Consumers want honesty when it comes to their skincare. Here’s how clean beauty is leading the way.
Clarity will always win over confusion. But product marketing in the beauty industry has long leaned toward the latter. If you’re the kind of person who lingers in the beauty aisle for what feels like half the day reading long ingredient lists before making a purchase, then we feel your pain. Who wants to waste a precious vacation day just to go to the store and buy face cream? And perhaps a better question: who wants to slather all of those hard-to-pronounce, chemical-sounding ingredients all over their working, breathing skin?
Not us.
BECOMING AN INFORMED CONSUMER
The rise of cleaner ingredients and clearer communication within the beauty industry is no coincidence. Consumers in 2022 have become accustomed to asking more questions about everything we buy. We want to know if any bizarre additives have been put into our food, whether or not the Greek yogurt we’re eating for breakfast is hiding added sugars, and naturally, we want to know what exactly is inside that jar of moisturizer.
One barrier to getting answers is the fact that we can’t always trust labels. Terms like “natural”, “clean”, "organic," and "non-toxic” aren’t upheld by any particular standards. So if you aren’t intimately familiar with a brand already, then it’s up to the consumer to do their research.
RESEARCH RESOURCES
You want to know what’s in your beauty products, but you also have a life and a job and responsibilities. It should be easier, right? Thankfully, these days it’s a lot easier to get answers, and quickly. When it’s time to dig deeper into which products you choose, there are some great resources that make the job easier.
- Ingredient Checkers: These are online databases that have done the hard work for you. All you have to do is enter the product or the ingredient name, and as long as it has been added to the list (trust us, these are pretty extensive), then you’ll get the facts in front of your face faster than you can say “Lactobacillus Ferment”.
Here are some of the most comprehensive sites:
- EWG’s Skin Deep (also has an app)
- INCI Decoder (also has an app)
- SkinCarisma
There are also apps for quick scanning when you’re in the beauty aisle:
- Think Dirty
- EWG’s Skin Deep
- INCI Decoder
- Yuca (also has a database for food products)
- Scientific Research: To know which items should truly make the cut and be proudly displayed on your bathroom counter, then the proof is in the product research. Has the company verified its claims using research that has been backed up by science? It shouldn’t be hard to find. At Layers, we not only explain the science behind our microbiome approach, but we also make the research easy to find under the “Results” tab of each product.
REAL REVIEWS FROM REAL PEOPLE
Some of the best advice we come across is by word of mouth. Aspirational imagery is nice to look at, but we all know what’s behind it. Professional models with flawless complexions don’t match reality. We want to see what’s real. What do real people who use this product on a daily basis have to say about it?
So, we turn to written reviews. But those can sometimes be tricky to see through. Many companies have been known to pay for positive feedback. That practice can really make it difficult for consumers to separate the truth from the bad business practices. But you know what? The camera doesn’t lie. We’re product proud because we’re not only watching the actual positive reviews roll in, but customers show us their results every day! We love featuring real Layers product users on our Instagram feed so skincare-savvy folks can see for themselves that Layers is the REAL thing.
