WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration is warning cosmetics maker L'Oreal SA that its website for Genefique exaggerates the benefits of the skin cream, portraying it as a drug with medical properties.

The agency issued a warning letter Friday to the company’s Lancome unit, which markets Genefique Youth Activating Concentrate and similar anti-wrinkle cosmetics. The letter was posted to FDA’s website Tuesday.

Lancome claims Genefique ‘‘boosts the activity of genes’’ and contains special ingredients that ‘‘stimulate cell regeneration to reconstruct skin to a denser quality.’’

The agency says only drug products are allowed to make such claims, and Lancome has not submitted necessary data to market its product as a drug.