Up to date: 24.10.23

Within the huge world of skincare, we now have grow to be accustomed to picking merchandise primarily based on our “pores and skin kind”. Once you method a cosmetics’ counter, you scan rows of merchandise to single out people who you consider match your pores and skin kind. From oily and dry to mixture and delicate, and from teenage to menopausal pores and skin, each potential pores and skin kind is catered for.

The idea of pores and skin sorts has lengthy dictated our selections with regards to cosmetics for our face. However, have you ever ever questioned why we categorise merchandise on this approach? Is it primarily based on strong scientific proof, or is it merely a advertising and marketing technique tailor-made to shopper expectations and to promote extra product? If the latter is the case, then in lately of needing to do proper by the planet, and scale back our consumption for sustainability’s sake, can the wonder business justify formulating for therefore many various pores and skin sorts?

On this weblog publish, we delve into the origins of pores and skin sorts, analyzing their historic roots and the components that formed their improvement within the magnificence business. We query the validity of this classification system, difficult the notion that pores and skin sorts are an absolute fact. By doing so, we goal to open up a dialogue on whether or not pores and skin sorts are a fable and an outdated concept, significantly within the realm of pure beauty formulation. Learn on to make your thoughts up and be part of the controversy. If pores and skin sorts in beauty formulation is outdated, what lies past them to information us as formulators, and as prospects?

Understanding the origins of pores and skin sorts

All through the historical past of the trendy cosmetics business, the categorisation of merchandise into pores and skin sorts has performed a major position within the improvement and advertising and marketing of skincare formulations.

Within the early days of the wonder business, skincare merchandise had been comparatively easy and had a one-size-fits-all method. Though, even within the late 1900s, we discover examples of magnificence pioneers tailoring cosmetics to particular teams of consumers. The indomitable Madam C. J. Walker is one instance. She formulated her personal line of cosmetics and haircare geared toward African-American girls and have become the primary girls of color to grow to be a multimillionaire within the States.

Because the cosmetics business grew, and the idea of branding took form, entrepreneurs recognised the necessity to handle the varied vary of pores and skin considerations and preferences amongst shoppers. One other magnificence pioneer, Helena Rubinstein, is alleged to have “invented” the idea of pores and skin sorts originally of 1900 (i). If that’s the case, this correlates with the idea of pores and skin sorts as a advertising and marketing instrument.

However, which got here first: our wants or these of entrepreneurs?

Initially, the categorisation of pores and skin sorts was comparatively broad, usually involving phrases like “oily,” “dry,” and “regular”, that are nonetheless widespread at present. Over time, the idea turned extra nuanced, with the addition of subcategories resembling “mixture” and “delicate.”

Now, we arrive at the potential for oily and delicate pores and skin, or dry and delicate pores and skin. Whereas these refinements enable manufacturers to additional customise their product choices and goal particular pores and skin considerations, additionally they confuse shoppers who’re confronted with higher complexity as they assess their very own kind of pores and skin earlier than shopping for a product. As we’ll see later, we often get this incorrect.

The Position of Advertising and marketing and Client Expectations

Entrepreneurs recognise the ability of personalisation and customisation in interesting to shoppers in creating a way of individualised care. We’ve articles on this weblog about simply that:

Discovering the perfect area of interest in your indie magnificence model
10 concepts to encourage your magnificence model.

We deal with niches you can also make uniquely yours as formulators. Nevertheless, mainstream cosmetics’ manufacturers have lengthy held onto the notion of pores and skin sorts because the overriding system to classify us as magnificence shoppers.

Via intelligent promoting and promotional campaigns, the language of pores and skin sorts has grow to be deeply ingrained in beauty advertising and marketing, reinforcing the assumption that utilizing merchandise particularly formulated for one’s pores and skin kind is important for attaining optimum outcomes.

Client expectations additionally play a major position in driving the demand for pores and skin type-based cosmetics. Many people have been conditioned to establish ourselves with a specific pores and skin kind, believing it determines essentially the most appropriate merchandise for our distinctive wants. This expectation reinforces the concept that completely different pores and skin sorts require particular formulations, resulting in a market the place manufacturers attempt to fulfill these perceived wants.

The Scientific Foundation of Pores and skin Sorts: Truth or Fiction?

Pores and skin is a posh organ influenced by numerous components, together with genetics, environmental circumstances, life-style selections, age, weight-reduction plan, and skincare habits. Simply this checklist alone signifies that our “pores and skin kind” at present is more likely to change even inside a couple of months as components affecting it are consistently fluctuating. So, categorising people into inflexible pores and skin sorts oversimplifies the complexity of how our pores and skin capabilities and the range of potential pores and skin circumstances.

Approaches to classifying pores and skin sorts
A basic check to find out our pores and skin kind is to measure the sebum output on numerous areas of our facial pores and skin utilizing a sebumeter. Nevertheless, even when this exhibits levels of dryness or oiliness in our pores and skin, it’s a snapshot view at one time limit. The primary situation although is that as magnificence product shoppers our personal evaluation of our pores and skin could be very subjective and in some research it has been proven that self evaluation is at variance with the precise quantity of sebum secreted (ii).

There have been strategies and approaches developed to supply a extra complete understanding of pores and skin traits to ensure that skincare to be extra intently tailor-made to particular person wants. One well-known method is the Baumann Pores and skin Typing System which was developed in 2004 by College of Miami dermatology professor Leslie Baumann. This technique goals to classify people into particular pores and skin sorts primarily based on 4 impartial spectrums: dry to oily; delicate to resistant; pigmented to non-pigmented; and wrinkled to tight. This spectrum is then divided into a number of subtypes, permitting for a extra nuanced classification.

It takes under consideration numerous components that contribute to a person’s pores and skin traits, together with the quantity of sebum produced, pores and skin barrier perform, propensity for pores and skin reactions, presence of pigmentation, and pores and skin elasticity.

Nevertheless, regardless of the scientific rigour with which the Baumann Pores and skin Typing System was developed, it has not been broadly accepted nor adopted as a regular classification system throughout the dermatological, scientific neighborhood or by the cosmetics business. As with all scientific speculation, it had its critics. For the mainstream cosmetics business, it will in any case show too advanced to speak to magnificence product shoppers.

Any try at pores and skin kind classification is more likely to be flawed on account of its incapacity to recognise that every particular person’s pores and skin is exclusive and may exhibit traits from a number of spectrums concurrently. As soon as once more, regional, seasonal, climatic, genetic, and the raft of different components we talked about above, together with our ethnicity (iii), come into play in defining our pores and skin kind. In reality, classes resembling teenage or menopausal we talked about at first are extra helpful in guiding beauty formulation than the basic skin-type nomenclatures.

The place does this go away us with pores and skin sorts?

This lack of consensus raises questions concerning the scientific foundation of pores and skin sorts and whether or not they really present significant steering for skincare selections. Even when we purchase into the idea of the basic classes, we’re nonetheless introduced with a ‘one-size-fits-all’ idea that ignores our particular person wants. Does everybody within the dry pores and skin class have the identical pores and skin points? We doubt it.

By transferring away from inflexible pores and skin kind classifications, we open up a world of prospects for tailor-made skincare routines and formulations that cater to particular person wants. Personalised skincare, the rise of AI in cosmetics, developments selling energetic components and the necessity to nurture and preserve the pores and skin barrier and microbiome all supply flexibility and customisation primarily based extra on particular person wants.

Maybe we now have lastly arrived at some extent within the historical past of cosmetics the place we debunk pores and skin sorts? And indie magnificence manufacturers, who are sometimes these closest to their prospects, are effectively positioned to understand the alternatives on this publish skin-types’ period.

Alternatives for indie magnificence manufacturers

As an indie model, you might have extra flexibility and are more likely to be agile sufficient to cater to the person wants and preferences of your prospects. The direct interplay between you as an indie model and your prospects additionally fosters a deeper sense of belief and connection, permitting for personalised suggestions and a extra intimate buyer expertise. We all know that is true as lots of our graduate model founders have instructed us this. See these case research for proof of this in motion:

Podcast episode 128: From indie magnificence concept to promoting 500 eye lotions – an interview with founder Naz Bashir of Solo Pores and skin London on how she grew her neighborhood of consumers who are actually a sounding board for her product improvement.

Episode 157: From bootstrapping to award-winning magnificence model – interview with founder Roshanne Dorsett of The Glowcery who talks concerning the energy of her neighborhood and the worth of partaking with them on her Youtube channel.

This personalised method aligns with the values of indie manufacturers, emphasising the craftsmanship, experience, and a spotlight to element that units them aside from mass-produced options. Because the demand for customised skincare continues to develop, indie manufacturers have the chance to carve out a distinct segment and construct loyal buyer bases by offering modern and personalised options that bigger manufacturers could wrestle to duplicate.

Empowering Customers: customisation as a development

The rise of customisation in skincare is pushed by a want to empower shoppers and supply them higher management over their magnificence routines. By involving prospects within the strategy of formulating or customising their skincare, they grow to be energetic individuals fairly than passive recipients of mass-produced merchandise. This development aligns with the rising shopper demand for transparency, authenticity, and individuality.

This modification in how we method shopping for skincare is in no small half right down to nearly 20 years of social media which has positioned us extra in management as creators of, not simply recipients of knowledge. Large manufacturers and entrepreneurs no lengthy form the narrative alone. In fact, misinformation is on the rise too, and concrete myths and misconceptions about each facet of magnificence abound on-line.

Nevertheless, this presents indie manufacturers with an opportunity to current themselves and their skincare options in a extra private approach. Our college students and graduates at Formulation Botanica use the experience and expertise they acquire on our programs to nice impact, opening up channels in an trustworthy, open, clear approach with their prospects to current sound information about natural skincare.

Be modern and break away from the basic pores and skin sorts in cosmetics and discover methods to meet your individual prospects’ wants in new, thrilling methods. For instance, some manufacturers supply DIY skincare kits that enable prospects to combine and create their very own merchandise at dwelling primarily based on their particular wants. These kits sometimes present a number of energetic components, important oils, or base formulation that may be mixed in accordance with the person’s preferences and pores and skin considerations.

Discover these Formulation Botanica graduate manufacturers who’re placing energy again into the arms of their prospects providing workshops, kits and beauty components for patrons to personalise at dwelling.

Siriously Natural, based in Berlin, Germany, by Sarah Siri Blejc, which affords kits for dwelling use.
Naturkosmetik München (Pure Cosmetics Munich), based by Mareike Peters, Germany, which affords ready-made skincare and uncooked components in addition to DIY kits to formulate the skincare merchandise your self.
EcoSpa, based in Poland by Artur Chaber, which supplies pure, pure beauty components for ‘Do-It-Your self’ cosmetics.

This hands-on method not solely affords a way of personalisation, but additionally promotes a deeper understanding and reference to one’s skincare selections. You have to to assume by methods to ship customisation cheaply, and naturally safely. You would want, for instance, to make sure any personalised kits had been security examined and relevant to dwelling use. Nevertheless, assume laterally, converse to your potential or precise prospects and one can find thrilling niches to develop.

Conclusion: the top of pores and skin sorts in cosmetics?

In conclusion, the shift in direction of customisation and personalisation in skincare represents an thrilling route for the business. Transferring away from the normal reliance on pores and skin sorts opens up new avenues for tailor-made skincare routines and formulations that really handle particular person wants.

Whether or not by AI-powered evaluation, customized formulations, or dwelling skincare kits, the emphasis on customisation empowers shoppers to take cost of their skincare journey, leading to a extra personalised and satisfying expertise.

Whereas customisation will depend on us assessing our personal skincare wants (a lot as we presently assess our pores and skin kind), there may be each purpose to consider that AI will help with that, and play an enormous position in shaping the way forward for customisation within the cosmetics business. It could be the tipping level lastly laying pores and skin sorts to relaxation.

References and additional studying

(i) Okay. Steventon, et al; Client Perspective—Pores and skin Sorts and Sensory Expertise, (2013), Cosmetics & Toiletries.
(ii) SW Youn, et al; (2002) Analysis of facial pores and skin kind by sebum secretion: discrepancies between subjective description and sebum secretion.
(iii) Pappas A, et al; (2013): Age and ethnic variations in sebaceous lipids.
Beauty pores and skin sorts: fable or chaos? Worldwide Affiliation for Utilized Corneotherapy (2013).

Go away us a remark

Liz is Formulation Botanica’s Content material Coordinator and joined our group in August 2020. Liz labored as an expert blogger, journalist and website developer for a few years and was additionally a part of the Formulation Botanica pupil neighborhood. Learn extra concerning the Formulation Botanica Workforce.