (given both his expertise and the fact that none of the larger more respectable publications are covering this story). Glad I asked him, because it seemed like one of those “too good to be true boy genius media hype” stories from the start.

His take was that given the chemical makeup of this soap, it could potentially help with prevention by leaving a layer of antioxidants on skin, similar to a sunscreen, but in no physical realm can it actually treat or reverse existing melanoma (and there aren’t even any topical treatments currently in existence that can accomplish that). Like, not even in a “i doubt it works” way, but more like “I am upset about him giving this empty hope to people who might actually get baited by this, while someone is going to be making money off their desperation with such grifting.”

As for the $0.5 cost of the soap, i think that’s how much it costs them to produce, not how much it would be selling for.

Yeap. It's snakeoil in the league of MMS. People go to prison for this shit.

Isn’t the claim that it’s preventative not that it reverses or cures existing melanoma?

(I don’t see any discussion on that claim, the claim of prevention, and wish someone gave more info there.)

Skin care is a multi billion dollar industry. And it preys on people.

That being said, anything that works for someone is invaluable to them.

Few consumer industries don't prey on people, unfortunately. It has become the responsibility of the consumer to sift through the weeds in the food store, in the doctor's office, and at the skincare counter.

Except it doesn't do anything.

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