How Crocodile Oil Taught Me a New Word

I almost wish this was an April Fools thing, but really, it isn't. A question from a good friend about a skin care product based on .. wait for it... crocodile oil (!) prompted a recent research session.

Oil from crocodiles? I had never heard of crocodile oil, but then, I haven't heard of everything used in skin care.

First stop was to check out the link my friend had sent to the 'official repcillin website' – home of the amazing South African product – repcillin – that promises to cure:
burns
cuts
psoriasis
eczema
athletes foot
acne
sores
nappy rash
insect bites
sunburn
sore lips...

take a breath, because the list continues..

Oh never mind – you get the idea.

Click, Whirrrr

My 'bull$hit meter' clicked on – all by itself.

Aside from crocodile oil, the ingredients list includes 'lavender or vanilla beeswax'.

lavender or vanilla beeswax?

The 'meter' started humming.

Beep Beep BEEP!!!

I started researching the main ingredient – crocodile oil. It didn't take long before the meter was beeping up a storm. No matter which combination of words I typed in, the 'official repcillin website' kept popping up first, followed by a series of blogs and other sites that all referred back to the official repcillin site.

All of my go-to sites for factual (and actual) information came up blank on crocodile oil (even when I typed in the INCI Crocodylus niloticus name supplied by the official repcillin website).

What I Did Find 

I did find a site called CamCheck. Their byline: 'the South African Consumers Guide to scam, pseudoscience and voodoo science'.

They had quite a bit to say about repcillin, for example:

"...there is not a shred of evidence to support the claims being made for the product. Extrapolation of science in support of the claims is illogical and incorrect. The claims that the product can benefit a host of skin conditions is untested and unproven and simply thumbsuck. There is not a single study in over 21 million published articles indexed at PubMed in support of the claims of this product, or the main ingredient, Crocodile oil."

Visit Camcheck for the rest of this story.

My favorite part? I learned a brand new way of saying bull$hit – thumbsuck!