How to Choose Halal and Safe Skincare: A Consumer Guide (and What It Means for Brands)

Skincare shelves, both online and offline, are more crowded than ever. Alongside legitimate products, Indonesia’s market also sees a steady flow of illegal, poorly regulated, or unverified halal skincare. According to Jurnal Halal No. 175/2025, published by LPPOM MUI, with guidance from Dr. Priyo Wahyudi, consumers need a deliberate checklist to avoid ending up with something unsafe.

This article walks through that checklist from a consumer’s perspective, then breaks down what each point means for skincare brands trying to build genuine trust in the Indonesian market.

1. Introduction

Skincare is a deeply personal category. What works safely for one person’s skin can cause problems for another, and what looks like a legitimate product on a marketplace listing isn’t always what it claims to be. Counterfeit and unregistered skincare products continue to circulate in Indonesia, often undetected until a consumer experiences a reaction or a brand’s reputation takes the hit.

The tips below are built around one core idea: legality, ingredient transparency, and realistic expectations are what actually protect consumers, not packaging or price alone.

2. Check Product Legality and Labeling

Before anything else, confirm two things: the product’s BPOM notification number, which can be verified through the official BPOM website or app (Cek BPOM), and the presence of an official BPJPH halal logo on the packaging. Since Government Regulation No. 42/2024 took effect, displaying the halal logo has become mandatory for halal-certified products.

3. Be Cautious with Imported Skincare

A large volume of imported skincare enters Indonesia without BPOM notification and without halal certification, often through informal channels: smuggled shipments, casual online shopping from overseas sellers, or personal shopper/jastip services. For popular international brands, consumers should specifically look for variants that have already been notified with BPOM and registered as halal in Indonesia, rather than assuming any imported version is automatically compliant.

4. Match Products to Your Actual Skin Needs

Skincare is personal and situational by nature; what suits one person’s skin doesn’t automatically suit someone else’s. Not every “must-have” product is right for every skin type or condition. Consumers should identify their skin type first, dry, oily, sensitive, or otherwise, before selecting active ingredients like niacinamide, hyaluronic acid, or naturally-sourced vitamin C accordingly.

5. Watch for Exaggerated Claims and Suspiciously Low Prices

Consumers should stay critical of any skincare product promising results in an unrealistically short timeframe, and treat unusually cheap promotional pricing as a warning sign of an unsafe or uncertified product.

Genuine, clinically tested products tend to describe realistic outcomes, commonly showing visible improvement over two to four weeks. Counterfeit or non-compliant products, by contrast, often lean on instant-result claims, phrases like “visibly lighter in one month” are a common red flag worth treating with skepticism.

6. Buy Only from Official and Trusted Sources

Purchases should go through official distributors, trusted retailers, or a brand’s official store, whether offline or online. Counterfeit skincare frequently appears on marketplaces at prices far below standard market rates, and that price gap itself should raise suspicion.

7. Read the Ingredient List Carefully

Building the habit of reading a product’s ingredient list matters more than most consumers realize. Counterfeit skincare often contains hazardous substances, mercury, excessive hydroquinone, or steroids, that don’t appear on any legitimate safety documentation. Consumers can cross-check ingredients against the appendix of BPOM Regulation No. 17/2022 on Technical Requirements for Cosmetic Ingredients.

8. Educate Yourself Through Reliable Digital Sources

Social media can be both a source of useful information and a source of risk. Consumers are better served following official BPOM and LPPOM accounts, along with credible dermatologists, for accurate guidance. Joining credible skincare communities also helps consumers recognize trends and tell genuine products apart from counterfeits more reliably.

9. Price Should Match Quality

If a price looks too low for what should be a premium product, there’s a strong chance it’s counterfeit. Price should reasonably reflect a product’s quality and safety standards, not undercut them dramatically.

10. Report Suspicious Products

Consumers who come across skincare without a valid circulation permit, or with doubtful halal status, can report it directly to BPOM, BPJPH, or through official channels like the BPOM Mobile app. Taking that active step helps protect the wider public, not just the individual consumer.

11. What This Means for Skincare Brands

Every consumer red flag described above is, from a brand’s perspective, a trust signal worth actively reinforcing. A legitimate skincare brand operating in Indonesia benefits directly from making its BPOM notification number and halal certification status easy to verify, both on packaging and through official channels.

• Make your BPOM number and halal logo easy to find — consumers are actively checking, so visibility reduces friction and builds confidence
• Keep marketing claims realistic and evidence-based — overpromising short-term results invites the exact skepticism this guide encourages
• Control your official distribution channels — counterfeit exposure often traces back to unauthorized resellers or marketplace listings outside your official presence
• Publish a clear, accurate ingredient list — this is one of the fastest ways consumers verify legitimacy for themselves
• Monitor for counterfeit listings — reporting fake versions of your own product protects both consumers and your brand’s reputation

12. Conclusion

Choosing safe, halal skincare comes down to a consistent set of habits: verifying legality, matching products to actual skin needs, staying skeptical of exaggerated claims and unrealistic pricing, buying from official sources, reading ingredient lists, and reporting anything suspicious. None of these checks require expert knowledge, just consistent attention.

For brands, these same consumer habits define what earns trust in Indonesia’s skincare market. Proper BPOM notification, valid halal certification, transparent ingredient disclosure, and controlled distribution aren’t just regulatory requirements, they’re exactly what informed consumers are now actively looking for.

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