Discover 7 essential keys to building efficacy into your skincare! By Emmanuelle Dumas
Efficacy has always been a major issue for facial care, a primary consumer expectation. In the 1990s, the race for efficacy was THE topic for brands in the segment. Claimed percentages climbed, promises became over-segmented, and beauty routines grew more complex. Highly sophisticated cosmetics were touted, and a kind of one-upmanship set in. Today, enthusiasm for natural, clean, and organic cosmetics has shifted the conversation to a very different register: a truer beauty, a more essential approach, “fewer ingredients,” authentic actives. Science is set aside in favor of authenticity. But efficacy remains the founding contract and will surely be an essential point of differentiation tomorrow.
How to build efficacy into skincare? 7 essential keys!
1/ First of all, be clear about the brand's positioning
Who is the target? What benefits do they expect? How do they want them communicated? And is it truly aligned with the brand difference?
The expected benefit won't be the same for an age-defying product with a very scientific approach and targeted, visible results, aimed at a woman over 50, as for an organic product with a hydrating benefit for a young teenager.
2/ Select the active ingredients
Select active ingredients recognized for the sought-after benefits and/or backed by scientific dossiers, and use them at the percentage at which they were tested. Note: cosmetics regulation no longer allows these ingredient efficacies to be attributed directly to the finished product.
3/ Ensure the choice and quality of the formula base
Based on the chosen actives and the target skin. Your partner laboratory will guide the choice.
4/ Evaluate formulas with the community
This is what young brands have taught us: co-building formulas and doing test-and-learn is far better than a classic consumer test, because the testers are part of the acquired community that will carry the brand's visibility on social media and amplify the story.
5/ At a minimum, run a use test
With at least 25 women (more is better — and it can be a selling point!). Cosmetics regulation allows the results of this test to be used for most claims. Overseen by a dermatologist, this test surveys women on how the product feels in use, its pleasantness, and the visible results on their skin. Remember: no benefit may appear in product communication unless it has first been demonstrated!
6/ Go further with instrumental tests
There are many instrumental tests performed by accredited centers: wrinkle-width tests, depth and volume, RmD for skin-surface structure, profilometry, skin-barrier and hydration tests, biomechanical-property tests... these provide more scientific arguments.
All these are called “in vivo” because they are carried out on skin under normal conditions. But some formulas can also be tested ex vivo, applied to cell cultures or skin explants. The idea? Beyond toxicology, certain marketing messages may warrant this kind of demonstration — for example, demonstrating a serum's anti-pollution benefit for the look of the skin. The test would consist of showing the serum's protective benefit before and after exposing cells to atmospheric pollution. Differentiating through innovative tests for innovative benefits is an interesting choice!
7/ Deliver the right product, with the right benefit, to the right customer
A product's efficacy is worked on at 360°, from creation through formulation and evaluation, all the way to sale. The point, ultimately, is to offer the “right” product to the “right” customer for the “right” benefit because a product that doesn't suit someone is perceived as less “effective” when in fact it's simply poorly matched.
Building a product's efficacy means making sure, at the very end of the process, to match the product with the right target and the right use.
Evaluate, compare, and demonstrate the efficacy of cosmetic formulas
Efficacy tests are a regulatory necessity, but they're just as important from the standpoint of the brand's marketing and the transparency of its messaging. More than ever, consumers expect clear benefits. Efficacy can be neither forgotten nor merely suggested; it must be demonstrated, validated, and targeted.
