Marketing Cosmeceuticals and Speaking the Natural Beauty Language

MANY WOMEN who purchase cosmetics are embracing the back-to-nature movement, making synthetically produced ingredients found in commercial cosmetic products, such as parabens, hydroquinone, artificial fragrances and colors, outlaws in their holistic world, according to the recently released The Age of Naturals Report, the first 2008 Pink Report™ of the year.

In the report, nearly 2,000 cosmetic-buying women were surveyed online about their beauty buying habits—specifically whether they preferred to purchase natural beauty products or traditionally made ones, and why. The report found 64 percent of those interviewed buy natural/organic beauty products because they do not want synthetic chemicals on their skin.

 Their buying triggers are clear: they want to see in advertisements and on cosmetic labels that their cosmetics are free of certain chemicals they feel are harmful (73 percent). Additionally, shoppers wants to hear words like "clean" (66 percent), "fresh" (45 percent), "long-lasting" (44 percent) and "beautiful" (40 percent). The trend toward words pertaining to health is indeed rising, but words that play to their emotions (the emotion of fear and the emotional aspects of words that connote beauty and youth) overpower words that might appeal to a more rational side. In looking at least-favored terms, the report found from a list of 17 choices, the least favored terms are:

• Therapeutic (40 percent),

• Radiant (37 percent),

• Dermatology (32 percent),

• Science (9 percent).

Many of the claim words used in this survey were also posed to respondents in The Pink Report™ Survival of the Prettiest: Facial Skin and Bath & Body Care.