The proof is there, so why are consumers still hesitant to trust natural skin care? Our need for a quick fix has been a barrier to growth of the category, but MyChelle's innovative use of technology and education could be just what the natural skin care category needs to gain loyal customers.
The proof is there, so why are consumers still hesitant to trust natural skin care? Our need for a quick fix has been a barrier to growth of the category, but MyChelle's innovative use of technology and education could be just what the natural skin care category needs to gain loyal customers.
It happens to all of us. Whether it’s the fine lines around the eyes that develop in our mid-twenties or deeper wrinkles and sunspots of middle age, aging has arrived—or at least set sail.
And just as fast as we hit our mid-twenties, we want to see these signs of time, poof, gone! This desire for a quick fix has become a barrier for natural and organic skin care, particularly in the antiaging category. Not because natural skin care doesn’t work, but because people still don’t believe it works.
They think it’s “polite.” That friend who lets you walk out the door wearing a bad outfit to spare your feelings, rather than tearing through your closet and giving you’re a quick and dirty makeover. You may be using a natural, plant-based body lotion or shampoo –but when it comes to serious results? You’re not even sure what you’re using but you think it works and you’re ignoring the fact that it’s probably synthetic.
But I see the science and talk with formulators daily, trying to communicate the most relevant info and products that prove natural skin care has come a long way. These products increasingly use top science-backed ingredients to deliver results (so much already happening in the first weeks of 2012! Next blog… ). Pair that with the increasing awareness of harsh ingredients in conventional skin care and it should be a no brainer. Why then, are so many of us skeptical?
Countering natural skin care skeptics
When it comes to skin care, true loyalty often has to come from personal experience.
This is why I’m superexcited about what MyChelle is doing with its VISIA system. The technology, which I checked out at its Colorado launch in May, is most often found in dermatologists’ offices and scans deep into your dermis to give you a thorough skin analysis, offer solutions tailored to your skin type and provide follow up scan that shows if the products are working.
It has been in retail for nearly a year now, and I’m even more confident it’s going to have a long-lasting impact on the natural and organic personal care category. I’m also really pleased to see that in 2012, MyChelle is making some improvements to the technology and opening it up to independent natural retailers, many of which I feel have the expertise to manage the system in the most productive and educated way possible.
Seriously, I think this is just the kind of education and innovation needed to grow the market. Need to see to believe? Here it is. And it’s not just innovation for the sake of innovation. It fits into a well-rounded marketing plan that demonstrates MyChelle’s ability to snag crossover consumers, prove results and open up conversation about the natural personal care category—whether you get a scan or not.
Wrinkles, poof? Not so much. But proof that natural skin care really does work? Absolutely.
