How to find your way in the cosmetics jungle? Yes we are selling you dreams but you are no longer naive!
Without putting aside our “emotional” criteria, we have all observed that the rational approach in choosing treatment is now the rule:
✔️ committed choice (certified organic, vegan, etc.)
✔️choice for your health (hypoallergenic, without controversial ingredients, etc.)
✔️ choice for effectiveness (% active ingredients, clinical results, etc.).
But what tools do you have to make the right choices? I'll tell you a secret: even the marketing departments of most brands don't understand what they're selling.This is what I observed when I managed a formulation laboratory serving brands, before creating Novexpert. So where can you look for the right information to adopt a skincare brand?
Basically the question is no longer which brand we chose but why we chose it! And that changes everything.
You're finally an actor!
I no longer like the now overused word “transparency”. But I must admit that thanks to this new requirement, the consumer has pushed companies to communicate differently! Today, you not only look at the benefits of a product but also if the brand has values that correspond to you. A bit like an election: you are given the electoral program (organic, natural, ecological, made in France, etc.) and you choose! And to make a choice you have become real everyday investigators with different profiles:
CLEAN BEAUTY: with this application you do not scan the barcode but the list of ingredients (sometimes not so simple with a tube…) . You then obtain information on ingredients of concern: endocrine disruptors, irritants, etc. with supporting scientific evidence.
QUELPRODUIT: app designed by Que Choisir magazine. It replaces the previous version QuelCosmetic because it now includes food and household products. It aims to specify the level of risk according to age and whether the product is rinsed or not. Its position on controversial molecules is more measured and only retains those for which scientific consensus is established.
Profile 1.
The investigator
🔧 Its tool : apps
🎯 Its target: barcodes
YUKA : with its 21 million fans, it is essential: complete (food & cosmetics), it is a resolutely committed app with clear opinions.
INCI BEAUTY: This is the most technological app with a very clear website. Here too, the app takes a position with notes and colors that sanction the least “virtuous” formulas.
COSMETHICS: a very clear classification according to 3 categories (safe, allergic risk or toxic risk) - can also be personalized according to your personal allergies for example. Small downside, the database is not yet very large.
MIREILLE: new application (paid) set up by a biologist and a YouTuber which also allows you to analyze your treatments, ingredient by ingredient. Here, the product is not rated but the components are! Alternatives deemed more “natural” may also be offered to you.
Profile 2.
The Warned One!
🔧 Its tool: websites
🎯 Its target: associations
The EWG (Environmental Working Group) site is a real institution in the USA and allows you to know everything about the ingredients that make up your treatment: https://www.ewg.org/skindeep/. You can even have access to scientific publications on each asset. Heavy stuff... Too bad this association, which also offers a complete evaluation of formulas, only concerns cosmetics sold in the USA.
For the moment, there is no French equivalent (advice to entrepreneurial souls!), but the Cosmetics Observatory offers the possibility to its subscribers to search for an ingredient and obtain up-to-date knowledge as well as the cosmetic products in which it is found.
You also have https://laveritesurlescosmetiques.com/ which provides a database on ingredients and above all editorials and product tests which reflect true independence. Finally, I would add https://cosmeticobs.com/fr/: specialized site, for connoisseurs and very popular with players in the beauty industry. Very comprehensive premium subscription.
Profile 3.
The stroller
🔧 His tool: social networks
🎯 His Target : influencers
Influencers constitute a less dry, more user-friendly source and allow the discovery of “nuggets”. And as long as some people handle irony brilliantly, it becomes a pleasure in its own right. I leave it to you to identify according to your criteria those who will quench your thirst for information by obviously tracking down those who obey the law of the wallet. A little clue about their independence: if they talk about unknown brands as well as historic brands with a little tone of freedom that dares to criticize then that's a good sign.
Profile 4.
The rational
🔧 His profile: specialists
🎯 His target : dermatologists and naturopaths
I haven't mentioned them yet, perhaps this surprises you when obviously they are in the best position as skin experts. But there you have it, only a few rare brands finance medical sales representatives to promote their products and inevitably their knowledge of the cosmetic offering is therefore limited. My advice ? Show your dermatologist the treatment you are using (with the box containing the list of ingredients) so that he can advise you. Same advice for your naturopath who can advise you provided that the formula is natural.
And what about the brands? Would they ultimately have nothing to say?
Oh yes, but most of them have become... inaudible! Do you find me harsh? Yesterday they championed silicone and hard chemistry, today they promise to save the world... Before, they mocked "Clean cosmetics" but now support it shamelessly (in speech only). This smacks of opportunism or even panic fear of being abandoned by consumers who have memory and common sense! To see more clearly in this cosmetic hubbub, here are my last two tips:
1 / A COMPASS RATHER THAN A WEATHER VANE : ensure that the “positioning” of the brand has not varied over several years, which translates deep convictions.
2 / FACTS RATHER THAN WORDS: focus on the content of their communication. It must be unambiguous. For example, for naturalness, it is a total percentage of the formula that must be displayed and the organization that certified it must appear. And this, for all the brand’s products without exception…
Happy investigating everyone and above all contact us if you find any nuggets (hint: you don't have to venture too far.)
