Consumers want cosmetics that are good value, safe, and effective. How can manufacturers demonstrate this efficacy and therefore build trust in their cosmetic products?
Skincare products are a competitive, growing market. By 2025 it is predicted the global sector will be worth USD 189.3 billion.1 Trust is the key factor in building brand loyalty among consumers. When choosing a new product, they want to be sure it is safe, complies with market regulations, and will deliver on the claims being made by the manufacturer.
What is Efficacy?
Manufacturers make a wide variety of claims about their cosmetic and personal care products. Many of these claims relate to the consumer’s desire for smoother, better hydrated and more youthful skin. It is not uncommon to see claims such as, ‘giving the appearance of younger skin’, ‘anti-aging’, ‘anti-wrinkle’, or ‘reduces the visible signs of aging’.2
To succeed in the marketplace, manufacturers need to do more than simply make these claims. Today’s consumers are better informed than ever before. Many will use online resources to research the different products that are available to them before making their final purchase. At the same time, online retail stores are giving them access to a much larger range of products.
Since much of this interaction is performed online, the consumer is only ever one click away from being able to check the validity of the claims being made about the product they are considering. If a competitor can clearly demonstrate that its product is effective, and that this has been independently validated, then the consumer is more likely to buy that product.
Digital Imaging
It is often said we buy with our eyes and that pictures speak a thousand words. When making decisions about cosmetics purchases, consumers want to see confirmation that the product has been independently verified as being performant. If they can then see, with their own eyes, visual evidence of this performance, then they are more likely to make the purchase because they will have trust in the product and they can imagine how it might work on their skin.
High resolution digital ‘before and after’ images have become an accepted way of demonstrating the benefits of using a skincare product. Taken during clinical tests, they can be used in advertising to demonstrate the product’s ability to improve the appearance of facial features, such as fine lines, wrinkles and brown spots.
Digital imaging can also be used to quantify the levels of improvement. Using state-of-the-art analysis software, ‘before and after’ images can be analyzed to quantify the level of improvement brought about by using the product.
SGS Solution
SGS offers a comprehensive range of services to help cosmetics manufacturers demonstrate the efficacy of their products. Clinical tests utilize the latest technology, including high resolution digital imaging and analysis software, to show and quantify the improvements being achieved through use of the product.
Digital imaging is used to substantiate claims relating to hydration, youthfulness (lines, wrinkles, etc.), homogeneity, anti-under eye dark circles, pollution, and skin color and texture. In addition, we are also using the technology to show improvements relating to body cellulite, dry and irritated skin, hair growth, and sun-damaged skin on the neck and décolletage areas.
SGS provides manufacturers and brands with a one-stop shop solution for verifying efficacy claims. Consumers can trust that a cosmetics product tested by SGS will conform to the claims being made for it. After all, it’s only trusted because it’s tested.
Learn more about SGS Skincare Efficacy Testing Services.
For more information, please contact:
Lily Jiang
Chief Scientist
t: +1 972-392-1529
References
1 Size of the global skin care market from 2012 to 2025 (in billion U.S. dollars)
2 Cosmetics & Personal Care Product Safety & Efficacy Testing
